Psalm 84:11, “v11) For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give favor and honor; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.”
Wow did the Lord teach me a beautiful lesson about the Promises of those Scriptures! This entry is going to be a little different than the rest of my posts just because this is a personal and relational experience that I want to share with every eye that is led to read this! The experience that I will share with everyone made me suddenly see MORE of the Hand of my Loving Lord God Almighty and tie together some loose ends that I'd been struggling with over the past few years. I recently wrote about the believers steps all being directed by God in my post titled, “For Such a Time as This.” It can be found at the following link http://shieldoffaith62.blogspot.com/2014/03/for-such-time-as-this.html for those of you who haven't read it yet or are first time visitors. It was an article that was meant for all of my readers, but in some divine appointed way, ended up being a prophetic writing to myself, for such a time as this! Although He was preparing me for something yet to come, He was giving me words and leading me through that entire article for each of you, as He always does when I write! How amazing God is when we allow Him to work in our lives!
It was around 11:15 pm on May 20th, 2014 when I was watching the evening news and to catch the weather report. It called for some strong thunderstorms in my area, early morning, but nothing that would alarm me in any way! Just another normal thunderstorm for this time of the year.....or so I thought. Shortly after they gave their forecast, I fell sound asleep on the couch! Not intentional, but it happens from time to time! A few hours later, around 1:30 in the morning on May 21st I suddenly awoke with this urge to pray for protection and safety for myself and my property, asking Him to find favor with His good and faithful servant, then asked the Lord to also protect the families in my neighborhood. The next thing I prayed for came as a strong prompting from the Holy Spirit, I prayed for the people to seek His face and call on Him! Why? Only the Lord knows the answer! I didn't think about it again and went back to sleep. Now for the sake of the experience, I must tell you, it is very RARE that I'm awakened to pray. The Lord speaks to me in many ways and for many reasons, but not usually waking me up to have me pray! I know many Christians who are called to do intercessory prayer, have heard some amazing stories, but that's not my calling. It's only happened a handful of times in my life!
Ok, so anyway, the timeline is now established. I fell back to sleep around 1:50 am and was in a DEEP restful sleep when around 4:25 am a loud lightning bolt CRASHED nearby and jolted me right out of my sleep! I flew off the couch, obviously confused as to what just happened. My heart was racing and when I finally gathered my wits about me, I realized it was lightning and we were having some HORRENDOUS weather out there! I flip on the news only to see a SEVERE line of storms right outside of my city and they were moving FAST and furious right in my direction! Within 15-20 minutes, I start to hear loud pops and flashes that WEREN'T lightning strikes and then the entire block lost power! Transformers all around the neighborhood blew! Electric poles fell over! And the winds were picking up at speeds I'd never witnessed before around here! At this point, I sensed it was going to be BAD! Rain started to fall. I sent a text around 5 am to a brother/friend in Christ in another state asking for prayers because he is warrior, a prayer warrior and God's warrior Soldier! I gathered my flashlights and found my cat hiding, which she NEVER does during storms, and I sat down for about 10 minutes in silence.......I received a response to my request for prayers and he said he'd been stirring and now he knew why! Then I heard cracking noises and a sudden whir!
