A week before she passed, she underwent a simple procedure to remove her ovaries. The concern we had at the time was that the pain she had been experiencing may have been cancer, but we received the post-op “all-clear”—the removed ovaries were simply calcified; and we rejoiced.

The next afternoon, however, my dad called. “Come home right away. Your mother is dying.”

I called my friends, Jack and Mary, who I knew would pray with me about it. I slept on their couch that night after praying with them so I could make the four-hour drive to Springfield, MO in daylight.

That August morning, Springfield was gloomy and dank; the sun was nowhere to be seen. I parked at the hospital and found Mom in her room with my dad sitting beside her bed, concern etched on both faces.

Later that day as my dad was holding her hand, she said to us, “Let me go!” Dad quickly pulled his hand away, and she said emphatically, “No! Hold my hand but let me go! I want to go to Heaven!”

The next day after tests, the team had discovered the problem: while removing the ovaries, they had accidentally perforated her small intestines (according to the team, they were tissue paper thin due to her continued use of steroids), and they were decaying within her at the rate of an inch per hour.

As soon as an operating room was available, she was whisked away for emergency surgery. She never regained consciousness and remained in a coma for two more days before she died.

My friend Betsy showed up to support me while Mom was unconscious. I will never forget how graciously she spoke to my mom about what a wonderful mother she had been for me, how she had instilled a love of nature and good character into me. I watched my mom’s face as Betsy spoke to her and saw a tear roll down her cheek. Speak kindly and speak encouragingly to those you love who are seemingly unconscious. They will likely hear you. Let your words be life to them as Betsy’s were.

When Mom passed, I was exactly half her age; I was the age she was when she gave birth to me.

I knew she went to Heaven. Although she never spoke much about her faith, she made it very clear one day while listening to a debate between my ex-brother-in-law and me. He contended that Jesus was merely a good man; He never was supposed to be an object of faith. Of course, I disagreed and was diving into the argument.

Then my mom interrupted us. She spoke with calm confidence and said something to the effect of “You know, I never really raised my kids to believe the way Dorothy does, but she is right. Jesus is the only way to God the Father.” It was a mic drop moment, and the topic changed.

I had two very unusual experiences as well before that sad week in August that showed me, first of all, that God was ordering my steps, and second, that my mom was indeed Heaven-bound.

You see, I had been planning an exciting vacation to start the first week of August with my friend Ellen. We were going to drive down the Gulf side of Florida and up the Atlantic side, alternately camping out and staying in motels until time or money ran out. But during the last two weeks of July a sense of gloom and anxiety started growing so much that whenever I prayed about the trip, I felt nothing but dread. It was like I was being tackled in my spirit. I had to break the news to my friend that I didn’t know why, but I could not proceed with our planned trip.

On August 11, when Mom died, Ellen and I would have been somewhere camping on a beach. And since there were no cell phones back then, no one would have been able to reach me. God wanted me by my mom’s side and “tackled” me in that unusual way to make sure I would be there.

The second unusual experience happened the day before her “simple” surgery. I felt rotten. My throat was sore, and my head and body were aching, telltale signs of flu. I went to bed that night still bummed about missing my “dream vacation” and sick as could be.

In the middle of the night as I slept, I dreamed that someone was praying for me. The love I felt as they prayed in a heavenly language while placing their hands on my aching shoulders and back, was tangible. I turned around in my dream to see who this amazing person could be, and there she was—my mom. Now understand, in all my years with her she never prayed with me, but that prayer was so real, so powerful, and so full of love I wept in my sleep.

And in the morning, I woke up 100% well. She had prayed in my dream, and the signs of a believer had followed her. (See Mark 16:17 and 18.)

As I remember that impactful time, although the sadness was raw and real, the sense of utter peace and comfort was every bit as real to me as well. I know I will see my mom again.

Dorothy

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Consider it all JOY?? If you are anything like the various people I’ve been keeping up with, your life is getting hit from all sides with varying levels of agitation, piles of distraction, a suffocating sense of cabin fever, perhaps overwhelming grief or loneliness, concerns about finances and health, and the creeping helplessness of uncertainty. I could list all of the things hitting me, but your list is probably longer and more intense! HELP!

But when I gazed on that phrase, consider it all joy, it brought a smile to my face and a sense of relief to the pit of my stomach. Oh, yeah!! I remembered. God is capable of helping me through all of this!

Yup. The trials are here. We are all encountering them, big and small, piled up and weighing us down with all the typical symptoms of stress and anxiety. That means every one of us qualifies for this James 1 exhortation, and the good news is this: We will emerge on the other side of every one of these trials!

