(A blog from 11/17/2018 in Nsoko, Swaziland)
These past three months I have been reading through the Old Testament, so far I have read through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and I am currently in Deuteronomy. In the past I have struggled reading through some of these books, but the Lord has been bringing it alive as I have been reading through them again. The Lord has reminded me of His indescribable power. Beginning with His creation, the 10 plaques brought upon Egypt, His glory that was shone on Mount Sinai, water flowing from the rock, the tabernacle, the pillar of the cloud of fire. God is so powerful!!!! And the same God that did all those crazy things in the Bible, He lives within our hearts today.
I used to get jealous of the Israelites and all of the people who were lead by God throughout that time because God seemed to reveal himself so clearly to them. As I have been reading through I have found myself getting impatient with the Israelites. Like really? You still want to go back to Egypt after God split the Red Sea for you to walk through? Could He be more clear? And I have come to realize that the same hesitancy that was within the Israelites was living inside of me too. The Israelites turned to physical idols and images that they could see and touch because they were impatient with God. In some way, I have too. I have gotten impatient when I felt as if God wasn’t moving mountains or splitting the Red Sea before my eyes. Without realizing it, I had been harboring bitterness that God hasn’t shown Himself to me in crazy ways like He did in the Bible. He even warned the Israelites about being careful not to bow down to things that were easy to bow down to just because they could physically see it…
“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female.” – Deuteronomy 4:15-16
“You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice”
-Deuteronomy 4: 12
“Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages…The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” -Psalm 135: 13-18
Little did I know I was creating an idol; expectations. I essentially was putting God in a box. Limiting His power. Because no matter how big or small it may seem to us, He is at work. We must not limit His power! God is in all the details, the little things, and He also shows Himself in the big things as well.
Which brings me to a story I would like to share…
I beheld God’s power tonight in a way I have never before. Picture this, It’s nighttime at our compound and its a violently windy night. All of a sudden I am rushed outside to look at the sky that is a vibrant orange. I look a little closer and it is a massive fire raging in the distance. I am not exaggerating when I say M A S S I V E. Some people could even smell the smoke from miles away. We were all standing there and our hearts began to break imagining the children and families that we encounter each day possibly in this fire. We felt helpless watching the fire grow brighter as the wind fanned the flames bigger and bigger. Our first instinct was to simply pray. We lifted our prayers and hands to heaven asking for God to calm this fire. Within seconds we watched this massive fire completely vanish before our eyes.
“It was as if God licked his thumb and shoved it right on top of that fire”-quote from Abigail.
And let me tell you, instantly after there was no trace of a fire whatsoever. No remnants of smoke in the sky at all. It completely vanished. We were awe struck. Immediately after we were filled with an all consuming fire, it was as if the fire had moved from miles away and into our hearts. We began worshipping and praising God for what He did right in front of our eyes.
God showed His power to my friends and I that night not to give me what I was thirsting for, but to remind me that He doesn’t work alone. He wants us to partner with what He is doing on earth. We are His vessels. And it takes us having faith and taking those steps in obedience for Him to work. Not us stepping forward on our own, but through Him alone. By us fighting in prayer for this fire, He allowed it to be gone. Sometimes it isn’t always like that, sometimes when we take a step He doesn’t show up how we wanted Him to, but that doesn’t take away His goodness and power.
Thank you Lord for showing me your power, I pray that you will put out fires in each and every one of our lives whether it is big or small. May we not look to you with expectations, but open arms for what you are going to do through us. We are your vessels, lead us and use us wherever you may.
Thank you God.
