When He parts the waters...

 

"When we live for the glory of God,
we show His goodness living through us instead of just living for ourselves." 
~~ Beth Moore

 

I have not blogged in over two months.

 

I have been busy trying to keep up with God and all that He is doing in our lives.

 I've literally had to hold on with all my might,
white knuckles clinching,
 breathless with anticipation and...
 trust Him.

 

Something BIG is happening.

Something that is coming soon.

Something that is going to change our lives in such a miraculous beautiful way.

Something that only God could have orchestrated in our lives.

 

Something that will bring glory to the One who is Glory.

 

As we have begun to share what God is doing,

I am happy to say that we have an array of friends and family

that have rallied around us to see this through.

 

They have wrapped us in such a sweet love embrace

and it makes my heart full each time I think of them.

 

They have prayed with us and laughed with us and even cried with us.

 

But on the other hand...

there are the "nay-sayers".

 

Those that have a hard time believing that it will happen.

 

In their disbelief or doubt,

they have chosen to try and pull me close to them.
They have attempted to push a black cloud over this beautiful amazing thing.
Even to the point of toppling me with words of unworthiness.

 

"But what if it doesn't happen?"

"What will you do?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Don't you worry that it's too good to be true?"
"I don't know if this is a good idea for you."

Those are some of the nicer things that have been said.
There have been others.

 

On most days, I have chosen NOT to let them pull me under.

I choose to believe. I choose to know who my God is.
I choose to keep my eyes on Him, and Him alone.

Then there are those days that those words of doubt and fear from others have crept in
and almost succeeded to steal the joy that can only be God given.

On those days, I do the only thing I know to do...
bury my face into His loving arms and wait for His plan to unfold in me.

I could do my best to answer their questions,
but I feel as though my breath would be wasted.

If I focus on them, then I take my eyes off of God and what He is doing,
and honestly...
I don't want to miss one moment of this beautiful journey that He has us on.
 

Instead,

 

 I think of Moses...
 at the moment that He reached the Red Sea followed by a mass of unbelieving Israelites and his enemy nipping at his heal.

I can imagine the crazy looks he received and the questions that were thrown at him from
those that tried to take him by the hand and pull him into their doubt.

And for a moment...maybe he did doubt.

But then,
as the winds blew off of the raging waters before him,
God whispered into his heart, the promise.
 The dream. His purpose.

Moses did nothing but believe in the God that had brought Him to that very place.
That very moment. That very second.


As God began to part the waters and raise them to the heavens creating a safe path for him and the Israelites to flee from their enemies,
I can just picture Moses' face.
I can imagine the glory words that came from his lips towards His God.

The God of Promise was keeping His promise to Moses.

And all Moses did was walk forward into God's obedience.
He surrendered to God as a vessel for His BIG plan.
He walked into God's plan with a willing heart.
With a heart longing to be used by His MIGHTY God.


God told Moses he would get glory over Pharaoh and prove that the Lord is God. After the Hebrews left Egypt, the king changed his mind and was angry that he had lost his source of slave labor. He summoned his 600 best chariots, all the other chariots in the land, and marched his massive army in pursuit. The Israelites seemed to be trapped. Mountains stood on one side, the Red Sea in front of them. When they saw Pharaoh's soldiers coming, they were terrified. Grumbling against God and Moses, they said they would rather be slaves again than die in the desert.   Moses answered the people,
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you;
 you need only to be still."
(Exodus 14:13-14, NIV)


That is where I find myself today...
walking forward into obedience, with a willing heart longing to be used by my Mighty God.
Being still as God fights for me.
Allowing His peace to flow over me like a gentle rushing river.

In those moments,
 as the people walked on the dry bottom of the Red Sea,
walls of water flowing up beside them,
God's GLORY was seen by all.

All of the unbelievers, believed.

All of the doubters, saw.

All of the nay-sayers, hushed.

All of those who did not know God, met Him.

All of those with complaining lips, now had lips full of Praise.


The angel of God, in a pillar of cloud, stood between the people and the Egyptians, protecting the Hebrews. Then Moses stretched his hand out over the sea. The Lord caused a strong east wind to blow all night, parting the waters and turning the sea floor into dry land.  During the night, the Israelites fled through the Red Sea, a wall of water to their right and to their left. The Egyptian army charged in after them. Watching the chariots race ahead, God threw the army into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels to slow them down. Once the Israelites were safe on the other side, God commanded Moses to stretch out his hand again. As morning returned, the sea rolled back in, covering the Egyptian army, its chariots and horses. Not one man survived.

After witnessing this great miracle,
the people believed in the Lord and his servant Moses.

 

My God lives.

And He is a BIG God.

Capable of ALL things impossible or unfathomable or unbelievable or unimaginable.
He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Mary.
His hand was on each of them and His purpose fulfilled in all.

And that same God? He lives in me.

He lives through me.

This life I live is not my own and I have but one request...

that He use me.

 

That is it.

To use me,
 to let someone see His reflection in my life,
so that they would know His love to be real and tangible.
So that they might feel His amazing grace flow into their life.

 

It amazes me still,
that He would use such ordinary people,
like you and me,
without any bells and whistles,
to reveal His greatness and His glory and His love to others.

We serve the God of the angel armies!
The Miracle Maker.
The Promise Keeper.
The Dream Creator.

He holds this earth that we stand on in the palm of His hands
and His breath breathes life into every thing that lives.