Something flew against my home and shook it! It had already moved slightly from the powerful winds that weren't even at their fullest speed yet, I would find out in another few minutes! I immediately worried about my dead oak tree that was 12 feet from the side of the house where the couch is that I had been asleep on. I'm still unemployed and struggling (but blessed!) and cutting down a tree of that size is expensive so I choose to put the money towards my daily needs until I'm blessed with the job the Lord is preparing for me. So I prayed for that to stay standing and in one piece! Since I had no electric, I didn't have power to the tv. The wireless router that would give me internet was down and so were some of the cell phone towers so reception for internet was SCARCE at best. I didn't know if the area was under a tornado warning or what and I had no way of finding out! I finally was able to get a 4G signal BRIEFLY enough to see the radar path and it was rapidly approaching upon my neighborhood! I didn't have time to act, or think actually, and all of the sudden the wind whipped upwards of 80 MPH! The rains were so hard they were blowing sideways in the wind and quickly filling any crevice that would hold it! Debris, trash cans and roofing shingles were flying everywhere.....it was pitch black, hail coming down in some areas, trees uprooting, limbs cracking off, a few fires ignited, and I could hear metal tumbling in the street which I would find out later, were someone's siding 8 houses down from my house on ANOTHER street! I didn't take cover. I didn't have any time because it happened so fast! Not to mention that I didn't even know what was going on! This part of the storm's end, which carried the heaviest damages, lasted about two minutes but it felt like hours!!!! Then it was eerily still as quickly as it sliced through our block. A quiet calm. All except for fire trucks, police sirens and anything that made a faint noise echoed through the stillness!
I want to say that this is going to be another of my long posts because I will finish up the storm part and then tie things all together so you, too, can see the Hand of God upon me giving me favor! I'm going to speak just a few moments about favor and obedience and then will continue with the rest of this wonderful testimony! Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly requests our obedience to Him. He doesn’t really put much stock into our good deeds (because they aren't His priorities) or the talents that we may possess professionally, socially or even our emotional intelligence. Those qualities are all good in and of themselves, and we are to utilize them for HIS glory, in HIS Kingdom, for His purpose, but they are not His focus for us! All God really wants from us is our obedience to Him, to His voice and to His purpose. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to do what He asks us to do, say what He wants us to say, be who He wants us to be because acts of obedience prove our trust in Him! Obedience proves our love for Him. He wants us to totally, fully and unconditionally TRUST Him! Faith and Trust are the two things He admires most and it's those qualities that He most passionately responds to! They both stem from obedience. Our obedience to Him shows our love for Him. Are you aware that God desires to favor you with His blessings? Isaiah 30:18, “18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” The word "gracious" used in the first part of that verse literally means “to show favor” according to the Hebrew dictionary. In Psalm 5:12 we find these words: “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” In this verse, you have the promise from God of His shield of FAVOR surrounding you. You can't “earn” His favor because it's a gift that comes freely to you when you're born-again and given the righteousness of Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21)
Let's take a look at Genesis 39:2-5, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. v3) And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. v4) So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. v5) So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field.” Take note of Joseph’s attitude in the midst of his difficult situation. An attitude we all should adopt through our own trials and difficult situations! That kind of attitude is easy for some while harder for others. The scripture clearly tells us that he pleased and served his boss. We must work in cooperation with God’s favor. If Joseph had been bitter, resentful, spiteful, complained about his circumstances and resisted his boss’ instructions because he was in slavery, God’s favor wouldn't have operated fully in his life, if at all. We really need to cooperate with the Spirit of God in every single situation that we face, no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, miserable or terrible WE think they are. Going through difficulties in our lives are simply life lessons! Failing and falling makes us rely on the Lord, trusting Him more, and having a stronger Faith! It helps us become more Christ-like in our walks the closer we become with the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way we learn is by successfully coming through those difficult times and situations. Glory be to God the Highest! If we maintain a clear conscience, walk in love, remain free from bitterness and show grace and favor toward others, we will be able to receive the free-flowing of God’s favor in our own lives.
In Luke 4:18-19 we find Jesus’ declaration about Himself: “v18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; v19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus declared that He was announcing the day when the free favors of God profusely abound. Jesus came to bring us into the right relationship with God through His death and resurrection. And then, once a person enters this love relationship with God, he or she can receive the free favors of God in this life on this earth. God’s favor is a powerful weapon in any of the circumstances that you may be facing right this very moment. But exactly how do you “make a claim” for God’s favor to operate in your life? Like any promise of God throughout His Word, you first must accept His word as true and as TRUTH.
