Good Monday morning, my favorite blog community on earth!
Soon you’ll be hearing from Curtis with some insights from your comments on Friday’s post. I’ve been out of town most of the weekend so I haven’t seen them yet but the Moores and Joneses had lunch together yesterday and they said the responses were terrific and some of them pretty eye-opening. You invest continually in the workings of this ministry whether or not you realize it. You equip us constantly to serve the Body of Christ in relevant ways and we are so grateful.
Until you hear from CJ, here’s something that’s been on my mind this weekend based on a wild thing God did on Friday. I awakened that morning with a pressing on my heart to send a certain new friend flowers for absolutely no occasion except that I couldn’t get her out of my mind. The fact that I could even have that clear impression on Friday is in itself a wonder because I was preparing five – count them, FIVE – messages for the Life Today taping we did in Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend. I was also in a tailspin getting all the appropriate wardrobe packed. It made much more sense to wait until Monday to make arrangements for flowers, only I couldn’t let it go.
Come to find out that the flowers came to my new friend on her only child’s birthday, a son she’d raised to young adulthood then lost in a tragic accident. She’d been feeling literally sick at heart with grief as the day approached and had tried not to tell anybody. What’s more, instead of just sending a random bouquet of flowers like I normally would, this time I requested something very specific that just happened to hold extreme significance to my new friend. It was the exact kind of flower and color that her husband sent her for years before his equally untimely death. (No, it wasn’t your basic red.) Needless to say, Blonder-Than-She-Pays-to-Be had absolutely no idea. I sat bug-eyed when I read her response concerning all the things I “could not have known” and marveled over how Christ has gone out of His way to show her His enormous and exquisite love. In fact, He’s chasing her as hard as anybody I’ve ever known. My heart is so tender that He would allow me to be one small part of how He is showing His great affection and tender care to someone.
He is not only a God of the big things. Perhaps what astonishes us most in each of our private journeys with Him is that He is a God of the smallest, most intimate details. A God who does things with personal significance only He and we could have known. So, let’s boast in that very dimension of our God today. Give a one-paragraph story of how He went out of His way and far beyond coincidence to show You His love…OR, used you in some detailed way to demonstrate His love to someone else.
He is SO WORTHY.
I love God stops too! On vacation we had car trouble and coasted into the only wide spot on this two lane road where we did have cell phone reception (around the bend it was spotty). Not ten minutes later a tow truck went by who was headed to another call that didn't need a tow, just a tool. If we were still there when he got back, he could tow us. He did–did I mention that it was a crew cab so all 5 of us fit! He took my husband with the van to the parts store just before it closed on a holiday weekend. They had exactly the part we needed–the last one! In the meantime, the hotel let the kids, dog and I in our room with no ID or money (it was in the van), and just a promise that I was telling the truth. Bless her heart! Our angel tow truck driver had an employee who could install the new part that just happened to be going our way early the next morning which was a holiday! We were getting close to our destination and it began to rain, and we were recounting all that God had done to take care of us. We said, "While You are at it, could You give us a break in the rain long enough to unload?" He did! We felt so amazed and loved!
We knew a potential move was coming, but didn't have any job leads. It was like He was saying "I coordinated all this in less than 24 hours. I can handle a job and housing. Trust me."
Here we go…after months of waiting, in the past 11 days my hubby has interviewed for a new job, gotten the job, and we have a potential buyer for our house! We are planning to move in 2 weeks! I better get packing I just had to share that my God is so good!
In 1998 I moved to Cheyenne, WY and met a wonderful friend. Her name is Lori. She is a youth pastor's wife and very wise in the Lord. I had just gotten divorced and was a single mom with two small children. I was bitter, depressed, scared and not walking with the Lord. God used her to encourage me, and show me His grace. Through Lori, God's love was revealed to me anew. I recommitted my life to Christ. Even though her family moved to Phoenix in 2001, we keep in touch, our kids visit each other in the summer, and she is still a source of encouragement for me. I praise God for best girlfriends with whom we are free to be transparent and authentic without risk of judgement and shame.
Beth,
I was recently moved to tears when I realized the unthankfulness of my heart toward my Lord Jesus Christ. He has kept me through so many storms and trials of my life. He's protected me from so much and I have been so ungrateful.
I recently took a mini vacation with family. I was swimming with some of my family in the hotel's indoor pool when another guest who was in the pool found himself in the deep waters and was unable to swim. I swam as fast as I could to this stranger to help him towards the shallow end. When he regained his footing and was ok (maybe kind of embarrassed to be rescued by a girl), not a "thank you" was spoken to me by this guy or his mother. Wow. How could someone not thank the one who has just rescued him from drowning?
A few days later I was thinking about this and realized I've been just like that drowning person. Circumstances of this world seem to overwhelm me at times and I feel like I'm struggling to stay above the water, when Someone reaches down and "rescues" me. God's helped me in so many situations and I've failed to thank Him for all He's done in my life. May we never take for granted God's saving power.
Beth,
I was recently moved to tears when I realized the unthankfulness of my heart toward my Lord Jesus Christ. He has kept me through so many storms and trials of my life. He's protected me from so much and I have been so ungrateful.
