Hey, you lovely things! This morning early I got a very touching text from someone that made me start reflecting on so many ways that God seems to go out of His way (if that were possible) to make sure we know He’s got our backs. You know what I’m talking about. Ways that He whispers in your ear or maybe reverberates from the mountaintops that He’s aware of what you’re battling and where you’re hurting. Ways He tells you He has NOT forgotten. Ways He assures you that your prayers are not just hitting the ceiling. That He’s on it and that your life has not for the merest instant been swallowed up in a black hole. That in your WAIT He is at WORK.
So I tweeted these two statements this morning, one right after the other:
First one:
Sit up slack-jawed over all the ways God lets you know He’s got your back. He’ll tell people to pray for you who have no earthly notion why.
Second one:
Per last tweet, I’m glad God can tell people to pray without telling them why. Sometimes I want people in my burden but not in my business.
The responses that almost instantly flew up on my phone exhilarated me and built me up in my faith as numerous people told me that they’d experienced the same gorgeous phenomenon. The one bad (and sometimes GOOD!) thing about Twitter is that the space is too limited to get super specific. Now that my curiosity is piqued, I want to hear some testimonies! Tell your sisters here in this community one way God has done this kind of thing for you. Tell us a specific incident or sight or encounter or correspondence He used to make sure you knew that He was with you, intimately aware of your situation. Girlfriend, you ARE very much on His radar.
Let’s testify about some ways God leaves you thinking something like,
“You hem me in, behind and before, and You lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high; I cannot attain it…How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:5-6,17
In other words…
Can’t wait to hear! Just so you know that no one was posing as your own Siesta Mama in that picture…
And that bleached blond right there loves you.
I have been on a journey with ovarian cancer for almost three years. We were finishing our vbs set spring 2010. I felt little wiped out,promising to have check up within the month when our work was complete. Not know I had an 8lb. malignant ovarian tumor growing inside.A day before my surgery our insurance was totally in effect and upgraded. As i was jolted from a healthy 48 years old who had never been sick, to realizing i was in a health crisis He comforted me.I have always struggled with fear. My memory verses were so important. I wore 2 Timothy 1:7 out!!! He kept me in remarkable calm. I would tell my husband before the surgery watch this. I am going to sit down right here and freak out. Try as i might i couldn’t even get one sliver of panic. It was a strength that was not my own that was awesome!! When i woke up in recovery and understood that it was bad I was just surrounded on all sides by this presence.I knew it was Jesus. I tried to explain to anyone who would listen. It was like waking up on a summer morning at your Mamas house smelling clean sheets and her cooking your favorite breakfast without a care in the world. Totally totally totally HOME. He is HOME!! How in the world does the creator of all have time to make sure my insurance is in order? Lots of ups and downs with this, but there is one thing I know for sure He has got my back.
Hey There Bleached Kiddo whom I love deeply!!!
OMG!!! I have written to you at least in two different ways lately that I have been feeling a real burden to pray intensely for you!! I have sensed a struggle in your life, Have NO IDEA what it is but God and you do so that is all I need to know!!
Also my memory verse for this time is Ps 139:5. His hand is greatly upon me and that is far to magnificent to comprehend!!! I am feeling a great jaw drop!!!WOW!! In a small way I have prayed for opportunities to be used for Him and boy HE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!!!!!I have another kid just started SS and she has no exposure ever to Jesus!!! Every day in little ways He is just blowing my wooly ND socks right off!!!! MAY HE BE PRAISED!!!
BTW!
You look totally amazing!!!
Betty M
PS My dear sister friend in Christ Donna Pyle has the song Mystery by Kari Jobe on her blog today by Gsteway Music on the album Forever Yours. My new favorite song this week!!! The mystery of God’s love!! Ain’t it grand?????
Love ya,
Betty M
A few years back I was going through a very very hard time with my husbands addiction and I had been crying out to God to help us for some time. I was at church one morning feeling very alone and during praise & worship a lady in the choir came down from the stage and began to walk towards me. I had never meet her before, she walked right up to me and told me that the Lord spoke to her during the singing and told her to tell me that he has heard my prayers and that I was not alone. It really changed me that day knowing that God does here us, yet he answers in his own timing, not ours..I truly knew that day that he had my back…
I’m gonna hafta rein it in with this post! This February was my husband’s and my 10th anniversary and looking back at 10 years, four kids, learning to hear from God, jobs coming and going, random situations, and a new business…oh yeah, and this year we started homeschooling!…there have been so many moments God has come alongside me and just let me know. From the comfort (as well as food, monetary needs, and encouragement) He brought us when my husband was without a job, to the voice of His Spirit speaking the 23rd Psalm over me when I was taken in for an emergency C-section with my daughter. To the days a friend would call to just give me a verse, to the days I just had to write a note, make a call, sing a praise song on someone I love’s answering machine–He was there. All four times I had children and my sizes were all out of whack (and clothes were NOT in the budget!) someone (usually my dear, sweet sister-in-law) would be cleaning out their closet with seriously beautiful clothing she had compiled from the seasonal dollar sales and just never “worked” for her. I thanked God (and my sister)! Days I was feeling pressed like I just couldn’t make it, my husband would text me encouragement (now that. is something amazing. when your man has something to say!). When I didn’t know where Christmas was going to come from for my kids, He broke my heart to someone who needed some REAL help. Prayer and giving to someone else brought relief of my fear, and then I turned and watched Him bring gifts to my door one year, a Toys R Us giftcard for my babies the next year, and a beyond generous tip for my husband at his barber shop the third year. God is creative and loves to get hilarious with us!