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| Microburst Diagram |
With that established, I am going to give you a little back story before I continue to share the rest of this story! I've really been going through some difficult times in the past few years. From a few bouts of unemployment which I'm currently going through now, both no fault of my own, to a pretty bad car accident which some of you may have read about in an earlier post. I'm always being tested, facing many, many difficulties and hurdles that not only strengthened my faith, but drew me closer to the Lord! And although there were times of great disappointments and trials, heartaches and loss, frustration and anguish, tribulations and pain, I managed to move forward with the strength I found in the Lord Jesus Christ! People let me down, but Jesus NEVER will! I kept a smile on my face, joy in my heart and a lot of laughter in my soul! I got down from time to time because everything, and I do mean, EVERYTHING all kept happening and wouldn't let up! And is STILL happening! But through the Lord, He sustained me, and still IS, made me stronger and gave me more and more testimony to share with others! All the while, He was teaching me many valuable lessons! My nickname was given to me...JOB! He went through trial after trial, loss after loss, but stayed faithful to God the entire time! Nothing Satan did to him could turn him away from God! And for his faithfulness and obedience, he was blessed with way more than what had been taken from him!
During these times, including right this moment, I've felt isolated, I've felt like I'd been abandoned and all alone. I've experienced rejection. I've experienced doubt, although fleeting. However, I've NEVER felt lonely because I always have Jesus by my side! There is a big difference between the two! I learned along my walk that it is much better to be without friends for a short time until the Lord brings the right ones into your life, than to be around the wrong ones just for the sake of having friends. I see this all too often when people are so afraid of being alone that they will cling to any friend just to have one. Oftentimes, they not only are the wrong ones, but they're worldly. A dangerous path to travel down is a path traveled with a worldly friend. ESPECIALLY if you're easily influenced! Or if you're a person who doesn't like to say no. Those friends lead you down a worldly path eventually because their influence isn't a Godly influence. Their advice isn't Godly advice. Their behaviors aren't Christ-like behaviors. At different times in my life, I've been without friends and it was during those times when I heard the voice of the Lord while also learning and growing in my faith and my relationship with the Lord. Then, in His faithfulness of His promises, He would bring someone else into my life.
Looking back upon my life, that seemed to be the typical cycle. I have plenty of acquaintances but there's also a difference between a friend and an acquaintance. I'm not afraid to be alone because I'm not afraid of being with myself! That's one of the biggest reasons people don't want to be alone.....they have to face themselves. Their thoughts are amplified and there's no diversion so they eventually have to deal with them OR they jump into relationships for the diversion. Some people would rather stick their noses into the lives of others rather than focus on their own torment and be delivered from their own demons. When you see people always in the presence of someone, always searching for an activity that results in being around someone, whether it be a relationship, a friendship or in a crowd, it's highly likely they are people who, not only are emotionally needy, but are also very much afraid of being alone. Over the course of my own life lessons, I've learned that being alone with my thoughts and the Lord have always been very cathartic for me in my personal life as well as my spiritual life. Don't get me wrong, God didn't design us to spend our lives totally alone....by that I mean, friendships and co-workers and all the other relationships that we have to encourage us and vice-versa. But sometimes.....
Many of my MAJOR trials have been no fault of my own while some of the other smaller trials have been because of a bad choice, jumping ahead of the Lord or not waiting long enough to hear His voice CLEARLY. The major trials are the ones that were the most significant in my life though! Even though they were, and some still ARE, the most difficult and trying times, God has guided my path, directed my steps and provided many blessings along the way. I never LOST anything! I came close. I worried a time or ten. But I kept remembering all of His promises! I clung to them so tightly that my knuckles hurt! My needs were always provided for and those needs were financial, spiritual and physical. He appointed people to be in my life during these times to help me financially with some bills, spiritually to encourage me and help me see how I was being led, and for emotional support when I was seriously at my wits end! He provided specific people to cross my path that would help me with, what would have normally been, expensive home repairs that were desperately needed. They'd been left unattended because of the many trials and hardships I began to have in my life. The closer I got to the Lord, the more intense the attacks of the enemy became! After awhile, those were issues that overwhelmed me because one at a time, I could choose not to look at it until I'd get back on my feet! But one repair led to two, and then before I knew it, well, I fell to my knees pleading with the Lord to help me!
