Learning about prayer

Many of us learned the Lord’s Prayer by heart as children. In it, Christ teaches us HOW to pray, which is good because how else would we have felt comfortable approaching GOD on our own, when, before Christ, we had priests to do it for us. And even with this example prayer, how often do I still pray and feel like my words hit the ceiling and fall?

“Dear Jesus….um, thank you for this day…please help me to control myself today…dear God please let Rebecca figure out this potty training thing…amen.” 

Or often it’s “GOD! Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. amen.”

Now, aside from the Lord’s Prayer sounding eloquent (at least to us today) there are some good clues in there about how to pray, that I think I previously had missed, and therefore want to share them…

This is the Lord’s Prayer as Corrie remembers it off hand:

Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name (I’ve got some King James going on here!),

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever amen.

Matt and I are constantly seeking the Lord for miraculous healing, even in the midst of apparent healing at doctor’s hands. And I would not argue against you if you said the two were intrinsically related. But praying for the Lord to reach down and just heal has brought up questions for me about what I believe about the Holy Spirit, and about the Kingdom of Heaven. But something new in the Lord’s Prayer jumped out at me recently.

Jesus instructed us to pray: Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, the way I had memorized this as a child, I naturally stopped to take a breath in between “Thy will be done” and “on earth as it is in heaven”, thus separating the statement. But it clearly says that we are allowed to ask, even instructed to ask, that the Lord do on earth exactly what would be done in heaven. And what does scripture say the Lord wants in Heaven?

Revelation 21:4 is a hopeful preview:

“and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

And Jesus defined the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 10

“7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”

So when Christ tells us to pray that the Lord’s will be done on earth, just as it is in Heaven, and then gives us examples of what that looks like, I find some clarity in what I can pray for. When we pray “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, we are really praying “Bring it on God!”

I had previously struggled with “Your Will be done” because it sounded too Laissez Faire, too se la vie, too “que sera, sera, whatever will be will be”. I had even prayed “Lord, please heal so-and-so, BUT Your will be done”…and I walked away confused, and feeling rather helpless.

I do not see that scripture says anywhere that it’s the Lord’s will that people stay sick, and I don’t know why there are people who stay sick despite asking and believing. I DO NOT think it is as simple as “you must not have enough faith,” but even so, Christ did not EVER deny someone healing who asked and believed. He NEVER said "it is God’s will that you stay sick even though I am standing right here." Nor did He send out his disciples saying "Try your best to heal people, but…"

Indeed not. Rather, Matthew 10:1 says: Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

So whether we got tired of asking, or He has other things in our life He is working on, or there is bitterness over unanswered prayer, or our hearts are right and we believe but there is still a battle going on with the prince of this world, I still believe that there is more healing than we are currently experiencing. And I believe we can hold on for it, and continue asking, asking, asking.

 The Apostle Paul and his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) are often pointed to as an example of someone staying sick despite asking. But even there, it is a stretch to conclude that the infliction is only physical, as it is called a weakness in most translations*, and Paul himself categorizes the “thorn” as something sent as a messenger of Satan. Thus clarifying that it is Satan who sends the thorn, and God who turns it into His glory.

Now the Lord is in charge of what He does in all situations, and He is the one who can choose to heal or not, and is allowed to have other things going on that we can’t see. But He has also shown us in these verses (and others)  that He desires no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering.

Is it possible, that in wanting to ensure that we submit to the Lord’s will, we have at times, lost the urgency that is allowed in prayer? We shrug and say "perhaps that was the Lord’s will…"

What does that say to a hurting world? Does that represent a close and loving God?

When did we become satisfied with sickness? Our world, our nation, is VERY sick! The National Institutes of Health estimate “up to 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease and that the prevalence is rising.” (http://www.aarda.org/autoimmune_statistics.php)

MATH LESSON!!!

There are 314,227,023 people in the United States! (http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html)

Approximately 23,500,000 have autoimmune diseases…..

We divide autoimmune by population as a whole to get percentage…..thank you God for calculators….

= 7.5% of our nation is sick with diseases for which standard Western Medicine declares there is no cure, only treatment of symptoms. That is a lot of hurting people...and that's only autoimmune disease, not cancer, not Lyme's disease, not heart failure, or asthma, or any psychological pain.