One year ago, my husband and his father opened their own barber shop. This was a serious. leap of faith for us, but God spoke to him what to do and when each step of the way. The word the Lord spoke over us last year was, “The oil will not run dry.” It was from the story of Elijah and the widow woman who prepared her last bit of bread and meal for the prophet. I don’t know how many times I confessed those words over and over and then just let go! Isaiah said “Spare not,” and that spirit of giving has driven me on days it just did not look good. I said I will not worry. I refuse to worry. I have more than enough in Christ Jesus! Give. Give. Give. And then I watched Him refill the storehouse of my cabinets and pantry every single time. Always different. Always creative. Always down to the last second, it seems. We have a friend to our church who comes and speaks. He says, “Sometimes I think we should all chip in and get God a really good calendar…” Yeah, it’s a nailbiter sometimes. But I think He’s just waiting up there going, “Wait for it. Wait for it.” and then He just watches it all go down. Tears, jumping, shouting, it’s always different. I just love to crawl up in His lap and say, “thank you. really truly, so amazing. thank you.” We have made it through our first year, and I’m excited to see what this year has in store. Be encouraged! He is there, and He will never leave your side!
I am going thru a painful separation and I have felt so alone,so isolated. I was on my knees and praying to God, laying my fears at his feet. God spoke to me at that moment. “You and Me.” I knew that no matter what, He is always with me…hearing me. MY Rock. MY Refuge, in whom I trust.
God and God alone could have orchestrated my trip to Houston for SSMT last year. I had planned to go with a dear friend, but due to some circumstances in her life she had to back out. I prayed about whether or not I’d go alone. I REALLY wanted to go. Through an SSMT website that was established I ended up connecting with a sorority sister that I had not seen in 30 years and we met at the airport and shared a car, a room, and a wonderful Spirit filled weekend. There were many little details that He worked out all along the way that were so obviously meant to bless my socks off.
I needed this post so much right now. I am dealing with some health/pain issues and this reminder that, (to quote my favorite Bible Study teacher and own Seista Mama),”He’s aware of what you’re battling and where you’re hurting. Ways He tells you He has NOT forgotten. Ways He assures you that your prayers are not just hitting the ceiling. That He’s on it and that your life has not for the merest instant been swallowed up in a black hole. That in your WAIT He is at WORK.” is a balm for my soul tonight. Blessings!
August 29, 2010 ~ We both needed jobs! I blogged about it. http://www.beverly-brandon.blogspot.com. Lam 3:22-30 “Sticking with God—He’s all I have. Waiting for hope to appear. With tears streaming down, I drove to Starbucks to read. Ordered a sparkling water & solitude. Behind me a man’s voice sailed over my shoulder to my barista, “Ma’am, I just want you to know that I came in here to sit at that table right there (the one next to mine). Is that okay?” Weird! Am I being stalked? I sat down and buried my tear-stained face in my bible. Oh! I’m not sure how long it was before I looked up. The back of his t-shirt read, in ALL CAPS, in about a 4-inch font, the following words: He’s Got Your Back. That doesn’t mean everything works out like you hope it will. My husband still doesn’t have a full-time church job. I did find a teaching job & I’ve been here 2 1/2 years—a precious school. I hit a dark patch last Thursday. Same day—Anonymous left a brand spanking new MacBook Pro on my desk. You see, my computer & car both broke last summer. God’s got my back. But more than things like jobs and computers, I am entering a rest that I’ve never known. More alive than I’ve ever been!
Beverly, I love that story! Praying for you. Fort Worth misses you!! Lol!
Ten years ago I began my journey of Beth Moore Bible Studies. Every time I joined a study it always intersected with a major life lesson. I wove them all together into a tapestry for Beth to show her how she’s been “woven into the fabric of my life”. That was last June. Little did I know the level of commitment God was calling me to next. Beth said, “God will heal you so He can send you back into your family for their healing.” Step by step, day by day, tear by tear, God has taken me through the depth of my healing with His word & His presence, and I am just around the corner from what He’s going to do with a mended heart & life. When you say, “God, my whole life is yours”, you don’t get to pick the circumstances, but they ultimately lead you into His Glory! Hallelujah!
Two VERY real ways that God comforted me – my parents were killed in a tornado in Oklahoma on May 24, 2011. They were on their way home from a family celebration for my nephew’s high school graduation. I still can’t believe they are gone and deal with grief and missing them every day – I have 3 sisters and we have always been a very close family.