Those specific men have remained within my reach for a year now and I can only say that finding them the way it happened, was a divine appointment through the hand of the Lord! They finally told me the story of how they came to be my helpers the day before the storm hit (which is part of the storm story) and we all laughed. They know my financial situation with being unemployed and they've blessed me in ways I will ONLY attribute to the Lord God Almighty's Divine Appointment! Of course, their expertise in their field of work as well! There was a stretch of time where my financial needs were too great of a strain in order to sustain myself while awaiting unemployment to go through the backed up system and through blessings given to me in favor, those were met with help from specific dear friends that I will never be able to thank enough! And a few other financial blessings along the way to meet my needs in between.
I'm going to list some of the things I've had to contend with, mainly alone without much support of anyone, (by that, I mean emotional support, not financial) just to give you a glimpse into my life, while at the same time to give you hope in knowing that ALL of God's promises are ours to hold onto through our obedience, faith and trust in our Savior! Then I will finish my story....the back story is important to know what I've been going through so you can see the steps that had been directed, to see the guidance that was leading me right where I needed to be, in front of who I needed to cross and how FAVOR played a HUGE role in this storm!!! Let's start with the list:
1) After just starting a new job, and after almost losing my home, and transmission in car went out. Car wasn't in good shape enough to put a new one in.
2) Bought a used car, through two gracious people, one being my dad, also put in my life for a specific season, and THAT transmission goes out a month after.
3) I stood firm in my faith in new job, began getting persecuted for it and the enemy attacked me heavily the entire time I was working there....
4) Gutter overflowing on a drop ranch so much it rotted out the soffits under the overhang, which lead to a HUGE leak in my ceiling WHILE unemployed from the job mentioned above.
5) Light fixture shorted, and lightswitch, no light in that room for nearly two years kept breaker off to that room.
6) Ended one friendship, while two others fizzled on their own.
7) Had two bad infections in my back teeth
8) Injured toe, eventually nail got ingrown and severely infected, removed half of the nail
9) Refrigerator door alignment off.
10) Toilet Seal eroded and leaked water in basement. Shut that valve off and prayed. Used other toilet.
11) Foundation wall crack got a little worse and began leaking water into garage (built in)
12) Deck is old and became extremely unsafe. It's located in the back part of the drop ranch so it's 8 feet off the ground! Railings, spindles and the support beams all needed replaced.
13) Wind damage knocked off a limb and knocked off the corner of my gutter, damaging some of roofing shingles. (Thankfully those only needed resealed and nailed!)
14) Riding Mower broke down. Too old to find parts to fix. Had to begin paying someone to mow. They suddenly never showed back up after two years of beautiful work. This summer found a Christian owned business and they're doing that
15) My heat pump on my central heat/air unit burned a wire into two pieces
16) Thermostat broke in the middle of the coldest month, also while I was awaiting unemployment to get through the system!
17) THEN the plumbing line totally clogged up that ended up having to be cut, cleaned, power flushed and put a piece to make future pipe cleaning easier. Couldn't use kitchen sink for over 6 months because my unemployment was next to nothing at that time and I had no resources. (Last May is when God placed those two aforementioned helpers in my path specifically for this job) Unbeknownst to me at the time, how valuable they'd become in my very near future!
18) Lost the job mentioned above, started a government time limited interim position 10 months later
19) 3 months after starting that job, I was in a bad car accident, totaled my car, knocked me unconscious, blood on my brain, neck injury that has changed some parts of the way of life that I live because I can't do some of the things I used to do. Suggests surgery, but it's too risky. I've prayed for protection and I just had to accept the fact that I need to be careful until, or IF, the Lord directs me to surgery. And dealing with other injuries sustained.