I recently took a mini vacation with family. I was swimming with some of my family in the hotel's indoor pool when another guest who was in the pool found himself in the deep waters and was unable to swim. I swam as fast as I could to this stranger to help him towards the shallow end. When he regained his footing and was ok (maybe kind of embarrassed to be rescued by a girl), not a "thank you" was spoken to me by this guy or his mother. Wow. How could someone not thank the one who has just rescued him from drowning?
A few days later I was thinking about this and realized I've been just like that drowning person. Circumstances of this world seem to overwhelm me at times and I feel like I'm struggling to stay above the water, when Someone reaches down and "rescues" me. God's helped me in so many situations and I've failed to thank Him for all He's done in my life. May we never take for granted God's saving power.
God made a way for me to minister to a special friend two Tuesdays ago.
Though I had not been especially close to a dear sweet lady from Bible Study, God put it specifically on my heart to minister to her while she was receiving Hospice care, and suffering through her last days of Stage 4 Renal Cancer. I was able to spend a good portion of that particular day just reading Scripture to her, and over her. She began to sleep for a while and I just prayed silently over her during that time. It was then that I felt God whisper to my heart that she wanted to sing. I wondered if I had made the thought up, or if it really had been the Holy Spirit's prompting. Of course, I felt Him pressing, and so followed His lead. I bent in closer to my friend and whispered sweetly in her ear "Sweet Girl … God has a new song for you to sing … He wants to hear you sing, sweetheart…" And, wouldn't you know, at that very moment – depsite being asleep and unable to talk, she began to sing! I began to look up every passage possible about singing and read them to her. He blessed us both, SO much.
In the days to follow, He continued to affirm that it was He who indeed gave her a new song, and that I had heard Him right. Joy all over again.
It is a memory that I will cherish forever.
I was single, working 3 jobs to keep a roof over my head after leaving a lifetime of abuse and the engine to my car blew up. For a year or so I exhausted myself trying to make ends meet until I read psalm 127: 2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
So, I am in the car driving over a bridge and I prayed, "Lord, I am so burdened down. If there is anything that I am not giving to You please put it on my heart." I then felt led to pray and ask Him to bare the burden of the two cars I was trying to pay. Hours later a friend called ans asked me to come over and said they needed to talk to me. (This person had no clue of the car payments.) The person told me that the Lord had put it on his heart to pay off the other car for me. THAT SAME DAY!!
There are so many more but I just glory in how personal He is!!
I love this. Thank you for sharing your wondrous story and for allowing others to do the same. I've been so blessed by these stories.
My latest God-story happened last week. After many years of not teaching, after a LPL event in April, where His call on me was confirmed once again, I was invited to teach a summer bible study series. This in itself is a God-story but I'll tell it another time. Anyway, out of sheer obedience, I agreed.
I felt impressed that God wanted me to teach a review of sorts on the basics of Christian beliefs. Like Sovereignty of God, Grace, Authority of the Bible, etc…Last week, my topic was, "Who is Jesus Christ?" Talk about tackling the big one. There were a gazillion ways to approach this huge topic and a gazillion things He's been to me. After struggling with the whole thing, though I had an outline, I still had no idea what to include, what to leave out. The day before I was to teach on who Jesus is, I was in my car driving alone. I was praying as I often do in the car. I was really just talking out loud and telling God that I had no idea how this talk was going to come together. I was asking the Holy Spirit to really teach me what to say. Then I started to get a little silly and I was imagining the Trinity in a perfect triangle. God the Father at the top, Jesus the Son at one corner on the bottom, and Holy Spirit at the other. And I was asking the Holy Spirit if He ever gets to be on the top and was imagining this moving, rotating triangle of the Trinity.
Right before my exit, I saw a movement to my right. A bird was rising up from the ground, and seemed to fly for awhile at about my eye level, right in front of my car. I realized that the bird was pure white in color and was just about to admire its' beauty. Then, it turned to its left and kinda looked at me and I realized that it was a pure white dove. As soon as I perceived that it was a pure white dove, it flew over my car, out of my sight. It seemed to almost suspend in midair while it kind of looked at me before disappearing. It looked exactly like so many of the paintings I've seen of the Holy Spirit hovering over something.
I immediately began to cry and laugh at the same time. This joy just burst forth in me and I knew that I didn't need to worry over the study anymore. The Holy Spirit would show up and take care of the class. I was just to do my best and prepare the best I could. It was one of those moments where I just felt so incredibly loved by Him…It will always remain a very precious memory to me.
