The following is a talk that I gave at two ladies retreats this winter. It's a rather long read but I post it in hope that God will use it to touch and encourage those of you who read it. May you be blessed ~ Karlene
Our theme for the weekend is “Life In Christ - Good Til The Last Drop.” Trying to prepare for this has been a challenge and on more than one occasion, I asked myself, what on earth was I thinking saying yes? I mean, not only do I feel like I have nothing of value to say, I don’t even like coffee! How am I going to speak on a coffee theme?
Once I got past this and realized that we all need to be prepared to share what God has been doing in our lives, I decided that I was not going to procrastinate. I began thinking of ideas, made a list of possibilities, read and prayed and started to write my talk. But wouldn’t you know it, things just didn’t want to come together. Just so you know how jumbled up my mind and ideas were, I have 3 drafts on my computer: women’s retreat devotional, women's retreat devotional 2, women's retreat devotional 3. And to top that off, every one is different. I was ready to pull out my hair. Then I went on facebook (yes it can be good for some things…procrastinating is one of them) and on my post requesting prayer for me as I prepared were these words… “Listen to your heart...fear not.”
So I stopped yet again and prayed, God what do you want me to share and His reply was….“your heart”. That was difficult to hear. Sharing what I was putting together on my other two drafts was easy, it would have been more like a well prepared sermon with 10 great points. Instead, what I have to share requires me to be vulnerable. Being real and transparent is freeing but it comes with risks. However, this is part of the whole point of what God wants me to share today and I’m getting ahead of myself so let me back up a bit….
Since God has gifted me with creative communication then to share my heart would most likely include sharing a song. There was no doubt in my mind which one that would be.
The “Desert Song” by Hillsong” has encouraged me and blessed me on numerous occasions and it continues to be my heart’s prayer and my life’s song. I remember the first time I heard it. We were back in Zambia and I was listening to my player while working in the kitchen. At first I was humming along thinking I like this song, it’s got a great beat and the lyrics are good…..wait….what did she say….I hit rewind and played it again and this time really listened to the message in the lyrics and it brought me to tears because it resonated with me to the core of my being. It captured all that I was feeling and experiencing - the good and the bad - but instead of my usual pessimistic outlook, the song called me to live a life of praise no matter what season of life I found myself in.
As an aside: Speaking of being pessimistic, Anthony just informed me that somebody recently did a study and found out that optimistic people sleep on the left side of the bed and pessimistic people sleep on the right. Now I guess you know which side of the bed I sleep on.
Tonight I’m going to use an object lesson and although it has it’s limitations, I hope it will serve as an encouragement. I also realize that it’s a coffee theme so you’ll have to forgive me for using tea to make a point!
Our theme for this weekend is Life in Christ. Christ is the tea cup. When we, the tea bags, accept Him as our Lord and Saviour we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the tea leaves, and we place our lives in Jesus, the cup. God, whom we know and believe to be sovereign, is the spoon.
Life in Christ is about Christ within us - the Holy Spirit living in us and through us, God perfecting His will within us and transforming us to become more like Jesus Christ the Son.
Our Triune God chooses to do this through various ways and seasons, all intended to draw us into closer communion with Him. Some of the seasons are difficult and painful while others are filled with joy, favor and blessing. Sometimes we encounter the seasons separately, but usually they are connected in some way because they can all affect us physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Right now I feel like I’m in 3 of them! The length of seasons also differ from person to person and season to season. Sometimes they feel like they are never ending while other times we pass through fairly quickly. The amazing thing is that God brings good out of each season and usually in ways we least expect.
The song I want to share with you tonight talks about 4 seasons. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are the ones I want to share, along with examples from my own life, in hopes that God will use what He’s laid on my heart, to encourage you.
Season #1 is The Desert. It’s characterized by spiritual dryness, thirst, hunger and need.
In his book, “The Journey of Desire” John Eldredge shares this story,
“Once upon a time there lived a sea lion who had lost the sea. He lived in a country known as the barren lands. High on a plateau, far from any coast, it was a place so dry and dusty that it could only be called a desert. A kind of coarse grass grew in patches here and there, and a few trees were scattered across the horizon. But mostly, it was dust. And sometimes wind, which together make one very thirsty. Of course, it must seem strange to you that such a beautiful creature should wind up in a desert at all. He was, mind you, a sea lion. But things like this do happen.”