20) Had to find a vehicle while I was trying to work, trying to heal, trying to keep my sanity. God leads me to a private owner at the last moment, who "understood" and I got another vehicle
21) Job contract ended, completed successfully, unemployed since. That's the time the roof began leaking, gutters damaged, etc....
22) Car breaks down three times....God leads me to a new mechanic, a Christian, and fixes the two problems for next to nothing. Three other companies were talking big bucks and to fix something that wasn't needed.
And SO much more in between! You can only imagine how traumatic the accident was on top of all of the physical sufferings sustained in the accident and not having family near, just starting a job, trying to recover while also trying to support myself, forcing myself to work as much as I could in order TO support myself, and still having to deal with all the rest of the "stuff" that just seemed to keep being thrown at me. It was seriously overwhelming! Thank the good Lord for the sense of humor He gave me for my coping mechanism!
Now back to the storm! When the eerie stillness happened and everything just stopped, I gathered myself and my flashlight and went outside. There were still a few stray lightning strikes and thunder rolls but I had to see what I could see for myself. Strangely enough, I could only see one other person outside down the street doing the same thing as myself. The first thing I see is my pine tree laying within inches of my home and front room window!! Literally! It had been uprooted so I assessed it to make sure there wasn't any damage then walked around the roots to the tree that was DEAD! There was ONE big limb that fell and it WASN'T from the dead tree! How truly AMAZING this was for me to witness! I never gave a thought to the pine tree, but my 60-70 foot dead oak tree I did! I began thanking the Lord for protecting my home from that tree, and any other tree that was in the direct path of my house, and that's when it hit me about me being awakened to pray!!! Now I knew why the Holy Spirit stirred me awake in anticipation for the storm! Thank God I heeded His prompting! I then realized the slamming against my house was the pine tree. It must have hit the corner THEN landed within inches of the front room window!
I surveyed the rest of my yard and saw these metal siding strips, black roofing shingles and the underlay, along with Styrofoam (not sure what that was from but there was alot of it!) strewn all over my yard and my two neighbors yards. Since the power was still out and it was still pitch black outside, I couldn't tell where they came from or even if part of the roofing shingles were mine! I got a little concerned BUT my prayers were remembered and I praised the Lord AGAIN! I had peace. A peace that I can't explain but powerfully present nonetheless! I glanced across the street and noticed something out of sorts. I shined the light towards the house and saw their tree laying on top of their home, ruining their roof and structure! Later, when the sun came up and there was daylight, it also damaged the back of their home as well! This was a very LARGE tree! Fully mature and NOT dead! I shined my light down the street and it didn't look too good through the little light that I had. I had debris, leaves, broken branches and some smaller limbs down in addition to the big limb and the pine tree uprooted. I found someone's garbage lid as well. I went inside and prayed about the destruction to the area homes, for the things I couldn't see and for the people that would be affected by this terrible event. I prayed for my own peace for when the daylight came that I wouldn't see any major damage to my roof and that my food wouldn't be a total loss in my freezer. I knew the power outage was going to be a little longer than I'd first thought. And then I curled up with my cat, flashlight, cell phone and waited......
Within an hour, the sirens were everywhere! Red Cross vehicles were scouring the neighborhood assessing needs and damages. Within another hour, the sun began to rise on, what looked like, a war zone. It was heart wrenching! I felt a heavy heart over what I was seeing all around me! And for just a moment, as I looked around, it appeared that I was in a bubble! My street and two other streets off of mine, almost making a triangle, got hit hard! From my home and the neighbors directly across from me, all the way down the street to the left of us have trees. Then to the right of me and the neighbor directly across the street are pretty much in the clear. A few homes here and there are surrounded with them, but my side of the street down is the most heavily populated with trees. I tell you this because it looked like a war zone! Trees were uprooted, some were cracked in half, huge limbs everywhere, debris from everyone's roofs, yards and homes were everywhere! I was the only one on my side that didn't have a downed tree! Almost every person just on my side of the street alone, had some kind of damage. Roofs were torn off, decks were damaged, cars were damaged from hail and flying debris, garages destroyed, corners of roofs clipped and so much more. One house, about 4 houses down, looked like the entire back side had been ripped off because you could see right through it! My heart sank for what I was seeing and for what they must be experiencing! By now, others were coming outside. they were looking at the same mess I was looking at only most of those people were looking at their own damages.