Beth,
I have experienced these "God encounters" numerous times and could relate enough stories to make your eyes bleed from reading them all! I'll just share the most recent. Here goes:
On Sunday, July 19th my family and I were blessed to be spending a few days at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. I woke my boys, age 10 and 7, to get dressed for Mass. (Yes, I am a Catholic Siesta–hope that's ok– and regardless of what you may have heard, we love Bible studies, too. 🙂 I wanted to go to the early, 8 am, service which is typically much more casual. All I asked of the boys was to get up, brush teeth and put on some clothes. Well…..that did not sit well with my 7 year old who had been up a little past his bedtime the night before hunting ghost crabs on the beach. LOL He threw a horendous fit! Cried that he wanted to sleep during his vacation and not miss any beach time. I'm sure all of you Siesta mommies can envision the tug of war that followed. Of course, I won and we headed off to 8 am Mass. He tried to "show out" one more time on the way in the doors but I gave him "the look" and reminded him that God made the beautiful beach and allowed us to be fortunate enough to enjoy it and instructed him that he was to be good, listen, and take the time to thank God. Can you believe the Gospel reading for that day happened to be Mark 6:30-34–The story of Jesus and the apostles attempting to "get away" for a rest after a grueling ministry tour–and the priest's sermon focused on the importance of vacation time for all of us but also the fact that Jesus and the apostles gave up their vacation time to teach the Word to the people that followed them desperatley seeking His instruction. The priest basicly said, among other things, that while our bodies and minds need recharging with some "time-out", that we also need spiritual recharging which we can only get by spending time praying and praising God. Can you say "Hit the nail on the head!"? This was tailor made for our morning! In the car on the way back to the condo I asked my son if he was paying attention during Mass. He truthfully said that he had paid attention to "most of it" but that "it gets hard toward the end". LOL He said, "I listened to the Gospel and to his talk." "The rest of that story is my favorite one when Jesus next feeds all of those people with a few fish and loaves." He also said, "I know that I was wrong, Mommy. It is important for us to make time for God and Jesus even during our vacation 'cause he gave up his whole vacation to teach people like us and we only had to listen for an hour." Needless to say I felt the urge to giggle at his 7 year old wisdom but at the same time was SO proud that he had listened and applied what he heard and took it to heart. He later hugged me and told me how sorry he was for "acting ugly" and that he loved me and that he was lucky to have me to take him to Church. Of course he earned BIG hugs and lots of "sugar" for that! Anyway—just what we needed to hear when we needed to hear it! God always comes through!
Have a great week!
Kim
Mine is one of those stories where God just showed up in the tiny details of my life, but it meant so much to me just this morning, that I would be "wrong" not to share it. I work from home on a computer. As I was doing my work this morning, a thought, actually a worry crept up in my mind and I started to dwell on it. Then, I reminded myself of the verse I am now working on memorizing, II Corin. 10:5 that talks about taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. I started to meditate on that verse for a few minutes and reminded my thoughts to be obedient. I immediately felt peace, but then just as a confirmation that God's way is always best, I got an e-mail (very unexpected) letting me know that the very thing I was worrying about was not an issue at all. So, I am working on surrendering EVERY thought and making it obedient and God reminded me that He is at work in the details and I have no need to worry.
Very long story short–I had been praying on my way to work at 5:30am about my mother (94 years of age) coming to live with me. I was laying down my will and everything I was crying out was about "not my will, but Thy will". In this state of prayer I stopped and did something I have never done before–I picked up a man I had seen for months walking miles to a bus stop. He got in my car and the first words he said were "Hi,my name is Will." God is so loving. He knew what I had to face ahead and that I would need to look back and know that yes, this is His Will. If I had picked up that man any of the other times I had seen him, it wouldn't have held such signifigance. Praise Him!
My husband is a pastor and we have two children. Sunday mornings are usually very chaotic as my hubby leaves the house very early and I am the one to get the kids ready and off to church. The devil regularly picks on us, especially on Sunday mornings. We were having a really tough morning, but we were in the car on the way to church. I was crying, begging God to show me some reason for going to all this trouble. Shortly after that quick prayer, my cell phone beeped. My hubby sent me a text with this message, "Someone just stopped by my office and said that she felt led to be praying for you right now." Man, did I cry…tears of gratitude and awe. How great is our God!
I am a junior high school counselor. Last year, on a day I was scheduled for an ultrasound to determine the cause of some extreme pain in my lower abdomen, God used a sweet sixth grade girl to be his messenger. I was worried about the possibility of ovarian cysts or cancer and had been praying like crazy for good results. That morning God sent me flowers and a card. The flowers were simple and unique–just like each of us His children–and the card was perfect. I still have it in my desk even now. It reads at the beginning "You're beautiful inside and out." How perfect is that?! Beautiful "inside" no matter the results of my tests, no matter the prognosis, my God made me beautiful inside and out! That afternoon following the ultrasound my doctor walked in an said–I promise she said these exact words–"Your ovaries are beautiful." WOW–What a mighty God we serve! He had to have given her those words. All I needed was a simple change of medicine to fix the small problem that was causing the pain. Praise be to God!
Have a Blessed Day, Beth. My ladies' church group is LOVING Esther, by the way 🙂
Tanya
This happened 20 years ago but I'll never forget it. I was 13 years old and very awkward in my looks and insecure. I had this best friend who was so different than me, cute and more popular and who even went to modeling school. One night we were at church working on a project for our youth event and a young woman in the church had offered to give us both rides home. As we were getting into her car, out of the blue she whispered to me, "You are so beautiful." The words brought tears to my eyes. It was as if God was speaking straight through her. I sat that ride home wrapped in the Father's love, knowing He had used her to tell me something vitally important.
Beth,
I don't have a story today, but I am amazed at the opportunities God gives us to minister to others (and He in turn blesses us), if we're listening to the "still, small voice". God forgive us for being too busy or simply unwilling to take the time to be Jesus in the life of someone He places on our hearts and in our path.
