A Testimony of His Faithfulness

This morning I woke up with a fresh offering of praise to my Abba.  He is so good to me and takes such good care of me! As I was musing and rehearsing in my mind specific events that recently occurred which prompted this praise, He showed me some things which I then had to journal about and so, as a testimony of His incredible faithfulness to me, I offer it here, hoping it will spur you on to give thanks as well. I'm thinking this is a splendid way to start 2013 :)

About a month ago my minivan sliding door got stuck somewhere between open and closed with a strong leaning toward the closed end, thankfully, especially since the youngest sits next to that door. It is one of those automatic doors which you are absolutely not to "help along", as if you do, you will be sorry. (Funny, I know some people like that.) If you do choose to get impatient and do not let the door close according to its own way and timing, a malfunction of some sort will shortly follow. Well, we had an event in which said visiting passenger (who shall remain anonymous) did not understand the intricacies of this door nor did we think to explain it to her. At some point she thought she'd speed the door closing process up and helped it along a bit, pushing it closed. At that point, the door stubbornly refused to budge.

Since I recently had complete brake work done, the last thing I was going to do was to take the van in again for repairs. Can we just say, "ouch"?! I was talking to Adonai about it and basically told Him I wasn't going to take it in as I had no money to spend on it, had no interest (pardon the pun) in charging the repairs and that I was going to trust Him to supernaturally fix the door. Meanwhile my crew still had another side door to load in and out of, no problem. In the meantime I would watch, pray and trust Him to fix it.

About a month after this event I needed to run some errands and it was a very cold day here (20's). When I went to start my van, the battery did not want to cooperate. I was slightly irritated to be honest because we needed to be somewhere at a certain time and I very much dislike calling people to help with these things. Thankfully, I had one of those self-start battery thingamabob's (sorry for the technical jargon) which you can use to jump your vehicle without another vehicle. What a wonderful invention! After finding it and saying a short prayer of "Please Abba let this work and help me not to injure myself or others", I was able to jump start the van without much assistance besides a phone call to a friend for a refresher course in proper jumper cable usage.  I was pretty happy to be on the road again and that my thingamabob worked so well!

Thanking Adonai and driving to our destination, my daughter and I both noticed the broken door was making a clicking sound like it had woken up from its slumber and was trying to move again. A few minutes later when I stopped on my next errand, I decided to turn the power doors on again and see if I could open the door using the switch. To my amazement, the door opened completely and closed completely! I sat in the parking lot of Walmart and cried tears of joy....so thankful that once again, He saved the day.

As I reflected on what happened this morning, I realized that what was an inconvenience or interruption in my day (having to jump start my van) seemed to be exactly what needed to happen in order to "fix" the van door. I don't even presume to understand why it happened the way it did, but there seemed to be a connection. Somehow, jump starting the van, caused the van door to start working again. How many times have I grumbled at these things when they were actual blessings, in disguise?

And then I thought of how many times I have looked at different interruptions or inconveniences in my life as things not ordained by His own hand but rather things to be avoided at all costs or darts from the enemy, when really they were often the catalyst needed in order to change something for good, cause me to take notice of something I needed to see or maybe even to save my own (or others lives). I think of things that have prevented me from getting somewhere "on time" such as being stuck in traffic, delayed airline flights, poopy diapers, a water heater leak, missing car keys, dog vomit, and the most infamous watermelon exploding on the counter (yes this actually happened prior to a zoo trip). Don't ask! Just how many of these (if not all, yet I am really struggling with the putrid watermelon explosion....still) were ordained to keep us where we needed to be, even against our own will and purpose? There's a theological question for you! How many accidents or greater tragedies have been avoided because my loving Heavenly Father kept us from getting in the very midst of trouble? I can only guess.

What I do know that this event reminded me yet again, to take each moment, even the so called interruptions of the day and view them from a totally different perspective - knowing that whatever happens, He has my back. I'm His daughter and nothing escapes His watchful eye! He weaves events, people and experiences together like a Master Weaver. I just love it when He draws me higher up to see even a glimpse of the bigger picture, the beautiful design and plan that only He can create. All I can do then, is stand in awe and worship.