He is capable of things our minds can not begin to comprehend.
Wonderful, beautiful, amazing things!

And you know what?
His dream and plan for you will happen.
Not everyone is going to believe it,
 or see the dream that God has placed on your heart,
but that's okay.
He only needs you to believe in it.

Sometimes,
you might even have to celebrate...just you and God.
And that...is okay.
Party of two.
 Woohoo!!

(I hear He's a pretty good party thrower. He's preparing one huge Party for us right now!)

The thing is...

my job is not to wonder if He will fulfill what He has said,

my job is to know that He can.

So,
I walk forward
into God's plan for us.

With an expectant heart.
Believing. Knowing.

Watching...
for when He receives all GLORY for this BIG beautiful thing that He is doing.

And when He parts the waters...
and I feel the wet droplets hit my cheeks,
 from the walls of water to my left and to my right,
 I will lift my eyes to the Promise Keeper,
and
I will rejoice in knowing that He is God.

Exodus 15:1-3 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord, "I will sing to the Lord for He is highly exalted.  Both horse and driver has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense, He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my Father's God and I will exalt Him."



Don't give your dream away.

 

 

 

 

If you're dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough.

 

 

I've been reading in the book of Genesis over the past few days,

and I came across the story of Sarah.

 

Sarah was old in age and was unable to have any children with her husband.

She was barren.

 

I can't help but feel for Sarah and her desperation to have a child.

My heart goes out to her.

 

It was in fact, her dream.

 

She dreamed to have a child with the man that she loved,

her beloved Abraham.

 

She longed to give him a child.

 

But when she thought her dream was gone,

she decided to give it away to someone else...her maid servant, Hagar.

 

 

Genesis 16:1-2

Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child.

She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar.

Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her."

Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

 

 

I have to believe that Sarah had come to her wits end.

Seriously!

She must have been so very desperate to give not only her dream away to another woman,

but her husband as well.

 It's one thing to hand over her dream, but her man?

Seriously?!

 

Not to mention, she thought God had found her unfit to have a child.

 

Is it because she doubted God's love for her?

Is it because she felt unworthy of being a mother?

Is it because she listened to the voices of others saying it wasn't possible?

Did the laughing and snickering behind her back from her neighbors become too much for her to bear?

Was her dream so big and unbelievable that it scared her?

 

I have to believe, that Sarah just grew tired of waiting on her dream.

 Her heart must have ached within her to hold that dream in her arms.

She saw nothing being produced from her dream,

 and eventually gave up on it.

 

And even though things get worse for her,

 and quite messy between her and Hagar...

uugh...that's a shocker,

God redeems her story.

It didn't matter if Sarah had given up on her dream or not,
God hadn't given up on it.

God speaks to Abraham saying...

Genesis 17:16
"I'll bless her-yes! I'll give you a son by her!
Oh, how I'll bless her! Nations will come from her;
kings of nations will come from her."

Even though Sarah was looking for her dream to be fulfilled through someone else,
God's dream for her was still inside of her.

Even though her circumstances were bleak,
and she was way past the age of even being able to conceive children,
 her dream was fulfilled.

He was building it within her the whole time,
and preparing her for it,
even though she didn't see the evidence of it.

Not even her doubt could unravel the dream God placed within her.

It makes me wonder...
how many of us give up on our dream because we don't see it coming to pass?

Do we pass it to the person next to us, the one we feel is more qualified to fulfill it?
Do we feel unworthy of the dream we have?
Do we feel that God doesn't love us enough to fulfill the dream inside of us?
Do we listen to the voices of others telling us that our dream just isn't possible?
Do our current circumstances seem bleak and we feel there is no way a dream can be born?
Do we think that our dream is just too hard for God to fulfill?
Is it so big that it scares us?
Are we just too tired of waiting for it to happen?

Do we give our dream away?

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Be encouraged today!

Dream and dream big!

Hold onto your dream.

Sarah's dream was big, but it does come to pass.
Her dream is fulfilled!
God gives her a son named Isaac, meaning "laughter".

Laughter means the experience or manifestation of joy.

God gave Sarah her dream and wrapped it in joy everlasting!


Genesis 21:5-6
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
Sarah said,
"God has blessed me with laughter
and all who get the news will laugh with me!
Whoever would have suggested to Abraham
that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!
Yet here I am! i've given the old man a son!"


God not only blessed her with a child,
 He blessed every generation that came from her.

Every. One.

Kings of nations came from  her!

If I'm not mistaken...
you are part of the blessing!

Your dream,
the one inside of you,
has not been forgotten by God
so don't give up on it!

Not even your doubt can unravel the dream God has placed within you.

God has great plans for you and your life!
You may feel like all is lost, but God will redeem your story!

God is the Father of Dreams.
The stars, the galaxies, the earth and everything in it is a dream of His that came true.
You are one of His dreams.
You are His most precious dream!

Your dreams are His dreams!
He is growing a dream inside of you, and one day soon,
you will birth it.

And just as Sarah...
you will shout for joy when your dream comes true!


Ephesians 5:14
...for it is light that makes everything visible.
This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."


Don't give your dream away...

just imagine what greatness God may bring from it.


"God is preparing you for what He has prepared for you."
~~Christine Caine 

 

 

 

 

God appeared to Isaac saying...

 

 Genesis 26:3-4

I'm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I'll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants.