“To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.”
OSWALD CHAMBERS
God has been speaking to me a lot through the day of Pentecost. You know those times when God keeps bringing the same passage up over and over again? It is like you can’t get away from it, kind of like He is trying to speak to you, and being very patient for you to actually understand? Yes, well it is one of those times, and everywhere I go there is Acts 1-2. You can run, but you can’t hide…
The disciples wanted to know what the heck was going to happen and Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit. So the men stayed and devoted themselves to prayer until the Spirit came.
The disciples didn’t have a plan. They were clueless. But sometimes uncertainty forces us to pray like it depends on God. And that is what the disciples did for ten days.
I have been getting anxious about all the uncertainty that lies ahead of me, all the unknown, all of the things that I need to do before I leave, all of the things that I don’t feel prepared for, and God is saying, “Katherine, you are worried and upset about many things, you are spending all of your energy making plans for me. My daughter, come to me, seek me, love me, set your mind on me, and I will give you REST. You can stand or you can fly, but I will be your Rock and I will give you wings" (no not Red Bull wings).
I’m not sure how the day of Pentecost started, but I’m pretty sure the disciples hit the snooze button three times before rolling out of bed, sang in the shower, put their pants on one leg at a time, brewed coffee, and read the Jerusalem Post. There is no way they could have predicted Pentecost. But if you seek God for ten days in an upper room, Pentecost is bound to happen. (In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson)
I was watching the end of the movie “The Book of Eli” the other day and I actually had no idea what was going on, but I knew that Will Smith was hurting some folk trying to protect this book, and He was looking mighty good doing it, but in one of the scenes He stops and looks over at the other girl in the movie (the one from “That 70’s Show”) and He says, “I have been so worried about keeping this book safe, that I have forgotten what it says”. I found this to be a very profound and applicable line.
So I ask myself, what if I actually did what they did in the bible? What if I sought God with some ancient intensity instead of spending all my energy trying to eliminate His surprises?
I believe God is leading me to fast and pray for these next eleven days. A lot of justification came into my head when I was trying to make this decision…like “well I’m not technically going to be able to “stay in Jerusalem” because I am going to my cousins wedding this weekend” or “maybe I should wait another week” or “no I need to make sure I am eating well”, but than a quiet voice says, “I am bigger, I am stronger, I am greater, I am better, I am more, I am everywhere, I am now, I AM”. Alrighty than, Acts 1-2 here I come!
If you feel led, I would love people to join me in prayer and fasting,Tuesday-next Friday. I will be devoting each day to one of the eleven countries I will be in as well!
Thank you so much to all of you, for all of your constant encouragement and support. I stand in awe of how God has used you in my life! Bless YOU.
I am still gathering a band of prayer warriors for my trip and have about $6,000 to raise. Let me know if God has sparked your heart to join my team in anyway!!
