Cross the Street

I woke up fully annoyed and irritated. My voice even felt like it had been strained. It was then that I remembered my dream. I was on a journey I knew, but had come to a pedestrian crosswalk. I pressed the button and waited for the cars to pause so I could walk to the other side of the street. Lights were flashing, cars were stopping and I was standing still. Have you ever been in two places at once in a dream? I found myself also in one of the stopped vehicles watching me. Me standing still when all was apparent that I should CROSS THE STREET. I began to yell...Cross the Street, Cross the Street, what are you waiting for?!

WHat does it mean to trust the Lord? Prov. 3:5-6 TRUST in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding...in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.

WHere it says.. "in all your ways acknowledge Him" jumped out to me. The word WAYS in Hebrew is "derek" and means "ROAD or Course"....so, in all the roads we take , all the places we go, all the paths we walk on, all the streets we cross, in this case...we are to ACKNOWLEDGE Him. Acknowledge comes from the word YADA, which means to know and in this case direct, intimate contact. Spiritually speaking I believe it means that if we will simply keep that connection with the Lord every day, God will be faithful to direct our paths.

Last Easter was the first Easter that my husband and I were the lead pastors at our church. Every year we have a Good Friday service where many other churches join us....the church is packed! So we are to get up and give a greeting. My dear husband had everything written out. Now normally this would be fine with me, except he had written out word for word (to help me) our greeting. Well, this freaked me out as now I thought....I'm going to look like I'm reading a hello? What? My knees were knocking and I truly thought I was going to throw up....I may have even prayed I would so I wouldn't have to go on the platform:) I know you want me to tell you it went well. In my mind it didn't. It was awkward. There were pauses, I didn't follow the words, we didn't flow well together. I wanted to die!

Now others will tell you they didn't notice....I think they were being nice. FOR DAYS, I tortured myself with this....I can't do this anymore, I'm just not a communicator, I'm trying to be something I'm not, I should just give up and stay backstage. Anyone ever been there? It doesn't sound like truth to me. It sounds like the enemy....distorting things because of my insecurities.

But I can't seem to get away from the whispers of my God. And I have some friends in my life who will also remind me of what God has said, and what the Word says. Reminders that no matter what, no matter how I feel, no matter if I mess up, I'm a God truster. And I'm in the process of trusting Him more and more.

He wants us to cross the street. Some of you may be right there. There's something that God is saying...trust Me in this. WE're in different places in our walks with God. Maybe some of you need to trust Him for the first time, surrender your life to Him. Some of you, your street is a job change or even a job stay! It could be taking a risk in a relationship, maybe it's obeying God in prayer and fasting...He's calling you to a higher place and you've been resisting, maybe there is a conversation that needs to take place with someone who hurt you. CROSS THE STREET! Freedom, change, restoration, love and more than we can know are waiting on the other side. Listen, God knows what is on the other side. So, if we do truly believe He is a loving God, He has a plan, it's a good one, why are we afraid? Because we might fail in the eyes of people? That would be the fear of man that brings a snare. God is with you as you cross AND He is also on the other side.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Yesterday as I was feeding snack to the kids I opened the window to hear the birds singing loudly. I told the kids to listen. We all sat still to hear the chirping of the birds. I moved on to getting some cookies out...seems silly but as I opened the bag I was aware of the sound of the crinkling it made. Instantly I heard the Lord say, what do you hear? Um, a cookie bag? I'd know what that was if my eyes were closed...and the birds as well. I began to think of other sounds I hear every day that I easily recognize...the garage door opening, the cupboards opening and closing (and opening and closing and opening and closing!), the dryer buzzer. I recognize them because they are part of every day of my life.

Let him who has an ear HEAR what the Spirit is saying...as we live and breath and move in the Spirit we will begin to recognize His voice. You may think you can't hear Him. I encourage you to daily spend time with Him and in His Word. As you do there will come a recognition of Him that you won't have to second guess. You will hear the sound of the Spirit.

A week or so ago a few of our sons took part in a media fast. For 3 days they stayed off the computer, didn't listen to music and refrained from texting. The biggest thing I noticed was a different awareness about them. Conversations took place that otherwise might not have. Sometimes in order to hear clearly we need to break away from the things that hinder a clear frequency.

So I encourage you today to listen...take some time to get quiet before Him. I believe if you choose to tune your ear, you will hear...because He is faithful. Do you hear what I hear?