You and I may not see instant results, though. That’s OK, because the main ingredient in making it successfully through any trial that hits you (next to leaning hard on Jesus) is ENDURANCE. Perseverance. Not giving up. Knowing that this trial—and all of these trials—will be behind you at some point.

You have made it through past trials. God steadied you, covered you, assisted you…He was there with you back then; He is with you now. He is faithful. That is what you nail your endurance to—His faithfulness to you. Bind yourself to that Rock with the good sturdy rope of Truth and refuse to untie it. He will see you through every one of these tests, both great and small. He loves you.

As you hunker down in tight proximity with Him, endurance will be working on your behalf by the hand of God. Oh, so subtly, but oh, so thoroughly, endurance will have its perfect work. You will make it through Trial 1. You will make it through Trial 2. You will make it through Trial 3….and all the rest of those attacks against your peace, your health, your finances, your sanity, your loved ones, and maybe even your very life.

Most of all, though, you will have walked through this season—perhaps while feeling like a total loser—choosing to fix not only your gaze but your entire being as well on the Capable One who loves you and is willing to hold you close. As you do, my friend, you will find at the end of this onslaught of piled up trials, that you will be perfect (as opposed to destroyed) and complete, lacking nothing.

May God, the Capable One, help all of us.

Dorothy

© 2020, Dorothy Frick

And what did I have to show for my time? I had commented on several Facebook posts, I joined an online “I Cats” club; I watched several cat videos; I stumbled onto some “prepper” sites; I learned about homemade compasses; I caught up on the latest political conspiracies; and some stiffness in my spine and “sitter” returned. Productive. Yeah, right.

Needless to say, I was a tad disgusted with myself (although I was pleased with the “likes” and comments I received on the post and pic of an old cat I once owned); so when I drove to church that evening for a prayer meeting, I was telling myself and the Lord, “Something’s gotta change! Help!”

In these particular prayer meetings, my pastor gives us about a half hour or so to pray on our own before we come together as a group, so there I was, still irritated at myself for allowing technology to so perniciously consume my time and my life. Therefore, as I walked the sanctuary I continued my quiet complaint to God. Out of nowhere, I heard this:

“Set your compass aright in the morning, and you will maintain the right direction throughout the day.”

“Set my compass in the morning,” I muttered to myself. “Set my compass in the morning!”

The lightbulb came on. DUH! I thought to myself; my day will go the way I set it first thing in the morning! I knew that; I’ve lived that. But I had gotten sloppy again.

But here’s where my earlier technology marathon came into good use. The instruction I had wandered onto about homemade compasses drove this fresh revelation home.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR DAILY COMPASS IN THE LORD

You see, to make a compass at home, you first need to magnetize a tiny piece of metal. The metal is not a magnet, but by contact with a magnet, it will start acting like one. You do this by rubbing a bit of wire or a needle against a magnet—rubbing it the same direction several times. Then the metal, which was once not magnetic, is now magnetized, and will, if floated on water, point due north.

You also, as you come into close interactive contact with the Lord each day, will become “magnetized” with a godly magnetism. Remember, a sewing needle is not a magnet, nor are you God. However, with close interaction, that needle acquires a measure of the magnet’s properties, and you acquire a fresh measure of the divine nature.

A magnetized needle will point due north when carefully placed on water, and again, although the needle is not a true magnet, its association with a magnet gives it the ability to be a reliable compass.

You yourself will more likely find true direction easier to access as you daily interact closely with your Father.

And here’s an interesting tidbit about many hand-held compasses that I didn’t know: Most of the traditional ones contain liquid. The reason? The needle moves more smoothly and less erratically when suspended in liquid.

Think about your life. You spend time with God, worshiping and interacting with Him, but for some reason, you may find receiving direction from Him to be a bit erratic for your liking. What do you do?  Suspend that needle in some water!

Paul analogized the Word of God to water (see Ephesians 5:26), so follow me as I continue this analogy: Just as the liquid in a natural compass brings smoothness and enhances true direction, so too does daily access to the Word of God, along with worshipful interaction with the Father, stabilize and enhance smooth direction for your life day by day.

“Set your compass aright in the morning, and you will maintain the right direction throughout the day.”

Dorothy

In my house, the leak seeped up over the top of the fitting. Somehow the connection had loosened and soundness was compromised. But as quickly as it was discovered it was repaired—the contractor was in the house! Don’t you wish all of the leaks and glitches in your home would occur when a repairman was on the scene? Well, here’s good news—the Carpenter is always in the house!