In His Grip,
Vicki
A long time ago, 4 boys laid me unconscious, covered in blood, on my parents' doorsteps at 8am. I had alcohol poisoning & probably should have died from it. They raped me that night that I have no memory of and left me for dead on the doorsteps. Our stories don't define us. Our good God Who has invaded our lives & made us beloved—He defines my worth, my heartbeat. Not the 14 years of family violence I knew since 4 years old. More chaos in my home in 1 hour than some children know in a lifetime. Every 8:40am, I go into a radiation machine these days for cancer treatments. Somehow, the traumas of my past wash over my brain as my beautiful God is taking me deeper every morning into a sweet surrender of suffering and letting go Psalm 46:10. My strength is spent. It's a theology of weakness over here, where HE meets me 2Cor 12: 9 every 8:40am through siestas like Abby who text me some mornings the exact verse HE gave me the night before like Rom 8:26. And siestas like Annette who give me Courage & touch deep places in me. And siestas like Holly whose own personal suffering somehow makes me come alive. God uses random comments to sink deep in my soul like Amanda's 3 words that shake me and make shifts in my heart every a.m. in that machine. They've let me borrow their faith for a bit. They've prayed for me. Some of you have been through far worse than I have but this is terribly difficult for me going into a machine. God is carrying me through this. Don't know how I'll make it through these last 3 weeks. But this I know—2Chron 14:11 There is No One Like Our God. I am powerless and I believe HE will show up in my dark mornings of my soul at 8:40am. I'm covered in the Shadow of His Hand & He has used siestas to do just that. Isa 51:16.
I was heart-sick over a broken relationship. I was telling my good friend how much I wished someone thought I was beautiful. that evening i went to a once-a-month worship service at a church in the city. during the worship service, one of the worship leaders stopped singing and spoke directly to me from the stage. He said,'the woman in the gray sweater, God wants you to know He thinks you're beautiful when you worship'. 😀 That story still makes me cry. God is truly a loving Father.
I just have to tell you how God has used Beth's bible studies to bless me over the past 5 years.
In 2004, My little sister (28 at the time) was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she had brain surgery to remove the 3 golf ball size tumors. During surgery she had a stroke leaving her left side impaired.
In the fall of 2006, I started my first bible study with Beth, Daniel. My little sister's tumor also came back and she had to go to Mayo for intense radiation and chemo. The week she left, I was watching Daniel #3 where Beth uses cancer as a main theme compared to the fire Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were facing. My hope was renewed.
In 2007, my husband lost his job and had to move away from our home leaving me with 4 kids (6 and under) while we waited for our home to sell. I started the Patriarchs study and while I am doing my homework I learn that Abraham settled in Hebron. Guess what? My husband was working in Hebron.
In 2009, I was driving to my Esther bible study and I get the call that Sharron's cancer is once again back and has nodgules. That night, we watched session 4, "If I perish, I perish."
Sharron went home to be with the Lord 2 months later. I don't know if I would have survived these past 5 years without my Beth Moore Bible Studies – God has used you mightily in my life.
Thank you!
I retired from teaching 5th grade 2 years ago. A couple of years before that I had a boy in my class who needed constant attention. He was literally at my elbow constantly with questions even while I was teaching the rest of the class. He had learning difficulties, so I really tried to be patient, but one Friday night I was so exhausted that I prayed: Lord, please help me to see Jesus in Jon. On Monday morning before class even began, there was Jon at my elbow wanting to show me something. He pulled up his sleeve and I saw one of those washable tattoos, but it was blurry, and I asked him what it was. When he said, "It's Jesus," I was amazed anew that God cares about every detail of our lives and lets us know it in such precious ways.
God spoke very loudly to a group of us and now we are involved in an "extreme home makeover" for a precious family in need. As soon as the e-mails went out, the money and volunteers started rolling in. The family is so blessed by this out pourihng of love from above and so am I!
Just the other day I was telling my 10 year old daughter my latest God story. She commented about how our family has so many of them. That's one of the best things about how "He's into the details"…it serves as a faith building testimony for our children! I do have so many of these stories I could share but since I don't think I could condense any of them into a paragraph I'll just give a shout out to my God!!! I love Him and His ways!
I just loved this story, Beth – it reminded me of a time when God reached out to me to show me His smile … just God and me, but it was so precious. I was at the beach (my favorite place) and wandering the beach one morning, singing to God and myself, just overwhelmed with His creation. I finally sat down in the sand and asked Him for something silly – a piece of sea glass. It is so hard to find, but I had begun making jewelry and wanted something unique for myself. I just sat there for a few minutes, feeling like a goober for asking God for something so insignificant. Turns out it wasn't insignificant at all … a few minutes later I put down my hand to sift through the shells at my feet, and there was the loveliest piece of white sea glass you ever saw – in a sort of triangle shape – about the size of a fifty-cent piece. I cried for about ten minutes, that God would do something so tender and immediate. That piece of sea glass is now in a pendant that I wear a lot, to remind me of "Whose" I am.
In June of 2008, you were headed for the Deeper Still conference here in Atlanta. The night before, God woke me up and told me I needed to go. Big problem: event sold out and I had no ticket. I called the church where our kids go to school and one person had JUST turned in a ticket. I ended up going by myself and sitting way upstairs – 1 of 19,000 or so. That Saturday afternoon before you spoke, you said that Jesus had told you that there were some people who were carrying things around that they needed to let go and you talked about how the enemy just loves to keep poking at us with remembrances of those things/sins. You led a prayer time and I was finally able to give it up. Doesn't mean the regret still isn't there or the consequences are gone, but the guilt and power the enemy had is gone. Yes, I KNOW He's in the details. I'm so thankful that you came to Atlanta that day and am thankful for that woman who didn't just let that unused ticket go into the recycle bin!
