To: All (This is a tremendous devotional that I am humbled to read...written by a prayer warrior and fervent intercessor whom I am privileged to count as a dear sister in the LORD.
Isaiah 30:18-21 reads 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. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem you shall weep no more He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry.
When He hears it He will answer you and though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore but your eyes shall see your teachers your ears shall hear a word behind you saying this is the way walk in it whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
So, this verse says the Lord may allow you to go through some hard circumstances but you will be taught by the Spirit of the Lord. We can rest assured whatever circumstances we face that God will only bring good out of them for us. What a wonderful Savior!
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says For I know the thoughts I think toward you says the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
These verses speak of being voluntarily or involuntarily in a situation that you are held captive or departure is difficult. There seems to be no way to escape. I know we all have situations that seem desperate to us and that God will bring us through. I once read desperate people do desperate things. We seek God with a fervor like we never had before.
This is right where He wants us with our eyes having a heavenward gaze. Job said though He slay me yet will I trust in Him. In this bold declaration of faith Job declares his absolute trust in God. As we stand in faith declaring this along with Job we will find that which we never really lost- Gods love and our salvation. I promise He will never leave you nor forsake you. I have found Him to be faithful.
I write this because I know there are situations that you face that like mine seem hopeless in the natural. The truth of the matter is they are not. God is so good. I received in the mail today a paper from Beth Alves who had the ministry called Intercessors International. It talks about the changes that have happened in her ministry and how God has brought greater things for her ministry out of some trials she has experienced.
She went through a number of health problems. I didn't even know I was signed up for her newsletter when I received it in the mail and God spoke things through it that He had been speaking to me all through his illness I have gone through.God always blows me away, so to speak through His awesomeness and goodness. Some of those things are that she felt stranded and wondered why.
God can handle honest questions. She says she had not been walking in any known disobedince or unforgiveness yet every part of her life seemed to be dying. When we feel stranded and wonder why, we can look up because He is there with us. I often cried out to God wondering why I was being attacked and cried many tears but God has been with me through this whole thing and I am thankful.
I know He will be with you also. You will come through. Then she started sharing in the newletter about eagles and how they molt. It says golden eagles are meant to soar over the problems of earth and to rest upon the mighty winds that God created for them. They are fearless flying head on into fierce storms. Believers are called into the deeper things of God.
To go deeper we must die or have a major molt. Eagles molt one time during their lifetime and it reforms the old and ushers in newness of life. The process is so difficult that many eagles do not survive. Believers that endure will mount up with new life, new vision, even a renewed youthfulnesss.
It is not just a stormy season but a crisis of uncertainty and death. Everything of the old life is stripped away. There is no more resting on familiar winds. The eagles feathers fall out until the once majestic bird is exposed and vulnerable. It depends on the food rations of others. The one who gave in the past must now receive to survive and it increases our compassion and humility. The lack of contribution by the molting eagle makes it and others wonder about its worth.
I know there are people who haven't understood my illness and wondered about my worth. The eagle tarries in a state of isolation. It can't fly. Eventually, it will settle on a rock where all it can do is bask in the sun. It remains uncovered and helpless until it is fully restored. You may be left standing there wondering how you will ever recover and where you will go from here but there is good news. This pressure is intended to press you into God.
It's a time of letting go of your self- sufficiency so you can be fully dependent on Him. You might not even feel like praying or reading the word God knows that. I know that I was to sick to do these things.Beth says during her darkest hour she souldn't read the word. But we can still anchor our hope in Him.
Choose to believe the one that created you will also recreate you. He knows where you are and how to get you soaring again. Next time, you will fly higher. There are many Scriptures that tell of men and women who were called to great plans of God. Each one had to die to the promise before it could become a reality. All came away with a new name and identity, a greater vision and a purer character.
In due time God will turn your disapointment into a new appointment with destiny. Disappointment becomes His appointment. God ordains the time it takes to grow new feathers. We may even go through a period of feeling useless. Every trial and storm has an end. Isolation is not your punishment it is for preparation.
Refuse to give in to the thoughts of self ridicule or blame. It is not what you did but the person you can become that matters. The greater the work God does in you now the greater the work He will do through you in the future. God is the God of increase and multiplication not subtraction and division. He can turn every loss in your life into something far greater than you had before.
I know and am blessed that God is doing great things in your life as well. Keep holding on to His promises. We can hope again. He does care for you.