How many times in my life haven’t I found myself in the desert. In that place when all that’s within me feels dry? Where there’s no water, the trees are dead and gnarled and the wind and dust seem to buffet me constantly?
David knew this season. He experienced the desert, those times when we’ve drifted and God feels so very far away.
In Psalm 69:3 He wrote, “I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.”
And in Psalm 143:6 he said, "I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.”
David was like the sea lion who had lost the sea and at times, so are we. The desert seasons in our lives are difficult but I believe their purpose is to awaken within us a longing for God. Just like the sea lion was created for the sea, so are we created to live in and drink from the refreshing waters of intimacy with the Almighty! We were never made to live in the desert, yes sometimes we need to endure a season there, but we were never created to stay.
Because we are created for intimate fellowship with God, the wind, dryness and dust of the desert wear us down. This causes our souls to thirst and hunger and long for close fellowship with God again and that’s when we find ourselves reaching out to Him and walking out of the desert.
David wrote about this in Psalm 143:6 where he said, “I lift my hands to you in prayer” and in Psalm 63:1 he wrote, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.”
I can relate to David. Right now, I feel like I’m camped out in the desert. I’m like the sea lion who has lost the sea. As I shared in church a while back, this past year in Zambia was difficult and because of many factors, the first part of the year was definitely a desert season. I realized that I was going through culture shock, homesickness, loneliness, adapting to life in Zambia with children, the stress of a move across the world, some fears and worries and the question of “who am I now” in this situation. All of these combined caused me to develop a major BA - Bad Attitude. And Bad attitudes are spiritual killers. No wonder I was feeling like God was far away and I was spiritually dry! He used my situation to show me that my Bad Attitude was keeping me from intimate fellowship with Him. Once I realized this and let God work on my heart, things got better and the desert season passed and life in Macha became a joy. Yes, there were still challenges, but joy prevailed.
Moving back to La Crete brought me through all these things again. However, this time they haven’t caused me to develop a BA, but the fast pace of life, the fact that Anthony doesn’t have a full time job and me feeling pressured to find a way to help out, the busyness of a schedule and the long list of things to do in order to prepare to leave for Mexico in September, have ushered me into another desert season. I had started the bible study by Beth Moore called “Living Beyond Yourself” and I was feeling like I was coming alive and growing spiritually. Then I added the TEE course, singing and choir and visiting friends and starting a photography business and keeping up with producing Joyful praise and stressing over whether to get a part time job or not, and along with the house hold chores and being a wife and mom and putting our kids in shinny and gymnastics and awana and music lessons and attending a couples parenting study….before long I was living beyond myself, but I wasn’t living in the power of the Holy Spirit. I couldn’t keep up with my study or daily devotions or times of prayer with God. He took a back seat to all the other ‘good things’ I took on. And so began another desert season marked by insufficient fellowship and communion with God, resulting in dust and dryness.
I’m thankful that the thirst from the present dry season and the advice of Godly people in my life, are driving me to let go of some things I’ve taken on to lessen the stress, create more room to breathe and time to spend in the WORD and prayer and fellowship with my Saviour. And as I do, He is faithfully continuing to be the God who provides.
(Hold up tea bag) - So here we are. If we’ve accepted Christ as our Saviour, we are filled with the Holy Spirit (the tea leaves) and the lives that we now live are in Christ (the cup). Throughout our lives we will experience various seasons, some of which, like the desert season, are represented well by hot water. (Pour some hot water in cup).
Season #2 is The Fire. It’s characterized by weakness, trial or pain. There are many circumstances that can usher in this season. Sickness, adversity, suffering, broken relationships, death, abuse, financial insecurity, accidents, health problems and the list goes on.