First, about a week after their funeral, a friend of mine from college who lives in the same town as me, called me to say that one of her friends from college who lives in Oklahoma found a camera in her front yard the day before. She looked at the pictures and didn’t know the people in the pictures, but recognized some of them were taken in my hometown. She showed it to a friend of hers who is from the same hometown as me and he knew instantly that it was my family – and he knew that my parents had been killed in a tornado the previous week – 20 miles from where the camera was found. She called my friend and I had my mom’s camera the next week and was able to look at some wonderful pictures – HOW AMAZING that my mom’s camera would land “randomly” in the front yard of a friend of a friend in Oklahoma, 20 miles from the scene, and that the camera would end up back with us – no coincidence there!
Second, a little background here – my dad was a farmer and would sometimes we would be in bed before he was home from the fields so we would leave him yellow sticky notes on the coffee maker for him to see in the mornings – you know, “wake me up early I need to study, I love you”, “I don’t have class first period so I’m going to sleep in, I Love you”, you get the idea. I know he loved it. And when we would come home from college and even when we would come home with our families after we married – we would leave him sticky notes to find the next morning. When we started going through our parents things in the summer 2011, two of us were cleaning out a storage space where they had some things. We were done and getting ready to leave and we didn’t have a broom with us so we couldn’t sweep and we got in the truck to leave. I saw some paper trash on the floor in the storage space and I got out of the truck and said, “I’m just going to pick up the paper trash” I proceded to do that and the last thing I saw was a dry cleaner receipt – I picked it up off the floor and underneath it were 2 small yellow sticky notes and each one, in my Daddy’s handwriting said “I love you”. What an AMAZING gift that God placed right there no telling how many years ago, for me and my sister to find at exactly that moment! I have it framed on my dresser and a copy of it that I carry in my wallet.
There is nothing like the love of our parents and like the love of our Father!
I am increasingly in awe of the ways in which God has placed certain people in my life.Oftentimes someone will ask me how I became friends with one person or another who has made a profound impact on some area of my life, & when I think back on it the whole series of events is so wacky or “coincidental” that aside from the providence of God it doesn’t make sense that I should *really* know these people… let alone be loved by them. Yet it is evident that God gifted them to me for a specific purpose. I am so humbled by that.
In the past year some health issues have become more of a struggle. One day when I was really having a hard time, I pulled into a “random” parking lot. When I looked up, the sign right in front of my face was that of a doctor’s office that pertained specifically to what I was dealing with. I took it as a literal sign 🙂 That phone call began the process of getting me some much needed answers (and I’m still praying to get some much needed solutions!). When I had to go in for a particular series of tests I was initially feeling pretty hopeless that morning… but everything that I encountered on that day prior to the appointment resonated hope: The verse of the day on biblegateway was Romans 12:12. The bank teller’s station had HOPE in giant letters plastered on it with a different corresponding verse. Songs on the radio: hope. Texts from friends: hope. I was bombarded with it. As I press forward on my journey, God remains faithful to shove hope in my face just when I am *this close* to losing it.
He is so good.
My daughter has struggled all her life with social issues. Now that she has moved into adulthood, she is so lonely and desperate for acceptance and friendship and satan is hard at work trying to pull her away from God. She has been making some very bad choices and our hearts are breaking. God is asking for a greater faith from my husband and me than has ever been required before. This morning the song title “Sovereign” came into my mind and I was compelled to pull it up on YouTube and listen to it; I couldn’t remember the lyrics exactly, but I remembered that they were good, and something I should listen to again. As I listened and watched the lyrics displayed on the screen, God’s reassurance of His faithfulness washed over me. But what really moved me was when the song was over and the last words faded from the screen, a picture appeared. It was a picture of Jesus holding a young girl. And she had long, dark hair. Just like my daughter. He’s got my back, because He’s got my precious daughter in His arms. He is SO in control and will work all things together for good.
I listen to Christian radio a lot. It’s on in my car and it plays at home. For years God and I have had one special song that He plays exactly when I need it. Sometimes it will play in anticipation of some bad news. Sometimes I’m having anxious, negative or hopeless thoughts and it will play at exactly the same time. The interesting thing is, I feel immediately comforted and the negative thoughts flee. I’m immediately reminded that God loves me, everything’s going to be alright, and whatever the issue is at that moment, He’s saying: “I’ve got this.” It’s the most awesome thing between me and God.
Beth, a few years ago at a simulcast, you posed a question at the end and I remember talking to God about it… about what I was going through with some deep betrayals and losses that shook my otherwise secure self to the core. I remember saying to God that I feared trusting, fearing that I would be stabbed in the back again and again…. and I remember sitting in that church with Him saying to me clearly, “I got your back.” My verse for claiming this is Isaiah 52:12. He’s got me surrounded so anyone trying to me has to go through Him.
A week ago tonight I visited with my only brother for the last time. I received the phone call at 6:00 the next morning with the news we had been expecting but not wanting to hear. Fifty eight years of age is a short time on this earth. I am so thankful for the last visit we had. I almost had decided to wait until Friday night to go visit him. If I had it would have been too late. I know that God had worked all that out for me. God has been there so strong for our family this past week. He has used so many people to minister to us. I am so thankful.
God allowed me to see and experience Psalm 32:7 in living color this past September. It says, “You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance!”