Sickness came into the world as a result of the fall, therefore I believe God HATES sickness. Let’s not forget that God is highly emotional. Not in an irrational, moody way, but real, holy emotion. In frustration and grief He shook the world when Christ died and ripped a foot THICK piece of velvet. It hurt Him. And it pains Him when we still suffer the effects of a fallen world.

He longs to heal us inside and out. But just as we must ask for salvation…and freely He gives it…so I believe that we can ask for healing.

I know that people have taken this conclusion too far before, and that many have been hurt and confused by declarations of “you are now well”, or “if you had faith, you would be healed”. That is not what I am suggesting. I AM suggesting continued prayer that stands on the promises of God. Prayer that DOES declare: “this is what you said, Lord!” And I am suggesting that we ask for eyes to see what else the Lord is doing, how else He is paving the way for His glory. And of course we pray for patience, because the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and He is not constrained by time.

~ And as a side note, if you are reading this, and wanting prayer, I WANT to pray for you and with you. So call us, or message us on Facebook, or post a message here. We really want to stand with you.~

I re-wrote the Lord’s prayer in my vernacular, just to see if it sounds different. Sorry your Highness King James, but I like my version better  : )

Father God You are so good! Your name is Holy and high above all other names! Father let your Kingdom come and be on earth as You promised. That same Kingdom where there is no pain, no suffering, no tears, no loneliness, no sickness, no death! Just as it is in Heaven! As you said: Behold the Kingdom of the Lord is at Hand…let us see that! Give me just what I need. No more. I’ll trust you for the rest. Forgive me again and again for how I screw up every day. And please give me Your love so that I can forgive those who screw up around me, and even hurt me. Don’t even let me walk into something that will tempt me! And stand strong around us and through us as the Enemy attacks. All this is YOURS, all power is YOURS, all glory is YOURS forever!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Paul’s thorn in the flesh is called an “infirmity” in King James Version. I did a little Greek word search on “infirmity” as used in Scripture, and even then it was used to describe “want of strength, weakness, infirmity of the body (native weakness and frailty, or feebleness of health) and infirmity of the soul (want of strength to understand, to do great things, to restrain corrupt desires, and to bear struggles).”  (www.blueletterbible.org) That is still not conclusive proof of illness to me.

Are you missing some shoes?

At some point in this post I’m going to update you about Matt’s health and our Carson City plans. But not yet. First I am going to tell a story…and then I am going to very thinly link it to Matt’s health, and try to sound very profound.

God is really good. And something Matt and I agreed upon once while contemplating such animals as Elephants, Narwhals, Flying Squirrels etc.: God is weird. And sometimes He makes me laugh out loud.

I often lament the size of my wardrobe, and a few months ago I was having a bad shoe day, so my lamentations took on a shoe bent. I had looked around for some new shoes, but nothing in our price range caught my eye. As I whined about it, Matt asked me just what I was wanting the shoes to look like…and I said:

“I want them to look just like these,” and I pointed to a pair of shoes that had been sitting in our entryway for a month or so. I thought they belonged to my Mother-in-law.

Another month or two passed, and the shoes were still sitting there…at this point I wondered if Lynne had forgotten that she had put the shoes there, so I asked her if she would like me to return them to her closet for her.

“What shoes?”

“The ones in the entry way…the brown Sketchers”

“I don’t have any brown Sketchers…what size are they?”

“Ummm….7”

“Well, I’m a 5 ½ or 6…what size are you?”

“I’m a ….7….”

*Note: if you have recently come to my home wearing brown sketchers in a size 7…and then suddenly found yourself at home with no shoes on, then these are probably yours and I am glad to return them to you…albeit a little more stinky.

My mom doesn’t wear 7, my sisters don’t….I don’t know how anyone would arrive at my home with 

shoes, and leave without….but the shoes fit perfectly and I rock them all the time. So unless someone answers the above note, I will stick to my original conclusion: God gave me some shoes.

He knows what we need, even before we do. And He knows how He will fulfill it.

It was with wild hope that we sent out our previous post about our trip to Carson City, and what we would need to see that happen. And we are blessed over and over to have so many people for us, some have been able to contribute and support us in that way, others have been praying praying praying that a way would be made.

After several weeks we reassessed our plan, because the money just wasn’t all there. And all the while an unsettled-ness had been growing in my heart. Three weeks is a long time to be away, to tote a toddler over the mountians…with all her toys…the diapers…a hotel…it was all adding up in me. In no way did I not want to go, I was so excited! But it was going to be an ordeal no matter how smoothly it went.

