Confirmations

Ever had one of those "Alleluia!" moments?

Yesterday, I did. I hadn't had one in a while (read: "once, maybe.") but this one was a full blown, mind altering, "Divine Pine to the Mind" kinda moment.

At Cracker Barrel. Really.

A friend of mine, Faustina, works there as a hostess. My wife and I first encountered her about two years ago. She is from Africa, Ghana to be precise, and is here on a school visa. She has recently finished her degree in Divinity, and is preparing to take her newfound training back to Africa.

This is not the moment.

As it happens, G-d has given me a certain insight that allows me to share His words with others. In this case, I was given quite a few words and a vision to share with our friend regarding her soon-to-be-realized ministry. However, this "insight" has only been given to me fairly recently, and therefore I do not have much of a "track record" regarding the accuracy of these "words". But I believe that this picture I laid before her was from
G-d and was therefore led by this faith to reveal what I had seen and heard.

This, also, is not the moment.

As it happens frequently when G-d uses a human to do His work, He also has a way of making everything line up so that the appropriate (for Him)meetings take place at the appropriate (again, for Him) work can take place. So, having said that, it is appropriate to give Him credit for what seemed a coincidence at the time.

Nope. Not the moment.

It was Christmas Eve. My wife and I were hungry and in the vicinity of Cracker Barrel, and so decided to stop in. It was Faustina's regular day off, but there were others there who, due to our frequency of visits, also had become friends. (Mind you, it hadn't actually occured to us that perhaps the restaurant might be closing early or anything like that.) But in we went.

The moment is getting closer...

We hadn't expected to see Faustina, but as G-d would have it, there she was. As usual, she greeted us with the warm embrace of a close family member. But there was a sparkle in her eye and an excitement in her voice that was above even her usual upbeat manner. She would not say what was causing this joy, except that she wanted to talk to us after we ate.

The moment is really close... Really.

When we had finished and stepped back into the entry area, it was then that Faustina took us in hand (and crutches - I am still dealing with my hip injury) and led us outside. Now, she has made a point of praying for G-d's guidance dury my ordeal, and so I was thinking this was more of the same. Wrong answer. When we were seated outside, She turned to my wife and I and asked what the word was that I had for her.

Moment is at hand.

When I had picked my jaw from off the sidewalk and got it back to working in its more normal position I then asked her how she knew I had a word for her. You would think it would have occured to me that my reaction to her question should have been answer enough, but, being a guy, I tend toward the typical male wooden head syndrome and asked anyway. She merely giggled and replied that my wife and I had been on her heart all day and that we had important information for her. I then proceeded to give her the words and vision that G-d had laid on me for her.

Now for the moment. (thunder rolls...)

Last night, another friend of ours, Pam, who shares the same Gift of Insight that G-d has given to me, came into town and announced that she wanted to eat at Cracker Barrel. I knew that Faustina would be working, and looked forward to speaking to her and hearing her speak about what was happening in her life. As usual, she was her sheerful self, and once again refused to speak to us until after dinner. So it came to pass in the fullness of time and belly that we once again found ourselves outside with Faustina. Only it was Pam, not I, that had the word and vision for her.

The moment?

The word and vision were the same as G-d had given me. In one brief, glorious moment, G-d had confirmed Faustina's forthcoming ministry and His Word to me that I might dare to believe what others, including Pam, had said my ministry would be.

Alleluia!!!!!

May God bless you and keep you!

Impasse

This injury has bound me...

As treatment continues, I am forced to consider life post injury, and I find the task daunting. I look to G-d, who has given me this faith that all will turn out as it should, but am forced to wonder: "How?"

(Insert appropriate crackle of distant thunder here)

My wife looks to me for answers, but I find I have only one, and, at least for her, it is insufficient. Is this how G-d tests his children?

How do I respond? Anger? Resentment? Impassiveness?

What?!!?!

Let us explore the possibilities...

I could become angry, raising my fist to an unfair G-d. He would then remind me that there are those for whom life has been even less fair, and then go on to point out that "fair" was never part of the agreement. After all, it is not in this life that we should look for reward, but in the life to come. When the apostle Peter had gotten angry about fairness regarding his relationship with Jesus as compared to that of John, he was reminded that he did not need to worry about it. Jesus had ordained certain things for Peter, little of it easy, and likewise had done so for John. As has been documented, Peter did not go to meet Jesus resting in a combo bed at the local Hilton.

I really do think my life is a bit more "fair" than that. So much for anger.

But I find myself dealing with resentment. Why does G-d make me wait? What is he preparing me for? Is this all that there is to my life?

We return now to the life of the apostle John.

John lived a LOOOOONG time. It was during these years that the early church had its greatest struggles. Anybody living through these times would be greeted with great adversity. John not only had to endure in these times, he also had the tast of supporting those who were growing up around him, people who had never seen Christ. When G-d finally did get back to John, he was an old man living on Patmos. Was his the life of a dignified old gentleman living out his fast fading years in the lap of retirement luxury? Ah, no. Exile to labor on Patmos is not exactly Miami in the springtime. But it was here, on Patmos (not Miami) was where G-d got back to John. Big time.

The Thunder Rolls...

OK, so I will wait. After all, my life is a WHOLE lot better than what John had to deal with on Patmos (or pretty much anywhere else he may have lived). So much for Frustration.

So I wait. Impassively.

Wrong answer. Again.

As has been demonstrated rather bluntly to Jonah, trying to circumvent
G-d by doing anything (or nothing) else has the effect of trading
G-d's attention in comfort for G-d's attention in, shall we say, less than comfortable surroundings. Jonah found the notion of living in the belly of a whale rather nasty. I myself have often refered to "The 2x4 Effect" in
G-d's dealings with me. So this time, as I lay in all my passive agressive glory impassively doing as little as possible to show my ability to withstand any and all suggestions from G-d to duck, (thunder) the rather large and fast moving piece of Heavenly lumber rapidly closing on my wooden head will, when it does eventually connect, knock me into the middle of G-d's presence as well as the middle of next week. This is invariably what happens. So, rather than have to deal with such attention as well as the Heavenly Lump, I am actively exploring whatever G-d would have me to do and/or say. This approach does not exclude the possibility that The Divine Pine will not be applied for other reasons; only that it will not be used to get me off my angry, resentful, impassive butt.

Miami, anyone?