I was in a difficult situation and even before I knew the extent of the trouble, God spoke this verse to me in my quiet time one morning – WHEW! The entire month – it was as if the Holy Spirit spoke that verse to me every time my heart grew faint and I was about to collapse from fear! AND it was literally “songS” of deliverance because it was not just once but a number of times! I wish I could say that this was due to other people’s mistakes – but – it was my OWN mistakes on a particular job project! WOW! God is amazing – I still shake my head at how amazing God delivered time and time and time again! Praises to YOUR name O Most High!
I heard yesterday that my adult daughter up north will loose her home as her dad was given 60 day notice d/t HER anger and yelling. I have been praying desperately for her to turn back to God, get the help she needs and now she will be homeless in 60 days. She struggles on so many levels, has no skills, no job, and smokes marijuana. (For some addictive personalities what society says is harmless is definitely not!) Well, when I sat down with the Lord this morning, my reading came from Ps. 50:15 and is as follows: “Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” I am overwhelmed by our Lord’s loving care of us and know He will make a way in the desert for my daughter and extend mercy on this mother’s heart.
this week, i was entrusted with a family heirloom. it is my great-grandfather’s bible (he was a pastor) filled with his notes and hand-written sermons. in bible study this week (we are doing kelly minters nehemiah), i learned that God’s faithful lovingkindness (hesed) can be understood to mean it is based on a covenant, and “a prior relationship.” in looking through this bible, i am overwhelmed by the evidence of God’s “prior relationship” with my great-grandfather (i didnt know him well b/c he died when i was young). sadly, so many family members in between me and my great-grandfather have not walked faithfully with the Lord. And yet, here I am, with my great-grandfather’s bible in my hands – witnessing God’s hesed love for me and my family. despite all the wrong choices in between, he didn’t forget about my great-grandfather, and he didn’t forget about me… his purpose will not be thwarted- hallelujah!!!
We have just started getting involved in a new church and with that comes not knowing anyone. My husband and I chose a small group to join not having met a single person in it. Anxiety had taken over in me on the way there the first night. As we began to share things about our lives and others did as well. God started revealing Himself to us in such a wonderful way. A couple in our group were missionaries in PNG for 10 years; we have a son and daughter in law and 4 grandsons serving as missionaries in PNG. That same couple have a son who was just married this past year to a girl he met on an Internet dating site, their son lives in San Diego and is a fireman there with the City of San Diego. We also have a son who was just married this year to a wonderful girl he met on a Internet dating site, they also live in San Diego and he is a fireman with the City of San Diego too! God spoke so clearly to me over and over that night that He knew my distress over going and not knowing any one. I am so thrilled by Him and so excited to see what He has in store for us in this new place!! He’s got our backs and everything else!! Praise His Beautiful Name!
As I ponder this topic, have you ever had someone in your life that God used to “guard your back”? My brother’s wife has been one of those rare God-gifts of a friendship. She and I seemed bound for trouble from the git go! She always came to my defense and always brought out the best in me! God has used her in my life in so many ways to “guard my back!” and to teach me of God’s unfailing unconditional love!
Her name is Sherry and she has a progressing cancer. We are praying that she will be able to go to the Beth Moore Living Proof Live in Phoenix in almost two weeks! Would you pray with me? She is the one who first introduced Beth to me and I have been so grateful!
THANK you God for all you have blessed me with through my sister-in-law! Thanks for sending us people into our lives that “have our backs” for YOU and YOUR glory!
Last Christmas I went to a party a friend of mine was throwing with her husband. I really didn’t know anyone who was attending but decided to go and have a good time. Through the course of the evening I spoke to several different people and then started talking to this woman. At first it was just small talk and then for some reason I started sharing some personal information in regards to a decision I had made in the past. Satan for some reason with this situation tends to attack me with fear and doubt. The woman gave me the most wonderful advice and shared her experience with a similar situation that had occurred in her life. She reassured me that I had made the right decision and felt the Lord specifically had intended us to meet. I have never seen God orchestrate a room in such a way that I would end up speaking with the exact person I needed to that evening. God had my back then and he has it now.
Just one of many:
Eleven years ago after my Mom’s funeral a Mockingbird began to sing as she sat on top of our two story chimney at our home. She sang all day and all night for 5 days. The significance of this bird was that my Mom kept a feeder just outside her house (30 miles away) and had talked often of a mockingbird that had over 50 songs. On the 6th day we were to leave home and go to our ranch in central Texas. I didn’t want to go, leaving the bird. My husband assured me that God could send a bird there if he was doing this for my comfort. (Practical but not always spiritual husband.) But sure enough as we arrived I walked to the back porch and a mockingbird flew to the top of the windmill and began her songs. I have learned to listen and watch for God’s Spirit! HE ALWAYS has our back and he lets us know!
