First of All, Pray: Blog
Bringing Biblical Truths to Daily Life
Have you ever seen the rain?
Just this morning, I was enjoying breakfast at one of my very favorite fine dining establishments, Waffle House. I was minding my own business doctoring my coffee with Half and diflucan à vendre Half, when from the juke box (remember those?) I heard a familiar melody and words so dear to my heart. They speak to a deep place within me, and I wrote a blog about the lyrics in one of my earliest entries here. I believe the Lord wants me to repost it. Here it is:
As I was praying and doing chores a while back, a wisp of a song arose within me:
“I wanna know have you ever seen the rain?” (Creedence Clearwater Revival, © 1970.)
The words stirred something deep inside me, and as I sang them quietly, I felt the need to search out the rest of the lyrics.
This song had played during an era in my life when I was a camp counselor, living outside, sleeping under the stars, and swimming in Ozark lakes, creeks, and rivers. I wondered if the emotion I felt as I heard it was merely the stirring of the sleeping flower child still camping out somewhere inside of me.
And I remembered it was my older siblings who had introduced me to this music. Was the pull I felt just a reminder of how much I still loved and looked up to my big brother and sister?
Or was there something more primal, deeper than soul, drawing me? I had to know. This song touched something within me that day, so I googled it to see if the lyrics had anything to say to me.
In my search I found what others had written about the lyrics. To many of them, the song was sad and beautiful, simple and touching.
To me, however, it spoke of the rains of God. God’s rains often follow the tumultuous storms of discord, trial, and dismay in society. The storms erupt after periods of calm and costo viagra francia complacency and spiraling hedonism. And as folks feel the very foundations of their lives shaken—those false values and structures in which they had so trusted—they start looking elsewhere—often Heavenward—for comfort and direction. And God sends the rains, raining a sunny day, raining a day of help, raining a day of salvation.
“Someone told me long ago there’s a calm before the storm
I know, it’s been coming for some time
When it’s over, so they say, it’ll rain a sunny day
I know, shinin’ down like water.”
Not everyone gets to see one of God’s rains. However, blessed is that generation so privileged to experience the outpouring. Strangely enough, Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote and sang during one of God’s downpours. I wonder if they realized it at the time.
The sixties and seventies witnessed the last bona fide widespread outpouring of God—at least in North America. I got in on the final days of that sweet time. The things I saw and experienced in the first four or five years of my walk with Jesus still elicit a deep longing for the rains to fall again.
“I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain? Coming down on a sunny day?”
When you meet someone who has seen the rain, lived in the rain, danced in the rain, they seem like anyone else. But if you scratch a bit, dig a bit below the dry surface, the flood waters still run within them, longing to be joined again by the rains from Heaven.
And then they will ask you:
“I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain? Comin’ down on a sunny day?”
Let it rain, Lord! Let it rain.
Dorothy
Need light?
For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:9
Have you ever had one of those stressful stretches of time? One that lasts over several weeks? I’ve been going through one of those myself, lately, and as pressure and generic cialis drugs uk stress levels seemed to be crescendoing out of earth’s orbit last night, I decided to apply a simple “talk-through” technique to my emotions as I plugged away at an impossibly long “to do” list.
Here’s what I did: With every little thing I worked on—mundane as each one was—I talked to God about how glad I was about that little part of my life. Putting away the dishes? Thank You, Lord for these dishes and the ability to clean them! Sorting clothes for laundry? Father, thank You for giving me these clothes and a great washer and dryer! Paying bills? Thanks, God, that I can do math and that there’s some money left over after paying these! It may not be much, but I’m not broke, glory to God!
And as I continued in this vein, it wasn’t long until the stress started ebbing away and peace seeped back in, quietly reigning once again.
This morning however, I remembered a scheduling detail I became aware of yesterday that played a huge contributing factor in my spiraling stress the day before. It still bothered me, and it was something that was pretty much out of my control—unless I made a great big scene and pushed several levels of people around. I started feeling the stress creep back in.
I prayed. I prayed in the Spirit. And then I verbally committed the scheduling to God—to accept it as is or let Him rearrange it if He saw fit—without my personal interference.
