Confirmation

I was praying in the shower yesterday morning over a leading that I had received in the wee hours of the morning about holding some Children’s Revival meetings in conjunction with an extended set of Revival Services that were recently scheduled at our church.  As I began to formulate a plan in my mind for service structure and helper support, I was suddenly overcome with the thought of “what happens if nothing happens during the course of the services?”   I paused for a moment and let the hot water beat on my back as I considered this question.  Within a split second, Jesus’ last words to His disciples in Mark 16:15-20 interrupted my concerns.  “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation…’ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:15 & 20 NIV)

At those words I smiled and sighed with understanding and then clearly heard Him say to me, “It’s your job to preach the word and then listen and obey, and it’s My job to do it!  You just do your part and I’ll do Mine.”  With that, I turned off the shower and stepped out with a high sense of expectancy and excitement.  Little did I realize how much I would get to test His words that day…

After I got dressed, I jumped on the bed and began to unleash my excitement to my wife who was still in bed.  When I looked into her eyes I immediately could tell that something was wrong.  It was as if she had slipped back in time to some of her toughest days from last year.  What ensued from there was probably one of the most difficult days that I have ever been through.  All of the progressive steps in the improvement of her condition seemed to have disappeared and in fact regress!  She was unsteady and shaking and having difficulties walking so I had to almost carry her down the stairs from our bedroom loft.

I had been looking forward for months to attending a Triple A League baseball game in Sacramento with my son that day, but quickly realized that I needed to cancel.  I contacted our doctor and as I awaited her replay, I tried to gather my thoughts, get a handle on the situation and then take action.   At one point during the day, she was so out of it that for the first time, I was strongly tempted with the thoughts that I was going to lose her.

A little later in the day, when I kneeled before her in prayer, my concerns began to calm and the probable reasons for her reactions along with a course of immediate action began to fill my thoughts.  Since I knew that I couldn’t get her up the stairs to lie down on the bed, I helped her to recline on the couch where she fell into a deep sleep.  As she had had very restless nights rest for the previous two nights, she slept undisturbed for over three hours.  In the mean time I began removing furniture and storage items (ie; accumulated junk!) from one of our downstairs bedrooms so my son and I could move our bedroom furniture into it.

Our upstairs area is unique in that there are a couple of somewhat hidden rooms off the main loft that can be used for extra storage.  At one point in my treks up and down the stairs into these upper rooms, I fell to my knees and began to weep and call out to the Lord as I could not hold back my emotions anymore.  It was at that time that some of the words that He had spoken to me in the shower earlier that day came back to me.  He reminded me that my job was to preach and/or confess the Word, and His job was to do it.

Well, I thought, we have been confessing the Word almost continually for a long time now, so He has a lot of material to work with and confirm!  That realization gave me the energy to compose myself and a new strength to continue preparing the rooms before my son arrived.  A short time later I noticed that my wife was awake.  I went downstairs and sat with her, gave her a protein milkshake and then helped her to her feet.  I was very much relieved to see that she was greatly improved from her shocking appearance earlier in the day.  Isn’t God good!

She stayed up and walked slowly around the house on her own for about a half an hour and then returned to the couch.  When our son arrived she recognized him and enjoyed his company.  By the end of the night she was pretty tired but was able to walk to bed with a little support from me.  When her head hit the pillow she was out like a light and seemed to have slept comfortable throughout the night.  (I know because I couldn’t sleep and kept checking on her!)  She is awake now and looks very much more alert and less drawn than yesterday.  I would say that the Lord has been confirming His Word!

You know, our lives can be a lot less stressful as we take the Lord’s words to heart!  We just need to do our part by trusting in and confessing His Word, and then rely on Him to do His part by confirming it in our lives.  I am right in the middle of a situation now, where I am witnessing His Word working in our lives.  This is the way that He wants each of us to live our lives everyday.  Is it the way that you are living yours?  Do you have enough expectancy in Him that you can just do your part and know that He will do His by confirming the Word that you preach and confess each day?  It’s working for me, and it will work for you.  Colossians 1:2 talks of this lifestyle when it says, “Good will and peace from God our father are yours!”  (God’s Word ©)  It’s that peace that goes far beyond the reaches of our natural understanding in the midst of any situation that arises in our lives.

Have a peaceful weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What Good Things am I expecting today?”