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

"I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!"  (Psalm 57:2-3, 9-11)

Under the Shadow of His Wings

The Lord has directed my attention to Psalm 91 in the last couple of months. This idea of protection and being under the shadow of His wings is a place I want to be! A close friend of mine recently got a word from the Lord, "Take cover!". We often talk about what we hear the Lord telling us and what we are learning from His Word. Oh, I love this! I immediately thought of this Psalm. Here is part of it (Psalm 91:1-8) but read the whole thing in your Bible:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

I love to cross reference passages and see what insight I can gain from it. The verse that spoke to me the most was verse 4 speaking of covering me with his pinions or feathers and under His wings, finding refuge. When I looked up the cross reference it took me to 1Kings 8:7 and the ark of the covenant. This is the place where the Holy One's throne is and where the cherubim are casting their shadow over the ark of the testimony, which contains the Ten Commandments, but is covered by the mercy seat. What I absolutely love about this picture is that the mercy seat is over, covering the law. It doesn't get rid of it. Just like Yeshua's blood covers us in our weakness in obeying the Law perfectly. The ark was placed in the tabernacle, which is a picture of Messiah, but also ourselves. The heart or center of the tabernacle is the ark where in the Law should be written on our hearts as Jeremiah 31:31 says and where grace, definitely abounds!

So, I have been asking what that really means. I was drawn to Yeshua's statement (which always makes me cry) when he laments over Jerusalem, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matt 23:37) Do you hear His heart here? How much He wants to protect and guard and save His people? But they were not willing! This is an absolutely heart wrenching lament! With those three words of truth, Yeshua gives us more understanding as to the fact that it is a choice we make to come under the shadow of His wings. What I am seeing here, is that we have a choice by obeying or not obeying His Word/Voice and if we are obedient, we are truly under His authority and protection. If we don't obey or choose to ignore His voice, we are not under His wings. He will NOT force us to be there, it is a choice we make. The place of safety is the very heart of God, the ark, which is a picture of His throne, our hearts (if we call Him our Lord and Savior) and the place of obedience as that is where the Word of God lives!

Isn't that also true of our children? If they obey and follow our commands, they will be protected? If they don't they are prey for the enemy and are without our protection and covering? Isn't it that simple? If I tell my toddler not to run into the road, but he does and gets hit by a car, it is his disobedience which put Him outside of the protective covering, the parental authority in this case, which if he had obeyed, would save him much pain and even death! It is pride that keeps us from coming under the authority of His wings, because we think we know better. But we don't.

Anyone raise chickens? A few years back we had around 40 free range chickens running around our farm. If a hawk or something dangerous comes near, the mother hen will do just that, take those chicks and shield them from danger by placing them right under her wings. Don't you love how God uses symbols and images in His Word that we can easily see in nature all around us?

The Lord then took me to another passage. The Passover story....again. He keeps drawing me there I believe for many reasons. One of which I believe has to do with my dream (see the post A Time of Separation Coming). Prophecy and history moves in cycles and God's Word, especially His Torah is so important because as Isaiah 46 says, "the end is revealed in the beginning". Time is cyclical to God. The Hebrews were under the shadow of His wings in the story of Passover, as they obeyed the Word of the Lord, through Moses, to put blood on their doorposts. They had to obey His Word, and believe what He said to be true, that is what saved their lives, literally. It was God that was literally over them, like a hen protecting her chicks from danger, while the destroyer went by killing all the firstborn of those who did not put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts! Yeshua in Hebrew actually means SALVATION! His blood applied, does save! But it must be applied to be effective.

My Rabbi (teacher) explained that the wings of the prayer shawl are symbolic of this covering. This is most likely what the woman with the issue of blood grabbed hold of as "there was healing in His wings" when she was healed by Yeshua (Jesus).  Yeshua was Jewish and wore a prayer shawl with these longer strands hanging down on the corners of it. Crowds gathered all around just to touch the hem of His garment because He was the Anointed One and healing just flowed. I love the picture of being covered by a prayer shawl, and going into that secret place where I am ministered to in His presence. Definitely a picture of "taking cover" and being under the shadow of His wings!

I am dwelling in the shelter of the Most High, sticking as close as I can. Close, so I can hear His voice clearly in these days ahead. I am convinced obedience to what He tells us will be life saving in the coming months and years. Are you resting under the shadow of His wings?