The Starting Point
Wow! It has been a while since I have taken the time to sit at my desk and just let it go...We have now been in our new home for almost one month, and man has it been an adventure. Two days after our belongings were unloaded off the moving truck, COVID hit me like the truck that delivered our stuff. I was sick for almost three weeks before I felt human again. As we have gotten settled in, everyone seems to be adjusting fine. I miss my momma's hugs and my sweet friends back home, but we will be making a weekend trip home soon. Clearly, when we said see ya later on January 6th, I never thought it would be six weeks without seeing my momma. Anyhow, flash forward to today. The weather is cold and snowy. Although they told me, "it rarely snows here," the forecast says 6 to 10 inches of accumulation here tonight and add a couple more tomorrow. So, yeah, it never snows in northwest Arkansas. I know one little person in this house will be so happy when she wakes up in the morning.
What has got me writing on this night is that my heart has longed for a bible study. I am missing time with Jesus. I am missing quite a time just listening to his word speak to my soul. So last night, I thought about what study I would like to start again, and oddly enough, I felt God calling me back to the brook with Elijah. I did this bible study last summer, and man, did it speak to me. So when I read Priscilla's introduction, the last sentence grabbed me into week one again. The comforting words, " the perfect time for our paths to cross here, so that God may comfort you, strengthen you, encourage you, and prepare you for the Mount Carmel's that lie ahead."
Not again, my head and heart agree.....MOUNT CARMEL, unless there is chocolate involved, I don't want it. But, I believe God will teach me something about this adventure he has led us to.
Week 1: The start of a Process......and I have got believe we will go through the process to come out with a perspective and endurance only he can give me to run the race he has set before me.
Hebrews 12:11 says," No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have trained by it."
I think we all can agree obedience is hard because we must die to control and lean into the hard process of someone else way. For me personally, I like to be in control and have as a few unknowns as possible. I guess you could say, when you are the buyer, you must come prepared to the meeting with a set agenda and know the product you are thinking about buying because the sales rep will come in with hard persuasion and make the product look like gold. In other words, the devil can fool me so easily sometimes. I am imagining Elijah sitting by me now. What two questions would I ask him: How hard was it to stand in your faith? How hard was it to stand up and wait on the Lord? I know how impatient I can be and how impatient I have been in seasons of difficult circumstances, even now. Instead of plugging this laptop on the charger before blogging, I said I wanted to start now. I can't wait for a second...Twenty minutes later, the light is blinking, and I am racing to plug the charger in so I don't lose everything I have already written... Elijah was patient, but not without trials. God beckoned him to a new calling and method of ministry. When we are in a holding pattern, God is working something fantastic out for our lives.
Are you willing to do what Elijah did to what Elijah got? So often, fear shows up, and we follow the same path and get the same results, so why not stand strong and faith and face fear and change the course for different results. Welcome to Elijah!