I am a pastor's wife. My husband's sermon was on "Blessed are the Peacemakers" All week, he had a rough time preparing it and would come home everyday and tell me how the Enemy does not want this preached. He had called some prayer warriors Sat. evening and everyone prayed the Enemy would not come into our "Holy of Holies". Throughout the sermon, I felt the need to pray for 2 women who were causing major problems in the church because of a confronation that happened 3 months ago. I didn't know all the details but had heard it was between them. One of the ladies pulled me aside and asked me to go pray with her. As we were walking to the alter, the other lady tapped me on the shoulder. I grabbed both hands, knelt down, and prayed "I give this to you. I sense something is going on between these ladies and I ask that you bring peace to them and reconcile right now." They hugged and I backed away and let them deal with this mess right there before God at the alter. It was amazing and how we all felt to pray for reconciliation and for the Enemy to stay out. I'm still having goosebumps just being in teh midst of God's work.
Last Sunday, I was down to my last 3 diapers. I am a single mom on a very tight budget. In the grand scheme of things that seems so small. But, to a single mom…it's being able to provide for your baby.
So, I told God.
An hour before church, a woman showed up on my doorstep with a card that "she had been meaning to send me all week," with $20 and a coupon for diapers.
🙂
Yes, I believe that He is a God of the details. Overwhelmed by the tender care that He takes with His children..
Who knew…God cares about diapers.
God blessed me with talking to my dad just hours before he died suddenly of a heart attack. My dad and I were extremely close. During that last conversation my dad and I talked about the regrets he had about being a workaholic. He also told me that I should always make time for vacations- even though I'd have to spend some well saved money. Might not seem like much, but this workaholic daughter needed to know that is was ok to take a break every now and again.
Beth, after hurricane I saw that God really was in the details for us. I love sparrows. When I was going into summer missions as a teenager God brought me a sparrow that sat on the same bench I was to teach me how much He really loves us. That was the first time I realized how huch He cared about me as a person. The day before the hurricane before we left, God sent me a sparrow again. It sat on the metal fence on the balcony right next to me for a long time. At that moment I thought nothing of it. We had only been in the apartment at seminary a couple of days but I remembered a train going by at all hours.We left and of course lost everything we owned. God found us a place to stay. We had a train going by at all hours again. My best friend gave me some clothes to wear. She gave me my favorite nightgown I had lost in the storm. She had no clue what she had done. Yes, God is in the details of our lives.
My ex-husband died in a hit an run accident 2 years ago. He had little to do with our 3 children in the 10 years we'd been divorced even though we lived in the same city. Still my oldest daughter was grieving and dealing with the idea that most likely her daddy wasn't saved and she would never see him again. Two days after his death, my husband called me from his work all excited and told me to bring Heather to see him at lunch. He was able to show her an email his boss had received from his wife and brought out to show him. In the email from a local outreach mission they talked about the death of my ex and how the day before he had been in church talking about the sermon that day and how just 2 weeks before he had gone forward and given his life to Christ. I just marvel at the love of our Heavenly Father who took the time and used Heather's step-father to assure her that she would one day see her biological father again. If not for that email Heather would have no idea her daddy was waiting for her in Heaven until she herself got there.
My baby girl just had her first baby, our sweet grandson Conner. She and her husband live nine hours away in Oklahoma. They are new to their community and although they are making friends still ache for family. My daughter was esepcially needing her Mom as she awaited the birth of her first child. A friend of ours called about six months into her pregnancy suddenly remembering a family friend from years past who lived in my daughter's community. Lo and behold she is a OB nurse in the very hospital where my daughter was to give birth. Through a few phone calls the two were able to connect and my daughter had a surrogate Mom who loved the Lord and had expertise in childbirth! Wow!! The icing on the cake – guess who was on duty the night my precious grandson was born to help my daughter through a difficult labor and ultimately a C-Section? Praise you Father again and again! I marvel at the way You orchestrate lives, often over years and years, so they can connect at just the right moment. Praise You, praise You!
11 years ago, i got pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear. pulsatile tinnitus isn't the normal ringing… it is a vibration. it was driving me crazy, literally. one day, after fasting and praying, i went to our music minister's house and we prayed that God would take away the pulsatile tinnitus… and He did… as we were praying! i had a physical sensation of something being pulled out of that ear. and it stopped! Praise YOU, God!
My husband is a pastor, and for the past 4 years we have had either 2 or 3 children in college-one of those being very expensive. My oldest son, the one at the pricey school, had struggled all of his life in school and we helped and reassured him that he would one day find his thing in life. His "thing" turned out to be a very expensive art school and we started out unsure of how long we would be able to send him there. As I sat and cried at his graduation, I marveled at how God had gotten him to just the right place and provided for him. (and the others!)I told my husband that I wanted to go back and see on our records where all the money had come from. And then I heard the still, small voice tell me not to bother to look–that I wouldn't be able to find it.
All praise, glory and honor to the One who cares about every detail of our lives.
Wow! It's amazing that I read your post this morning. I have been going back through my journal and reading all the times God has been faithful, whether in the small or in the large things. There are too many to post, but I will say that He always seems to show me something in His Word at THE EXACT TIME I need to hear it. Thank you, Beth, for being His faithful servant!
My dog Bailee was in an animal hospital about an hour away from our house, having just been diagnosed with diabetes.