The leak in the connection between the pipes started me thinking about the closeness of my connection with God. I hate to admit it, but as I look back over the past 39 years of my relationship with Him, I haven’t always maintained a super-tight connection. Don’t get me wrong—once I was born again, I was connected. But sometimes I was content just to appear to have a close connection, while the connection itself had become loose, casual—even sloppy. And upon closer inspection, I can see that the most satisfying times in my life have occurred when I purposefully tightened that connection.

How do you tighten the connection between yourself and God? What tends to loosen it up? What are some of the signs that you need to crank that connection more tightly? And if you’re in Christ and He’s in you, why concern yourself about this connection at all? Isn’t connection with Him a given?

The skinny is this: the connection is perfect on His end; it’s your end that needs watchful oversight, maintenance, and sometimes repair. If there’s any disconnect, it’s on your end.

Remember last week I wrote that I was bombarded by negative thoughts one snowy morning? I ran for refuge that day to a pile of devotionals, knowing in my gut that I would receive direction and help. And interestingly enough, in one way or another, out of every single entry emerged a strengthening, nutritious nugget about—you guessed it—a vital connection with God.

I’ll be writing about what I gleaned that snowy day in the next several blog entries. But tomorrow I plan to backtrack a bit and share a dream that I had sometime last year. You’ll understand why when you read “Connected to the Source”.

Dorothy

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

But I had a hole in my basement ceiling that needed to be patched. My contractor, a godly man with a good attitude, and who is a craftsman in his own right, came to do the job.

He is no stranger to my herd of cats. Two of them hide from him in the compartments between the floors that he himself created—just for them. You see, two years ago he gutted that whole section of the basement to remove the mold problem which had developed due to earlier plumbing issues under the bathroom sink and tub. He saw that he had wiped out their “get-away” in the demolition, so he crafted an area with four “cat compartments”—complete with trap doors for clean-up purposes—to which the more cowardly among them could flee if so moved. I’m not sure if those cats are grateful for his artistry on their behalf, but they sure know where to go when terrifying repairmen come to work on the house.

The other two could care less about workmen; one is thoroughly disinterested until she’s through with her nap and then pays a visit, but the other—a twenty-pounder—likes to supervise everything that goes on.

Big Rowe was busy overseeing the patch job, Cammie was snoozing, and I decided to check in on Ember and Gideon, hiding in their “crawl space”. I climbed up on a step ladder to peer into their secret compartments between the floors and saw the yellow glow of two pairs of eyes. Ugh, I thought to myself. I haven’t checked up here in a while—it’s covered with cat hair! So as I began the task of de-furring the storage shelves beneath the cat hideaway and the bathtub drain pipe, I withdrew my hand in horror. WATER!!!

Not a new leak! Not now! Not here! I removed the bottled laundry detergents and fabric softeners stored on the shelf directly below the pipe and felt around. Yup—sprung a leak.

“BOB!” I called to my contractor patching the ceiling in the other room. “You’ll never guess what I just found!”

He wasn’t surprised; he said these things happen to him all the time; and as he investigated, he discovered the cause of this new leak. It was coming from a poor connection in the fitting between the bathtub drain pipe and the elbow trap attached to it. He repaired it under the glow of four golden eyes, finished the patch job, and then went on his way.

As I returned to clean up the mess, I was amazed that it wasn’t a big mess. In fact, that leak had just started; only the top shelf had water on it; only a couple of paper towels were needed to mop it up.

And I thought of the goodness of God. This second leak could have slowly dripped for months and months before being discovered, but God revealed it to me right away before any damage—or mold growth—had begun.

And what did He use? A different leak, a patch up job, my relationship with two scaredy cats, and a pile of cat hair. How great is that? Surely our God causes all things to work together for our good—even cat hair!

And just like the Lord used the intruding trim nail to reveal truth to me, He has also shown me some interesting things about the value of vigilantly maintaining good connection.

More on that to come.

Dorothy

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

In my mind, I figured we were praying for those who were facing addictions or various besetting sins—and I’m sure we were. Those things certainly seek to worm their way into the lives of men and women who endeavor to follow the Lord; Satan uses such devises to bind up, if possible, anyone who poses a threat to him or to the spread of his agenda. What I didn’t know when I shared my trim nail story, however, was that God was about ready to uncover one in my own life.

It didn’t happen right away. God takes His time with us; He not only prepares us for our calling, ministry, and service—He also prepares us to deal with uncomfortable or painful issues. And I believe that He has a due season for everything He does, and He works in us throughout our lives to help us to hear and receive what He has to say.

