Categories
Reflections and Poetry

Clarity, Vision, Direction: a reflection

Clarity, Vision, Direction

I do not have clarity, vision, direction for the future, not just yet. As a single person again after nearly thirty years, I really don’t know what is next for me to do. I no longer have covering as I had with my husband; I am now the covering for others. Yes, I have pastoral covering, and GOD’s covering, but that is different from the intimate and immediate covering of a spouse to his wife.

Over the last three years my husband Alan and I sought to build a joint ministry. One partner is gone now, so what is to become of that ministry which we believed GOD had a hand in I do not know. I do know that I don’t want to do anything the LORD is not in, and so ministry, though wide open, has a narrow door. 

I am an author and as such, felt the writing I did to encourage others to pray for Alan when he was sick was a culmination of all my writing effort and experience gained over the last twenty years. Do I continue? Yes, for now, unless the LORD guides me otherwise.

I am a mother and a step mother; I “look after” those put in my care just as Alan would have done, for into their future these others may look, but I see and pray and stand for them. I take nothing for granted except that GOD is love and I reflect GOD to those in my care.

Life today

Life is light and love and freedom in Christ. Life is hope and joy and truth to share with others. Life has changed entirely, in an instant. The moment Alan passed away I became a new person, and I am slowly becoming acquainted with “her”. I pray I will maintain the wisdom and integrity of my husband, and discover the purpose and role and even the identity of myself as a single person who loves the LORD, loves her family, loves the spiritual family within the church of our LORD, and loves herself. 

Purpose

And as for purpose? Ultimately, it is to reflect the glory of GOD. In the more immediate, I simply do not know… but “he who waits upon the LORD shall renew his strength…” (Isaiah 40:31) and so I wait. I also hope, reflect on His word, remember Alan and his principles, and take delight in the sunshine, the fresh air, the thoughts, impressions and memories of my earlier life as a married woman. Most of all, I seek the presence of the LORD and all that brings to uplift us me; that for me and any follower if Jesus, is what quenches, fills and moves us forward. 

Hallelujah, the LORD reigns, in and through us, moving us forward and lifting us upward into the call and purpose and identity of Jesus. Amen.

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture

From My Will to Holy Spirit Will

My strength or Holy Spirit Strength

“…I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 20:17)

We have surrendered our life and our will to God. We want to utter His prayers and do His works, based on His will and not our own. Jesus said we can move mountains if we have faith. Bathed in prayer, we can walk in the Spirit and not in the Flesh.

But how can we be certain we are praying the prayers of the Holy Spirit? How do we pray God’s prayers and not our own? Is there a ‘ceiling’ above which our prayers do not rise, unless they are prayers inspired by the will of the Father?

I’d like to suggest a strategy that works for me, to help me be ‘less of me and more of God’ in my day-to-day walk.

1) ‘He who waits upon the LORD shall renew his strength’ (Isaiah 40:11)

As I wait in a quiet place I find God joins me. As I make room for Him, he shows up to inspire and to lead me ‘beside still waters’.

2) ‘All scripture is God-breathed’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

As I sit, reading and re-reading a passage of scripture, those words become alive, guiding me and inspiring me. Through the Word of God I hear the Will of God on a daily basis.

3) ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength’ (Philippians 4:13)

Expecting God to speak or to move through my prayers and my actions creates in me humility and hope. I can’t make Him do as I please but I can expect Him to respond to the prayers and intercession He has anointed me and inspired me to pray.

4) ‘Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness’ (1 Chronicles 16:29)

When I pray in tongues, when I sing or dance as led by God’s encouragement and freedom, I begin to lose myself in worship and adoration. When that happens I am beginning to enter into a private place with the LORD where He draws me close, speaks to me and leads me in His way everlastingly.

5) ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.’ (Matthew 7:7-8)

Breakthrough comes when we wait, spend time with God’s Word, expect Him to come, and worship Him. This is not a formula but a promise.

If we want to ‘live and move and have our being’ in Him, we need to commit our way to Him and He will give us the desires of our heart. Meditating with Him will draw our desires toward Him and His will can be done on earth in and through us, His surrendered servants.

Ready: Decide to spend quality (and quantity) time daily with the LORD

Set: Choose a time and space that will ensure freedom from distraction

Go: Start tomorrow: Commit your way onto the LORD and He will direct your path