I was missing her so badly and praying for her recovery. I asked God one day to give her a kiss goodnight.
The next day her intern Lyndsay told me that she was able to give her a kiss on the top of the head that very night.
This was an answer to prayer and a small miracle because Bailee had not been very friendly to them and would only let them get so close.
What an amazing God we serve! He answers our prayers, no matter how small. Praise God for his many, many, many answers to prayers!
God teaches me many lessons through sparrows. Yesterday morning I went on my back porch before work – never before have I seen the number of sparrows and they were uncharacteristically flying helter-skelter, frantically, with no purpose or goal. I sensed God was teaching me this is what I have been doing – going too fast – frantically. He gave me the scripture of how he takes care of the lillies and birds and they do not toil or spin. He wanted a quiet spirit within me. This morning there were about five – they were flying with purpose – they were soaring! Then the Holy Spirit led me to I Kings 19 – Elijah was in a cave and he saw a great wind (my turbulent marriage?), an earthquake (the devastaing divorce?), the fire (purification and sanctification?) and then Elijah heard God in a still small quiet voice. Later HE sends Elisha (my family? my friends? a mate?). I marvel at his great love and compassion as HE knows what is dear to my heart and teaches me through these little birds – insignificant to many but not to God or to me, His Child!
The Journey Continues ~
Amen For listening to Christ Jesus tugging on your heart and whispering in your ear!!
I can totally relate to the calling that He sends to us!!!
I feel that we should all take to heart the ADDRESS IN HIS WORD ~ location Ephesians 4:1
With "HEaven Bound" blessings,
Kim Safina
want to hear something amazing??
my word verification is
walks —
Yesterday I shared with you how God used my mom's homegoing and called me on the phone. 4:55pm Now for the rest of the story…….
It is 4 1/2 years later. I am now on staff at our church
(who would have ever thought that??!?) and the pastor asks me if I would lead a Grief Recovery Share Group.
I prayed about it and agreed to do so.
Only a few people showed up but that was just perfect. One gentleman had just lost his wife unexpectedly 8 days prior. He was not a member of our church nor of any church. He was a friend of a friend who had heard about our group and invited him to go. And he went!
The LORD had some business to do with this man and as it turned out he was the only one in the group. We had 8 weeks of one on one as the Lord used me to pour love and hope into his life. His wife was a believer and even did Beth Moore Bible Studies!!! Woo-hoo!! I felt pretty secure about her salvation after I heard that!
This man did not have a relationship with Jesus. He said that he believed in God but never invited Christ into his heart to be His LORD and SAVIOR. He was also very mad at God for taking his wife.
Oh how I prayed and prayed that the Lord would get me out of the way and that He would speak directly to this man who was so hurt and desperate and lost.
One week this man said to me, "Roxanne, you know what you said to me that I can't seem to shake?" I was thinking, "Oh great, what bonehead thing did I do?" He went on and said, "You said that if I want to be close to Tam I need to get close to God because Tam is with God." (I said that?!??) He then asked me how he could get close to God.
GLORY!! We prayed the sinner's prayer together and I told him how he needed to get into church and start reading his Bible. Do you know I even found a parallel Bible for him at Lifeway that had the NIV and the Message together?!? He needed layman's language that Peterson does so well but I also wanted him to have God's WORD right in front of him.
A few weeks ago I received a card in the mail from him thanking me for being there for him and thanking me for his Bible. The real clencher that got me was this sentence that he wrote.
"And by the way, I am going to church now and reading my bible in case you're curious."
PRAISE GOD! He took the DARKEST and HARDEST time of my life and used it for such greater good in this new believer's life!!!
That's why I love Him so!!!
The Journey Continues ~
4 of my friends have lost their children to such terrible tragedy.
Friend #1 lost her 16 year old daughter ( who was bringing her little sister back from vacation Bible camp) in a horrible accident where a cement truck killed her. The little sister was in a coma but has fully recovered.
Friend #2 lost her 20 year old daughter to a drunk driver as her daughter was driving to surprise her for her birthday. She lost her daughter on her birthday! Then 7 months later, her 16 year old son was killed on a curve in the hills. My dear friend lost 2 children in one year.
Friend #3 lost her son during his senior year at age 18 after he hitched a ride with some guys at the river and they were found to be drunk. He lay in a coma for 2 weeks before succumbing to his injuries.
Friend #4 lost her son at age 19 in Iraq as he was helping Iraq citizens run for cover. He actually laid down over one for protection. He was such a man of GOD.
Because of these tragic losses of my dear sweet friends. Each Christmas Eve morning, I travel to each one of their homes and leave a SPECIAL ORNAMENT at their front door signed
"Your guardian Angel"
It has been a blessing to them and to me. I have heard them wonder who this person could be. I look all year for the perfect "memory" that will touch their hearts for such a moment is this. ~
With "Heaven Bound" blessings,
Kim
Five years ago this past Christmas, my son suffered a brain injury. The fact it was Christmas was like salt being poured into a wound. We were five hours from home.Everyone was a buzz with the holiday spirit. Christmas decorations were everywhere.All the plans I had made for our family were staring me in the face as well as the memories from past Christmases. I was even met one day at the elevator by Santa and his six- foot gingerbread friend. I wanted to knock both of their heads off. While I was in the shower back at the hotel for a few minutes, I just let loose on God. I told Him how cruel it was for this to be happening and especially at Christmas. I heard that quiet, gentle, yet completely powerful voice that said, "It's because of Christmas that you have any hope at all." I repented. Several days later, as I stood by my dying son's bed in ICU, a priest I had never seen before, came into the room to pray with us. I almost turned him away as I was sick of being surrounded by strangers. The first words out of his mouth were, "What a wonderful time of year. When we are reminded of God's hope." I know God was confirming what He had told me in the shower. Because He's just like that!
