You ever feel like a piece of you is missing? I suppose we all do at times. Have you ever lost anything of significance? People lose things all the time, car keys, eye glasses, jewelry, even their kids. I remember one time I lost my son, Christopher, in the Oaks Mall. I was a very young mother and was panicking! Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (about 2 minutes), a lady asked me if I was looking for a young baby about 2 years old. UH YEAH #@^&*!
After raising that thought, let me ask you another question. What if that something that is lost — is you? The Bible says that our sin separates us from our God. But what if we don’t recognize that sin; how can we recognize the separation? We just meander around aimlessly at life believing the lies of the enemy that our life is, well, useless and this is the norm – nothing will ever change. We even live our lives vicariously through the adventures of others. Are you missing – out on life?
I don’t ever want to be there. How about you? Have you ever been there? Are you there now?
I have to tell you. I believe in the call that God has placed on my life! I get extremely excited when I think about the powerful things that He says I can do in His name.
As a minister of reconciliation, I am called to speaking largely at conferences, seeing countless lives coming to the cross and being transformed. Let me touch on that a minute. If you are a pew warmer, you are not a transformed life. You are just a saved soul, maybe! There is a difference.
Erwin McManus, author of the book “Chasing Daylight” speaks about taking a stand by living the dream that God has placed inside of our hearts. He said, “For so long, we as Christians have wanted to be known for what we do, but we should be known for what we stand for.” This quote resonates within my heart.
I am not “chasing” a dream; I am “going after” my dream and would even dare to believe that very soon, I will be living out my dream.
The Lord has been faithful to open the doors I have prayed about for years. Now, it is up to me to be faithful to walk through them. As a woman who loves control, I don’t like not knowing. I get anxious at times. I’m not a victim of the fear-of-the-unknown syndrome. I simply do it afraid.I love living life on the edge. It balances my zeal somehow. The other day, I signed up randomly to go on a 12 mile canoe trip. Shew, I thought my arms were going to fall off, and I got sunburned too, but I would not have missed it for anything in the world, even not knowing anyone on the trip. I have also traveled to Thailand and Israel all by my little self. I love it! It helps looooving missions too. I love different cultures. I love widows and orphans. I love prostitutes. I love the forgotten. I want to go to the unreached, the people who have never heard in their ears, Jesus. I can not wait to just go and go and go.
Last night, at a Perry Stone conference, I saw over 200 people get baptized in the Holy Spirit at one time! It was amazing, breathtaking even! I was in such awe at what God had just done right before my eyes. However, just think of the courage it took for them to step forward and ask God for this wonderful gift. Imagine the questions going on in their heads, “What will people think?” “Is this for real?” “Can I really receive this?” We’ve all grappled with such questions. The answer was, is, and will always be Yes and Amen. Yes and Amen to all of your questions when you put God as the Headship of your life. Allow the Lord to rebuke fear and doubt and then get on with your predestined life. You know the one. God planned it from the foundations of the earth. The author of life and laughter.
Though things don’t always appear to be “right,” know that God sees the end from the beginning. Trust in Him with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and HE WILL guide your steps into a life you could have never dreamt of on your own. He will mount you up on Eagle’s wings. Oh if we could grasp just how deep, how wide, The best part is that He really wants to do that for you and for me.
