How's Your Soil?


 

I had a real wakeup call yesterday!

To appreciate my experience yesterday, I need to give a smidge of backstory.  I've been hearing "established by the laying on of hands" (see Romans 1:11) in my spirit very clearly and strongly for the last 18 months.  As we've prayed and sought the Lord during this time, my church family has been enjoying AMAZING blessing from the Lord.  I feel like I'm living the book of Acts - healings, deliverance, salvations, and the presence of God within my church family like never before.  It's been incredible.

And yet...I have this deep longing for MORE.  When I pray, the Lord gives me the the same answer about seeking Him with all my heart and being "established by the laying on of hands".

Ok, Lord, I'll do that.  Show me how!

I was led to a "random" (there is no random ;-) ) sermon by a semi-famous revivalist.  AND I learned that he's doing a preaching tour for the specific purpose of impartation by the laying on of hands!  I knew immediately that I'm meant to go see him in person.

I got the Lord's nod.

I got my husband's blessing.

I got my pastor's blessing.

I was *giddy* with excitement!

But I decided to give it a couple days to really just be SURE before spending all that money it would take to fly there, pay the registration fee, rent a car, stay in a hotel, and feed myself for several days away from home.  I was planning on getting everything booked yesterday.

And then a day or so ago... (very random curve ball coming your way)... I got it in my head that it's time to purchase an iPad.  I LOVE new tech.  Like...LOOVVEE new tech.  It's a major weak spot for me haha!

I shopped the different models, decided on the color, and had all the accessories picked out.

My heart raced with excitement at the anticipation!

But as I drove around town trying to find just the model and color I wanted, I became increasingly grumpy and irritable.  Angry even. 

A Choice


I finally realized that it was the money that was bothering me.  iPads are not exactly cheap...do we really have the money for both the trip I wanted to go on AND a new iPad?

UGH.  I really wanted that iPad!

But I decided to go home empty-handed, and I was NOT happy about it!  I basically went home, booked the trip, and then had a pity party for the rest of the evening like some sort of toddler lol

I will seek the Lord, and He will add all else to me.  I know this.  I'll wait for Him to make a way for an iPad if it's useful to my work.

Please don't misunderstand - I say the above with hope and eager expectation...NOT with pride that I chose more of the Lord over a new toy (boy, when written like that it sounds utterly ridiculous!) 

If anything, I feel a bit of shame in how long it took me to choose, and for the resulting pity party that I allowed to ruin my mood all evening.


The Soil of My Heart

Ok...fast forward to today, when I was spending time with the Lord and apologizing to Him for my immaturity and ridiculousness haha

I opened my Bible, and my eyes landed on the parable of the sower and soils in Mark chapter 4.  I encourage you to go read it now and really consider the soil of your own heart...that's what the Lord had me do today.

As I read it, I had the impression that the Lord was telling me that yesterday's experience was one of Him tending to the soil of my heart...a PREPARATION.

Do you know that God Himself prepares your surrendered heart to receive what He has for you?  He is the Potter to the clay...the Gardener to the garden...the Creator to the created.

Note that I said your SURRENDERED heart - He will not force Himself on you.  He will not drag you kicking and screaming.  He asks for my participation - my surrender...and THEN He goes to work.

That's not to say that the work He does is always pleasant.  Shall I say it again?  I REALLY wanted that iPad!

But look what happens if the soil of our hearts is not well prepared:

  • Satan can easily steal from us
  • We receive with joy from the Lord, but we're too weak to weather difficulties
  • We receive from the Lord, but we're easily deceived by riches
  • We receive from the Lord, but desires for other things destroy fruitfulness (hello...other things...how many times have I choses some "other thing" over the Lord?!)

But those who's soil is GOOD enjoy the promise of bearing massive fruit in their lives for the Kingdom of God.  

Oh, Lord, let that be me!



Lord, I surrender my heart to you.  Please continue to work in me to remove the rocks that cause shallow soil, and the weeds that choke out Your Word.  Purify my heart to hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

Please bless my upcoming trip so that I learn and experience more of You, and that I am established for the work You have for me.

To Your glory, Jesus...and to the advancement of Your kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.



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Why Doubt?


