Our Inspired Journey

Last night, we concluded our Bible Study at church of the Psalms of Ascent. We will start back up again in February with another study by Beth Moore on Esther, but in this last teaching video we watched, Beth Moore taught about ways to have the most satisfying journey possible. We laughed and cried through the different truths she presented from God's Word and I knew as I sat there that it was too good not to share...

Let go of the loads God wants to loosen...
There are many reasons I now realize God has brought us to Illinois. One of them, is to loosen loads I was carrying that He knew I would have to give up in order to walk this new hearing journey with Cole.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked our for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I've always looked at these verses and been reminded of sin that God wants us to give up so we are not entangled and can run freely, but Beth Moore shared about good things God had asked her to give up so she could be more effective for the kingdom. This was a revolution to me. In California I was involved with so many "good" things but in the midst of it all, couldn't figure out why I still felt entangled by such a hurried pace of life if all I was doing was "good!" Something she said that I resonated with was that, "If you're not having any breakthroughs, you may be too overloaded to take the next step. God's anointing will deplete if He asks you to give something up and you say, "no."" I love that God has so much control! He will not continue blessing even a "good" thing you are working so hard to do, if it is no longer in His plan that you do it. His priorities are higher than ours, and we are called to call on Him for direction and obey when HE orders our steps.

Take the next step with the next strength...
One question I've heard from others and even myself sometimes, is "I don't know how you're getting through all this! I would be a mess!" I told God a long time ago that if I could only see the plans He had for me, I would follow them to a "T!" I thought this would make a great arrangement! I would get to see His plans for me ahead of time making sure I made no mistake in wavering one way or the other and He would have them all carried out just as He had designed! Sounds nice and organized...(just the way I like it!) until I began to realize how much growth and dependence on the LORD is developed through Him allowing me to see only one step at a time. I become more humble, displaying God's goodness more clearly as I'm transformed through the process of refinement that often comes through trials. Beth Moore reminded me..."It's all about making God look good...Bring HIM the fame!" Amen...since any good in me comes from Him anyway...may all the glory truly go to God through it all. So in response to the question, "How do you do it?" We returned to the verse we began this journey with at the beginning of our Bible Study...

Psalm 84:5-7 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they will make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

Baca means "place of great sorrow." Isn't it incredible that God can make our places of sorrow the same place where His springs of life are also? So that is how we "get through." The Lord has turned our places of sorrow into places where His living water springs up and produces life. He does this daily, giving us exactly what we need for each doctor's appointment and wisdom for each decision needing to be made along the way. If I had received my desire and seen all God had planned for me before it happened, I surely would've been overwhelmed and thought, "There is no way I can or want to keep going!!!" But God is His wisdom gives us as much strength and understanding as we need, just as we need it. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Know with certainty that the destination is worth the trip...
So where will we end up? What is the destination? Does it end when Cole can hear? When he's in school with hearing children? When he graduates high school successfully? Thankfully, we have an even higher goal and destination! We've felt God speak this to us from the second we found out that our sweet boy couldn't hear...from the time we heard the doctors set Cole apart as a "hearing loss patient" we knew the Lord has already set Him apart on this unique journey he will be on as God said, "For My Kingdom and for My glory." Our ultimate prayer and highest desire is that Cole draw others toward God's saving power and loving grace...we pray that he himself is drawn toward our God who saves and that as he continues to grow and develop his hearing and speaking, that he is drawn toward the One who created him in HIS image. My viewpoint up to this moment has been earthly...how will God bless and use Cole here on earth? My heart and gaze was directed upward last night as we closed our Study of God's word in...

Isaiah 35:3-10
"Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness...the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

Nothing overwhelms me with emotion and joy more than to think of my sweet Cole standing before Jesus in heaven someday. At that moment, I can see Jesus reaching forward, holding Cole's face in His hands and blessing him with the true gift of hearing and speech only HE can bring as they stand face to face...and then the moment will come when Cole will sing! Oh how I long for that day! To hear the singing of my son for his Savior. I truly cannot picture a more beautiful scene and it's one God is unfolding here on earth as we begin this journey with our boy. So until then, we sing, we dance, we praise our God for the gift of earthly hearing though aids and implants but all the while, never losing sight of the day when true, uninhibited rejoicing will unfold...not in the hands of doctors, but in the arms of His creator, his Savior, the One in whom all joy is found! Jesus, give us strength to strength here on earth until we meet you face to face someday...for us, for Cole and for those you touch through his life...we worship you today, Father and are humbled by the presence of your unique design of our sweet son.