You hem me in–behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5

Have you ever sat in a teaching in which you felt the leaders spent the week with you?  Writing in this blog has been so healing for me.  I pray it’s ministering to you.  That’s my prayer!  At one point the pastor shared about Joshua (previous post) and Caleb.  Remember that Joshua and Caleb saw the promises of God and had confidence to defeat the giants?  The pastor added to that post without realizing it! ( reference: Clover Hill Assembly of God, Pastor Stan Grant)

“And do not fear the people of the land. For they are our bread.”
– Num. 14.9

What?!  Those giants are bread?  The pastor began to explain that when you face the storms of your life you have two choices.  You can fold and allow the enemy to work his plan of distraction from God, or we can eat our bread!  We can say, “Bring it on!”, embrace it, and know that our God who is ALWAYS IN CONTROL has a plan for us in this storm.  He began to share “What ifs?”  By now you know I’m a what if person to a fault. 

What if God would have delivered Daniel before the lion’s den?  What if God would have killed Goliath before David?  What if Shadrach and his buddies would have been delivered before the fire?  Can you imagine not being able to read the story about the fourth man in the fire!  Oh Glory!  We will never know God as Redeemer if we are never in need of redemption.  We will never know God as healer, if we never have a situation of sickness.  We will never have a testimony without a test!  Eat the bread(the giant) and know that God will provide, be present, and carry you through.

The worship time branched off into a time of speaking out loud our praises and needs.  During that time God revealed something in my heart so powerful that I began to pray for mercy, grace, healing, and clarity.  The worship leader began to pray in unity with God’s message to my heart – only the Spirit can do that….Thank you Jesus.

(Picture is of SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO in the fiery furnace.  Look who is with them!  Jesus!  Dancing through the fiery storm! Just chatted with Spencer about the story, and he suggested I put a link to this powerful Bible story for those who may have not heard it!  http://christianity.about.com/od/Old-Testament/a/Shadrach-Meshach-Abednego.htm) 

Honestly, if I can share, I’m struggling with loneliness in some areas of my life that are very troubling to my soul.  I had the guts to share that a little this week with my husband, a friend, and now with you.  I read a post on Amanda Nesbitt’s blog about being vulnerable, and realized as open as I am, there are some areas not so much. This morning’s songs, words, prayers were about loneliness.  How did they know?  The Spirit knew.  Thank you Jesus.  I had been praying for my soul to find rest and peace in Jesus and shed this loneliness feeling.

How can I be lonely when there is a God who has hemmed me in before I entered this world, and has hemmed me in all the days of my life, and has His hand on me? Oh gosh!  Remember the post of being in the womb (Face to Face)?  Imagine God hemming you in this beautiful spiritual womb of His love, and He is caring for you.  His hand is laid upon you.  You never leave His presence!  NEVER!

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.  Numbers 14:24

Sweet Father

I pray that I would have a different spirit and follow you wholeheartedly when I face my giants, my struggles.  What would it be like to proceed into the storm with the attitude of “eat the bread!”  Jesus consume my life and renew my spirit to be able to sit in the lion’s den, face the fire, or kill my goliaths with this knowledge and truth!  Jesus, I was reminded that in the prayer you tought us to pray you ask us to pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread.”  Oh father when the bread of the day is painful, help me to eat it knowing that when I pass through the storm, I will be restored in such a way that miracles happen, I’m changed for the better, and You have a plan.  Heaven is not confused or panicked – Heaven has a plan for us, each of us individually, and as we work together in Your love.