My son didn't die. He woke-up after being in a coma for four and a half months. Every doctor that saw him said he would die or live in a vegetative state.
Just one of hundreds of ways God has been in our details.
(I know my comment is too long to leave on the wall, but I felt like I should write this for you to read anyway). I often read this blog, but I NEVER comment on this blog. But, for years now, I have been wanting to tell you how God used you to minister in my life. In February of 2002, I was doing the breaking free Bible study (I was only 19 years old). My mother was living in bondage to an alcohol addiction. I think I was in week 3 (on a Wednesday), when the Lord used that study to convict me of the pride I had in my heart toward my mother by not reaching out to her. I began praying fervently for my mother. God broke my heart for her. On Sunday morning, my sister (who was not a regular church goer) came to church, because she, too, was broken over my mother's sin. We prayed together and gave our mother over to the Lord and asked Him to heal her. When my sister got home from church that day, she found that my mother had passed away over night. She died of alcohol poisoning. I was so sad over my mother's death, but the Lord gave me His peace during that time. On Monday morning, I got up to do Day 1 of the Bible study, and it was about "Rebuilding Ancient Ruins". This involved me looking at my family's history of sin. I was amazed that God ordained for me to be doing this Bible study at the right time.He also led me to Psalm 103, which reminds me of His goodness to us and that He is worthy of our praises at all times. Thank you for your obedience to the Lord in writing Bible studies! I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to me in preparing me and equipping me for the trials I have faced!!
On Sunday July 19th, my husband and I were actually planning on being somewhere other than home. However, we "happened" to be home at 2:14 pm when a dear friend called to say that her husband had collapsed in the backyard (we later learned he had been stung by a nest of yellow jackets), that paramedics were there, but she had no one to take care of her kids (she has no family in town). On the way over, I called my mother-in-law who suggested she might head over and be with her at the hospital. I rushed right over and got there just in time for my friend to ride in the ambulance. I took her kids over to my house to play with ours who are the same age (4 years and 2 years). Meanwhile, my mother and father-in-law got to the hospital literally as they were taking my friend to a quiet room to tell her that her 34 year old husband had passed away. My friend literally fell into my MIL's arms. Since that time, God has continued to care for this family in amazing ways. I am sad beyond measure for their loss and will likely not know this side of heaven why God chose to call him home, but I am forever grateful for how he has cared for and will continue to care for this young family. Please keep them in your prayers.
Michelle Estes
Just this past week God used me to help my younger sister that we are living with for the time being. She confided in me that months before we arrived that they were having marital problems. I didn't realize how bad until she suddenly got sick and I had to drive her to the ER.(her husband did not come to see her in the hospital.) On the way to the ER I started praying for and asking God to help her and help her not to be sick on the way. I also asked they would be able to take her back as soon as we got there.
The thing is, she is not a Christian. She has been talking to me about going to church with us. I wish I could tell you how big that is and God answered my prayers last week(for her). God moving us here was of greater reasons than we would have ever known and I stand in awe of Him. It's ALL Him!
Love you,
Patty
Kim,
It seems were neighbors 🙂 We live in Cary! Thankful God is answering your cries!
-Jen
I know this is little, but it shows how God IS in every tiny moment. I was running errands & came across a book I had wanted to buy my son for a long time. The Tale of Three Trees-but it was $20.00. I couldn't do it. I thought I'll go try a second hand store.Walking through the store, I came to the older kids area (which I never would have looked, my son is 6) and a Max Lucado book caught my eye, so I stopped and started to look in the section, and there it was, the Tale of Three Trees, not just any version, but one that was leather bound and hard back…and for only $6.00. I tell you-realizing that little sweet tenderness, knowing only God gave me this sweet treasure, had me humbled and crying right there in the store! Praise our Father, for He cares for us so dearly!
Beth,
I'm currently in a situation where I don't see God working in the BIG or the SMALLEST details. I've begun to lose a little bit of hope, but now I'm seeing that through your blog, he is speaking at least through this way. Thanks for the encouragement Beth, especially when things seem to hard to deal with!
Beth,
Just have to tell you what happened while sitting with my friend's dad (which helped raise me as well). He was in the hospital after have a massive heart attack. His room was filled with family and friends and he was in and out of sleep, so I picked up my journal and his wife's Bible (mine was across the room). As I began to look through this torn and taddered Bible I stopped and started reading Matthew 13. This brought back memories of last year's simulcast. I finished reading the chapter then wrote in my journal a prayer that asked God to please let my seed produce a 100 fold. I closed my journal and laid it aside when he opened his eyes and looked at me and said, "Tab, how did you get those seeds so fast?". I told him, "Pop you know I'm a quick picker". He laughed and said I know then wondered off again. You can only imagine how I felt!!! Only God could have gave him those words to speak because he doesn't remember them! The amount of love that God showed me that day I will never ever forget and yes I documented it all in my journal. PTL!!
