Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Praise Train & Joyful Uncertainty

P and I were emailing back and forth yesterday and on one of his replies he sent me this vision and said that the Lord gave it to him as he was about to reply to my email:

I see a "Praise Train". It is full of His children, everyone is running around singing, laughing, enjoying the presence of the Holy Spirit who is up front inviting His children to sit on His lap as HE controls the train from the front. 

The Lord would say His train is moving forward, a train of great Joy, on a marvelous journey. He is the source of ALL power for every journey. We are to enjoy the trip, look out the windows at all of His mighty works, the lands, the mountains, the skies, the mighty rivers, the birds of the air and most of all the WIND. 

The WIND which blows at will, from the direction that we can not see coming. It is none the less there even if we can not see it. The Lord would say that His winds of Glory, Provision, Joy, Revelation and Direction are coming.

This was very cool because it helped me to remember to “look out the window and enjoy the ride”!! I realized I was sinking into a “funk” and wasn’t enjoying the ride very much. 

Thank you Lord for this reminder! You are in control and I am not. Your ways are good and your plan is perfect. Please help me to enjoy the ride and not worry, doubt, fear or get frustrated with my husband!

I had another “world disaster/crisis” dream last night and it is interesting that Paul’s vision was about a train because my dream had a train as well.

I was in a multistory office building and all of a sudden there was a huge earthquake. Everything was destroyed and there were many hurt people. I was not hurt at all. I managed to get outside after a while and everything was in devastation. 

The sky was dark and full of ominous clouds that looked like they were pregnant with “doom and disaster”. 

In the horizon I saw a line of people traveling very slowly, drudgingly in the same direction. They were very downcast and wounded. I decided to go ask them where they were going and they said they were going to a safer place. 

Then, the next thing I know, I am hanging onto the side of a train while I am talking with these people and when I am done, the train is going way too fast for me to jump off! I am hanging on for dear life before people can help me to get inside. 

When I finally get inside I am then faced with the fact that I have nothing with me and have not made arrangements for a place to sleep. The train was not a “passenger” train but more like a box car train and we had to find our own little area or corner to call our own and to sleep in.

Last night I went to CB’s “Mentor” meeting and I had a couple revelations. The first revelation was that I really have not had anyone speak into my life as a mentor except CB. As the ladies were talking they were realizing more and more how they had people speak into their lives that they hadn’t really thought of as mentors, but were actually mentors to them. And they would list them as women who helped them to be mothers or helped them to home school etc.

And as I thought about it, I realized that God has been my only mentor throughout my whole life! He has been the one who has really taught and guided me in every area and aspect of my life. It has only been lately that CB has been an encourager and has emailed and called me during this really tough time in my life. 

I realized that when I was praying for a mentor all these years I was behaving like the Israelites asking for a “king” when God was leading them, I had been asking for a mentor when God has been my mentor my whole life!

I am so sorry Lord for not seeing and realizing this truth. And then on top of that, he placed CB in my life and I was completely looking past her as a mentor too. Lord, thank you for your provision even when I miss it!!You are so good.

Oswald Chambers today:

Gracious Uncertainty

"My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is." 1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise --- trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next --- that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life --- gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God --- it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." (Mat_18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ". . . believe also in Me" (Joh_14:1), not, "Believe certain things about Me". Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in --- but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

Another WOW!! God, you are amazing in how you speak to us through this man! I wish I could completely get my mind wrapped around this concept and live it out every day!! 

Lord, I am VERY uncertain of our next step but I do know that you are God and you are good. Help me to be “joyfully uncertain” and look to you as a little child with complete trust and expectation of good things!!

Speaking of good things, we were blessed with another gift of $100.00 dollars today! Thank you, Jesus!