My pastor reminded me of a verse a few days ago:

Psalm 16:5-6

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

         You support my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.

The non-existence of money is a pretty solid line. But for us to let go of a three week semi-vacation/IV program isn’t a hard, cruel line. It can be pleasant, and here is why:  At this very moment my husband is making his dinner. He calls it “green soup”. Based on chicken bone broth (that he made), with some steamed veggies added, it is, at last, blended together to a bright green thick steaming goodness. Hungry yet? Me either. He eats this several times a day.

When he isn’t making green soup, Matt can be found making home-made kimchee (a Korean dish of raw fermented cabbage and chili which is very high in probiotics), or home-made raw Kefir ( a super power yogurt drink that, when you make it at home with raw milk, contains trillions of organisms of probiotics in over 30 different strains -like families). And then for a side snack, cups of regular raw milk (not turned to Kefir) are also packed with nutritional value and are eaten as part of the meal (not chugged like juice).

The result of this last month and our crazy hippie diet?

Matt hasn’t used his cane in days. When I returned from picking up Rebecca from her Sunday school class last Sunday, I scanned the Sanctuary for Matt and had a hard time finding him because he wasn’t sitting, or hunched. No, these days he is standing almost as tall as he ever was.  

People comment to me all the time on how he looks so much better. He has probably gained 15 or 20 pounds. I call him “fatty”. Affectionately, of course.

When the line fell at “three weeks and eight grand will be too much”, we were able to roll with it because we feel strongly that God is up to something here.

We are still planning to go to Carson City, but it will be for a much shorter time. At this point we would like to try the joint injections on at least his knees and ankles (possibly elbows), and we are eager to see what result that has. But what we are really stoked about is that God is bulking up Matt’s body, using little more than food as HE created it to be.  

It’s just one more piece of this complex 3-D puzzle of health that we have been working on, but we are thankful for what it has done thus far. God isn’t fenced in by medical procedures (though He certainly uses them), and He isn’t fenced in by money. He just needs hearts that are willing to follow, whose hopes aren’t resting solely on how their minds thought things should be.

Now I have only one problem: What shoes am I going to wear to these appointments?

Prayer Requests

1. It’s not three weeks long anymore, but it’s still a trip to Carson City! Please pray for all aspects of this trip. Money, clarity, a toddler who is always going, going, going…safety, medical success, and that God would be glorified.