And do you know what He spoke to me? It was eye-opening! He said, “There’s a difference between being a prima donna and being led by My Spirit.” Burn!
How many times have you and I demanded our own way, insisting we were being led of the Spirit, when in actuality, we were being led by our flesh—our preferences, our fears, or our biases—absolutely clueless about our own motives?
As I repented and prayed in the Spirit—a gusher this time—God’s great comfort came upon me. An old praise song rose up in my heart, and as I sang it, once again it was well with my soul:
“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. With You is the fountain of life; in Your light, we see light.” (From Psalm 36:9)
When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, then you have given Him the right to have His say-so in every aspect. And that is very good.
Dorothy
Due to my very busy schedule, I will be sporadically adding to this blog in the next few weeks—sometimes on, sometimes off. Just check back periodically to see any new entries. Blessings! 🙂
Hidden treasures
…attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2b-3
Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior! Isaiah 45:15
For many of us, one of the most frustrating aspects of God is the fact that He often hides Himself. A dear family member of mine who would love to believe in God struggles with the reality of Him—and His Son Jesus—for that very reason: She hasn’t yet “felt” Him.
It has been my experience that God approaches each of us in varying ways according to His wisdom—and His ways have never proven to be our chosen ways (see Isaiah 55:8). But no matter what methods He uses to draw each individual to Himself, each one of us who comes to Him enters through the same Door—Jesus Christ (see John 10:7).
Once you’ve entered through the Door, a new heart is formed in you and a new life awaits you. And yet, although all things in you have been made new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17) and you now have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16), a lifelong adventure of “hide and seek” lies before you. You see, you have embraced Jesus, the Mystery of the ages, and within Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (see Colossians 2:3).
Just as pursuit is an integral component of a healthy romantic relationship, so, too, is seeking a key part of the relationship between God and you. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10); likewise, He is honored when you seek Him with all of your heart—so much so that He assures you that you will find Him (see Jeremiah 29:13). If He seems slow in answering, persist. How many men have wooed reluctant lovers only to win them over by their raw determination? And if you—like my precious family member—are experiencing the “hiddenness” of God, realize that your persistence in the search honors Him who is yet unfelt by you—and as a result, blessing and intimacy with Him are piling up to your account, ready to tip the scale and pour out upon you. At some point in your search, you will detect the tiniest mustard seed of faith within you where you never noticed it before; when you sense it, plant it in Him by asking Him into your life and the Door will open to you. And then? Joy unspeakable and full of glory will capture your heart (see 1 Peter 1:8).
And just as pursuit is an integral component of a healthy, maturing relationship, so, too, is seeking a key part of the continuing relationship between God and you. After all, in Him—Jesus Christ, the Lover of your soul—is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. It will take a lifetime—and then on into eternity—to explore and enjoy all that belongs to you in your relationship with Him. Daily He bears your burdens (see Psalm 68:19); daily you are invited to enter into new discoveries of the vastness of His unsearchable wisdom and knowledge (see Romans 11:33).
Contrary to some of the griping I’ve heard about how boring “God stuff” is, I have found unlimited treasure in Him—and I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Here’s the deal. If you learned that you owned the deed to a large unmined vein of gold or a vast untapped reservoir of oil, would you be bored with that information? Would you lament how much time and effort you would have to expend to search out ways to access all that wealth?
Spiritual treasure is no different. In fact, that which God has hidden for you in Christ is not only treasure to be embraced now in this life; it extends into all eternity. Nothing—whether silver or gold or oil or all the money in a billion treasuries—could compare to even a portion of the vast expanse of all that is hidden in Christ.
Wherever you are in your pursuit of Him, be encouraged. He is the Lover of your soul and He is the limitless Treasure worth seeking out.
Dorothy
…God’s mystery…Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2a-3
…the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26a, 27b
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44
He is not far from any of us
Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior! Isaiah 45:15
Does God seem to be hiding His presence from you? Don’t be discouraged. He Himself has not departed from you; He is close at hand and is very engaged and interested in your life.
I’ll use an illustration from my teaching days to drive this point home. A first year middle school teacher at my school had very little control over her classroom, and one young man in particular was especially challenging for her. I watched this bunch with great interest, for they would soon be advancing from seventh into eighth grade—the grade I taught.