Police cruisers were driving through the neighborhood making sure everyone was safe and if there were any needs. It was almost surreal to me! I walked out onto my deck and yet ANOTHER revelation came to me and I fell to my knees and praised and thanked the Lord AGAIN! The day before, those two wonderful helpers that had been directed to me, came and redid my raised deck support beams, railings and spindles. The flooring was good. This is mentioned above in my list of SOME of the trials I've endured. They were going to wait until after the rains, but for whatever reason they said, they decided to come that day! Well, after this storm, I KNEW why that "for whatever reason" meant! God appointed them to do the deck to make it sturdy enough to withstand the winds that were going to whip through in the next 14 hours!!!! He came by the day after the storm just to see if he would be able to remove the pine tree for me, and we went in the back to discuss a few things about the spouting, and we talked about the deck. I told him what I felt was the reason they were prompted to come the day before the storm was because of the damage it could have caused. He agreed!
The back of my home is on a hill so all the wind that comes from that direction is much stronger anyway, let alone something like this! God KNEW all of this in advance of it happening! Had my plumbing not been a problem for me, I'd have never met these two. They not only fixed my plumbing problem that took all day, they would eventually fix the majority of the other problems that needed attended to and while doing so, was honest about what I needed and didn't need! I asked him one time about something and they both said don't fix something that isn't broken. Well, I've said that all my life BUT I'm not the expert in home repairs so I question everything! God truly blessed me with these two! Each disaster I had in the house, and all of it happening at once with the majority while unemployed, they were there by divine appointment! In no way, in any other circumstance, would I have been able to afford someone else!
All the tree companies were beginning to show up and were lining the neighborhood streets! I was outside doing some clean-up of the things I was physically able to because of my neck injury that I've had to baby! My next door neighbor came out and was telling me what damage they received from a neighbors tree on the other side of them AND they had one of THEIR trees go down! She looked at my dead tree and looked down my tree line (which I have approximately 15-17 trees lining one side of the house) and she asked about my damage. I almost felt bad but I said I didn't have any, other than the pine tree being down. She was a little confused and looked at the tree again and said how "lucky" I was not to be "touched" by this because everyone else "appeared to be." Made another comment about being amazed that the dead tree survived THIS microburst! First of all, I do NOT believe in luck! As a born again Christian, luck is not part of my vocabulary! God blessed me and gave me FAVOR, just as I asked! I told her very politely that luck had nothing to do with it, but God had EVERYTHING to do with this protection! My clean-up was limited so I went inside to rest, to praise the Lord and to let this all sink in. Almost everyone to the left of my home was touched in some way by this devastating microburst! I wasn't able to get out of my garage because the electric was off and my neck can't handle the struggle of manually doing it but I knew as soon as the power came on, I was going to take a drive just around the immediate block to see the rest of the area.....
