Proverbs 16:9 The mind of a man plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps.
As believers, we hold to the promise, “all things work together for good to them that are the called according to His purpose.” During these times, while the world seems to be unraveling … this is when we cling to the promises of God! This reminded me of a story that took place nearly ten years ago.
As I’ve been following the news about much of the United States being under a winter storm watch, with snow falling in unexpected places like Galveston, Texas, and Florida, it brought back memories of a story from over ten years ago.
It was January of 2011 when we arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos, only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident — a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two-hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed until Sunday.
Sunday came, and we got on the plane. We flew into Atlanta only to find that not only was our connecting flight canceled, but the airport was entirely shut down due to a severe ice storm. There was not one flight out, and all the hotels in the area were booked solid.
We had to arrive in Baltimore in time for some scheduled speaking engagements, so we decided to rent a car, despite everyone’s wide-eyed stares. Now, normally this is only about a 12-hour drive — however, because we were driving at a speed between 10 and 20 miles an hour for half of the way, it took us a whopping 22 hours!
Fortunately, the ice was so bad that every half an hour, I would have to pull over and break an inch or two of ice off the windshield wipers — so the freezing weather kept me nice and alert! But we got here safe and all in one piece, thank God.
As I drove, I thought about the fact that we are very quick to blame the devil for these kinds of circumstances. But the Bible says that ALL things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes, and in retrospect — our delay was instrumental in helping a dear friend to be able to make an emergency visit to her daughter, bless two lovely troubled teens and enabled us to share with and bless people we might have never met between Atlanta and Baltimore!
As believers, we hold steadfast to the promise that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” In times when the world seems to be falling apart, it is precisely then that we must cling to His promises even more. Life may be getting “more interesting,” but every strange circumstance, every change in plans, is a chance to trust God more deeply and share His love and the gifts He has entrusted to us. Looking back, it’s clear that perhaps God has been orchestrating it all along. Let every moment be an opportunity to trust Him and spread His love.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Tonight begins the Biblical feast of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) throughout the world! Roughly 2500 years ago, there was a special Sukkot celebration in Jerusalem. The people of Israel were exiled and dispersed all across the Babylonian empire. Later, they were given the right to return and start construction on the 2nd temple of Israel. Nehemiah 8 speaks of the special celebration that happened at that time. We read how Ezra taught the people out of the book of the law and how they responded in weeping and repentance before the God of Israel.
As I’ve been writing about the "great awakenings" that took place over the past few days. I believe we could be witnessing such a move of God.
In laymen’s terms, the difference between a ‘revival’ and an ‘awakening’ is simply that moves of God transcend denominations and sects. While various ‘denominations’ have revivals at times, an ‘awakening’ shakes the body of Christ across denominational boundaries in spite of their differences.
In the early 1700s, the western world including the United States, was being swept under the influence of a philosophical and cultural movement known as the Age of Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason. At this critical time in history, the First Great Awakening was birthed by the Lord in the American colonies of the “New World”. Led by preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, a spiritual renewal took place which became a unifiying cultural foundation for the American Revolutionary War, which began in the late 1770s.
For those who have been following us, we have been ‘re-deployed’ to the United States at this pivotal moment in history. For those who know me personally, my heart is for revival and for preparing the Bride of Messiah to meet her Creator.
The high priest of Ancient Israel wore a crown of pure gold on his head called a Nezer, which comes from the word “nazar”. This word "nazar" means to dedicate, consecrate and sacredly separate. The word “nazarite” comes from this root, and describes someone who has taken a vow to be separated from the world.
One of the more beautiful ceremonies of the Jewish faith is called “Tashlich”. Tashlich means to cast away. Every year between Rosh haShana and Yom Kippur, Jewish people around the world journey to a nearby river or stream and cast in bread crumbs as they confess their sins. As the bread crumbs are swept downstream soon to be out of sight, so they believe God will sweep away their sins.
Amazingly another year has passed and tomorrow night begins the feast of Yom Turah -- or Rosh Ha Shannah -- the Feast of Trumpets.