As the year progressed, the disruptive behaviors in this class—stirred relentlessly by this one young man—grew more and more unruly, outrageous, and unbearable. Unfortunately, this new, young teacher had little support from the administration, but one day she made a very wise decision: She contacted the teen’s mother—a street-smart police officer-in-training.
Mom showed up the next day when the students were out of the room, and with the teacher’s permission, she hid in an empty classroom locker. (Did I mention that Mom was in great shape and could actually fit into a classroom locker?)
The bell rang, and soon students, loud and rambunctious, began filing into the room. The teacher called for order, and slowly—with attitude—one by one these young teens took their seats—everyone, that is, except the ringleader. He became more and more boisterous, strutting around the room, daring his teacher to do something about it. And as he danced around, a virtual one-man vaudeville act, wild and full of himself, what do you know? Out of the locker jumped his mother!
Everyone in that class roared with delight except one—the young man! Shock, horror, and awe spread across his face as his body froze in terror. That which was hidden was now revealed, in oh so many ways!
You are probably not like this young man, creating havoc in wild abandonment. You are likely disciplined—constrained by decorum and kindness—and yet God seems to be hiding from you.
Wherever you may be on the “self-control spectrum”—from completely out-of-control to rigidly self-disciplined—God is near, loving you no matter what He sees or hears.
And God is something like that mother who loved her son enough to hide, only to make her presence known in time—suddenly. Your God—though seemingly hidden—is near to you, also. And He will be faithful to reveal Himself when you most need it—and sometimes when you least expect it!
Rest assured. God—though seemingly hidden—is very near.
Dorothy
…He is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:27b
Do not fear, for I am with you… Isaiah 43:5a
The God who works behind the scenes
Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior! Isaiah 45:15
One reason God hides Himself at times is to allow us to grow in faith as we trust Him and His Word without any sensory input at all.
Another reason God may hide Himself for a season from you and me has to do with the way He works out His purposes—both in our own lives and in the lives of others. The Message Bible says it this way: “Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes, God of Israel, Savior God.”
You may wonder why the Lord would do such a thing. You may even cite the verse in Genesis which says, “The LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?’” (Genesis 18:17.) You might think, Of course God wants to reveal Himself to me—doesn’t He?
Yes, God will teach you concerning Himself, He will show you by the Holy Spirit things to come (see John 16:13), and He will be a Friend who reveals secrets to you just as He did with Abraham. However, like a seed sprouting in darkness, hidden below the ground, forming roots and all that it will need to bear fruit once it breaks through the earth, the mysteries of your life and future often need to remain underground for a while, developing a strong root system and support structure, hidden away from both your eyes and impatient curiosity. If God is hidden to you, you can rest assured that He is nonetheless at work on your behalf, forming the structures of His will and purpose for the details of your life.
Take courage in the fact that the Lord is actively working on your behalf, especially when He seems hidden!
Dorothy
“Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God. Isaiah 66:9
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
…He knows the way I take; when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10
The God who hides Himself
Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior! Isaiah 45:15
Have you ever felt as if God was absent from your life? I’m not talking about before you received Jesus as Lord of your life; I’m talking about since you’ve given your life to Him.
Let me share something that may help you—you’re not alone in this feeling. Sometimes the Living God withdraws—not His presence from your life—but the experience of His presence.
Why would He do such a thing to one of His children who so desperately longs for a touch from Him? Very possibly, one reason He does this is because we insist on “feeling” or “sensing” Him before we are willing to trust Him; we are determined to experience Him before we step out on the water by faith.
You might exclaim, But He told us He would provide all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19), and I need Him to give me a touch, a feeling, an experience!
Your need, however, is not to feel or experience right now or God would have provided that for you. Your need at this crucial time in your life is to trust, believe, and obey without any sense of God’s presence at all. And as you choose to trust Him despite what seems to be the lack of a touch; as you choose to believe Him without any feeling of His presence; and as you take a step of obedience without any evident “Atta boy” from Heaven, you are—without a doubt—being watched, upheld, and supported by the Most High Himself.
God hides Himself from you at times to prompt you to lean on Him by faith alone—and to grow in your faith. If you’re going through a season in which He seems to be hidden from you, He is, nonetheless, very present in your life. He has not abandoned you, nor will He—ever.
