With Total Abandon

I. am. exhausted.  Spiritually, emotionally…. I know you are as well.  Two weeks ago, you completely shut me out.  You made a decision that you wouldn't discuss certain topics, but these uncomfortable ones for you happen to be the very topics that lend us opportunity to know you more intimately and to disciple you :(  Since, you've been very obviously angry, actively posting things aimed to hurt and to snub all the breakthroughs we've made up until this point.  The worst comment prefacing them all was, "I'm done pretending that everything is okay."

After the phone call we received yesterday, I was (frankly) about done, too.  All of our paperwork has expired.  It has taken up so much time putting out these small fires to get everything just right, that our agency completely overlooked a raging fire that ultimately destroyed everything.  In order to move forward, we have to start over.  We're devastated.  And, if you've already given up,  where will this news leave you?

I am so thankful we worship a God Who can make beauty from ashes (Is. 61:1-3).

Yesterday, I saw red; today, I see hope.  Jesus feels us, Sweet girl.  From the moment I woke up this morning, He has been showering me with comfort.  Overnight, He dispatched the Church, putting it on hearts to pray, to call and speak encouragement into us, to text us Scripture we can hold fast to, and to email us devotions that all scream the same message: "Persevere!" and "Radically obey!"

Through my own awesome devotional, He perfectly provided a fresh outlook on an age-old account that, paired with the emails, gave me a crystal clear view into His will for this mess:

"Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.  But because you say so, I will let down the nets" (Luke 5:5). …How many times have I found myself in Peter's position and not responded in obedience the way he did?  It saddens my heart to remember the occasions I've ignored Jesus' call for my radical obedience because I was tired, or because I didn't really believe Jesus would work miraculously in a particular situation, or mostly because the Lord's request made no sense in human terms. …We have to remember that Simon Peter didn't know that something as mundane as lowering his net into the water would change his life--but it did!  And that's how it can be for us. …That's what's remarkable about radical obedience.  You don't know where it will lead.  You don't know how God will use it" (Terkeurst, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God Devotional, 69-71).

From one of the emailed devotions (author: Greg Laurie):

When David was called by God to be king, he was out watching sheep, just being faithful.

What was Gideon doing when God called him? He was hiding from his enemies. He was terrified.

And what was Elisha doing when Elijah called him to carry on the work? He was out plowing in the field.

My point is this: They were faithfully doing what God had set before them. They weren't running around, looking for big, important things to accomplish. They didn't have public relations consultants or agents. They were simply doing the little things, waiting on God. Sometimes we have great ideas of what God will do. But we have to wait on Him. What are your dreams right now? Maybe you want to do something for God, but you think it will never happen. Then again . . . maybe it will. Maybe it even will surpass your wildest dreams. Just be faithful to do what God has set before you right now. Your future is safe in His hands.

Lastly, the loudest message from another emailed devotion put on your grandmother's heart to send:

"Because you have kept My command to persevere..." (Rev 3:10)

Perseverance means more than endurance--more than simply holding on until the end. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, "I can't take any more."   Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God's hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15)

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life--throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet--places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, "This is eternal life, that they may know You..."(John 17:3) The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance--a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time, God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power. Oswald Chambers

Right now, we're understandably the saints saying, "We can't take anymore."  But He is blatantly calling on us to persevere, to radically obey, to trust Him even when that means His terms make no sense or our faith in the miracles He could perform is faltering.  "He wants us to venture out with total abandoned confidence in Him"!!  We need to settle in and faithfully press on, working out this challenge He's set before us while we wait on Him.  He has a plan…and my gut tells me it will surpass even our wildest dreams.  

In a text sent to me, also this morning, by a sweet friend and prayer partner-in-crime:

"Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us.  We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up.  We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.  He saw the joy ahead of Him, so He endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought Him.  Then, He received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God.  Think about Jesus, who endured opposition…so that you don't become tired and give up" (Hebrews 12:1-3 GWT).