 

I've read this story at least 100 times. How God can teach me something new from it yet AGAIN...is just incredible 😂

This story speaks to me today because lately, the Lord hasn't been "behaving as we'd expect" - I've seen and heard SO much pushback and fear and doubt and "concern" about the way church looks these days.

It's sometimes loud
Messy
Some would say irreverent
Some might even say scary

It's not chaotic. It's still orderly and peaceful and joyful, but it's not "normal" either. It's ALIVE like it's never been.

God's been super clear...He's not content to sit around in the tidy little box we so often like to try and squeeze Him into.

Praying in tongues.
Deliverance from demons.
Physical healing.
Emotional worship.

I've seen it ALL in just the last couple months. And, praise God, it's intensifying instead of "calming down" (more, Lord!)

This can make people UNCOMFORTABLE

Let me ask you...who did Jesus make uncomfortable?

Pretty much everyone!

This story is a great example. His best friends SAW HIM with their own eyes as He walked on water.

What was their reaction? Was it "Wow! That's amazing!" or "Jesus, you can do anything!"

Some argue that they didn't recognize who He was, but that's not what the Word says. It says very clearly "the disciples saw Him walking on the sea"

And what was their reaction? "...and they were terrified"

Terrified

Their very human brains jumped right into disbelief and they tried to rationalize it away..."It's a ghost!" they said.

It was easier to believe that a scary ghost was walking their way than it was to believe that the same Jesus who'd just fed thousands with a couple loaves of bread was walking on the water.

Fear and doubt...the terrible rational human condition.

Peter was the first to break through the fear and doubt, and he says "let me join you in this miracle!" I like to imagine Jesus smiling a big joyful smile at Peter as he said "come!"

And then, Peter stepped out. He didn't fret or over-analyze. He didn't pause to consider what might happen. He didn't weigh the pros and cons. He didn't compare the Jesus right in front of Him with Scripture.

He KNEW Jesus, saw the invitation, and he simply stepped out of the boat and

walked.
on.
water.

And THEN Peter realized the situation was a bit scarier than he'd bargained for. He started focusing on his fear. He was probably thinking "is this real?"..."am I crazy?"..."am I safe?"

Of course, we know that what happened next was that Peter began to sink and he called out for help from Jesus.

IMMEDIATELY, Jesus reached out and rescued him. "Why did you doubt?", He asked.

That's the question of the day...why do we doubt? When He's been SO GOOD to prove Himself faithful and capable, why do I doubt?

🔥O𝘩 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘌𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴!

𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 - 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 -- 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴...𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨...𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳! 🥰

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Make Me a Fool!

 Oh, how the Word spoke to my heart this morning!

I was in Mark 14:

3- While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.
4- But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "why has this perfume been wasted?
5- "For this perfume might have been sold for over 300 denarii, and the money given to the poor" And they were scolding her.
6 - But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to me."

What a beautiful contrast between "religion" and just a pure and simple heart of love for Jesus!

The religious spirit loves to be "indignant".

The religious spirit loves to have it's people "remarking to one another".

The religious spirit loves to make the claim that anything illogical is "wasted".

The religious spirit hides itself behind "good deeds" and tradition and self-righteousness. it loves for it's people to gather and "remark to one another" as they encourage one another in their superiority over the fools.

On the contrary, life in the Spirit has us often doing the foolish, reckless, abandoned to love for Jesus, radically generous thing. He would have us pour out every valuable earthy thing as a sacrifice at the feet of Jesus, and we would do it happily.

Truly, the things of God - the good and pure and true things- they are mere foolishness to the "wise" of the world!

🔥 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥! 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺! 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥" 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 💕



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Are You Ready to Believe for What You HAVEN'T Seen?


I have this beautiful sign on our mantle - it’s been a favorite of mine for years.  And now, I love it even more, because God used it to correct me this week. It’s a lesson I’ll never forget.

As I was praying recently, the Lord drew my attention to this sign and He asked me to read it,

“Yes Lord, I know it well.
  It says, ‘walk by faith, not by sight’”

“That’s right, daughter.
  Tell me....What are some of the things you have faith for?”

“Well you know my heart, Lord.
  You want me to actually list them?”