Dorothy
…He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] Hebrews 13:5b, AMP
…for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:29
Kindness observed
My church will be launching into its annual vacation Bible school today. There will be a four-day session each week for the next two weeks for kids—from teensy-tiny to eighth grade—and it will be jam-packed with amazing kid-things to do and outstanding Bible drama and worship every day.
I’ve volunteered in this event for several years. My job for the past couple of years has been to check kids out of their cars in the morning and help to make sure they made it to their various groups safely.
This is what I wrote about my experience at my church’s kids’ camp a couple of years ago:
I just finished working with my church’s vacation Bible school this week. Now, I’m not in the state of Texas, but my church may as well be! Almost everything it does is BIG, especially this summer outreach to kids. My job was to help direct traffic as parents dropped off their children, aiding as kids hopped out of vehicles, and directing them to “walkers”—individuals from age fifteen to eighty—who walked them to the crosswalk and then to their stations.
As I participated in this massive movement of munchkins, I was very aware of the friendliness of the volunteers serving all around me. Kind words, gentle humor, and great encouragement filled the atmosphere as hundreds—no, literally thousands—of kids said goodbye to their parents and hello to the fun-filled environment awaiting them.
And I observed parents in their cars, vans, SUVs, pickup trucks, and jeeps respond to the thoughtful smiles, waves, and well-wishes just as much as their children. I watched, in more than one case, tension just drain away from a frazzled mom when a volunteer acknowledged her with a smile and a parting word of encouragement.
And I thought, “This is how we are to operate every day.”
- Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:5-6
- Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5
Despite the chaos swirling in the world, we can walk in confidence that our God is on the throne. And we can also know for a fact that He longs to show forth His love and stability through us as we engage more and more consistently in everyday random acts of kindness.
If your church is holding a VBS this summer—or you know of others that are—pray for those events. The adults and teens volunteering their time could use your prayers for strength, grace, stamina, and wisdom from God as they reach out to boys and girls and younger teens who may have never clearly heard the gospel before in their lives. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of these kids for an encounter with Him.
May the hand of God be upon every church campus involved this summer in presenting the gospel to our youngest generation.
Dorothy
The Rejected Stone is the greatest Rock of all
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Matthew 21:42, NIV
Memorial stones. Joshua commanded one man from each of twelve tribes to haul a large stone from the bottom of the Jordan River to erect a memorial to the Lord’s mighty power (see Joshua 3). As the Israelites gazed upon that stone pile, they would remember throughout their generations the great river-parting deed of God.
Wednesday and Thursday this week, we took a look at two types of memorial stones:
The Word. You, too, are called to gaze upon memorial stones in your life. The Bible is packed with living stones of life and power—as you meditate upon the words within it, “They are life to those who find them and health to all their body” (see Proverbs 4:22). See Using Scripture as memorial stones.
Your own testimonies. As you recall the wonderful interventions of the Lord in your own life, you are submitting to God and resisting the devil. This extremely effective method of overcoming the enemy is revealed in Revelation 12:11. “And they overcame him [the devil] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death”. See Personal victories as memorial stones.
But the most important Memorial Stone of all existed before time began:
The Rock: The Stone which the builders rejected. The Rock has been lauded since the time of Moses. He sang of this Rock, “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). The Rock came to earth as a Stone in the fullness of time, and He was rejected. Nonetheless, this Stone became the chief cornerstone of the New Covenant between God and man. The Stone was lifted high on a cross; He foretold of this event as He explained to His followers, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). The serpent to which he referred was an image of bronze lifted high on a pole; whoever looked on that metal serpent—although bitten by one of the very real venomous snakes invading their camp—would be healed immediately (see Numbers 21:9). And you, as you gaze on the Rock—that Stone which the builders rejected—you, too, receive abundantly of His Life.
The Stone Himself, before His death, commanded His disciples to memorialize His mighty life and His death-defeating sacrifice. He said to them as they shared the Passover feast, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (see Luke 22:19). With that, He instituted a new memorial stone—to remember Him throughout the centuries to come—believers of all generations partaking of the bread and the cup.