The Bible talks about the season of fire in John 16:33 where Jesus says, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
To quote from Charles Stanley, “As Jesus warned, hardship [in this life] is inevitable. Yet we have a choice about how to respond. We can either let painful situations trigger increased dependance upon the Lord, or we can allow doubt, depression and anger to fill us.” [end of quote]
In 1 Peter 1:6-7 the Bible reads, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
My fire season presently finds me struggling physically with next to no iron and low hemoglobin levels. It’s not a serious condition like many people are presently experiencing. I don’t think what I’m dealing with at all compares to the deep darkness that comes with the diagnosis of cancer, a terminal illness or the death of a loved one.
Yet, I share my fire season with you because I’ve been surprised at how much it has affected me and in ways I least expected. It’s good to finally know why I’m feeling the way I do, but now that I know and what I can do about it, I find myself getting frustrated with the slow recovery time. My lack of energy and complete exhaustion some days leaves me feeling tired, irritable, impatient, easily annoyed and magnifies my negativity. My emotions seem to be all over the board, I don’t have energy to put extra time and effort into making memories with Josiah and Keyana or doing some special for Anthony. I feel guilty and like I’m missing out on these precious years that are passing so quickly. I have so many creative ideas I want to put into play and a long to-do list but just looking after daily responsibilities and house hold chores is a challenge. I hate feeling weak, helpless and useless. I hate feeling like things are out of my control, that I’m not as organized or as disciplined as I’d like to be. At one time, I could have so many things on my plate and it wouldn’t stress me out. Now, the stress seems to come more easily. I struggle with the pressure I put on myself to be on top of things, especially in a season where we have a lot to do, and my inability to get it all done.
I’m taking measures to get better but even then, I’ve been told it will take 6 - 9 months to feel like myself again. All of this has caused me to feel lower than I’ve ever felt before. It’s a new feeling for me and I don’t like it. At the same time, nothing I’ve encountered up to this point, has made me realize more clearly, how much I need God. My current physical struggle has shown me that I’m lost without His strength, His help and His comfort. I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t do it all on my own strength, cause some days I don’t even have any. Being at the end of myself magnifies my need for God and helps me understand, more clearly, Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
His power works best in our weakness? When we are weak, then we are strong? That’s backward thinking in the world’s eyes, but in the Kingdom of God, it makes perfect sense. When we are stripped of ourselves, Christ is able to work His will in our lives and transforms us to be more like Him! But being weak requires us to be broken.
To quote from Charles Stanley, “Brokenness hurts and most of us would rather live without any seasons of pain. Yet during such times, the Lord often does His greatest work in our lives, reshaping and realigning us for His divine purposes...When we recognize that the Christian life is about Jesus’ persistent work of “re-creation” in us, then the role of brokenness will make more sense. It’s the process the Lord uses to strip us of things that have become - or may one day become - an obstacle to our spiritual growth...God doesn’t want to be the Lord of most of your life: He wants to be Lord of all your life! So He zeros in on areas of self-will and self-sufficiency to remove everything within us that relies on “self.”...so that we can live moment by moment, day by day, in full dependance on Him.” [end of quote]
One of the things that keeps me going, when I’m in the season of fire, is knowing that I do not walk through the valley alone and that the valley does serve a purpose.
Hebrews 13:5b reads, “For God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
“Thought that I was all alone
Broken and afraid
But You were there with me
And I didn't even know
That I had lost my way
'Til You opened up my eyes
I never knew
That I couldn't ever make it Without You
As I travel on the road
That You have lead me down
You are here with me
I confess from time to time
I lose my way
But You are always there
To bring me back again
Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
The One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God” (From the Mountain of God by Third Day)
God uses the fire seasons in our lives to refine and purify our faith, proving it to be of more worth than gold. The refining process is not easy but the end result, standing on the mountain of God with a strong and genuine faith - is worth the journey through the valley.
And like the desert season, the fire season also sees more hot water poured upon us. (add more hot water to the tea cup)
The 3rd season is The Battle and is characterized by worries, fears and unknowns.
In Ephesians 6:10-13, the Bible tells us that we are in a battle for our minds, our thoughts, our souls, and we need to be prepared.
“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”
The battle wars on many fronts - fear and worry, negative and self-defeating thoughts, judgmental attitudes and piety, temptation, lust, greed, selfishness, refusing to obey God for fear of the cost and the list could go on. If Satan can gain a foothold in our thought life or lead us into bondage then he has succeeded in rendering us ineffective for the Kingdom.