We love you right back Siesta Mama. Right before I met you for the first time I had an experience with someone I loved feircely and I sat in a chair across from them for an hour as they shredded me heart and soul with their words to the point that I thought I would never recover. Last week my counselor and I talked about that day. That evening I was sitting on my couch thinking, praying, remembering. A lot of times God speaks to me in pictures, images I see in my mind’s eye. It’s the way I write many of my poems, I just write what I see. The memory of that day was always so horrific. I remember that day in May I was crying so hard that entire hour that my tears were dripping off my shirt and hitting the floor. As I was sitting on my couch last week a picture formed in my mind’s eye. I saw myself sitting in the chair that day and the tears streaming. I also saw standing on each side of me two angels. The angels were facing me slightly bent, they had big beautiful wings and had a look of concern on their faces. Jesus was kneeling in front of me and He was looking up into my face. Jesus’ hands were cupped and He was catching my tears. Jesus took what was for so long such a traumatic memory and gave me something so beautiful in it’s place. Jesus has my back, my front, and my sides!
Out of complete innocence, a person revealed a secret to me that a very close loved one had been keeping from me.
Trust me when I say that only God could have let me find this out.
I wish I could go into detail, but it would dishonor my loved one.
I still don’t understand why the Lord revealed this to me, but it really showed me that HE HAS MY BACK!!
If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
This was today!
Beth, I am always so grateful for all the ways that the Lord shows up in my life. I am amazed by His very specific love for me. I love my Jesus! Just recently my church went through a split. I have very close friends that I sit next to at church. I was not at the congregational meeting when things unravelled. I sent a note of encouragement to the both of them but did not want to add to the chaos of everything by calling, pressing for details or adding my junk to the pile. I prayed about what to do and what she might need as they moved to a church across town. I did not want to be presumptuous about our friendship and just follow without the Lord’s blessing or theirs. In my own self
indulgent prayer to Jesus I wondered whether my friends had thought about me during this crazy time. Then I chastised myself for being so selfish. Later on during the week my friend and I had dinner to decompress and during our chatting she mentioned to me that one
night as they were drifting off to sleep her husband asked her whether I was coming with them to the new church. It really took me aback that the Most High King would answer my selfish little prayer and reassure me of the new direction I should go AND how much I am loved by my friends. I am a blessed woman! Jesus is the best! Love you so much Beth. Lynda
My oldest son, an adult now, is in a difficult season in his life, but he does not want to have anything to do with God. He came home with a tattoo on his foot and when I asked him about it, he said it was a broken compass because he is lost and broken. Talk about broken, I thought my heart was going to splinter. Later that day, I was reading, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and he referenced Psalm 32:7 where God says he will “encompass” us with songs of deliverance. I sat on the couch and just wept at the knowledge that God knows and surrounds my son even when he refuses to acknowledge God’s presence. That is my new prayer for my son that God will encompass him and turn his brokenness into wholeness.
We went through a really rough year last year in more ways than 1. 3 of the 4 of us were in the hospital at various times, I was in twice and had homecare until recently (would still except we have no insurance now – will explain later).
All the different issues caused a severe financial strain. At Christmas our church did an angel tree, and our pastor asked the lady in charge of running it to put our family on it. A few days before she called, our washing machine had died. A few days after she called, my husband was laid off. We received gift cards to get a new washer, and various other gift cards & gifts to meet other needs. The day we picked up our gifts, I prayed, “Thank YOU, Thank YOU, Thank YOU God for all YOU have given. BUT YOU know we have some things we have to pay that can’t be paid with a Wal-mart gift card.”
We went back to the church that evening to help the other families wrap gifts, and the coordinator came back to us and said someone had left cash for us at the office – WOW! Then after we had been there about 1/2 hour she came back to us and said another friend wanted to write us a check to help [enough to pay our mortgage for 2 months]. People saw us out and about and just gave us money. A friend called and said his Sunday school class took up money for us. Another friend called and said their Bible study class always took up money to help someone every year and choose us.
HE answered in spades, before we knew how great our need was!!!
My Ma-Maw just passed away. The day she died, she kept reaching up her sweet arms and looking up. I knew she was seeing Jesus. None of my family was to talk at the funeral, just the pastor. But my uncle told me I could speak if I wanted to. Public speaking scares me something awful. I decided I would just let the pastor speak, and I would stay in my safe, comfort zone. But God gave me a word to speak, and I knew I had to do it. He reminded me of a the story my Ma-Maw always told me of the first time I got to spend a week with her. I was itty bitty … my parents were letting my sister stay with her. They wouldn’t let me stay because I was too little. As they were about to leave her house with me, I reached out my arms to my grandmother. God linked for me that I reached out my arms to someone that loved me, just like Ma-Maw was reaching out her arms to Jesus, who loved her. He definitely had my back … gave me the words to say. And He gave me the strength to deliver it! He is so awesome.
There are many times that God has reminded me that He has my back. I just can’t think of one of them right now ~ too much pressure! 🙂 I would like to tell you how God used me recently to tell my pastor’s wife that He had her back. Our women’s Sunday School class had recently finished Beth’s study Believing God. That study turned my pastor’s wife world upside down and began a revolution in her life. Our class had moved onto another subject and we were deep into that study and loving it. All of a sudden I was obsessed with making a chipboard album of the 5 major points from the Believing God study and I knew it was for my pastor’s wife. Every waking moment that I wasn’t working or taking care of my husband and home, I spent on this special project. I was amazed at the creativity I had ~ I was inspired! I had never created something so beautiful! After I finished it, I held onto to it for a few weeks. It was close to the time when my church celebrates Pastor Appreciation and I thought I would give it to her then. Then all of a sudden there was one Sunday that I felt compelled to give it to her right now. So I did. It was God’s timing. She was going through something right then that made her question if she was doing the right thing. My little gift was the something that God used to tell her that He had her back.
