Angels Among Us - My Burning Bush

Things were pretty hard for me recently. I had been dealing with some difficult family and legal issues and was wondering when the Lord would speak to me again concerning things. One day feeling overly burdened, I told my wife that I needed to go to my favorite spot to pray and so I headed there for the evening. Alone with God I expressed my heart to Him. I prayed for His intervention in the challenges I was facing. I asked for His direction, I submitted myself to His will even if it wasn't what I wanted. I asked that He would help me to maintain my integrity in an unfair situation that tempted me to fight back with likewise ruthlessness. And then I waited....and waited...and waited. And He spoke to me with that peace inside that let me know that I needed to really allow Him to handle things. To put my complete faith in Him regardless of what I was facing. That it would be alright.

Even though I felt confident that I had a peace in knowing how to handle things, I must stay I still felt unsure. I had that questioning in the back of my mind that we all get as Christians. Was this really God speaking to me or just my own thoughts? What if I trust Him and He doesn't come through? Won't I look like a fool?

And then a day came that changed everything...

My oldest daughter and I were in the bank. As we waited in the long line to see a teller, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a woman in the line was looking at me. I didn't look at her directly and didn't want to think too much of it. Then a minute or so later she turned around and spoke. She said, "Excuse me, but I feel that the Lord is putting something on my heart so strongly. God wants you to know that even though you are going through a tough time, He is there and everything will be fine." She then looked at my oldest daughter. "Are you his daughter?" My daughter nodded her head yes. She looked back at me and said "I feel that you are gentle man, and (as she turned back to my daughter) you should stay close to your dad, through him you are going to see the love of the father. So many girls don't have a good father in their life. Stay close to your dad." My daughter nodded her head in agreement. This complete stranger spoke to me with a confidence and urgency that sounded like God Himself was reaching down from Heaven to speak to my situation.

I could feel the water well up in the back of my eyes. I honestly wanted to cry. It was like God had personally put His hand on my shoulder and told me to just trust Him. That He was going to handle things, regardless of what opposition I would face. I know that moment was meant to speak to my daughter's soul deeply as well.

This week as I was listening to the radio, I heard someone speaking about Moses going to face Pharaoh. Risking his life to go and speak words of judgement against a man that had the power to have him killed. Where did Moses get this confidence? Because he had seen God in the burning bush. He had seen and felt God's power in such a real and powerful way that he now had no doubt that he had the Lord on his side.

This woman was my burning bush. I have a confidence in my situation now unlike anytime before. God new that I needed a powerful sign to face the challenges ahead of me, and He gave it to me in the most unlikely of ways. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Praise be to God.

Steve

Hello 2012!

Hello 2012! I must admit that I am sorely behind in keeping you all up to date on the goings on in my life. 2011 was a year that I will never forget. I got married again to an amazing woman, almost died from an incredibly rare infection in my foot, and continued my challenges with personal family issues. And yet somehow through all of this I was able to keep making music (a subject for another post). I have been asked repeatedly to write about some of these things, and I am going to address them. I like to keep family issues private and respectful, but at the same time I think we can share encouraging things to others without beating anybody else up in the process. I will have a long post to share about my experience with almost dying last year which can also hopefully help anyone else facing the same type of infection.

Anyways, the bottom line is that I refuse to go down this easily. LOL The good Lord intends to keep me around for awhile to fulfill some other things He is doing, and so like a good servant I will heed the Master's call. I want to end this post with 3 keys to Godly wisdom which my Uncle (Pastor Larry Riddle) shared with me. They got me through some tough times when I wasn't sure why God wasn't stepping in and handling things. I hope they minister to you.

Principle #1

God is Sovereign

Principle #2

God's timing is always perfect.

Principle #3

I am God's child to do with as He pleases.

I just wanted to write a little about what they have meant to me as I have repeated them to myself in stressful situations.

God is sovereign. If you are wondering whether He can step into your situation at anytime and change things, He can. He may not choose to at the moment, but He is more than capable of handling our requests when we bring them to Him. And it doesn't matter how bleak the situation may look. God specializes in the impossible. In all things pray.

God's timing is always perfect. Sometimes He says yes to our request, sometimes no, and sometimes not now. Not now is not a no, it just means that He needs some other events to take place before He will act. There are many examples of this in the Bible. God is a master of strategy, and also long-suffering with us. I remember the story of Esther and Haman. Haman had secretly built a gallows to hang the jews from since he hated them, and he had a plan to set them up to be killed by royal decree by tricking the king. God patiently waited for Haman to build his machine of death, and during that time it looked as though he was going to get away with setting up the jews to die by his wicked plans. God however was not caught by surprise, and Haman's plan was exposed and the king had him hung from the same gallows that he had built to execute the innocent jews on. Just because you have not seen results does not mean God is not working in the background, aligning things for His purpose.

I am God's child to do with as He pleases. This is the toughest one. We all like being a child a of God. Having our Dad there to be so good to us. But like any good parent, He wants us to be holy more than He wants us to be happy. And He usually has purposes for our lives that don't always consist of easy things. So what if what He pleases to do with us is difficult, maybe seeming even unfair or unjust? This is where Christian maturity must take hold. To those whom much is given, much is required. He never gives us more than we can handle, but you can bet that if He gives us a lot He will expect us to handle it because He has given us the strength to do so. So if you are going through something unfair right now, remember that God's purposes for the events in your life may not be about your comfort and happiness. Maybe you are meant to minister to others who are facing similar challenges, maybe you are meant to grow into deeper levels of faith and trust in Him. Don't fight the storm. Know that there is purpose in it. Let the storm take you where it must. God has a plan for you in the midst of it and right in the place and time you will be at when it ends. There is purpose in everything we endure.

I hope this ministers to you.

Steve