Ever since Anthony mentioned feeling a pull to missions again, my battle has been with fear and worry. Are we in God’s will? Are we doing the right thing for our family? for our marriage? for our future? For our children? Will they resent us someday for taking them away from Canada? Will they make friends? Are they going to be negatively affected by being MK’s and third culture kids? What about their ties with Grandparents and other family members? What about our safety, the drug war and kidnapping in Mexico? Are we being stupid to go there? Can I even learn Spanish? Am I going to have opportunities to sing when I can’t even speak Spanish? How long will it take before I can? Is there going to be an outlet for my giftings and passions? What will we do for our children’s schooling? How will we save for retirement or Josiah and Keyana’s education? Where exactly will we live and serve and for how long? and on and on it goes.
But in 2 Tim 1:7 is says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
The latter part of 1Jn 4:4 says, “the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
In Romans 8 we read: “If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:11a says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”
That’s amazing! The very Spirit of God, that raised Jesus, lives in us! The Spirit of God within us is greater than Satan. With the Holy Spirit in us and God for us, we do not need to be slaves to fear! God has given us a spirit of power!!!!!
To quote again from Charles Stanley:
“Fear is one of the biggest self-erected barriers to success...Unhealthy fears cause us to get caught up in “what if” thinking: What if something goes wrong? or What if the outcome I want does not come true? This kind of agitation can block God’s best in our life. His purposes often require that we move beyond comfort...that we trust Him and obey His request.
Let these truths help you defeat fear. God is:
- Almighty. Through our Savior’s perfect life and His sacrifice on the cross, our two greatest enemies have been defeated—Satan and death. Jesus ransomed us from slavery to sin; the Devil has lost control over our lives.
- Always with us and always trustworthy. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we as believers have God near us and in us. Nothing can ever separate us from Him. He adopted us permanently into His family. With the same power he used to resurrect Christ, He is able to keep every one of His promises.
- Actively involved. God promises us His help, and He always keeps His word. He’s in sovereign control of your situation and can turn hardships into a time of spiritual growth and ultimate blessing.
Because Fear doesn’t come from God, conquering it is important. Four steps can help.
First, you need to identify the fear.
Then give the fear to God.
Rebuke the fear before God. You have the authority and power in Jesus’ name to reject what isn’t from Him. Let God’s truth replace any wrong thinking.
Finally, cling to your heavenly Father. Take your focus off your circumstances, and look to the One who promises His help. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you from a place of disquiet into the freedom that is ours in Christ. Grasp the truth of His power, presence, and involvement, and you’ll discover the ability to follow His plan without being hindered by overwhelming fear.” [end of quote]
These past few months, I’ve been battling fear again and I asked God for a stake in the ground that I could return to when days are hard, a confirmation that we are doing the right thing by going to Mexico. That morning as I opened up my devotional the scripture reading took me to the same verses He used to confirm our return to Zambia.
“I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with My victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:9-10
I was amazed, humbled and encouraged by His answer. His peace settled upon me as the stake in the ground that I had asked Him for, was provided through the pages of Scripture. It was only a few days later that we sold our house. We had never advertised or put it on the market but God brought the right people, to buy it at the right time. We went to bed that night feeling peace with our decision. But the next morning, the enemy began to attack me and fear was back with a-vengeance. Instead of giving into the fear and worry like I usually do, this time I went straight to the Word, knowing that I needed to hear from God again. And He answered. The devotional reading for that day was the great commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. As I read the words, “go and make disciples of all nations…” it was like God was speaking directly to me, giving me another stake in the ground, another confirmation. He said, “See, I do want you to go and make disciples in Mexico….You are on the right track! Believe and have faith in me. I will provide all you need. Just obey and follow and trust me.” What an amazing experience to have my fears laid to rest as He answered my need through the pages of His Holy Word.
