One in a Million

Can I be honest with y’all??

The enemy has had me under attack the last few weeks.

Remember my word for the year- contentment?? Yeah well it’s still January and I admittedly have not been very good at speaking this into my heart.

Satan is smart. He’s manipulative. He knows my weakness. And he has done everything he can think of to knock me to my knees.

On the first attack, I thought I did okay accepting the change in “my plan.” That morning I woke up to a devotional that said: “You must learn to trust Gods timing. You can be sure right now that God is arranging all the pieces to come together to work out the pieces of His plan for your life. He has been working in your favor long before you encountered this problem. Don’t grow impatient and try to force doors to open. Don’t try to make things happen in your own strength. The answer will come and it will be right on time.”

Wow. I read that still everyday for perspective and peace. Because it reminds me that everything Satan does to tempt us has been ordained by God to grow us. It reminds me that he sees me and he places those reminders right in front of me- to speak right to me. But when the second attack came, I got a little more squirmy. My sense of control started to kick in to try to protect myself.

By the third attack, I completely lost my cool. My anger came out. My sense of control heightened. My anxiety completely took control of my life. I went 2 days where I could not function because my anger and anxiety was so out of control. But now I see clearly that my anger was pointed at the wrong people. They were just pawns of the enemy bringing me under attack. It made me think of Job, while MUCH more mild of attacks… but same guiding principle. Would I let Satan win and curse God? Or would I speak Satan out of my heart and completely surrender my weakness to God? Could I truly be content in my circumstance?

That brings me to the church service this morning which I have two completely separate takeaways from… so bare with me.

              1            Find joy in the process.

The scripture was from Mark 2 1:5

“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.””

Can you just picture the faith of these men? They had only heard about Jesus but they knew if they just waited on Him, it would change everything for their friend. They didn’t give up because the crowd- they pursued Jesus despite the crowd.

Pastor used an awesome analogy I want to share that helped me relate my situation to this scripture. When you go to a busy restaurant and you see all the people there, do you wait the 1-2 hours for what you really want or do you settle for something else for a shorter wait?

I can tell you I have NEVER waited over an hour for food… but I always end up disappointed because I chose something less desirable NOW instead of having patience that pays off in the long run.

Obviously I’m not talking about food… but my temptation is to continue in hot pursuit over making MY plan come to fruition despite God putting constant protective road blocks in front of me. Instead of being patient and waiting for Gods blessings, I want to force doors open by creating plan B, C, D, etc.

While the desires of my heart have won control of my mind the last few weeks, I pray that I am like these 4 men in this scripture. That I prepare my heart for what God has for me in patience and prayer and not let the enemy trick me with what’s behind door number 1.

I pray that I find joy in the process, not just the outcome.

              2            Expect the unexpected.

Okay so I’m going to take a hard right turn here and shift gears.

Can I ask y’all for something??

Please pray for my sweet sister, Kalie.

For those of you who don’t know her story, Kalie was diagnosed with Lyme disease 4 years ago. It completely turned her world upside down. She was a junior in high school at the time and instead of living her life- she went 12 hours a day sleeping. She had difficulty getting out of bed in the morning. She couldn’t stay at friends houses because if she stayed up late, it would take her daysss to catch up from fatigue.

It has horrible to watch as her symptoms continue. Fatigue, joint pains, headaches, poor immune system, muscle and weight loss.  I wish everyday I could take just some of the pain away from her. She has been to multiple specialists who have tried many avenues of treatment but nothing has worked or brought our little Kalie back to life.

Through the Grace of God, my parents found by word of mouth a specialist in New York that they will be taking Kalie to this week.

While this is exciting and finally gives us some hope, there is no cure for Lyme disease. It’s basically a lifetime of symptom management. There is no “recommended treatment” for Lyme disease and thus, not covered by insurance.

We know the only thing that can heal her is The Great Physician. The mighty hand of God.

This morning Kalie was anointed at church and we have faith that the same Lord who produced a miracle in my dads life, can use his power to heal sweet Kale bug.

We also learn from this story that when the 4 friends lowered their paralyzed friend down to Jesus, they didn’t expect what He would say. His physical ailment was obvious. He was paralyzed. But instead of saying “Get up and walk,” Jesus first said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” He needed healing, but first and foremost, he needed Jesus.

Later in the story, He does perform a miracle and gives the man the ability to walk. But it was because of the faith of His friends that KNEW Jesus could heal him. They expected the unexpected.

So friends, can I just ask you to pray KNOWING that Jesus can heal Kalie?? Expect the unexpected. Have faith in the impossible.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:14-16