And the power came on! It had been off nearly 7 hours at this time, but would go off two more times before the day was over. The tree cutters and other services were across the street cutting away that huge mature tree that fell on the roof. I peeked down the street further and saw most of the street was full of these boom trucks! I looked out back off of my deck to the street directly behind me and saw one but heard more. Across the street, the local news station crews were out filming the damages sustained at the house with the huge mature tree that fell on their home! I got washed up, grabbed my camera and went to take a drive! EVERYTHING up to this point already had been thanked for, prayed for and praised! I drove the opposite direction to the street behind me, about 500 feet if that, because the other direction to the left was blocked with vehicles, and suddenly it was a reality! Everything became more real than what I knew already! Tears came to my eyes. My heart became heavier the further I'd inch through the mess left behind. I saw a woman sitting by a little tree in her front yard with approximately 6 coolers and her home was literally destroyed! I could see all the way through it. Her roof was gone, her garage was caved in and part of her backside was blown off, or knocked off by trees. I could only imagine the anguish she was feeling. I began to talk to the Lord while I was driving through just three streets. That's all that was needed to see the devastation that happened all AROUND me. House upon house had damage, some worse than others. Some structural, some just downed trees, some vehicles. It was really heartbreaking! I never took out my camera because I couldn't! I didn't feel right taking pictures of someone else's pain! Not those kind of pictures! If I worked for a news crew, then yes, it's my job. But I don't. And it almost seemed too awful that even I couldn't believe I thought to bring my camera in the first place! Although, photography is my hobby! I drove just another 30 feet and the only thing I could think of was the prayers that I said when I was prompted awake.....let others seek your face!! I pray that they do!!!
This didn't seem real to me even though I was visually SEEING it! By the time I returned home, I stood outside for a moment and once again, out loud, thanked the good Lord for His favor, for His protection and for His divine intervention! It was like everything flashed before me.....from my accident being allowed to happen, to having a severe clogging problem with my plumbing in order to cross paths with the two that would end up being a huge blessing to me! This is where I want to share the little short story of how they came to be.....I was leaving church one morning and someone came up to me and said that I'd been laid on their hearts and wanted to know how I was and if I'd found work yet. Mind you, this was someone that I RARELY see, let alone speak to! So I gave him a little run down and told him about my plumbing. He asked me how long it had been that way and when I told him, he kind of got this look on his face of determination and told me he'd see what he could do to find someone for me. Before I quickly finish this, I must tell you at this point, I've heard that line before....."let me see who I know....or who I can find...or what I can do." And never hear back from anyone! That's part of the disappointments that I experienced. So to me, what was going to be any different with this one......And THEN.....
The next morning I receive a call from him, giving me the number to these two. Told me to call them and they'd come out and check it out. I got off the phone and cried. I had one estimate before and asked if I could make payments because of my situation. NO payments were allowed and the cost was ridiculous. I lived with it and made do with what I had up to that point. So they come, they assess, they tell me they could do it for the money the other guy from church proposed (which at the time, I had no idea it was even on the table for the church to help with this) and scheduled a time to come back. Before they left, we talked about my hardships, my trials and how I'm honest, I just need a little help. They obviously felt my integrity because payments weren't an issue with them! Now THAT part is what I already knew because I took part in the odd initiation of it, when the Lord prompted the church member to approach me. A year later, on the day they did my deck before the microburst, is when I found the rest of the story out! I went outside and asked them exactly HOW were they found and how did they come to know the church member! They immediately began to laugh!
Before I continue, let me say first that TYPICALLY people get referrals, or know the work of the contractors. And especially someone like the church member!!! Ok, so here's the way the Hand of God worked this whole thing out for me! They said they'd began a job a few streets down from the member's house, and wasn't supposed to start it for a few more days but the weather held up so they went out that day. The church member drives by, backs up, and asked them if they did plumbing work. They said yes. The church member said, and I'm going to quote what they said, "Well, there's a nice lady at our church, who's having a really rough time, a special one, and could you help us help her, for x amount of money?" Just like that! He had no idea what kind of work they did, WHO they were, if it was guaranteed, if they were locals. NOTHING! So, they tell me after the church member left, they kind of laughed because they had no clue who this guy was and that they never got approached that way before. They said he was a very nice man, (which he is) and that there was just "something" in the way he spoke about me that they said ok. And been helping ever since. Not only did the Lord direct the steps of the church member but also allowing all the "rejection" and disappointments to happen. Without those moments of rejection and disappointments, I'd have never learned what it really meant to NEED something so badly, but having to WAIT for HIS timing, for HIS direction and for HIS guided steps! I've always been a patient person, something the Lord has blessed me with, but this kind was something new! He showed me just how many people He did use in order to bless me, to give me favor and to help protect me! Literally through the storms!
And what was sacrificed, was restored even better! People asked how I could live without my toilet working. I have two. They'd ask how I could go without using my kitchen sink.....I used the bathroom sink, paper plates and plastic forks/spoons. They would ask how I was able to make it with little money, I'd tell them the promises of the Lord to provide daily for my needs. They would ask how I haven't broken down or turned from God because of all the trials and hardships. I'd tell them because I have joy in my heart, Faith in the Lord and trust Him implicitly and whatever hardships I've endured, and are currently enduring, it's all for the glory of God! It's for His purpose, in His time, for His Kingdom. It doesn't even begin to compare to the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, dying on the cross for our sin debt to be paid in full! I've broken down in tears a time or ten, but that's to be expected. I have emotions and sometimes they come flooding out. But I never once lost hope. I never once got mad at God and turned from Him!! As a matter of fact, I turned TOWARDS Him even more! He was the only one sustaining my spirit, my life and my emotional well being! This whole experience of the microburts, the tremendous loss in this neighborhood, and the bubble of protection and favor that was laid upon me, has forced me to look over everything in the past few years to see how the Hand of God was all through it! Never once letting me fall. Never once letting me go without. I may have had to strip down to the bare essentials, but I'm not a material person anyway. It humbled me and made me appreciate things, blessings and life MUCH more! It makes it harder for me to question "Why me, Lord?" Why NOT me? Whatever the Lord is doing in my life only He knows! As witnessed through looking back on everything He's done FOR me! Proverbs 3:5-10, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; v6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. v7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. v8) It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. v9) Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; v10) So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine."
The clean-up will continue for days. The rebuilding will continue for days. The broken spirits will take time to mend. I'm sure many people are asking the proverbial, "WHY?" right now because honestly, something this devastating is uncomprehending. Yesterday I was sitting on my deck, trying to heal my neck from the clean-up I had to do, and I heard an angelic voice coming from the home directly behind me. Also protected from this storm! Obviously a child of God! She was singing praises to the Lord! Oh what a beautiful moment that was to hear another sister in Christ singing praises through what was His favor upon their dwelling as well! My heart sang and rejoiced with her. My heart knew there were going to be many hurdles to jump for some of these people who, for some, lost everything. But I also knew my prayers were going to be answered. A seed would be planted in someone to look up and seek His face! For Jesus will give them peace......The bubble of protection and the Favor upon me is still being praised for even as I'm writing this to my readers! I may not like what I had to go through, but what I had to go through was, and IS, for His glory and purpose! I'm OK with that! This lesson of His favor given to me was a lesson that I needed to learn! He knew the right time for me to receive it and recognize it for exactly what it IS! His plans are much greater than mine and when I try to do something on my own, I mess it up. So, the strength, the freedom, my growing relationship with Jesus, the favor, the respect for life and all the other lessons that I've learned is all worth every moment of sacrifice! Psalm 34:19 reads and says it best....."Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all." AMEN!
I pray that this very personal experience that I'm sharing with you, will touch someone who has been led to read this in it's entirety! I pray for the Father to speak to you to let you know you too, can receive His favor so that you may share in testimonials for the lost and unsaved! If you haven't come to the point to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do so! The Lord will knock, but you need to answer! Please receive Him because no matter what you've done, thought, acted like, or said, He accepts you just as you are! Come to Him and He will change you forever! The Light that will reside inside of you is so much greater and more powerful than the darkness in the world!
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Powerful testimony thank you
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's a joy to share God's power and Love! I'm happy you found it powerful. May God bless you in His Perfect Will!
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