I’ve not only battled with fear, I’ve also battled against dying to self, submitting to God and choosing to obey His will. I don’t want to leave my comfort zone, my parents, our family, our church, our house. I don’t want to part with keepsakes, I don’t want to learn Spanish. I feel like I’m living life with one hand open and one closed. My hearts desire is to obey God’s will and plan for my life.(open hand) My other hand is holding on to all the things I don’t want to let go. But I want to live life with 2 open hands.
But living life in God’s calling requires sacrifice and there is a cost.
Esther lived out God’s calling in obedience, even though it was not easy and even though her life was on the line. Esther 4:13-16 says,
Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this?” Esther responed to Mordecai and asked Him to gather the Jews together to fast. She also committed to fasting and ended her response with these words, “ And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”
To quote again from Charles Stanley:
“Knowing that we have a calling from the Lord is one thing, but living it out is another. Esther reached a point in her life when fulfilling God's plan became risky and dangerous. The Lord had placed her in a position of influence, but using that power could cost the young woman her life.
We have all been given places of influence…[and] eventually, every Christian is going to encounter a situation that tests his or her willingness to obey God. When that time comes, remember the lesson from Esther. If you refuse, the Lord will use someone else, and you will lose the opportunity to fulfill His calling.
Living in God's calling isn't always easy, but it is always worth the risk. Each step will reveal the faithfulness of our Lord, encouraging us to trust Him in the next opportunity He provides.
How will you respond to His calling? There are only two options: cooperate by submitting to His plan, or resist Him. Trying to avoid or ignore the opportunities He presents is a form of resistance. Maybe the cost of obedience seems too high, but what about the cost of disobedience?”
[end of quote]
I was recently encouraged by the words found in Philippians 2:12b-13,
“Be even more careful to put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear (healthy fear). For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases Him.”
Again, there’s a reference to the power God has given us, through the Holy Spirit, to do what He calls us to do! We are not helpless! 2 Peter 1:3 says, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.”In Christ and with Christ and through Christ it is possible to be victorious in the battle!
The battle season is tough but we are conquers in Christ and as we stand firm on His promises, He reminds us that triumph is on the way!
And the hot water of the battle season is poured upon us.
But wait, before we get discouraged and start to feel that all the seasons are hard and difficult there’s one I still need to mention. It’s the season that results from our endurance through the difficult ones. It’s filled with hope and expectation. It’s marked with deep roots of faith, steadfastness and strength and a willingness to let God use our stories.
The 4th Season is The Harvest. It’s characterized by favor and provision. This season finds us emptied of ourselves as we’ve surrendered to God and His will for our lives. We are ready to obey and willing to let Him use us for His glory. We’ve walked through the valley and now find ourselves on the mountain of God. When we’ve let the dryness and thirst draw us back to Him, the fire refine and purify our faith and the battle increase our trust and courage, then we find ourselves in the season of Harvest.
The Harvest is when the other seasons are put into perspective. We realize how God has been working to bring about good. This season brings joy, contentment, blessing, peace and rejoicing. It asks us to be real, vulnerable and willing to share the story of what God’s been doing in our lives, what we’ve gone through and what we’ve learned. As we share these things, God uses the fruit of our harvest season to encourage others.
I recently read the book “Finding Home” - the life story of Jim Daly president and CEO of Focus on the Family. It’s a heart wrenching story of a little boy who grew up feeling unloved, unwanted and alone. At the end of the book, I was touched by his words about his experiences and that he’s shared them with the hope that God will use his pain for His purposes and His glory.