I love being His instrument. 🙂
We are in the middle of a waiting room right now as my husband looks for a new job. Our severance package will run out the end of this month, then it’s unemployment.
But before he was laid off in January, I had decided to do SSMT with my 11 yr old daughter whose been dealing with anxiety. Our first verse was Isaiah 41:10(the message) “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear, for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you” No kidding BEFORE we knew he’d lost his job. God had my back.
And today’s post, that while we’re waiting, He’s at work…precious! Needed that, waiting is HARD!
Many times, God has laid someone on my heart to pray for, text, call, write a letter, etc only to find out they have been struggling. I didn’t know why or any details, but by His grace, He provided the words needed. Sometimes just a simple hello or I love you. I truly feel I get the larger blessing when this happens! I pray I never get too comfortable to hear God and follow through with what He is asking, and that I don’t drift away where I can’t hear Him asking!!!
I got the sweetest card today from one of my adopted grammies. I’ve been sick recently, and have missed the last two weeks of church. Gets pretty lonely and frustrating at times. Grandma Bonnie let me know that she missed me and that she hoped I was feeling better.
Just when I was beginning to feel quite forgotten, someone remembered me. I then felt the Lord gently remind me that I am never alone, never forgotten.
If anyone reading this thinks that God no longer sees her, I promise you that He does!
My husband has been unemployed since October and is not able to collect unemployment. Last fall, our oil tank was getting low. I called around for prices, but only had $300 and needed groceries also. I really wanted to get a better price and after talking with one oil company, decided $450 was what I needed for the best price. I hung up the phone, cried and prayed. The next day (Tuesday)I went to church to help do a few things. When I was leaving, one of the men who helps out around the building, and is the treasurer, handed me an envelope and told me it was in the offering plate on Sunday with my name on it. I got out to my car, and opened it. It was $150 cash. Now I had the $450 I needed for the oil tank. After I got home, I was organizing my purse and there was another envelope with money in it. Someone must have slipped it in while I was cleaning the bathrooms. It was enough to buy a few groceries. I can not tell you how many times since October the Lord has used his people to help our family through this very difficult time. He is able!
Love the Psalm 139:5-6 reference, it’s one of my memory verses this year. I’m pretty stubborn, when I feel pushed even by God I a tendency to push back. I have been going through a very difficult season, God asked me to retrace some steps from my past, I did not want to be obedient. Using these verses, He touched my heart letting me know in a gentle loving way He was the one hemming me in so healing could take place. The day I retraced my steps God allowed very deep very cleansing healing to take place. The other amazing thing that happened is He answered questions I didn’t think would be answered. How absolutely amazing is our GOD!!!
For years, my husband has worked a non-traditional schedule. I loved it. It allowed for him to be home in the mornings to play with our kids, and allowed me to be able to go to the grocery store without those adorable kids. But our oldest goes to kindergarten in the fall, and we had both been silently worried about how he would see them, and still get sleep. God was working, in our waiting. He found out he was being offered a job in the company he works for, that he didn’t even know was going to be available. More money, and days, so he can be home when our kids are home from school, and be there for evening soccer practices, and random other things that he has missed because he had to sleep to work in the middle of the night.
He was given this opportunity so that we had no part in it – it was ALL GOD! He had our back, He has our back, He has us in the palm of His hand and I am so blessed, thankful and humbled by that safety.
Four years ago when my daughter was pregnant with my granddaughter, her first ultrasound revealed some markers that could indicate a very serious problem. Being a nurse is sometimes not helpful, because you know all the things that it could mean. The main concern was a condition that is not “compatible with life” as they say. Along with this condition, the baby has clenched hands. I kept praying to see an open hand on the follow-up ultrasound. I never told any of this to my daughter because I did not want her to worry. As we watched the ultrasound, our little one held up a hand, opened the fingers in a wave to us, and then gave us a thumbs up. It was all I could do not to burst into tears. God was so real to me in that moment.He gave me not just an open hand, but a wave and a thumbs up!! My granddaughter was born perfectly healthy and whole a few months later and we will be celebrating her 4th birthday in a few weeks.
This past week, I have had a bad case of the flu. Living alone seems to make it worse- the day I was so ill and thought no one cared, God had several friends call me and asked if I was ok. They all said they felt God prompting them to check on me! I knew then God does have my back! Praise Him!
This past Tuesday an older lady I have been going to church with for many years came up to me and said “God really has changed your life” I was taken back a bit and I smiled and said “Yes ma’am” And she said “I can really tell with you and your husband, God is so good!”
She was there for me during some very dark days in my marriage a few years ago and it was just precious to me for her to acknowledge all of the changes that have taken place.
