Oct 18th - New Possessions

Genesis 15:13-14
Then the Lord said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

My "Streams in the Desert" devotional speaks to this verse by saying this: An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great possessions." The pledge was redeemed.

God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart. C.G. Trumbull

I don't know about you but I really needed to hear that today. I needed to be reminded that I believe in and follow a God who keeps his promises to his people. That, according to Romans 8:28, in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him. I need this like I need food and water. Because without it my fight would be meaningless and my light would be snuffed out. Daily I see and talk to hurting people from all walks of life. As human beings we all will share a season or two of waiting and suffering. It is so easy to give up...its so easy to get discouraged. This is the very hour that everything in me feels like its going to crack into a thousand little pieces and one day someone will come into my room and only find a pile of dust.

Then I remember the promises. I remember that God came to give me an abundant life. I remember Him telling the woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The meaning of "welling up" is an expression that means a "vigorous one", with a meaning like "leaping up". Jesus was speaking of a vigorous and abundant life. That's His promise to me. But, I have to do my part and drink His water...all the time.

I'm suddenly reminded of the disciples on the boat with the big storm that came. How scared they were, how frantic and panicked. I feel that way many times and I have this incredible feeling of disdain for my circumstances and want to bolt out of it at any cost. Except the rest of the story is that Jesus appeared to them walking on the water and calmed their fears. So much so was his voice of calm that it gave Peter the courage to get out of the boat and walk on water himself. Maybe my circumstances are actually preparing me to get out of the boat too, if I'm willing to allow His voice to create the peace and confidence in me that it did for Peter. I could bet anything, if I were a betting girl :-) that Peter would have never traded the fear and panic from the storm for the experience of walking on water with His Lord. I know someday I'll feel the fullness of what has transpired in this season of my life, but not just yet. I see tiny fragments of it and I know I'm somehow different. But, I know there is a much fuller purpose on the other side of all the things I see slipping by me with each passing day.

My grandmother (my mom's mother) just turned 90 the other day. She has been back in Boise with her sisters and I was unable to attend her gathering. I had to come to the realization that unless God intervenes soon that the possibility of me seeing her again grows more slim with each passing day. I had called her on the day of the actual party and could tell in her voice that she had such a special day. There was a huge wave of sadness that came over me when suddenly I had this incredible feeling of my mother's presence next to me. It has been years since I have experienced that particular type of thing. And, as I sat there taking it all in I felt a new freedom that I haven't felt in a long time. See, I'm not super close to my grandma. I mean I love her of course, but she comes with some generational stuff. My connection to her is my mother and to be near her feels like being near to my mom. To lose my grandmother feels like losing another little piece of my mother. So, when I felt my mother's presence so strong I realized God was trying to remind me that He will be faithful to keep those things in safe keeping which are nearest my heart. These things I see slipping by while I lay here are not really leaving me. God is holding them in his hand and will give them back to me in a more healthy form...when its time to leave this season of waiting. God makes all things perfect in His time. I see that now, and I believe it now. I cannot rush this process, I cannot grumble against God, I cannot let go of the hope to which He has called me, I must give thanks in the midst of suffering and I must trust that on the other side of me coming out of this place of waiting will be new possessions. I must believe and have faith that He will indeed call me out.

2 Corinthians 4:13
"We having the same spirit of faith, according to it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak."

So, I believe that I'm going to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living...and therefore speak it out loud....for according to Jesus, "Nothing is impossible with God."
God is Good!!!!
Blessings, Tanya