One Sunday evening in our evening services I sat crying because I simply was missing my Mom so much. SO MUCH. I prayed asking God to please tell my Mom that I loved her, that I missed her and that one day we would be re-united when Jesus came to take me home. In just a short time, a lady from the back row got up and came forward to sing because God had placed that on her heart and the Pastor allowed her to do so. She sang….One Day At A Time, and I simply lost it. That is the very words my Mom's nurse had spoken to both my Dad and myself as my Mom was in the final stages of cancer. She was diagnosed 18 days before Jesus came to take her home. In those 18 days, God used me to lead her to Him. So this was a time that God showed me just how incredible He is and how much He loves me. When I got up and followed this woman back to her pew, I sat and cried while I shared with her what God had done through her for me. I give God praise for having done this.
It is amazing the love God has and displays to us. He is romance, Mystery, Adventure, Classic, Modern, and even more so. I just love Him.
(I'm having so much fun reading these!)
My first car was bought after my first year of college, with cash. It wasn't the most glamorous vehicle, but one that I determined to dedicate to the Lord: He was the owner; I was the renter. If His children needed a ride, it was going to be available for that purpose.
I can't say I carried that commitment out with cheerful grace all the time – it was hard when I got direct calls asking for rides at inconvenient times – but 3 years later, I began to think it odd that the car never got into an accident. (It's a college town and I can vividly remember incidents when I came within a literal hairs' breadth of some kind of accident.)
The day I thought about it, I started laughing with God while sitting in traffic, and told Him He very well seemed to know it was His, by the way He was looking after His property.
After a long and affectionate history with the car, my husband and I finally had to sell it about a year ago. My husband posted an ad, and — this still makes me smile — the first person who answered it was the pastor of one of our campus fellowships in town. He and his wife had been holding out for a car as long as they could, and ours was in good condition and right in their manageable price range.
How good He was to honor that first dedication! It reminds me at this moment that I ought to dedicate my other belongings to His work; He'll put them to the best use.
I love it when God does that…here are two blogs I wrote about things the Lord has done specifically in my life:
http://jenniferpoppy.blogspot.com/2008/06/divine-word-divine-pedicure.html
http://jenniferpoppy.blogspot.com/2009/07/like-manna-from-heaven.html
I recently took my parents on a road trip to Door County, Wisconsin. No particular reason other than I retired not long ago and for various reasons they're pretty much house bound and have to rely on others to ferry them around. So – with my husband's blessing – the road trip. Door County was great and on the return trip we had plans to go home (Washington State) via California (I know, who planned this route?) to see my sister. Somewhere in the wilds of Wisconsin while checking out the remodel of my cousin's hunting cabin my 82 year old mother fell and broke her kneecap. There was a trip to the ER in that small town and a 2 hour midnight drive to the hospital in Marshfield where surgery occurred the next day. After four days in the hospital we headed out. I could spend several paragraphs telling you what it took to get my mother, who has dementia, to understand how to maneuver herself into that car! I'm still frustrated! My father was recounting our experience to the lady at the check-in desk at one of the motels we stayed in and made the comment that if we had known, we would have brought a wheelchair. They had a wheelchair – and how it came to be right beside me baffles me still. Dad let out a "praise the Lord" and all I could do was stand at the car door laughing and saying "God, you are GOOD!" The things that wheelchair accomplished were much more than a means of transportation and I'm still saying "thank you" 🙂
When I read the topic that you posed for discussion I couldn’t help pausing to add my own “God is in the details†story. I was in the midst of my freshman year of college at a university in California, and struggling a bit to say the least. My family had just been transferred to Houston so I was feeling homesick. The ache in my heart kept pushing me to find comfort in a past high school relationship that was both unhealthy and forbidden by my parents. Not wanting to disobey my parents, I rationalized that talking to this person on the phone wasn’t “seeing†them again. One night after a long telephone conversation with this forbidden person I went to bed feeling sick inside. I felt trapped in a hole. I was lonely. I was directly disobeying my parents. I was hiding these secret conversations from my roommate, since knowing my past experiences with this individual she most certainly wouldn’t approve. I desperately wanted to be rescued and freed from the ache I felt inside and the constant pulls of temptation that I felt too weak to rise above. The very next day I struggled through the day and finally called my mom. She said that she had been waiting for me to call her. I began to cry and say that I was struggling and she told me this…
The night before (remember I was in CA and my mom was in TX), she was awakened by a noise in the kitchen. She went out and realized that she heard my voice coming from the answering machine. She went over and listened. She could hear that I was talking to a male, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. One thing’s for sure, my voice was loud and clear. Confused, she picked up the phone. The answering machine clicked off and there was only a dial tone. While she felt worried, more than anything, she felt the need to pray for me. She spent a long while on her knees praying over me that night. She sensed God telling her that what He had just done was for me, not for her. When I called the next day, she already knew that I was struggling. As she relayed the story to me I was speechless. My God loved me so much that He would cross telephone wires from CA to TX so that someone would know I was struggling! I still get chill bumps when I recall that miracle. When I returned home later that year for Spring Break I had the chance to listen to the recording. There I was on my parents machine in TX having a conversation on the phone in CA. Needless to say, I could go on and on about all of the changes that resulted from that evening long ago. One thing is for sure, I know without a shadow of a doubt that our God is willing to go to great lengths and weave miraculous details together to remind us of His love.