How do you name or call your suffering ?

August 26, 2023

Maria Healing, Isaiah 46, Isaiah 54, suffering, Words , , , , , 2 Comments

I (God) declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ Isaiah 46:10 Berean Study Bible

I’ve been reading a book about one’s identity, recommended by Graham, And David Perceived He was King. Dale Mast, the author, reminds his readers that whoever creates has the authority to give his ‘artwork’ a name. But in the Garden, the ultimate Creator, God, delegated that responsibility to Adam. Whichever name our primogenitor chose, so it was. Deciding what each would be called was just the first step in Adam’s given work. God’s mandate to be fruitful, rule and govern this earth illustrates our Father’s intention to transfer some of his power and authority to care for his world.

In one section of the book, Mast circles back to Adam’s first task with the animals by asking his readers: What are you going to name your future? He writes,

‘There are many things and situations that God will bring in front of us, waiting to see what we will name it – and what we name it, it shall be!’

I’m not a ‘name it and claim it’ believer.  Yet, undeniably there is power in what we declare.  Through this book, God has been rearranging how I think about one of his purposes in my life.  I’ve mentioned the pain experience God has ‘gifted’ me with in the past six months.  As a data gal, I have kept track of each day’s ups and downs and treatments.  And when people have asked me how I am, I’ve briefly described the seeming ‘ongoingness’ of the pain.

But several days ago, I stopped.  I said out loud: I’m done with this.  I’m NOT going to record each day in my journal. And when people ask me how I’m feeling, I’ll simply say, ‘I’m getting better, thanks for asking.’

Privately, but with my voice so Maria can hear, I DO give thanks to Jesus for healing me.  I sense that I am to declare this truth before I see and feel the evidence of its reality. Afterall, that is what a promise taken on faith is. The Centurion believed Jesus. The prophet’s widow obeyed Elisha. Peter trusted the Savior and stepped out on the waves as though they were solid and immobile. The list goes on.

This lesson in believing and declaring what God says is something I have to learn before the next adventure he has programmed. It’s possible that Satan has wanted to disable me, in order to discourage me. Other physical afflictions over the past 12 months have been bizarre.  But as the Lord says:  No weapon that is formed against you will succeed….. Isaiah 54:17 NASB

Yes, there has been pain, but the rich teaching from God has more than compensated. I have chosen to receive all as gift. Some of his bestowing has stung me emotionally. Once he pointed out, to my shock, the ongoing stream of negative silent judgments I habitually make about people and even about God, himself. I am learning immediately to repent.

Repentance is a good thing. Wasn’t it Martin Luther who said, ‘all of life is repentance.’?

My ‘suffering’ has been minor compared to many.  But suffering is suffering. And we are not to compare our God-ordained path with others so as to minimize ours. 

A friend at church recently shared about the 3 most difficult years of her marriage. Thanks to the providential initiative of a distant cousin with whom she hardly ever communicated; this lonely wife received boatloads of God-centered encouragement.  She felt the Lord’s presence in ways she hasn’t since, ‘almost to the point where I would go through those years again, just to know God’s presence’ she mentioned.

God still calls us to ‘name’ our experiences.  What we say out loud can change us.  So, I am choosing to declare that God HAS healed me. I’m certain that in the coming weeks and months, I will find out all the nuances of this healing.

What do you want most in life?

August 4, 2023

Maria 1 Kings 3, Desire, God's will, John 15, Matthew 6, Matthew 7, Psalm 2, Psalm 37, The Lord's Prayer, Words , , 2 Comments

… the LORD appeared to Solomon …. in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you………I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…” 1 Kings 3:5, 12 NIV

Do you have your 15-30 second elevator speech ready?

Aspiring, focused visionaries, whether actors or entrepreneurs, know what they want and prepare themselves to ask without hesitation should the ‘right person’ come along. When they step into an elevator and recognize someone who might facilitate a connection or provide a contact they are ready to make the ask and give their why without shame or stumbling around.

King Solomon similarly prepared himself.  He knew what he lacked, which skill or quality without which he could not rule the people entrusted to him.

This is easy to imagine. For as the newly enthroned king, can’t you just picture the depth and weight of his overwhelm, following in the footsteps of his dad, King David?

We know that God loved Solomon, for he chose THIS son, NOT David’s oldest, to govern his own people.  The Almighty illustrates his tender care by coming to the new ruler in the middle of a night’s anxious tossing and turning.  When the Father asks Solomon what he wants or needs, the young king is ready with his ask. You know that if he is dreaming this encounter, his desire has penetrated the deeps of his heart.  This is no casual afterthought. 

From this conversational dream, I note the power of our words, our pleas for help, underscored by God’s response to Solomon, who requested understanding to govern.  God’s quick response literally is, ‘I do or I bring about or I make happen according to your WORDS.’  What we speak, reflects our core beliefs and our words matter more than we imagine.

What David’s son requested; God granted. Solomon’s ‘spoken’ words in his dream sprang from his heart’s desires.

God teaches us to learn, know, desire, guard and declare what his Word proclaims. As my friend, Mayra, says: ‘our words augment or build up our faith’.  Of course, any unbelieving word we speak, an articulated belief which don’t fit reality (aka: God’s truth), quite naturally diminishes and damage our confidence in God.

Cycling back to my initial question, just what is it that you desire?  God both evaluates and encourages our desires.

Psalm 37:4 Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire. (NAB)

Are you and I ready to tell God what we want?  I am!  Pain has convinced me of that.  I have asked God to heal my body and I am proclaiming to myself and to others that he already has. It is what I most desire right now.

Maybe some of you feel uneasy with this lavish but serious fact about God.  Your counter argument might go, “We can’t just ask God for a Maserati because that is what we desire!” Well, why not?

I believe our Father trusts all of his children who delight in, who LOVE more than anything just to be with him, to listen to him, to hang out with him.  Isn’t that what the text says?  Those who LOVE his presence and company above all else in the world are invited, are encouraged to take him up on his offer.

Jesus taught likewise.  John records the Savior’s promise to the disciples in John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (NAB)

‘Remain in Jesus. Delight in God more than in anything or anyone.’ I don’t see any contradiction between loving God with my whole heart so that I want to be near him throughout the day and night AND still desiring other, lesser things.

Taking God simply at this word, I’ve asked and I’m daily asking Jesus for healing. And that’s just the top of my list of desires.

But what if my desires are not in God’s will? I would counsel, get some practice praying for what God’s word DOES tell us we are to ask. ‘Pray like this:  …..Holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Matthew 6:9  Ask of me and I will give….Psalm 2:8. ‘Ask, and you shall receive.  Matthew 7:7.’   

Dallas Willard addresses our fear of being TOO out there with our longings by sharing an illustration of why God trusts us, giving us liberty to ask what we want.

“When our children were small, they were often completely in my will as they played in the back garden, though I had not told them to do the particular things they were doing. They would still have been within my will even if they were playing in their rooms or having a snack in the kitchen.” (page 27, Hearing God through the Year)

Where were his kids at this time? They were abiding in their father’s house, with him. He was within an ear’s range.  They could do what they wanted; all the while attentive to Dad’s call. But I bet my last bite of avocado that if their father had called to them to come share a board game or to play hide-and-seek or fight imaginary dragons they would have come running.  Time with Dad was what they most delighted in.

So, I ask you, what do you want?  Give me an idea of at least ONE thing.