Jesus—the Stone which the builders rejected—is the Chief Cornerstone and the Chief Memorial Stone. Gaze on Him. Meditate on His mighty Life, His sacrificial death, His victorious resurrection. Let Him cleanse your life with His redeeming blood and fill your heart with His unwavering peace. In this way, your life—however tough, bleak, or uninspiring it may be—will be transformed by His life, His grace, and His abiding presence.
Dorothy
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
© 2015 Dorothy Frick
Personal victories as memorial stones
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14
More than once I’ve arrived at a point in my life in which everything seemed to be falling apart or spinning out of control. More than a few times I have felt the dull leaden mantle of oppression or defeat clamp down on me like a coffin. And many of those times, I was absolutely on my own or surrounded by those who knew little and cared less about spiritual warfare—or me.
Joyce Meyer has said that at times such as those, you and I have a choice to make—to get bitter or get better. There is no in-between.
Even if you are surrounded by a loving family or friends who care as deeply about you as they do their own kin, when it comes to your own attitudinal choices, as President Harry S Truman said, “The buck stops here”—with you. There’s no getting around it. Whether you grab onto victory or not doesn’t depend upon your pastor, your spouse (or lack thereof), or whoever else you may know. Your victory hinges upon two relationships only—the one you have with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the one you have with yourself.
I had never heard of memorial stones, and I knew very little about encouraging myself in the Lord, so I stumbled upon this quite by accident. It happened sometime in my thirties when I had been under a prolonged assault against my joy. I was getting tired of fighting. Like one preacher said, I had rebuked the devil until my rebuker was sore, but I wasn’t ready to wave the white flag of surrender, either. In my exhaustion, I did something different—something just to get my mind off of the attack.
I started talking out loud to the Lord about how I got saved. I went into detail, telling it to Him as if He didn’t know the story. And then I told Him about my water baptism and how He filled me with the Holy Ghost. I told Him about the various people I’d witnessed to; I told Him some of my tales of miraculous deliverance; I told Him how He led me by His Spirit to find my first apartment, and how He had opened the door for me to my different jobs.
You probably know what happened next. Instead of merely diverting my attention away from the attack momentarily, the last thing I ever expected transpired. I felt strength and life from God pour into my heart, my mind, and my body. The lid blew off of that depression, and when it did, the entire mummifying encasement constricting me flew off with it. I was free!
Joshua commanded, “Let this be a sign among you” (Joshua 3:10a). I am challenging you today—especially if you are under some kind of attack—let your past victories and triumphs be a sign to you. Rehearse them—each and every one of them—aloud before God. Tell Him all about them in vivid detail, and believe me—His strength and life will ooze into you and build you up and overpower the forces of darkness that have been attempting to take you captive.
Your victories are just as significant for you as the twelve stones from the riverbed were for Israel. You just need to haul those personal memorial stones up and out of the river bottom of your memory and memorialize them by retelling them and marveling before God at His wonderful intervention for you.
I believe that as you practice rehearsing and gazing at your own personal triumphs, the effect on your attitude and life will be far more profound than the best anti-depressants money can buy.
Psalm 37:3b states, “…dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness” (NKJV). What better way to feed on His faithfulness than by recalling His amazing tales of faithfulness to you?
What are you waiting for? Go to that river and pull out your memorial stones!
Dorothy
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. Lamentations 3:21-22
© 2015 Dorothy Frick
Using Scripture as memorial stones
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
What was the purpose of Joshua’s memorial stones? One purpose, as he himself said was, “Let this be a sign among you” (Joshua 3:10a). The function of the stone pile by the Jordan River was to be a sign of encouragement that the God who parted the Jordan and shepherded the people safely across it to Canaan Land would continue to watch over and provide for all the generations of Israel to come.
You and I, also, have need of memorial stones of our own—those specific testimonies, deeds, and promises of God to which we may gaze as a sign of His faithfulness. One teaming treasure trove of such precious stones is sitting not too far away from you in leather or paper binding (or online!) in your Bible.
I will present five of the memorial stones in the Word of God upon which I often gaze when, like David, I encounter difficulties greater than me and need to encourage myself in the Lord (see 1 Samuel 30:6). These stones—anchored in the pages of the Bible—are not mere tales or dusty promises; they are Spirit and Truth; they are living and active; and they work mightily within the one who believes.