2. Matt is in the job market! Wow that’s a praise! And the request is that he will find work that won’t interfere too much with his rigorous Kefir making schedule.     :  )

~~~~~If anyone was curious, here is one great site about raw milk.

http://www.realmilk.com/

Thank you! We are so blessed by your reading this, and walking with us…

~ Corrie

The Lord's Presence

Psalm 27:4

"One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple."

This awesome and familiar verse can be so frustrating, especially on this journey toward healing.  As you know, we have been wholeheartedly seeking the Lord for my healing for...well...5 years now.  We've really been believing him for miraculous healing for at least half that time.  And even though two point five years is nothing compared to the years Caleb waited to inherit the mountains, the years Abraham and Sarah waited to have Isaac, the years the world waited for Jesus, it's enough time to go through some wrestling with God. 

But at some point during the last few months, I stopped wrestling with Him.  And that's not good.  I came to a place of bitterness.  It was the kind that sneaks up on you and everyone around you.  You don't wear it on the surface, but it taints everything you do, think, feel.  It saps the joy and emotion from prayer and worship.  It causes you to live shallowly, getting by with half-true emotions because the REAL emotions are too ugly to let loose.

I got to the point where I didn't actually care about "dwelling in the house of the LORD" to simply "behold the beauty of the LORD."  Why would I want to dwell with a God who promises healing but doesn't deliver?  Why should I be so enraptured by Him when He subjects me to such physical pain?  (I don't believe that the Lord actually causes sickness, but these are the honest thoughts I can think when I am losing the mental battle that goes with being sick.)  "Let's face it people, I'm only sticking with God so that I can get my healing.  But until He delivers, I'm gonna be bitter."

I didn't know these thoughts were so strong in me until I had an unexpected flare-up about a month and a half ago...right before VBS started.  Nothing had changed treatment-wise, and yet, one day I woke up in more pain than I had felt in months.  All of a sudden, it looked like my VBS experience would be tainted or worse--stolen--by my sickness.  So I let God have it.  I thought things toward him that I would never have the courage to say out loud.  

A few weeks went by and I told people about my struggles, and several prayed for me.  But I hadn't really been healed of that emotional damage...probably because I hadn't truly repented of my sin. Then we had another prayer meeting at church, to pray for God's healing power to take hold in our church.  And as I sat there getting ready to prayer with those dear friends, I knew that I just couldn't.  If I had prayed for God's healing power to move in our church so that others could be made whole and His glory could be known, it would have been hogwash.  I didn't care about that, I was just sick of being sick.

Eventually as the group started worshipping and praying, one Scripture became so true to me: "the kindness of God leads you to repentance" (Romans 2:4).  It was as if suddenly I felt the weight of my sinful heart, and I actually FELT sorry.  I wasn't just forcing repentance.  I FELT it, and I suddenly knew again that NOTHING--not even healing from Lyme Disease--was sweeter than communion with the Holy God, who gave Himself to make a way for me to play at his feet in the Holy of Holies.  And I had been living as if He were an idol, formed by my own will to do my own bidding.

And suddenly, I wanted to be healed, but not more than I wanted to be with God.  I wanted His presence above all else, because everything is worthless--even healing--if God is not in it.  And I am so thankful that, in his kindness, he led me to repentance.  He has been healing the wounds in my spirit, and the wounds in my family, ever since  

I don't know why repentance came at that moment, or why it came when I wasn't even looking for it.  But isn't that like our God, who, when we were still sinners, died for us?  We weren't looking for him, and yet he snuck into our world in the night, only to forever change everything we had ever known.  This indeed is our God.

 Exodus 33:15-16

"If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.  For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people?  Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?"

...and...WE'RE BACK! And going to Nevada!

It's been so long since our last post, I'm not sure where to begin... A LOT has happened in the last two months.  Our church's all-out, hold-nothing-back VBS, Corrie running childcare at a pastor's retreat, family trip to the mountains, old friends coming to town, and...doctor's visits!!!

While there is MUCH to tell about all of that other stuff, I'm sure that most of you are most curious about my health updates.  Makes sense, seeing as the update part of that has been pretty much non-existent for the last couple months.  So let the updating begin!

First of all, if you don't remember or don't know, the last 6 months have been some of the best in a LONG time.  It feels like my body has been given back to me after months of feeling trapped and bound.  In fact, I had a doctor visit about 6 weeks ago where we found an amazing number...my SED rate was a 15!!!!  Now, I know that that means nothing to most of us in this world, so let me explain.  A normal SED rate, which is determined via standard blood test, has a maximum somewhere in the teens, maybe 13, maybe 15, I don't really remember.  For much of the last five years, my SED rate has been in the 80s and maybe even HIGHER!!  So 15 is pretty much a miracle.

What that means is that my inflammation is WAY down and under control...almost normal.  This is excellent because prolonged inflammation can open the door to numerous disease processes to take over in the body.  Without that inflammation, my body can work on REAL healing, and I can actually start gaining weight and absorbing nutrients!

