“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Matthew 17:17-20
As I awoke this morning, the first thing I did was pray “Lord, I believe that I will be healed, give me a word.” I usually sleep through the night, and wake up tired anyway; last night I woke up often during the night, and woke up refreshed. What was different?
As I lay awake at various points during the night, I praised God for my life, for the opportunity to praise Him freely and come to Him often. I thanked Him for the awesome prayer time we had last night and the peace and hope I felt. I dreamed a lot, and was awake at 6:30AM, which is much earlier than normal for a weekend.
I love warmth – yet I heard “ice”. And the thought of Elijah, and the tenderness of God when He dealt with him comforted me greatly – the Lord sent angels to care for Elijah’s exhausted body, then spoke to him in a whisper. In the past, God had communicated differently; and what was expected – wind, fire, earthquake - did not happen. Just because something was done a certain way in the past, does not mean it should be done that same way today or anytime in the future.
“The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” ~1 Kings 19:11-12
As I take note to the word, “ice”, I try an approach that put my body into even greater distress in the past. And, as the rain poured outside, and desires to be warm put aside – I grabbed ice and placed it on the pain-filled area. And, in that moment, as I felt the chill, I also felt warmth rush through the rest of my body. I am grateful for the warmth of a faithful and merciful God.
I got to thinking, about a saying so many of us use, “God bless you”, and what a wonderful thing to say and project. In actuality, God is blessing all of us, it really is that we are not seeing the blessings or recognizing them in our lives. So, today I say, “May you recognize all the Lord's blessings today”. Lord, through trials, I come to You more, through pain, I seek Your comfort more, help me to recognize all of how You communicate with me – make the unfamiliar ways, familiar.
“The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” ~1 Kings 19:11-12
As I take note to the word, “ice”, I try an approach that put my body into even greater distress in the past. And, as the rain poured outside, and desires to be warm put aside – I grabbed ice and placed it on the pain-filled area. And, in that moment, as I felt the chill, I also felt warmth rush through the rest of my body. I am grateful for the warmth of a faithful and merciful God.
I got to thinking, about a saying so many of us use, “God bless you”, and what a wonderful thing to say and project. In actuality, God is blessing all of us, it really is that we are not seeing the blessings or recognizing them in our lives. So, today I say, “May you recognize all the Lord's blessings today”. Lord, through trials, I come to You more, through pain, I seek Your comfort more, help me to recognize all of how You communicate with me – make the unfamiliar ways, familiar.
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