Health. I have found great encouragement and help in Isaiah 53: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (verses 4 and 5, NIV). In fact, as I awakened from bypass surgery in the ICU back in 2003, I drew upon this living stone of Scripture. I could literally feel the Lord bearing my crushing pain for me. Two other verses I’ve used as healing stones are 1 Peter 2:24 and Matthew 8:17.
Protection. I have found God to be faithful to protect me in all kinds of situations. When I go on trips or vacations, I typically begin my journey with Psalm 91. As I meditate upon those sixteen verses, I can’t help but be encouraged that I am—in absolute reality—safe under the shadow of the Almighty. Even if a thousand were to fall at my side or ten thousand at my right hand, it would not approach me. As I gaze at that towering structure of God’s promise to me, I know that He has given His angels charge over me to guard me in all of my ways. Even if I do run into opposition from the enemy, this memorial stone reminds me that I will trample the “lion, cobra, young lion, and serpent” under my feet.
Demonic attack. When I sense an uptick in demonic attack against me, the memorial stone I often gaze upon is Isaiah 54:17, “‘No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,’ declares the Lord.” As I muse on this promise, the specter of the attack does not threaten so ominously; instead I find relief and refuge from tormenting thoughts as I think on God’s faithfulness to overturn every onslaught against me. I feed my confidence with God’s assurance that the attack will culminate with my vindication from the Lord.
Fear. Like you, I’ve faced off with a lot of it, and am I ever glad that the Word is loaded with giant “Fear not” memorial stones! Fear can come in all shapes and sizes, but the Bible is adequate to grant you victory over every instance of it. Two biggies for me when confronted with fear are very different, but both produce wonderful results.
The first is found in 2 Timothy 1:7 and says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (NKJV). I like to run to this memorial stone especially when the fear of man starts to grip me; I know that such fear is not from God and never will be from God. Instead of the fear of man, God has given me a spirit full of power, love, and a sound mind. What a true blessing!
When I am faced with sudden fear—as when things go bump in the night or some similar quick spark of terror hits me—I grab Psalm 56:3 out of my memorial stone holster, pull back the hammer, take aim, and fire: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (KJV). I find this verse hits the bull’s eye every time, helping me to gauge the fear pounding in my chest against the all-encompassing power of the unfailing God in whom I trust. He has always proven to be the Greater One.
When waiting…and waiting…and waiting…for what seems to be forever. Have you ever felt this way? I sure have. The Bible is full of men and women who waited a long, long time for His promise to manifest in their lives. From what I’ve seen in my life and others, this is still the case, far more often than we care to acknowledge. This is why the verse, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward” (Hebrews 10:36), is a shining memorial stone to which I turn when I am tempted to give up.
And my go-to “guy” in the Bible—who embodies unwavering patience in the face of a Goliath-sized wait—is Caleb. This godly man returned to Moses with a good report concerning the Promised Land—one of only two who refused to cower in unbelief at the giants in the land—and the Lord said of him, “My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land” (see Numbers 14:24).
Fast-forward forty-five years, and Caleb is 85 years old and still without land of his own from among the promise. When I first really thought about his situation, I pictured Caleb walking into a modern day “faith-filled” church, forty-four years after the word of the Lord to him, testifying how God was bringing him into his land. And I imagined his reception—the looks he might get and the raised eyebrows—as folks shifted uneasily in their seats, shaking their heads at such a delusional old fellow. And I thought about the counsel he might get—brother, check your faith. You know, your current circumstances are likely the result of your own unbelief. You have not because you ask not!
Yet Caleb, undeterred—in the forty-fifth year after the promise was made to him—asked Joshua for his land. And what do you know? He got it; but first, that 85 year-old man had to fight for it—even though it was his by promise—and fight for it he did. Without complaint. And this patient, long-suffering man inherited his promise.
As I gaze on the life of Caleb as a memorial stone, I am able to rise above the defeat-mentality that so subtly attempts to suffocate me, knowing that “faithful is He who calls [me], and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
God bless you as you search out the marvelous memorial stones of God’s Word!
Dorothy
© 2015 Dorothy Frick