Here's the BIG news.  Because of my feeling better, our doctor is confident that my body is ready to handle ozone treatment.  If you remember several months back, this was something that Corrie and I asked for prayer about, that ozone would be something that I could handle.  It really has so much potential for healing not just with Lyme disease, but also with many different autoimmune conditions (like arthritis!), and we have been eager to try it.

Well, now we are going to.  Our doctor has referred us to a clinic in Carson City where the pioneer of the medical use of ozone is practicing.  This is going to be quite the adventure!  They want me to go up there and stay for three weeks, during which time I will be receiving various treatments daily, Monday through Friday.  The treatments will include several types, one of which is joint injections.  Injecting ozone straight into arthritic joints has often resulted in PERMANENT healing.

We are so thankful to have friends and family like you all, who have stood with us over these last months and years.  We want to let you know all of our needs so that you can know exactly how to pray for us and even participate in meeting the needs.

1) The three week treatment time will cost somewhere around $8000.  The minimum cost at the clinic will be $4550, which includes the initial examination and the three weeks of daily treatment.  Joint injections and medications, however, are not included in the $4550.  The joint injections cost $250 per shot, and, given that many of my joints are arthritic, I may receive several of these.

We also need to pay basic living expenses while we are there (gas, food, etc.).  The major cost here will be lodging at a local hotel or condo...we want to find a place with a kitchen!

2) That leads me to the next need.  We need a place to stay!  We are definitely researching different options in Carson City, Reno, and Tahoe, but if any of you has or knows someone who has a place in the Tahoe area that we would be able to stay at, it would help A LOT!  It would cut out a lot of our cost while offering a bit more of a home for us (rather than three weeks in a hotel room).

3) If any of you want to join us in Tahoe for any length of time, we would love it.  Obviously that would depend on where we stay, especially if it's in someone's cabin.  We can't just invite people at will to stay in someone else's house.  But, assuming everything works out with our lodging, we definitely want others to come and be a part of the time. We are still in the process of deciding if Corrie and Rebecca will come for just part or all of the time, since that would be a long time to take off of work for Corrie. And we aren't comfortable with my being there alone because we don't know exactly how I will be feeling from day to day, and I may just need help driving and cooking and such.  But even if we all go, we would love to have people join us to help break up the stay.

This feels like a lot to ask for from our friends and family...even a lot to ask for from the Lord. But we know that He will go before us and pave the way if this is what He wants us to do. It is so awesome when He works things together and pieces just fall into place. And we want you to all be part of the process of bringing these needs before Him.

Its also awkward to start laying out numbers of how much we need, and it is not our intention to place a burden on anyone. Really we want those numbers out there so that when the Lord meets those needs, we can all see just how GREAT a GOD He is!  We also know that at certain times, the Lord leads us to help others in their need. And when he does so, it is joyful and exciting.  It's our prayer that any help we get leads to incredible joy, excitement, and blessing for those who give it.

We love you all.  

Mother's Day Fun

Our beautiful daughter had some thoughts to share about Mommy for Mother's Day!  Hope you all enjoy them, and have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Doc Appt 5/4/12 - Huzzah

In the last years Matt and I have traveled to so, so many appointments. And usually my stomach is in knots the whole way. Last Friday was the first one that I wasn't nervous about. Matt has been feeling so radically different than before, and for the first time in years we feel so confident in our direction, that we chatted about other stuff all the way there.

Since we are celebrities at this office now, were greeted by name at the front desk and ushered right in to check Matt's vitals. Victory #1 - Matt-the-fatty has gained 6lbs in just this last month! Yeyeah! That is a total of 10 pounds gained from his all time low of...well...less than me. The staff was also all joking with us cause Matt was walking around faster than they were prepared for : ).

Once we were seated with Doctor Patel we again celebrated the 6lbs. Dr. Patel said he was "ecstatic", that Matt's body is starting to absorb food, and that it is a huge sign of a turned corner.

And due to that corner turn, we are stepping things up to yet another level. We have an appointment in 3 weeks with the doctor that Dr. Patel uses for testing (we've seen her before and reported about her in some other posts). Dr. Patel is hopeful that Matt's parasite, babesia and bartonella loads should be close to 0. And if they are, we can move into an all out attack on the Lyme. We will also be re-checking Matt's chemical and heavy metal toxicity loads in preparation for more aggressive kelation. We will also see Dr. Patel again about 2 hours after the Testing, so that he can see the results asap, and move forward more quickly. The office moved other peoples appointments around to fit us in on that day. Very kind.

In the meantime, we are stepping upping the doses on all the herbal antibiotics, continuing the Amino-acid and Phosphatidylcholine IVs, as well as Rife treatments and a few other side treatments to aid in detox.

The plan of attack is to have the parasites, bacteria, and viruses all either gone or under control in the next few months, and then move forward with major detox support. Believe it or not there are still detox treatments that we haven't tried, though it feels like we've done every random thing under the sun.

