I know I don't blog as often as others and my format certainly doesn't conform. Nonetheless, I talk only when I feel God is pressing something on my soul, and even then I let it stir for a few days before I start typing the words.
This blog is kind of long, but it is so powerful and was a bulls-eye for me. I wanted to jump up and shout when I read it. That said, most of this blog is not mine. I wish it was, but thank goodness it reached my ears! I just had to share it with you. I think it will answer some of your questions. It answered ALL of mine!!
I do want to comment briefly on our adoption for those who don't know, or if you do and want to know the details. Elizabeth was taken from Casa by the government of Guatemala on 9-11. I will never forget it! I had a really bad feeling that week and even told Jason the night before I thought something was wrong. I had sent an email to the case worker at Casa a few days before asking about her and for her to tell her we loved and missed her. I know she's not even 2, but I still wanted her to know. Something just wasn't right. Isn't it funny as mother's when we just KNOW! The news was heart breaking.....we've waited so long to have a little girl, and the boys for a sister. But God had other plans. The story is much longer, but the bottom line is God gave us all a peace about her. We still pray for her as a family-for her safety, to be raised in a christian home, and to be loved like she should be. So, now that you know....you can pray for her
too, if you like:)
The following is an excerpt from Beth Moore's study on the book of "Esther." The last few weeks I have been on my knees just praying and seeking God for answers. "God is this what you still want?" "Why?" "What?" You name it, Jason and I have been praying about it! Trust me the devil has come at us from all directions. I won't even comment on that because it's all "noise and distractions." I refuse to listen!!
Please take the time to read the amazing words she (Beth Moore) wrote. It's truly uplifting.
For now the kingdom of God on this earth resides within you, but one day your eyes will spring open to the most brilliant reality sight can behold. The kingdom of God will surround you, complete with palace, mansions, streets, and horses. In ways incomprehensible now, you will reign there with Him. All that we call "reality" will be a mere shadow of the vivid world we have coming. Right now you are representing the King on official business in another land, but you are no less royal than the Queen of England would be if she visited the White House. Or the Bronx. She is queen regardless of where she is and how she is treated. Her status is secure. So is yours. When she's cut, she bleeds royal blood. So do you.
Not only are you royalty but you also have been placed in your sphere of influence, regardless of the size you perceive it to be, "for such a time is this." Ecclesiastes 3:2 tells us there is "a time to be born and a time to die." God cut out those exact perimeters for you and me on the kingdom calendar so that we would be positioned on earth right now. Likewise, Acts 17:26 tells us unflinchingly that God "determined the times set for [us] and the exact places that [we] should live." You see, even your current location is part of the set-up for your kingdom destiny. As we learned in one of our earliest verses on providence in this series, in Christ "we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" (Eph 1:11) These realizations should be stunning and marvelous to us, exploding our lives with significance.
The hard truth of Mordecai's exhortation to Esther also applies to us. We can refuse to walk in obedience to God or cower in fear from our calling and He will undoubtedly still accomplish His agenda. As for us, however, we will pass up the fulfillment of our own entire life purpose and we-and perhaps even "our father's family"-will miss a mighty work. Frighteningly, perhaps even a mighty deliverance. One of our biggest obstacles in our most important moments "for such a time is this" is the destiny-serving task.
The unanswered questions.
Know the feeling? So do I. Every giant-size weight drops into our laps right on schedule. None of our purposes will be fulfilled easily. All of them will require the most difficult decisions we think we can make. Decisions that we may feel will practically kill us. Then God does something miraculous and we become something we're not. That's when "who knows?" becomes "I know."
At some of the hardest times in my life, I have been able to make the more difficult choice out of pure blind-eyed, bent-kneed acceptance that it was somehow part of a greater plan. I was beaten by a conviction that throbbed relentlessly against my strong self-centeredness. As much as my flesh wanted relief, I knew that when all was said and done, I'd sit on that side of glory having much rather fulfilled my calling than served myself all the way to meaninglessness. I had to accept that I was not called to an easy life. I was called to a purposeful life.
At strategic times of internal war I stop and ask myself, "What if this is a critical moment? What if this very thing, this very decision, is the most important piece of the puzzle comprising my purpose?"
God has profoundly used the conviction that those heightened times of decision in my toughest trials could be "make it or break it" moments in my destiny. Much like Mordecai suggested, I always knew God would accomplish His will and do what He intended, but if I made a man-ward (vs God-ward) decision, I'd be left of a divine loop that would eventually mean everything to me.
Beloved, in the times of greatest struggle when you make the God-ward decision over convenience, earthly comfort, or carnal pleasure, you too have come to a critical moment in the fulfillment of your destiny. A defining moment. A war is being waged over your head in the unseen realm, and a great cloud of witnesses is cheering you on. You have no idea what's at stake.
-Beth Moore, "Esther"
See I told ya:) My favorite part, I think, is the last part.....A war is being waged over your head in the unseen realm, and a great cloud of witnesses is cheering you on! That my friends is worth every bit of the persecution we are going through right now! I think I remember asking God to chisel away the bad stuff. Well, He's working overtime, but it'll be worth it!! No pain no gain:)
So for now, God has put us here in this very moment, and in this very place "for such a time is this."
Esther 4:14
Lace - Only Grace