There’s a Christian Dude Ranch in Colorado that is very near and dear to my heart. My late husband, our daughter and I went there several times when she was in middle school/high school. He died as she was entering her junior year of high school. For the last two summers, and again this summer, she has worked there on staff. We love the place…the Holy Spirit is so incredibly present there…truly a place to “be still and know that He is God.”
Well, I have wanted to go back so much, but it’s a family place, and going alone is really awkward for me. Watching families having fun when you are by yourself can be pretty lonely. I had just dismissed my longing. Then, this week, I received a Facebook message from a friend asking if I would be interested in going to the Women’s Retreat that is held at this Ranch in September. I had never discussed this with her…she just “happened” to be looking at the Ranch’s website and asked me if I wanted to go! Isn’t God amazing?
I started a new job about six weeks ago that by the way was a divine appointment which is another story in itself, I am in sales and there has been quite a delay in me being able to actually get out in my territory to begin working instead I have been spending all this time at the home office doing nothing. It has been very frustrating. Yesterday I had a bit of a melt down and was very angry. God used an unbeliever to remind me to let go and let “your higher power” which of course is God for me take it. She also said that I was right where I needed to be for that very moment and that he is in control but I needed to let go and let him be in control. It was such a reminder that He put me into this job and I just need to go with His plan and not try to make things happen the way I want them to. Thank Lord for showing up.
Amazing timing, I read your blog right after telling a friend how God is using the Beth Moore bible study “James Mercy Triumphs” to lead/love me through challenges I would not have thought I could manage. After two months of serious family sickness, conflict and other issues,I thought the worst was over and things were getting better. But because of government cuts, this week my co-workers and I are being laid off from our teaching jobs that we have had for 20 years or more. Today started out so terrible but at lunch time I did the JMT bible study lesson in which you interview us and have us write about the battle we are facing. God helped me work through and process the situation. At the end of the lesson I had a peace that surpasses understanding. After lunch I met with the Human Resource Manager to be given the news that tomorrow would be my last day. At the end of our meeting she hugged me and thanked me for being so gracious, she said it was amazing that I was comforting her, when I was the one being laid off. I know with all my heart that God had my back and used
the bible study to prepare my heart for the meeting. Be quick to listen,slow to speak and slow to become angry. God has used this bible study to teach, direct and love me through so much. I am starting to consider it pure joy, whenever faced with trails of many kinds because I know the testing of my faith produces perseverance.
Ways God has shown me that He’s got my back (in no particular order):
1) I found Clorox wipes here in Beijing. I’m okay if y’all go judging a sister, but when sister can’t find said item after 60 days of searching in her new home town (aka – ginormous city) and said sister loves her some Clorox Wipes, she literally stood there in the aisle with tears in her eyes. Jesus loves me this I know. For their appearance tells me so.
2) I withdrew from undergrad in my mid 20’s to help financially support my family (and myself) after a season of tragedy. Some months I’d work and save enough to go back a semester at a time. One day, while back home, a (godly) elderly man I’d never met in my life asked me how I was and why I wasn’t in college at the time. I responded with a polite answer that covered up the true state of our affairs and he read right through it. That man paid for my remaining two years of undergraduate tuition. To this day, I get a lump in my throat when I think about it.
3) Sometimes I know God’s got my back because he so graciously puts me in a context that inhibits my propensity for playing ‘god’ or depending on myself. Sometimes God sets the stage so dark, that I know He’s got my back, because He is the only One that can come through and light up that darkness.
4) Two years ago, while on vacation, my husband and I sat outside at a cafe. Tears streamed down my face into my espresso. My heart ached to do the things I thought God had given me a passion for. I was so far removed from participating in the things that I loved. Confusion and sadness set in my bones, despite the reality of the truth that He knows best. Four hours later, we received a message that prepared a way for me to begin participating in what I love. It has been a humbling, challenging, extraordinary experience that only God can determine and sustain.
He’s so so good.
Shelly, you are in China!! I am really enjoying reading your blog on your amazing race! (adventure)
A few weeks back God laid one of my girlfriends on my heart, so I lifted up a little prayer for her. It turns out all four of her kids were battling the stomach flu. She was so in need of my prayers! And I was in need of God’s confirmation that His Spirit is alive and active in my heart.
I have been unemployed for 2 months now. I’m also a full time archaeology student. I can’t pay my bills. My aunt has just been placed on hospice today for lung cancer that she was diagnosed with in 2009. I updated a friend with my worries a few minutes ago and she said I had been on her mind all day and she was about to text me with Psalm 16 then this post pops up in my email. I also had a job interview today and people in my church love me. Real time back guarding.
Just now. Right now. This blog post. Yep! It’s always timely, just like our Lord. I’m sitting here fussing it all out with God right now (how I really do not want to be a pastor’s wife anymore….can’t my husband just get a “normal” job), and then I see a new email pop-up. Thank you for hearing from the Lord and posting. He’s always on time!