After checking on the swelling in Matt's ankles, Dr Patel said that his hope is to eventually get Matt walking again without the aid of a cane. But, he said, Matt will probably never run again. Often, when a doctor makes a statement like that, it can carry such finality that hopes are dashed. But I am telling you this because as soon as he said it, I felt the Holy Spirit assuring my heart: Whether Matt runs or not, Corrie, isn't up to him, its up to ME.

In no way do I mean to slight Dr. Patel's amazing brain, but there will be an end to how far medicine can reach. There is no end to how far Jehovah Rapha can reach.

Prayer Requests:
#1. Matt is absorbing food! Praise God! But with this comes a human problem: Laziness. As soon as he started feeling better it suddenly got WAY easier for both he and I to loose a little bit of our solidarity and motivation to eat according to the diet his doctors placed him on. But now is the time if there ever was one, to be MORE motivated! If his body is absorbing food for the first time in years, he should only be eating what is best. Please pray that we don't loose focus on that.

#2. Ramping up the medicines, more frequent doc visits, and weekly or bi-weekly IV treatments are starting to add up. This is in NO WAY a veiled request for money, it is a request that you majorly partner with us in asking the Lord to provide for us as He always does. God has blown our minds time and again when it comes to money, and we know He is always ready to meet us again.

#3. Praise the Lord Matt is starting to feel up to working again! These last few days he has been working a LOT on re-vamping his Tutoring business. He will be offering private SAT tutoring this summer, as well as marketing himself to schools for the Fall. Please pray that the Lord blesses his work, and brings him in contact with students who need his love and support in the form of some very practical academic tutoring.

Praise the Lord and may He bless you greatly!

Pressing on to know the Lord

The Old Testament is hard. It is exciting stories, spread out by chapter upon chapter or book upon book of the LORDs coming punishment, or rebuke, or rules, or how they have broken all the rules. And then the whole second half is prophet after prophet trying their darnedest  to get these people to listen, which they don’t, so then they are conquered.  Several times.

But IN THERE…and you kind of have to trudge through the miry swamps of depressing judgment on city after city to find them…are some incredible promises from the Lord and truths about who He is, and was, and will always be.

This is no news to my husband who LOVES the Minor Prophets and reads ‘em all the time. (Is it my fault that I truly prefer a good Jane Austen novel?) But I’ve had a good craving for more of God’s Word lately, and I figured I may as well stop taking Matt’s word for it, and go read it myself.

I started with Jeremiah which was a BIG mistake. That book is long. I actually looked up at Matt once and said: It HAS to get good toward the end right?

So I powered through and then jumped over to the Minor Prophets. : ) They are probably called Minor because their books are like a song in a minor key.

And I was starting to get desperate for the Lord to give me something out of it. I was coming across lots of good things, and there were certainly promises in there…but nothing was jumping out new for just me.  Then I finally found it in Hosea.

“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hosea 6:3

Initially I reread the verse simply because I think the first line is beautiful in its repetition and emotion. But as I read it again, things began to jump at me, and I would like to share them.

First, the Lord wants to know us, and wants us to know Him, but it requires pressing. We have to move into it. We have to consciously stand on His word (consciously, not literally) and let go of the world.

Second, pressing through THIS will bring us closer to the Lord. For Hosea, THIS was a nation whose fickle, unfaithful heart was being compared to a harlot. For us, THIS very well could be our own fickleness and wandering heart, or it could be promises of health that have yet to come…or insert your own stuff that doesn’t gel with how your spirit cries out for it to be.

Third, the Lord’s moving is certain. As certain as the sun…rising in the east…tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme….Beauty and the ---Wait a second! Walt, how did you get in here?

We don’t usually, or healthily, go to sleep at night worrying that the sun won’t rise. If anything we are hoping that the Lord extends night so we can sleep longer  ; )  We can be confident in sunrise, and confident in the Lord.

Fourth, oh lovely, lovely spring rain. Here on the good ‘ol West Coast there is no such thing as seasons. And this year we totally skipped winter. But it is not the same elsewhere. Matt and I lived in New York for 1 winter, and I’m good with that for a while. Snow is pretty, but then in melts, and gets dirty and slushy and everything looks dead. And having grown up in California, we were ready for spring in, you know, February…and it didn’t come ‘til April. But when it came, it was brilliant.

In fact, side note: Spring had not sprung on Easter Sunday when I went into labor with Rebecca…and then when we emerged from the hospital 2 days later…EVERYTHING was blooming. I think it was ‘cause of Rebecca. The earth was celebrating.

The verse suggests that THIS is a season, and as sure as spring comes – eventually – a new season with the Lord will come.

I know what you are thinking ‘cause I think it too: When?

I don’t know.

But another great promise-filled book says this:

Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you. Isaiah 42:9

His promises have come true before (see: Jesus), and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever – so we know He is a keeper of promises.

If He did not declare the things that are to come, we might not recognize that it’s HIM when they happen. And this is how we press in: We take those two verses, as well as any others that the Lord causes to pop out to you, and we hold them up a little higher than our circumstances and we declare (out loud if you want to) that THESE are truer than the THIS we are living in.

~ Ever watching, and working on being ever-willing, Corrie