“Yes” (I could sense a patient and mischievous smile on His face)

“Ok, well…this might take a while!
  I have faith for lots of things!  I have faith that I am loved and saved.  I have faith that You are with me.  I have faith that the Holy Spirit is working even today as He did in the time of the Bible.  I have faith that you can and do physically heal people today.  I have faith that you deliver your people from the bondage of the enemy.  I have faith that you are Provider. I have faith that you speak to your people and we can actually hear your voice. You guide us daily. I could go on.  Do you want me to keep going?”

“No, that will do just fine.
  Are you ready for the Truth?  Really ready?”

“Of course, Lord.
  What am I missing?  Please be gentle!”

Here’s the Truth:  you have faith for NONE of those things.”

“But I do!
  I really do!”

“I know you think you do, but you are mistaken.
  You misunderstand faith.  Remember what my Word says about faith?  What is faith?”

A verse flits through my mind, and I go to my Bible to pull it up…

“Ok, this is what it says in Hebrews:
  ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’”

“Correct, daughter.
  What stands out to you about that verse AND about the Truth on your sign?”

“Ummm…I’m not sure…something about ‘seen’ and ‘sight’?”

“Yes!
  Now do you understand?”

“Well…no.
  Help me out, Lord.”

He blew my mind and stunned me to silence with such simple words:
  “All of the things you said that you have faith for, you’ve literally seen happen with your own eyes.  That’s not faith.  Faith is believing for things you haven’t seen yet.  You have not been walking by faith…you have been walking by sight!”

I sat in silence and waited for the quaking of my world to settle down and re-establish itself on the foundation of His Truth.
  I couldn’t tell if I wanted to weep or laugh!  To be honest, I did a little of both.

All this while, I could sense Him with me.
  I could feel His tenderness and patience. 

And finally, He said,
“Are you ready?  Are you ready to believe what I’ve promised even though you haven’t seen it yet? Are you ready to really walk by faith?”


🔥
Oh Lord, please give me faith for things unseen.  I surrender my “logical” and “reasonable” thinking to You.  Please take my mind and transform it according to Your Truth. Your Word is TRUTH.  Help me to fully embrace and believe it.

My doubts and fears are in contradiction to Your Truth, therefore my doubts are LIES. Deliver me, oh Lord, from the lies of the enemy and of my own small understanding.

Help me to “walk by FAITH, and not by sight!

Amen

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Radical Obedience & an "Uber" MIRACLE

I STILL can't believe this happened.  It is one of the most outrageous miracles that I've ever experienced.  There's NO explanation outside of God Almighty moving in a miraculous way.

It happened several years ago (2018), so I've had a chance to process a bit.  My educational background is in engineering so I tend to be a logical problem solver type of thinker.  I've approached this experience from every angle I can think of...nothing from the purely human realm makes sense.  Like...not even a little.  

The very first part of this story starts strangely.  I was as a business convention in NOLA.  I was alone (my husband would normally come with me, but he couldn't make it).  I was stressed.  I was in a bit of pain after having recent surgery.  All in all, it was just feeling like this trip was a terrible idea.

And it was HOT.  It was all-the-windows-are-covered-in-condensation hot.  Sticky humidity felt absolutely suffocating.  I am my most grumpy in heat and humidity lol!

One afternoon I was meeting with some friends at their Air BnB.  I vividly remember sitting in the blissfully air-conditioned lobby of my hotel and pulling up the Uber app on my phone to get a ride to their place.

I'd done this a million times before, and I was about to click the "request car" button, when I sensed the Holy Spirit say "order the XL car".  I paused while my finger hovered over the button and while logic and reason spun through my brain.  I'm traveling alone.  I have one purse.  I don't need an XL.  Why would I spend more on the XL ride?  


I was about to click the button, when "order the XL car" rang in my spirit again.

What the heck?  Why would God care which size of a car I would ride in?


I had a thought that maybe I was about to be in a car accident and He was positioning me for protection in a bigger car?


My logical (and frugal) brain was grumpy...but I was certain that I heard correctly.  


I clicked the "order XL" button and waited for my driver.


Aaaand...let the embarrassment begin haha


My driver pulled up in his big SUV, and it was clear that he was expecting a crowd because he hustled around the vehicle to open all the doors and the back hatch for a load of bags.

