Amos 9:14-15 "They'll rebuild their ruined cities. They'll plant vineyards and drink good wine.

Amos is prophesying to the nation of Israel.  He’s just reamed them and told them all of the horrible things that they are going to go through, but then… God will redeem them.  They’ll rebuild… implies action on the part of the Israelites.  Their RUINED cities will be rebuilt, but with effort on their part.  Planting and working are also verbs.  Yes, they will have land that they can WORK, and food that they can WORK for.  He will do HIS work and provide for them what they need.  What God is promising them is stability.  An example of us doing our end, He will do His end.

I feel like I can claim this promise as my own.  The kids and I have been working hard, and God has provided.  So many miracles have been present in our lives.  The fact that we still have a home, that my car is paid off, that I have had a banquet of groceries, that I've made my 3^rd trip to Hawaii, my own personal mecca, in the last year.  (after a 16 year absence)  And this time I got to take my kids, which is a dream I have held in my heart since I was 18 years old.  I am encouraged by this promise of stability.  I know that yes, God is our constant, and that no matter what life brings, we are stable in Him.  I am excited, and massively nervous, to be planted, stabilized, and sure in the work that God has for me.

Oh God… I don’t know exactly how you are leading me, but when you’re ready to reveal it, please make it OBVIOUS.  I will keep working hard in trusting you.  Thank you for giving me the tools to rebuild, plant and to work.  Help me to keep developing those skills.  Thank you for providing for us.  Thank you for knowing the dreams in my heart, and for dusting them off.  Give me courage to keep going for them.  Give my kids hearts geared for adventure.  Let them feel stable and planted in our future, wherever and whatever that may be.

Johh 14:16 I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you.17 This Friend is the Spirit of Truth….

The SPIRIT of truth is our friend.  What is a friend?  Someone we can trust, who is with us no matter what, who looks out for us and advises us, someone we want to spend time with.  The term “spirit of truth” is a great awareness and association with truth.  The “spirit” of truth permeates our thoughts, our motives, our decisions, not JUST our words as in speaking the truth.  The spirit of truth helps to mold us into who we are, just as our friends also help to shape us into the people that we become. 

Am I hanging out with my friend the spirit of truth?  Have I invited her to my thoughts?  Have I asked her opinion about my motives?  Have I included her in my decisions?  Have I listened to her when she has spoken?

Lord thank you for providing me with the friend who will always be with me.  Let me remember to be a good friend back and to spend time cultivating this friendship.  Help me to introduce her to my children so that they will want to spend time with her too.  Give me wisdom and patience to listen to her and to take her advice.

Hebrews 6:18 God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.

This is one of those think about it until your brain hurts circle.  God is who he says he is.  He will do what he promises.  It’s WHO HE IS.  He couldn’t break his word even if he wanted to.  He can’t do that! 

What promises has God made to me?  Am I believing them?  Do I understand that God is unchanging?  What promises have I seen come to pass in my life?  I am an over-comer.  He says it.  He will provide all my needs, He promised.  I am healed by the blood of Jesus, He did it.   All of the promises in his word apply to me.  All of his character traits are constant and true.  He is love, he is faithful, he is all consuming.  He is truth.

Lord thank you for who you are.  It’s mind boggling that that includes complete trueness to yourself.  I am still trying to find out who I am, and then struggle with complete obedience to being exactly who I am.  You just are.  Thank you for being so constant and good. 

Colossians 1:19 So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding.

God is so big that all of my stuff not only fits, but it actually has a place in Him.

I feel overwhelmed a lot.  Homeschooling, trying to understand each of my children as a unique individual, figuring out my destiny, figuring out how not to figure out my destiny, but rest in God…  my sense of adventure that gets me antsy every few months to do something new.  Feeling anxious about my future, my finances, the happiness of my kids.  And of course not to mention my brokenness, my shame, my loneliness, and my pain that still overtake me sometimes without a moment of warning.  I can rest in God with ALL of these things.  I can put my feet up on his footstool of grace and relax.  I can stretch my arms out wide in the vast room of God’s love.  I can browse the shelves of God’s library where he’s got all of my stuff organized.  I can take a dip in the pool of God’s kindness.  I can roll out my yoga mat and breathe in God’s promises.

Oh Jesus thank you for this picture of your provision.  Thank you for being so big that everything fits.  Thank you for being so faithful, that it fits with room to spare.  Thank you for being so loving that it fits in a certain spot.  Thank you for knowing and welcoming all of my stuff.  Thank you for making sense of it when it just seems like a big mess to me.  Continue to remind me and show me that I don’t have to make sense of it.  That I can just relax in your orderly roominess and breathe.

