Encouragement
Well, now that many of us have made it through the holidays once again, it is time to reflect back on God’s goodness, and look towards the future with expectancy and hope. Recently I was wondering at times if I really hear from God or not. I have been desperately praying and seeking a breakthrough regarding a personal matter.
Last week during my time of seeking after God, my husband had a need. He was in search of a very important paper he had put in my trust to file appropriately where it belongs. Let me say, I do not remember him putting it in my trust, but that is how he remembers it. We were turning the house upside down looking for it. Ever been there? Of course I was feeling guilty not even remembering the incident where he told me to take care of it, nevertheless not seeing the document in several months.
In our frustration we tried to hold back from lashing out at each other in stress over it. After relinquishing all the options of where I thought the paper could be, I gave up and went on to bed. It was already 10:30 at night. As I lay there knowing my husband was taking apart all the files in the file cabinet, I quietly prayed, “Where in the world is it God?” It was then I heard a familiar Voice. “It’s in the orange bag in the storage room.” I argued with that Voice innocently replying, “What orange bag?” I had all but forgotten about an orange bag of filing that needed to be done last February. I answered the Voice saying, “I’ll get up and check it out tomorrow.” Instantly the rebuttal came, “My Daughter, get up now and go!” Scrambling to my feet I reluctantly went upstairs into the storage room. Whenever I have ignored God's voice it has always brought about a detrimental end.
Turning on the light I scanned over the room and guess what? Sure enough amongst many boxes was an orange bag that had some computer parts on top of it. Getting one glance I instantly remembered that bag, but could not remember ever placing an important document in it. As I picked up the bag and started probing through it, I found the document in about ten minutes. I was grateful I had listened to that familiar Voice. Embarrassed and humiliated I reluctantly approached my husband with the document and let him know I had found it, proving to him of course it was my fault. He was relieved because he was agitated and very tired. He said, “Thank you,” as I went on to bed. I was still very frustrated with myself when I had finally drifted off to sleep.
Still in pursuit of a personal answer to prayer, the following day I asked God to let me hear from Him” He almost laughed in my reply as He answered, “Child, did you not hear from Me last night?” With joy I replied, “Yes, Lord I did!” So laying out my request one more time before Him, I went about my day knowing that there was going to be a breakthrough soon! That afternoon I received a call to go minister in Guatemala, and thus God answered my prayer.
I have remembered Gods promise in Exodus,
“And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him,
for I am gracious.” Exodus 22:27
My pastor just shared a powerful message this last Sunday. He said, “If it is dark (meaning that if you do not hear God), stand still until the Light comes (meaning Jesus). I realized I had done exactly that and thus I am filled with joy and anticipation towards what God is doing in my life.
In closing I want to encourage you. Look forward with expectancy to the upcoming year. Many times we can tend to look forward to the future reluctantly because we have not seen God move in the past. It has been helpful to me to take time to journal what God is saying to me and what I am experiencing. It is then that I have been able to see where God has moved in the past which ultimately gives me hope for the future. This next year is filled with hope and expectancy as I realize not only do I hear from God, but He hears me!
Copyright 2004 Passion House Ministries, Jane E. Morin
http://passionhouseministries.com
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Jane, Your article is great! Though a widow now, I still feel the pain of being so detached from the time when something so significant happened and needed to be remembered. But I also know the deep gratitude for the Lord's response to my need. I see Rom 8:28 working, and it's like the Lord deliberately blocks our memory so that He can show us how easy it would be if we always consulted Him on things that we feel very adequate in solving for ourselves. Thanks for sharing such a personal experience so readers/writers can listen and learn. God bless you as you go on sharing. Gerry
Thanks for sharing this story. It put me in rememberance of many things. God bless.
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