A lot has happened in the few weeks in between now and my last blog. I have seen and experienced miracles and wonders that only can be explained as God things.
God has been blessing me and providing for me in ways that I wasn’t even bold enough to ask for.
Recently, I’ve been learning a great deal about God, myself and the state of our relationship. It’s funny how the more I learn, the more I am blown away at how little I truly know about our Father. I have been humbled, shocked and honestly saddened by what we have accepted and adopted as a “normal relationship” with Him.
In my quiet time, I am reading through Exodus, and I’m bamboozled at how many parallels I see between then and now. I am in awe of Moses and his relationship with the Lord. I’m also reading a book called “Drawing Near” by John Bevere. This is a book about living a life of intimacy with God. This reading cocktail has changed everything for me. There’s a point where both of my readings intersect, and it smacked me in the face in the most reckoning and awesome way.
In this book, John Bevere states that after years of evaluation, there’s two types of Christians.
Ones who love God for what He can do, and ones who love God for who He is.
As an example, he talks about the Israelites in their deliverance from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land. The Israelites worshipped God when He did what they wanted (rescue from bondage, splitting the sea and destroying pharaoh’s army, etc), but then rejected Him when their “best interests” were not met (living in the desert, scarce food and water, etc). While on the other hand, Moses simply loved God for who He is, he truly encountered God and after that, earnestly desired His presence more than the blessings that were promised to him. At one point, Moses told God that He would rather wander in the desert WITH God than go into the Promised Land WITHOUT Him. Moses clearly understood the magnitude of who God is and how desperately He needed to stay in His presence.
For many of us, it’s kind of similar to marrying a man (or woman) for their money. Loving them for simply what they have to offer and how they can benefit you. All the while, neglecting intimacy and deeper connection with them.
Seems pretty gross and shallow, huh.
This is what we are doing to God! And yes I say “we” because me too!!!
We as Americans have this big, fat tendency to love the gift more than the giver. We pray and plead for provision, prosperity, healing and countless other things, but how quick we are to forget Him soon after He answers. How much quicker are we to become upset and neglect this divine relationship when He doesn’t.
It seems like many people imagine God as this far away wish-granting entity. When in reality, God wants to be near to us! He already knows everything about us, and He wants us to know and love Him too! (I mean, He literally came TO us to personally deliver the most incredible gift in the history of all the universe). Constantly throughout the Bible, God is revealing His nature and character to us. He is constantly introducing us to himself and identifying His character through names and stories.
With all this being said, I want to share with you a few things that God has been doing for me. But more importantly, I want you to see just a small portion of WHO God is.
1. 48 hours after posting my blog about giving away my gear for the next year, God used two incredibly generous people to replace EVERY. SINGLE. ITEM.
2. The NEXT day, God used a detective to return my camera (which was stolen from my car amongst all of my other tech gear that I was going to take on the Race).
3. He provided OVER $3,500 in donations in 10 days. TEN DAYS.
LOOK AT GOD!! I am still in awe at his goodness and power. I remember talking about one of these things on Instagram, and the amount of responses I got from people who were absolutely blown away were staggering. People are getting to see God’s hand at work in my life and that is one of my favorite parts about joining the World Race. This isn’t just my journey, but it’s your journey too. I want you all to see what He is doing, but more than that, I want you to experience WHO is His through this journey.
God is gracious. I have done nothing to deserve Him, and there is nothing I could ever do to earn His favor, it’s 100% unmerited. Regardless of the kind of day I’m having. Regardless of the mountain I’m standing on or the valley I’m walking through. He still pursues me, meets me where I am and points everything back to himself. He loves to bless His children, He loves to reward faithfulness. He STILL provides and cares for me, despite me. Which is beautiful news because there’s a hefty amount of times that I don’t even care too much for myself.
God is trustworthy. He hears and He answers. He calls and He moves, and He does so in mighty ways. He simply asked that I trust Him. Even when life is hard and even when it seems like time is running out, He is there. Even if it’s not what or how I intended, God’s intentions will always be better than my own. God is the only person who will never let me down, and He has proven that time and time again. He called me to step out in faith and then He showed up and provided gear replacements and funding. I’m never surprised by God, because I know what He is capable of, but He never ceases to amaze me.
I could go on, but I think I made my point. My prayer for this blog is that you become aware of what your heart is truly after. Do you desire God for what He can do for you? Or do you desire God for who He is? I will say, God doesn’t always give us what we ask for. That’s why we all need to take a good, long, and probably uncomfortable look at our hearts and what is our actual driving force. When it’s truly God who your heart is set on, the rest is just a bonus! It’s certainly a lot to chew on but I encourage you to start asking yourselves these questions. My prayer is that God opens your eyes to the state of your relationship with Him. My prayer is that we all adopt a Moses-like longing for God and His presence!
P.s. thank you to everybody that has prayed, donated and supported me in my journey so far! Thanks to you, I hit my December deadline EARLY and am now over 50% funded!! I am still a ways from being fully funded, so please continue to support through frequent prayer and/or financial blessings. Like I said before, this isn’t just my journey, it‘s yours as well. Through your generosity, we WILL Make Heaven Crowded
xx Em
