Hallel u Jah, Praise to Yahweh! "I shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord."

Before Passover, it is common for Jews to recite Psalms 113 and 114. Following the Seder, they recite Psalms 115-118. Together these Pslams are known as the Hallel, or “the Praise.” (Hallel u Jah - Praise to Yahweh)  In verse 17 of Psalm 118, we read, “I…shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord.”

This Thursday is the 8^th birthday of my eldest child and her story is nothing short of miraculous. I will extol the Lord, and recount his illustrious acts to the Praise and Glory of His Name for all the world to hear!

Very shortly after my marriage to my husband, I became pregnant.  However, In December of 2002, I lost the baby. I remember crying out to a friend and telling her that I could accept it if the Lord told me “No, not this child,” but that I didn’t think I could handle it if He told me, “No children at all.” Although I was a relatively new Christian, I was painfully cognizant that there are among us those who feel that to not have children is a curse from God. I wanted children, but felt judged by Christian women for not yet having children at 33.

In early February of 2003, our local church held its annual Missions Conference. As I was still grieving my loss, I hesitated to go, but decided at the last minute I would attend the ladies’ Missions brunch. It was a lovely affair with bright and colorful decorations and a delicious “Pot Blessing” meal.

After brunch, our host introduced the speaker. Her name was Noelle Dembele and she was from Africa. She began her talk in her African dialect and paused for her interpreter to tell us what she had said.

“In my country the worst thing that can happen to a woman is that she has no children,” she began. The tears welled up and swallowing became impossible. “They consider it a curse. But God’s Word tells us differently. In Luke 1 verse 6 it says, ‘Elizabeth and Zeccariah were righteous before God, AND YET Elizabeth was barren.’” There was no holding back the floodgate of tears. I will never forget her words as long as I live.

When she had finished speaking, her interpreter invited us to come and meet her. My friend said, “You HAVE to go talk to her. Come on, I’ll take you.” And so she led me up and waited in line with me. I explained to her interpreter that I had recently lost a baby and so appreciated what she had said. The interpreter leaned into Noelle for a moment and Noelle’s eye met mine. With that, she reached out and grabbed my stomach and began praying. She got louder and louder and more intense. I was feeling quite conspicuous, but politely held my ground.

Upon finishing, her interpreter told me, “She prayed that by the end of the next Missions Conference, you would have a child so that you would know that the Lord answers prayer.” I thanked her and left.

In my mind I did the math, and realized that in order to have a baby by the following  Febraury, I would need to conceive no later than June. When June came and went, I was devastated and assumed the Lord was telling me “No children at all.” I spent the weeks to follow grieving the loss of hope. I cried to the Lord long and hard, and finally prayed for peace and the ability to accept His decision.

I was reminded of a book I had read with my family when I was young. It was called Hinds’ Feet on High Places. In it the main character, “Much Afraid” wanted desparately to climb to the mountain tops with the Shepherd, however her legs were crippled. The book is an allegory of her journey and the lessons she learned along the way. During her journey, Much Afraid must, on numerous occasions, build an altar and place on it her deepest desires.

Upon remembrance of this, in my mind, I built an altar and placed there my desire for children. For the first time in months, I felt peace. Praise God for answered prayer.

A couple of weeks after this turning, I was speaking with a couple of ladies after church and one of them said something about my children and caught herself, “Oh my!” she said, “You don’t have any children. I’m so sorry!” I replied, “That’s alright, it’s up to the Lord,” or words to that affect. As I said it, I realized that I really was alright with it. There was complete peace.

Little did I know that when I uttered those words, I was already likely expecting. That was in July.

The pregnancy itself could not have gone worse. I began having complications immediately, and spent 7 of the 9 months on complete bedrest. I was able to get out once a week to go to the doctors and once in a while to get to church.

At 21 weeks, I went for a routine ultrasound. I was very excited that my husband was going to be able to see her, as he had taken the afternoon to go with me. Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic and were late to the appointment. The nurse told us we would have to reschedule. My heart broke. As she could read the anguish in my face, she invited us to wait and, “If the couple scheduled after you doesn’t show up, we can go ahead and do it.” And so we waited, and I prayed.

As God would have it, they did not show up.

We went into the little room and got ready. The nurse began the test, but turned to me and said (or yelled), “Put your feet up and DON’T MOVE!” And out she ran. She came back only a few seconds later with the doctor in tow. He went pale when he looked at the screen. She was already in the process of being born. (Please note, if the other couple had made their appointment, we would NOT have known!)

He sent me to the hospital a block away and they prepared me for surgery. As they were preparing me, I could hear the doctor and nurse arguing because he wanted to go into surgery right away , as it was late in the day. She was telling him that it was protocol to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and they needed to wait for the equipment to hear it. He was adamant and said, “If anything happens to the baby, we aren’t going to try to save her anyway!” And with that I fell asleep.