I walked up holding my little handbag and said hello.

He smiled, said hello, and looked around for the rest of the passengers.

"It's just me", I said.

There was an awkward pause...a "pregnant pause" some might call it...as he looked at me and must have been thinking "this woman is not from around here".  He might also have been thinking I was wasting his time.

He walked around the car and closed all doors but one.  I sheepishly climbed in, and the small talk began.  


I was tense.  Not only do I *detest* small talk, but I found myself braced for some sort of crash that God was surely protecting me from.  


The journey to my friends' place seemed to take forever.  I eventually settled in and relaxed.  We chatted about the weather, the conference I was in town for, and about his journey as an Uber driver.  It turned into a friendly and enjoyable drive.

Alright - that's the setup.  It was important to share because it felt sort of mysterious.  Why would God want me to spend extra money on an XL car that I didn't need?  

You're about to find out.

First - I want you to consider some odds.  I want you to REALLY grasp the magnitude and impossibility of this happening.

  • How many various sounds do you suppose can come from the human mouth?  Consider all the world’s languages, dialects, and  intonations. Thousands?  Millions?  Billions?  I think we can agree on a LOT.
  • If someone began to just let their mouth go…making random babbling sounds that mean nothing to the speaker…what do you think the odds are that legible words would come from that person’s mouth, just by sheer chance or luck?  Pretty slim, right?  But, not impossible considering all the options available in all of human language over time.  The speaker might land on a few sounds that are very similar to a word, or maybe even an actual word.  Especially when you consider very simple words like “a” or “the” or “and” and all the translations into other languages.  Simple words, simple sounds = pretty decent odds that at least one of those simple words could be uttered by accident.
  • What about the more complicated words?  They’re maybe longer or more complex, but still, it’s not impossible to think that an actual meaningful word with heavier meaning or implication could be spoken by accident.
  • Ok - if that same person who is just randomly uttering sounds - just any sound that rolls off their tongue keeps talking, what are the chances that several words with meaning would be spoken all together.  I’m talking about a short phase or sentence.  Even just a part of a sentence or the beginning of an idea.  Remember, to the speaker, these sounds mean absolutely nothing.  They’re gibberish.  There’s no effort of the speaker’s mind happening here…no trying to “make sense” of the sounds coming out of their mouth.  Think about it — to get words to work together in order - those odds are pretty slim.  It takes a human years to learn how do do that in meaningful ways.  “Mama, book?”  “Milk please” “No, sleep!”  are all phrases common to a toddler learning to speak their mind, and they typically mispronounce simple words for months or years until they get a firmer grasp on the language.
  • Next, before we go deeper, let’s consider the background of the speaker.  Basic American education.  Caucasian woman.  College degree in sciences.  Some German language training in high school, but nothing that really stuck.  No worldly travel experience (went to English speaking Canada a few times).  English was the only language spoken while growing up and going to school.  Not exactly a “worldly” or “diverse” background or training.
  • Back to the statistics.  Sounds…words…meaningful phrases.  Still with me?  Our odds are getting slimmer by the minute.  
  • Ok, so our speaker is just babbling away.  No meaning to the speaker at all.  Truth be told, this woman is feeling slightly crazy!  What do you suppose the odds would be for this babbling to be not only words, but meaningful words…meaningful worlds that are occurring in order to create meaningful phrases…meaningful phrases that are a coherent and applicable response to a conversation with someone else.  Think about that.  If someone asked you a question in a language you DON’T know…let’s say Japanese…what are the odd that you could randomly babble your way to a logical and meaningful answer to their question?  In ANY language?  Even MORE slim, right?  The odds are getting pretty crazy that something like this could happen.
  • Ok, not say your meaningful answer to their question is in that person’s native language of Japanese??  Ridiculous to even consider, right?  


sounds into words
words into phrases
phrases that are a meaningful response (context)
meaningful response in the proper language to the listener

It would be like a 2 month old baby making random noises with their mouth only to "accidentally" make sounds that turn into saying "Hi mom, I'm feeling a bit hungry now.  Would you feed me please?"

Right?  It DOESN'T happen.  