On a recent snowy day as I hunkered down at home, I began the day with prayer and time in the Word, but for some reason I was flooded with an onslaught of negative emotions. Thoughts of isolation, ineffectiveness, despair, and unacceptability bombarded my mind. I poured out the pain I was experiencing before the Lord. After all, the psalmist urged, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8; emphasis added).

And interestingly enough, God led, not one godly person, but two—right in a row—to call me that morning to share their love and encouragement. The trim nail was still hidden, but He was applying the pre-op salve of lovingkindness and acceptance in the Beloved (see Ephesians 1:6, KJV) through the words of these precious saints.

After the conversations, I determined to hear from God and spent most of the rest of the day reading several devotionals (many were listed here on February 10: http://www.firstofallpray.com/?p=4114). As I read, God spoke to me through them, confirming some key directives I had received from Him previously. By the time I was writing a summary in my prayer journal about everything He had said, the oppression shrouding me earlier was all but gone. As I arose from that task to a more mundane endeavor, however, a scrap of the old heaviness startled me as it leaped on my mind, demanding attention, flooding my thoughts with images of all the disapproval my life had generated.

And just then the Plumber, the Ancient of Days Himself, stepped in and spoke very clearly, “Disapproval”, and I saw a man’s hand pull a piece of trim from the wall of my heart pierced by a thickly corroded nail—disapproval itself. All the condemning images drained away, and I recognized what the Lord—my Plumber—had just done for me.

It all made sense to me. I had been plagued by the feeling of being disapproved much of my life—even as a believer who thoroughly trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ, His precious blood shed for me, the wonderful regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and the living power of the Word of God. For some reason, I was not able to fully shake the nagging doubts and oppressive accusations despite how loved by God I knew I was.

God was showing me that the disapproval my parents expressed toward me as a child, teen, and young woman—even though I knew they loved me—had invaded my system and lodged in my soul. When Jesus came to make His home in me, the living waters sprang up to eternal life and all was forgiven and I was cleansed—but that errant trim nail of disapproval remained. Through the years, with every disapproving look or word, that nail was driven in deeper. I felt it, for sure, but was never able to identify what was going on inside. In fact, the Lord showed me, I had developed a “disapproval response mechanism” in my soul that was triggered whenever I met with anything that felt disapproving toward me—whether it was real or imagined. And if I left it unaddressed, or worse—I nursed or coddled it—and didn’t forgive as quickly as possible, that intrusive trim nail would redevelop its corrosion and the living water within would become tainted again.

And out of nowhere came my Plumber, the Savior of my soul, who simply removed the offending nail. Of course, I have questions: Why now? Why wait this long? But the fact of the matter is this: He did it. He pulled out a grossly contaminating, painful spike from my soul, and I am grateful. The flow of the rivers of life and the washing of the water of the Word will be all the more refreshing, sweet, and powerful.

My purpose in sharing this highly personal incident is to encourage you to press on in God even if things seem impossibly dark, oppressive, or disturbing. When the leak occurred in my basement, I was angry and upset at the mess and inconvenience. However, without that leak, the corroding trim nail never would have been discovered, and my water would still be contaminated.

A surfaced boil reveals that an infection needs to be addressed. Without that boil, the infection can spread undetected. A leak in the plumbing reveals that something is not right with the pipes—perhaps even contaminating the water. And chronic issues of heaviness, oppression, or sin in your life can be viewed as a wake-up call to press in to God and His Word all the more. Instead of allowing the oppression to bind you in shame or despair, use the devil’s attacks as your personal launching pad into the presence of God. The Lord will come through for you—every time.

And concerning errant trim nails:

1. Protect your heart by obeying God.

2. Keep the living water of Jesus flowing within you.

3. Trust Him to bring to light anything that may be hindering you—and watch Him set you free.

Dorothy

And then a light bulb came on in my mind. Yikes! The water pouring from my kitchen faucet had tasted funny for over a year now. I asked the plumber if that little nail, slowly corroding in the pipe, could make the water taste “off”. The answer was yes.

After the taste of my tap water went “south”, I began to use bottled water exclusively for drinking. I also started running the water from that faucet until I couldn’t taste it whenever I cooked, prepared coffee, or ran water for the cats’ bowls. I hadn’t trusted the water for over a year; now I knew why.

As Christians, we are vessels through which living water flows. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water [well water] will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13b-14; emphasis added). You and I have a well of water within us, springing up to eternal life. This is the water of life which the Lord has given to us; as long as we drink from it, we will never thirst.

Jesus also proclaimed on the last day of the great feast, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37b-38). Within you and me flow rivers of living water—waters of the Holy Spirit which arise through faith in Jesus (see verse 39).

