Feeling Stuffed?

A few nights ago I spent an extra amount of time speaking the Word of God over my wife for her healing.  I got to a point where I just couldn’t stop thinking of and declaring healing scriptures over her from both the Old and New Testaments.  When I finally came to a conclusion, I stood up from the floor next to her bed where I had been sitting, took a deep breath and declared under an anointed moment of revelation and confidence: “I am so thankful that as we stand on the Word of God, we ALWAYS have an EXPECTANCY for the miraculous!”  Then I leaned against the dresser as I was having a difficult time standing up and simply uttered an awe struck “WOW!”

Have you ever had a moment like that?  I have to tell you, it was completely unexpected and completely exhilarating!  But today as I thought about that experience I could see that Papa God had multiple purposes in that event.  Not only did it send our faith soaring that night, give me great encouragement for our obedience in following His directions concerning our stand of faith, but it also prepared me for yesterday…

Have you ever looked back on your life and seen times that were not obvious to you at the moment but surely are in retrospect in which God was preparing you for a future event?  I was reading yesterday in my new commentary on the book of Colossians that “The work we do (speaking specifically of Christian service, but I can relate this to every part of my life…) is the outflow of the life that we live.  It is by abiding in Christ that we can produce fruit.”  The author then went on to comment “God must make the worker before he (the worker) can do the work.” (“Be Complete” by Dr. Warren Wiersbe – chapter 4)

In the follow up to these thoughts it was pointed out that God spent 13 years preparing Joseph, eighty years preparing Moses and took Paul to the desert in order to get him straightened out and equipped for the responsibilities He was calling him to fulfill.  That immediately made me look back into the journey that I have been on over the last ten years.  In this season I can now see that Papa God was and still is, preparing me for something special that He has set for my wife and I in the near future.  I can honestly say that this has been a time of thorough renewal and training for me.  It seems like EVERY part of me has been opened up, scrubbed, sanitized, tweaked and adjusted!  It reminds me of how I tore apart and scrubbed cleaned every square inch of the kitchen in our new house in order to make sure it was sanitized and ready to have our stuff put into place there.

Another thing I’ve learned through this process is that when it comes to facing something bigger than you in your life, that you NEED to have a bigger and stronger spiritual foundational support structure in place to overcome the difficulties you are facing.

I can now see that this is exactly what Papa God had in mind when He literally pulled us out of the pattern of life we had lived for the previous 31 years and dropped us 1800 miles away in the heartland of America to attend Bible College, get saturated in the Word and surrounded by a strong fellowship of Believers in preparation for the diagnosis that we were to face upon our return home to California.  And you know… If He hadn’t done that I don’t know how I ever would have survived the path we have been experiencing..

Part of that experience happened yesterday when Piper had one of the weakest days she has had in years.*  There were a few times that I had to sit down just to get my strength and resolve up after physically attending to her needs.  But each time the Lord reminded me of His promises for healing and long life for her that He had me speaking out the night before!  Then we “just happened” to get a new CD in the mail from a ministry we support with a sermon entitled “Faith In Action!”  Listening to that message revitalized both of us.

Like I said earlier… I am SOOOOO glad that we have taken the time to literally STUFF ourselves with the Word so that, even in the physically draining and emotionally straining times, we can have an earnest EXPECTION of the miraculous.  After all, among many other scriptures, Mark 16:20 promises us that God is “working with and confirming the Word with signs following. Amen.”  (KJV… please note that the italicized word ‘them’ in the KJV is not actually in the original script but was added by the translators)

Has God ever prepared you in advance for what’s up ahead?  Are you STUFFING yourself with the Word in order to have the confidence and expectation of that Word working in, for and through you when the difficult (or easy) times come?  Are you open to Him making you, so that you can do the work of the Kingdom?

Well… it looks like I might have given you a few things to consider and work on this weekend!  Kind of like a homework assignment… Well, my wife and I do come from a long line of teachers!  Have a great weekend, and as you do, keep asking yourself…  “Am I STUFFED with the Word, and if so, l am I expectant of It miraculously working for me?”

*PS:  Piper is noticeably more alert today… PTL!