If this happened, you’d say it’s a MIRACLE, right?  If you’re like me, you’d begin to think “how did this happen outside of some move of an intelligent God?”  The odds of it happening by “chance” are just too astronomical to even comprehend.  

Well buckle up, friend.  

I am that speaker.  
This happened to me. 

The short story is this:

I was riding in that XL Uber I told you about.  The driver and I chatted in a friendly way as he drove me to my destination about 30 minutes away.  As he dropped me off, he said “good luck!” (the area he was dropping me in seemed a bit scary haha). I responded without thinking (and rather embarrassingly) “I don’t need luck, I’ve got Jesus”….honestly, how cheesy is that?  I’d never said such a dorky thing, and I was instantly surprised by my words and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment!

As I walked to the building, he rolled down his window and said, “Wait!  Did you say you know Jesus?  Will you come back and tell me about this Jesus?”

I was floored!  I walked back and got in the car to talk to the man.

He asked me what I knew about Jesus, so I gave him the 30 second Gospel message.  He proceeded to tell me that I was wrong, and about how many Christians he’d converted to Islam over the years. He was quite the Muslim apologetics expert!  He didn’t actually want to know about Jesus from me…he wanted to convert me to Islam.

We were disagreeing wholeheartedly, but it was very friendly and loving.  We eventually agreed to disagree.  

Before I left, I felt a prompting to find a way to stay in touch with him so I asked him if I could get his cell phone number so we could stay in touch - believe me, I’d NEVER done that before!  He agreed, with the caveat that he’d never shared his personal cell with a customer.  We were both feeling strange about it, but agreed to stay in touch.

The next morning, I was awakened with a clear message from the Holy Spirit: “Daiquiri, share your prayer language with him”

I was appalled.

APPALLED

My prayer language/“praying in tongues” was a very delicate and new thing for me.  Not to mention exceedingly private.  I hadn’t shared it with ANYONE, and frankly, I was thinking of giving up on it because I though for sure that I was just making it up. 

I was especially frustrated that since I’d begun praying in tongues, the SAME sounds kept coming out of my mouth on repeat.  I thought for SURE that I was just all in my head with it, and it was nothing but gibberish.  Like a meaningless tune that I couldn’t get out of my head, but that didn’t have any actual words or meaning. 

So yeah…to share with a random Uber driver?  I was horrified by the idea!

I said an absolute and immediate "NO WAY" to that prompt, but He would just not leave me alone about it.  I'd love to say that I trusted His voice and obeyed, but the truth is that I knew this prompt would not leave my mind at peace until I obeyed.

So, after about 30 minutes of fruitless negotiations with God to send someone else on this assignment, I obeyed.  And do you know what happened?

The random sounds that came out of my mouth made actual words.

Meaningful words.

Stitched into a meaningful phrase.

A phrase in the Uber driver’s primary language.

And not just any phrase, a prayer to God Almighty, no less.

Now you tell me…WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

God is real, friends.  

God is alive.

God did NOT stop speaking once the Bible was written.  

He did not stop moving through His people.

He even used a midwestern housewife and mom to grab the heart of a die-hard Muslim.
God is alive and moving and working to capture hearts, and His gospel is still sometimes delivered with the backing of miracles that no one can explain unless coming to the conclusion that God is real and the Gospel of Jesus is Truth.

Be encouraged, brothers and sisters - believe for big things from our living God - and keep spreading the Word!  

And take it from me...be RADICALLY OBEDIENT.  It seems that the most outrageous marching orders tend to result in the most miraculous outcomes.

Personally, I think God loves to set us up for miracles.  He loves to "show off"...not in a braggadocios way (although He's certainly the only One with a right to do so)...but in a "I'm here, I'm working, I love you" kind of way.  Maybe it's less of "showing off" that He's so good at...and more of SHOWING UP.  

He wants us to know it's HIM.

And friend, if you have doubt about God and the Gospel of Jesus…please get alone and do your best to talk to God.  Your prayer can be utterly weak and ugly…just make it REAL.  He stands at the door of your heart and knocks - let Him in!  He is trustworthy and so very good. 

* You can see a bit of our text conversation below in the screenshots I saved.  







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