And yet have you ever experienced a tinge of “offness” coming from the flow of your life? Have you ever thought to yourself in reflection, Something just doesn’t seem right; something tastes “off” as I think, pray or speak? Have you ever wondered, Why do the “waters” seem to get so muddy from time to time?

When that happens—and no Christian is immune—you may question the Lord and His faithfulness to you. But the truth is this: He’s still there; He’s never stopped helping you; His Word still speaks.

The well of which Jesus spoke is still inside of you—it hasn’t moved—with water springing up to eternal life. On top of that, rivers of living water still run deep within you, ready to splash through your life onto the lives of others.

I learned that a little trim nail penetrating a small copper pipe can foul the water in a home until it is discovered and removed. Every day, you and I come into contact with the world around us, its ways, its philosophies, and its loves. Every day, you and I bob and weave without even thinking, dodging suggestions and accusations, taking thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, and declaring, It is written. And the living water within us keeps on flowing.

But from time to time, an errant suggestion or a bit of news, a stray thought or a random image finds its way into the plumbing. Before you know it, the water seems “off”; what was once clear becomes cloudy; what used to flow freely within you seems to be sluggish and stale.

Nothing’s wrong with the Source of that living water; but something has fouled it, nonetheless. The good news is that the Living God is very aware of the condition of the well within you, He knows the exact location of any contaminant that may have worked its way into the river—and He’s willing to share that knowledge with you if you’re willing to hear it.

Your job is to contact the Plumber and give Him license to inspect your “home”. He’ll locate and remove the offending pollutant, showing you exactly what it is and how it penetrated your defenses, and He will repair any damage to your “pipes”. You, in turn, need to kick-start the living waters within you so you can fully flush out your system, wash yourself with the water of the Word, and then commit to refortifying your godly defenses.

Leaks happen, whether in buildings or in your life. Water can become tainted in the spiritual realm as well as in the natural. And your God is big enough to walk you through any of it—or all of it. He’s ever present and He is beautiful for situation—for every single situation.

He can be trusted.

Dorothy

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord,
and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3; English Standard Version

Who would’ve thought that every company I called would be booked until Thursday or Friday? But I was in the “trust-God” mode now, and while praying over Angie’s List, I saw a company with “A” after “A”—along with three “F”s. As I read the negative reviews, they seemed picky to me, so I took the plunge on that plumbing company. Yes, they could come today—the plumber would be here in an hour. I was committed.

The young man called to say he would arrive in twenty minutes, and the voice I heard was kind, confident, and very polite. I sensed that God had directed me.

With the knock on the door, I opened to the plumber who was standing back from the door respectfully with his ID held for me to see it clearly. And he looked like a gang-banger.

But there was that voice again—kind, confident, and polite—and without hesitation, I showed him in and downstairs to the flood site.

Long story short, this young man treated my situation like a detective mystery. His enthusiasm at solving my problem was contagious; he thought aloud as he tinkered under my kitchen sink and respectfully consulted with me as to where I was comfortable with him opening the wall. He even spoke with my contractor on the phone about the pipes and possible diagnoses for the leak. While they were talking, I took the opportunity to pray in tongues under my breath for wisdom and supernatural direction.

After the phone call, he was about to cut a hole in my living room wall to access the pipes behind the kitchen sink when he stopped abruptly, rechecked under the sink, and said, “I don’t think I should cut here. Let’s go back to the basement.”

And what do you know, but with the very first cut into my ceiling he found the problem! An errant trim nail had pierced a copper pipe and served as a plug for a couple of years until corrosion finally ate away enough metal to allow water to escape. Of course, replacing the pipe in the tight place where the leak occurred was tricky, but with positive enthusiasm he tackled the problem and cleanly replaced the pipe.

He worked for three straight hours and thoroughly cleaned up after himself. Throughout the entire process, he maintained that contagious joy about solving plumbing mysteries. And when it came time to for me to pay the bill, he charged me for only two hours and the piece of pipe he used to patch the leak.

God had come through for me yet again. And to think that just the day before I had flown into a frenzy, letting my circumstances rob my joy! But thank God, I allowed Him to convict me and address my unbelief and panic; and when I repented, His peace returned like a blanket covering my heart and mind.

And as for judging a book by its cover—despite his appearance, this young man was God’s choice for the job. My pastor often says, “Keep the main deal the main deal.” And the main deal here was for me to seek God, resist panic, let Him lead my decisions, and to allow His peace to act as an umpire in my heart, deciding and settling with finality all the questions that arose in my mind (see Colossians 3:15, AMP).

When you keep the main deal the main deal and resist the onslaught of all the screaming lesser deals, then God can come through for you every time.

Dorothy

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. Colossians 3:15