Monthly Archives: August 2019

You Need to Know…Ask God!

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“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

I’ve often thought of this verse but my focus is usually on how God is able to do far more than. I’m in awe of God and His capabilities. This morning I was reading a prophetic word by a woman in Texas and I was stopped by something she said about ASK! She said, “Asking and contending activates faith…!”

I chewed on that sentence for a few minutes. If I ask for something from God, then I’m compelled to wait on Him for the answer. If I have no faith for what I’m asking for, does it cancel out my request? (Why then did I ask for it in the first place? I’ve done this in the past, but praises to our God, it doesn’t seem to phase Him!). I believe, after many years of walking with God, that He loves to confound us and our sometimes lack of faith, by answering us, even when we doubt He will. What does that do for us? It catapults our faith into the possibility range of things!

Let me give you an example. Back to when I was first saved. I’d been walking with Jesus for a few months. I was astounded about this new “relationship” I was experiencing and trying to take in the fact that God was real and ready to be with me. It confounded me at times because my upbringing in faith was in a denomination that didn’t teach about our relationship with Christ…only the sovereignty of God. Consequently I grew up afraid of God. (I want to clarify here that this was my take-away and not necessarily what they taught).

So I’m in this new relationship with Jesus. All was good until one day it wasn’t. I had a bit of a crisis in my new found faith. I don’t even remember what that crisis was, I just remember that I was devastated and I needed to know that God was real. I mean really real. I wanted proof! And so I asked for proof.

“If you’re real God, I need to know! I don’t want to keep walking down this path only to find myself five years from now learning that this was all a pipe dream. If you’re real, I want proof. You have to show me You’re real!”

I was driving in my car at the time this conversation was happening, on my way home from work and whatever had happened that triggered my trepidation. Suddenly, I heard a voice say to me, “Linda I love you so much!” I heard it…audibly! The voice was so loud and clear, I was startled. I remember actually looking in the backseat as I was driving, thinking someone was in the back seat and they’d heard everything I’d been pouring my guts out over, deciding to play a joke on me. That’s how clear I heard what I heard.

“WHAT? Was that you God? I don’t know what just happened, but if that was You, I need You to do it again!” And He said it again! Out loud. “Linda, I love you so much!” I burst into tears. And then into hysterical laughter. And then gratitude took over, me telling God how much that meant to me. Keep in mind I’m driving while this is happening. I lost all touch with reality at this moment, laughing, crying and talking to God as if He was sitting in the passenger seat. I guess He was in fact sitting in my passenger seat because we had the most glorious time.

I had absolutely no recollection of driving home. All I remember is this magnificent time spent with the God of the universe, in my car, and He, by His answer to my question, “are you real?” became very, very real to me! It was splendid!

My next memory is of lifting my head off of my hands, as they rested on the top of the steering wheel, and I was parked in my carport at home. To this day I still don’t know how He got me there, but He did. And this all important incident, this very specific asking of God to prove to me He was real, forever changed my life. God was real and my faith was activated, just as this author the other day stated it can happen.

Back to our scripture…”Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV). God is the God of the universe. He created this universe, so I believe He’s certainly able to do anything. And He can and will do far more than we ask…or imagine! Here’s another of those wonderful promises of God. He’ll do far more than we can ask or imagine. Wow. That’s a lot! 

God cared about me and my doubts. I asked…and He answered. And my faith was activated. It was the pinnacle of my experience with God at the time. And I’ve never forgotten His tender care and love to answer my cry. That was some 40+ years ago.

What is it you need from God right now? Have you asked Him for an answer? Have you dared? He wants to answer your question. You may need to ask Him again (see Matthew 7:7), but He promises to answer. What have you been desiring, more than anything, to know from God?

Go ahead. Ask. And as He answers you, watch your faith catapult!

Lord, I’m asking today, for you to answer the questions of my brothers and sisters reading today. Activate  our faith today because I know that I know you want to answer us in ways far more than we can ask for or imagine. Thank you Lord…

Surviving the Valley; Hurricane Days & Dusty Road Nights

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It’s been a long, hot, dusty road. I’ve missed you all and the truth is, I’ve missed me! What do you do when you find yourself living a tough road? You travel the road.

In the summer of 2018, I was reading a great book by Graham Cooke, “Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior.” Kicked. My. Butt. Ouch! I was also listening to a lot of Graham’s teachings. Somewhere in there I heard him say, “when you find yourself in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death, this is not the time for a pity party. Instead, keep walking, one foot in front of the other, until you walk out the other end.” I grabbed onto that saying like my life depended on it.

The past year has consisted of all things parental. My parents are aging and an accident last summer for my mom, changed all our lives. We moved them to our town. Not easy. We sold their house. Not fun. We’ve attempted to encourage them as they came to grips with leaving their independent life behind and learned to depend on us. Again, not easy.

A year has passed. I love having my parents nearby. Prior to this, I spent 40+ years away from my childhood home and family. I am now here to help; to transport, make appointments, oversee their health issues, take care of their finances, and attempt to soothe them in times of turmoil at all these changes. I’ve realized that losing one’s independence is like nothing else in our lives. Hard. Humiliating. All encompassing. Nothing is as it was. Nothing.

If you’ve wondered why I haven’t been writing, this is it. I’ve experienced doubt, angst, joy, sorrow, love, and countless other emotions over this past year. I’ve felt extreme highs…and sorrowful lows, at having my parents here, in an assisted living facility, ten minutes from our home. And for all my own feelings, my parents’ have had a bucket load of their own. Some days I am their comforter. Some days I’m their demon, forcing them to face things and decisions they’d much rather avoid. It has felt like a hurricane has blown through our lives, leaving chaos and disorder in its wake.

The Lord recently reminded me that writing has always been my comfort. From my days as a young girl forward, I’ve always written. Mostly about my feelings. I’ve come to realize that all those days spent spilling my feelings onto a page were in fact a healthy release of frustrations and doubts, helping me cope with the long, dusty roads of my past.

My heart is hoping for some time to spend writing again. Soon. I’m reminded of a verse in Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NASB77). “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the LORD answered me and said, ” Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.”

The vision is for a time, not yet come, but it will not fail. God has not forsaken you or me. His Word of life will not fail. Do you find yourself, like me, on a long, dusty road of life? Are you making your way through hurricane debris? Please be encouraged. God is here, right now, right next to us. Do not succumb to the “pity parties” the enemy intends to swamp us with. Instead, keep walking. One. Step. At. A. Time. One day, in the not so distant future, you will see the dawning of a new day. O glorious day, when we realize we’ve walked out of the valley and into His glorious Light!

Travel mercies my friends. The “more” of God is waiting to unfold. Ask Him to revive your weary soul. And don’t forget to look up! He’s still smiling down on us all.