Hebrews 2:17-18 For this reason he had to be made like them,[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted

The Lord became human so he could experience and feel all that we experience and feel so that He could be merciful and be an example for us.  I think this is interesting that it says “might become merciful” implying that maybe He wasn’t already.  When reading the stories in the Old Testament, I think there is some truth to that statement.  In OT testament times, if you disobeyed God, He was likely to kill you on the spot.  But we know now that Jesus suffered greatly, was tempted greatly, and truly understands how we feel when we are hurting.  The only difference is, He didn’t HAVE to go through it all.  At any point He could have said, “forget this, I’m God!” and go back to his Deity self.  He chose his humanity, and stuck with it until the plan of salvation could be realized, because of his GREAT love for us.  He knew that we needed a new plan, a new salvation understanding, that we needed Jesus.

It has comforted me so much to know that Jesus is with me and that He knows how I feel.  That He has a plan and He will see it through.

Jesus thank you for your mercy.  Thank you for your understanding.  Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your salvation.  Thank you for getting your hands dirty and just being in this life with us. 

I Kings 19:11-15 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” 15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came…

God will sometimes set things into motion, but he harbors us, protects us and nurtures before things happen. He is not in the bad things that shake up our lives and destroy our plans.  We are probably scared, holed up in our cave as the wind roars and the ground shakes.  Yet even in the chaos, the destruction, the LOUDNESS of the enemy’s storms, He whispers to us.  He doesn’t yell above the sounds to get us to hear him, but His gentle voice cuts through the wrath of what is going on around us.  It gives us the strength to come out of our cave and to face the damage that awaits us.

I imagine myself going for a walk in the woods, minding my own business, getting refreshed, and then the Lord, looking a lot like Clark Kent, comes up next to me , takes my hand, and leads to a cave.  He starts a fire, gives me a blanket, smiles, and tells me to stay put, that I’ll be safe there.  Then he leaves, and I see him jump over the edge of the cliff, then waves at me as he flies by with his superman cape billowing behind him.  Soon I hear the wind start to howl.  I hear branches snap from trees, and rocks tumbling down the hillside.  I feel the cave that I am in tremble as a huge rock rolls off the top of it.  Then the ground starts to shake, and dust falls from the roof of my rock shelter.  The pathway in front of the cave disappears as the earth quakes.  Huge black clouds form and begin to unleash their pent up anger.  The thunder is deafening and I jump as lighting strikes a tree right outside the entrance of my den.  The tree bursts into flames and soon my cave is filled with smoke.  I’m thinking, “I just wanted to go out for a walk, mind my own business, enjoy nature.  I didn’t want to be caught by a natural disaster!”  I lay on the ground, pull the blanket over my head, and hum as the sounds of storm wage war outside.  I feel warm and safe and apprehensive at what it must look like outside.  I’m wondering, “How long this storm will last?  How will I ever clean up the mess?”  Soon, amidst the ROAR of the destruction, I hear God whisper in my ear that it’s OK to get up and take a look.  I ease my way to the mouth of the cave, holding onto the sides as I stumble to the opening.  Clark is standing next to me, pointing out where the fire started, what the wind revealed, how the earthquake changed the landscape.  He points out Superman hovering in the sky observing but not interfering with the calamities.  Superman smiles and salutes to me and Clark.  That’s sort of weird and funny.  I smile back, and start working my way through the mess, going back to where the path was clear, back to where things made sense, back to where there was no destruction.  Clark and Superman will take care of the mess left by the storm.  

Thank you Lord for being better than Superman.  Thank you for harboring me, thank you for revealing things, thank you for strengthening me.  Thank you for allowing the storms to come.  You are truly amazing.

Jonah 1:6, 14-16 The captain came to him and said, "What's this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we're in trouble and rescue us."…14 Then they prayed to God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best." 15 They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down. 16 The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped God, offered a sacrifice, and made vows.

These men did not worship God, but ordered Jonah to pray to God.  They got so desperate to stop the storm, that they then at least prayed a prayer of recognition to God.  After they threw Jonah overboard, and the storm quieted, they knew God was real and powerful, and they worshipped him and promised their lives to him.

Doesn’t God use the storms in our lives to shake people up?  Even in the storms, He reveals himself.  Jonah was in complete disobedience to what God was calling him to, and the Lord still used that situation to bring others to Him.  Romans 8:28 in the message says, “That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Lord that is my desire through all of this heart break that has happened in my life.  Let it all count for something.  Let my story help others.  Let YOU be revealed as healer, restorer, beautiful savior.