Let me read some of what he shares:
“Yes, life is hard. There is adversity. While seasons of smooth sailing do occur, more often than not, life feels like it’s coming apart at the seams. Rather than hide our pain in order to preserve our pride, I believe it’s time to take off our masks and be open with one another about the brokenness that we all experience…(pg 228 Finding Home) Incidently, this was a big reason I agreed to share my life with you in this book. When we are transparent, we’re in the best position to encourage one another to experience the richness and depth of the life God has for us. When we allow God to be involved in our pain, He has this uncanny ability to make sure none of it is wasted…(page 229 Finding Home) My desire is to be God’s vessel, to be used by Him as He sees fit...When I say vessel, I mean someone who chooses to allow God to use their pain for His glory, for His purposes, for what He knows is best. Will I ever be a “perfect” vessel? No, not even close. This side of heaven the warts and wrinkles of life are part of the experience. But, with His help I can become more like Him.” (pg 221 Finding Home)
Jim’s words encourage me to be a vessel that God can use. I used to think that I had to have it all together, that I needed to stay on top of things and be super spiritual before God could use me. I’ve lived much of my life as a people pleaser, worrying more about what others think and say about me, instead of what God thinks. But I realize these are traps of the enemy to keep me from stepping out in faith and being willing for God to use me, whether I have all my stuff together or not. I’m beginning to finally realize that living life in the power of the Holy Spirit and following Christ isn’t about having all my stuff together, it’s about being real, transparent and vulnerable, it’s about dying to self and obeying God. Life in Christ is about taking our stuff to the One who can put it all together and trusting Him to make something beautiful out of our lives and then using it to bless others.
In her song, “Make Something Beautiful”, Laura Story sings...
“When I'm at the point of breaking at the place where I resign,
When I'm at the stage of shaking my head as I look back on my life,
When I'm halfway through the grieving, but not quite through the ache,
When I cannot see the ending, or which road I'm supposed to take...
When I'm tired of pretending, and I can't recall my lines,
Do I say, I'm barely breathing, or just say, I'm doing fine.
I admit there is a yearning, for the hurting to subside,
But not at the risk of missing what You're doing with my life
All I know to do is lift my hands to You...
Take all of my life,
And make something beautiful.
I open my hand, trusting Your plan.
Make something beautiful so all will see
Your work in me, as You make something beautiful.”
In our lifetimes, we will encounter many seasons. Some of them bring joy and blessing, others bring difficulty and pain. But the God of the impossible is at work within us through his Holy Spirit, bringing good out of the hard seasons and producing a harvest in us that is more than we could ever ask or hope for. As His perfect plan unfolds for each one of us, He is making something beautiful out of our lives.
Listen to these words from Eph 3:14-20, “When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.”
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice...Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything.” Phil 4:4
“Let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph 5:18b-20
To quote again from Jim Daly:
“In spite of how desperate one’s circumstances are, God is still in the business of healing our brokenness and, like a gifted surgeon, He takes the pieces of our lives and makes us whole once again. I am convinced that no matter how torn up the road has already been, or how pothole-infested the road may look ahead, nothing - nothing - is impossible for God. In the words of Jesus, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) I know. I’m living proof.” (pg 216 Finding Home)
Today I want to encourage you to be living proofs of God’s power! Praise Him for the seasons, rejoice in the good and the bad. Let God use your seasons to make your roots go down deep into his marvelous love, so that He can produce a bountiful harvest in you that can be shared with others.
As I was praying about what to share this weekend, I asked God to direct me to a passage of Scripture that would encompass all of these seasons. When I opened by Bible to my devotional reading for that day, He answered.
Turn with me to Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
on the salty flats where no one lives. (a picture of the desert season)
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat (of the fire season)
or worried by long months of drought. (in the battle season)
Their leaves stay green,
and they go right on producing delicious fruit (for the harvest, fruit that God wants us to share with others)
(Add creamer and sugar to the tea.)
Instead of hot water, I see the harvest season as the vanilla creamer and sugar being added to our lives.
(stir the tea cup)
Then God, who is sovereign and in control, who is able to bring good from bad and who knows the plans He has for each one of us, comes along and stirs us, mixing the difficult seasons with the harvest season, to produce an amazing and beautiful cup of tea.
(Pour out the cup of tea into the other smaller cups)
Then he calls us to be willing to let Him use our lives to bless others - our husbands, our children, our family and friends, the body of Christ and our communities.
And in all of this, throughout the desert, the fire, the battle and the harvest, He calls us to praise, to rejoice, to rest firm upon the promise that no weapon fashioned against us will stand, to be at peace in the truth that He is our victory and to trust Him to fill us and empty us out in blessing. As we share the fruit of our harvest with others, we are sowing the seed that we’ve received. And God reassures us that in every season, He is still God and we have a reason sing and a reason to worship Him.
The Desert Song - by Hillsong
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
Chorus:
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow
