August 27,2007

Hello Sisters!
This is your first SIS Devotional. The "plan" will be to try and get them out each Monday. It is my prayer that God will use this to encourage us, challenge us and stretch us. Blessings to each of you this week! Know that you are prayed for!

Last summer, I uprooted and moved back to Terre Haute. I had been gone for eight years. This was going to be an adjustment!
Literally, for a year or so prior to this move, I had known it was time to move on. I was scared…not about a new job, not about finding a place to live…no, I was scared I didn’t have it in me to have that kind of dependence on God. You see, I knew that His prodding me to move on was because He wanted to grow and stretch me, use me in ways He hadn’t done thus far. He had a new venture for me. I wish I could say it was because I had tapped out all of my potential in service to Him, at that area in my life. But truthfully, it was the exact opposite. I had become so comfortable in staying in “safety”…the safety of familiarity, reliable friends and social life, steady job…even what I thought was “comfort” in keeping my distance from service to God and the people around me. It would take nothing short of putting me into my whale’s belly, to get my spiritual feet moving again. I knew I had shut out a part of myself, a part of the child God created me to be, because I was too scared to go to new heights with Him. Refiner…Great Physician…He has these names for a reason; heart surgery, albeit figurative, is no fun!
However, I finally surrendered and moved! Within days I got a new job. Shortly thereafter came a new home. I was so thrilled at finally getting back and doing what God wanted me to do. It’s all on the upswing now, right? Wrong! This was just the beginning. After moving, I became very lonely, very discouraged. I became very confused on whether I knew how to hear God or not. After all, surely feelings of this magnitude wouldn’t happen after I finally quit running! But, they did. And they did because I took the attitude of “I did what You wanted; now where’s my blessing?”
God didn’t shake up my life because He could no longer use me where I was at. He shook it up because it was time to take it to the next level, and I had resisted all other means! I had sensed this, and that is a main reason why it took me over a year to surrender to moving on. What else could He want from me, or have in store for me? And why me? Sure, I had a great “spiritual resume”…but, I had totally distanced myself from Him, because I was too scared to go further. But, when you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good in your life, running is never a path to contentment. It simply is a never-ending journey of unrest.
Through numerous experiences, I’ve finally said “Here I am.” Much pain was on this journey. Much more is sure to come. But, it is conquerable! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!! He truly…eternally…is gracious, full of unmatched power, unconditional in His love and sufficient. Think of the meaning of that last word…sufficient…upon your life. What areas are you yearning for more? What are the thoughts, circumstances or untruths that are not allowing you to embrace the sufficiency of God in your life?
Where are you at right now? What feelings and fears are you battling daily? When is the last time you begged God to show you why you felt that way? And when is the last time you remember your heart overwhelmingly desire to not only rejoice in the love and hope of God, but to want to be whole and to run the race with endurance? …Wholeness, overwhelming desire…passion and zeal for the glory of God…what about your life is evident of these characteristics?
This week, pray for a clear mind and heart, to see your current state as God sees it. What would an evaluation of your heart and spirit reveal right now? What is that “next level” that you know God wants to bring you to? …Don’t miss that ....BRING you to!!! When you bring someone somewhere, you accompany them. God promises to always be with us. Dare to take Him at His word and see what new heights He will lead you to!

Passage for the week: 2 Samuel 22 (the complete chapter) Pray for a heart like David’s, to keep that heart of trust that God will deliver you from your enemies, from all the things that hold you back from Him, from the things that make you afraid (v. 5). Also, to keep that heart of praise! As you read through the chapter, you will see…God does not merely sit and just smile, waving His arms of love to rain down upon us. That is part of Him…but, note verses 7-16. God is definitely in our corner! He not only loves His children, but He fights for His children! You have the power of the most Powerful rooting for you, a God who is not just about “warm and fuzzy love”…but about a love so deep, so high, so wide…that He has THAT kind of reaction that is depicted in those verses, for the cause of His kingdom and His children. Take refuge in that from all that encompasses you this week, and truly rejoice in it!!! Take a few moments to praise Him, and asking Him to fill you up with a passion to realize just how great He loves us and cares for us and praise Him, like David did in this chapter