I had been feeling a little down and purposelessness (a little attack from the devil) and couldn’t shake the feeling that I misheard The Lord in being a Stay at home mom. My church has small groups and this semester I felt called to lead a women’s Bible study group. One of the bible study nights I’m co-leading on your James study, we started to discuss the homework for the past week. One of the girls began to share, in tears, how she had a major breakthrough. She had gotten to the point where she felt abandoned by God with the loss of her father and a few other things and wanted to hang the towel up with her faith. Through the study about asking God for things and believing for what we ask, she learned that she had asked, but never believed that God would answer. He spoke to her in that study time and she realized He was there the entire time.
As she shared, The Lord reminded me, that I had invited her to do this study and that had I been working in a full time job, I may not have led the study. I had also wanted to be a part of a small group instead of leading one, but I felt I was called to lead it. So from her revelation in her homework time and sharing what she learned, The Lord so sweetly spoke to me that I was doing exactly as He had called me to do and that Satan is a liar!!
I lead the prayer team for our youth ministry and just this week we asked kids to tell us how God has answered prayer for them…had a night of praises and worship! Next morning I texted out that SAME verse from Psalm 139 to remind the kids God cares about every detail and will show up in our days if we ask Him to and look for him! Seems everywhere I look this week, God is saying He answers prayer! On a personal level, I am a homeschooling mom who prayed bc I needed new curriculum I couldn’t afford, only to see God give it to me FREE! The box of books is sitting on my floor fresh out of the trunk of my car. Yes Beth, He has our back!
Tears welled up in my eyes as I read this post because I feel like God is not involved with me at this time. I do feel like my prayers are hitting the ceiling. My life does feel like it is being swallowed up in a huge black hole. What’s more bizarre is that I’m in the middle of the experiencing God study and my faith is rocked and a bit shaken but He’s all I have to hang on to. I know that he has my back. I just don’t see Him or feel His presence. I’m going to trust Him anyway.
Yeah, because I was totally confused as to who that was…
Well the freshest thing is when I watched your affliction series on LifeToday.
Basically GOD showed me (thru you) the urgency of my attention to my affliction.
I am not trying to detail it, but you named more than once things that happen to you currently that are spot on to me and they are things you are SURE no one else goes thru. Because they are just so bizarre…the tie between how you spoke about the mind and the need to live off JESUS, not that others don’t but that it may be a matter of life and death…GOD spoke thru that. I know HE has my back, HE always confirms that HE has me on the right road.
I am so thankful for HIS direction and protection..
I have a question. Does the scripture How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God…does that mean HIS thoughts toward me or just HIS thoughts? and that they are precious to us? I have always wondered what that meant.
Love you Beth. You really are a dear wonderful sister in JESUS.
I watched your James video session 7 last night and when you shared about your first written invite to speaking…I couldn’t help but think that is prophetic. You were a welcomed addition.
One last thing, I have memorized James Chapter 1 and I am working on chapter 2.
Its like my brain was made for it. I know it was
Bustin’ to share!
I live in Minnesota. We have a new chocolate store named “The Droolin’ Moose.” I had started a blessing craze praying blessing over delapidated parts of our town. The chocolate shop sprung up. I went in one day to tell them I’d prayed blessing for them every time I drove by. She was so excited and said they were doing so well that they are opening a 2nd store!
I wrote a Bible study and taught it to some women with “Blessing” as part of it and bought some chocolates for all of the ladies from “The Droolin’ Moose” as something to enjoy as they learned of the power of God.
I have continued to serve and our finances have fallen as my husband got a big pay cut and I continue to teach, and write Bible study for free in ministry. Last week I drove past the chocolate shop and longed for chocolate and pained at what I could no longer afford, but knew Jesus was with me through and through. The next day my mom stopped by my house with a bag and inside was chocolate from that shop! I started blubbering and told her how Jesus used her so sweetly. She had no idea how I had been hurting by that simple lack, as I was working so hard on being faithful to Him and trust as best I could. Once the lump in my throat left, those chocolates never tasted so good! He knows our every desire and He is with us in the hardship and that this is part of His glory. It already is as I got to share it with you.
He’s had my back in way bigger things, but this is so recent and sweet (pun intended) that I had to share it!
I LOVE THIS!
OH, HOW HE HAD (and continues to have) MY BACK! It was a situation where I was terribly hurt and humiliated for doing what I was told and trained to do. God revealed in numerous ways that I was to not worry, but was to WAIT patiently ON HIM because HE was taking care of it for me. Oh, how hard this was, but I was so determined that I was going to rely totally on him, and do nothing even though so many were telling me that I HAD to talk to the person. God continually whispered to wait in my Spirit, through his word during my study time, and even on the scripture flip calendar on my desk. He was so there! As it turned out, HE used my Pastor’s sermon the very next service to address the issue (not knowing anything about it at all!) where the person(s) involved were in attendance. All is well now…..and I KNOW without a shadow of doubt that HE IS PRESENT WITH ME AND HAS MY BACK ALWAYS. As a side note, I continually thank HIM for you, Mama Beth, because He’s used your studies to grow me more and more…..but, He’s not finished with me yet! See you in Greensboro!!! WOOHOO!!! Happy 15th LPM!!!! <3