Before I even opened my eyes, I screamed, ”Where’s my baby?!” The nurse who was wheeling the gurney by my head put her hand on my shoulder and said, “She’s still there.” I praised Jesus aloud all the way down the halls!

Seventeen weeks later on April 12, I bore a very healthy baby girl and named her Rose.

The doctor said in his 35 years of practice, he never gave her a chance. He did not believe until he was holding her that she would survive.

Oh, and in case you thought the Lord was late, I found out DURING my pregnancy that our local congregation has Missions Conference in February. The denomination wide Missions Conference, the one with which Noelle would have been familiar, ended April 19 that year.

Rose was indeed born before the end of the next Missions Conference and I DO know that the Lord answers prayer!  AMEN AND HALLEL-U-JAH!

Faith Under Trial

Throughout this week I have come across several scriptures and references all pointing to one theme.

My first encounter was in the book of Psalms. There were 2 or 3 of them back to back wherein David spoke to the fact that often the Lord leads us to a difficult situation in order that He may show Himself mighty.  Consider for instance, as does David in Psalm 105, all the evil that befell Joseph. 

What would have happened if he had taken upon himself to change his plight. What if he had sought escape? What if he had been bitter and not served with good character? What if… The list could go on. If at any point he had not rested in the Lord, the outcome for his family and hence the entire Jewish nation would have been much different. But instead, because of his immovable faith in Yahweh, we are blessed with a testimony of God’s goodness and His unfailing provision, as Joseph was positioned to be able to provide the young nation with food to survive the famine. What his brothers and even Potiphar's wife had meant for evil, the Lord had meant for good.

Then in Bible study this morning when we were discussing Yahweh Rophey (I AM Healer), we were guided to the book of Exodus. Specifically we looked at the story wherein the children of Israel are grumbling against Moses because they have been in the desert for 3 days and they have no water. When they come to the water at Marah they find they cannot drink it because it is bitter.

Though it was not the main thrust of the lesson, we briefly discussed, that often we are brought to a test for the Lord to determine whether or not we will “be still and know that I AM God,”  just as were the children of Israel. They were brought to the shores of the Red Sea with Pharaoh behind and waters ahead and Moses told them to stand still.  They were brought out into the desert where they had no water and required the hand of the Lord to provide water. They hadn’t enough food and relied on His provision for their daily bread. Over and over they were used of God to show His greatness in their time of desperation.

We have a choice to make. When we encounter trials, we can become anxious and lunge for whatever response seems best to us, or we can be still in faith and know He has not led us to this place to simply allow us to languish. If we find ourselves in the face of extraordinary difficulty (not of our own making through rebellious or sinful acts) then He has likely positioned us to receive greatly from His hand.

It was also pointed out in today’s lesson, as the tree used to make the bitter water sweet was in close proximity to the waters, so too the remedy for our bitter trial is always close at hand as well.

Thank you Yahweh Rophey that when you bring us to a bitter place, You Our Healer, Our Remedy are always close by. You stand ready to show us Your power and might. Thank You Lord that I need not worry and be anxious when I have obeyed You and given the situation over to You.  Thank You Lord that I can consider it all joy at the testing of my faith, knowing that such trials produce patience and endurance. And since through patient endurance I can be still and know that You are God, my faith is strengthened. Lord, I praise You that in Your wisdom You choose my trials for my good and Your glory. Praise You, Father! Amen.

You'll Never Walk Alone

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.

This song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, made me stop and think.  I had the television on in the background while getting some things done, when a commercial played this familiar tune.

I did a little research and found it has been recorded no less than 80 times by various groups, including Elvis Presley and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was sung at the culmination of every Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon from 1964 to 2010.

What is our fascination with this tune? And, is it true? “Walk on, walk on with HOPE in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone.”  Really, all we need is hope?  

Let’s assume for a moment the statement is correct. If you have hope, you’ll never walk alone. Where does this hope come from?

I believe it comes from belief in the Lord, Jesus Christ and Him alone. If your hope lies in Jesus Christ, then in fact, you have His hope in your heart, and indeed you will never walk alone.

But, if you have not the Lord Jesus in your heart, then where lies your hope?  Are you your hope?  Does it lie in your own ability? Or is it in some nebulous, feel good desire?  If hope is not based on something beyond yourself, then it is only a wish. If it is rooted in something greater, then it becomes realistic expectation.

Trust and faith in the Lord God Almighty means I have the hopeful expectation of victory through the power that breathed the stars in their place. Is there anyone more qualified to hold your hope? Is there any other hope upon which you can rely that will never disappoint?

Lord Jesus, Thank You that we can know we will never walk alone. Thank you for your hope that fills our hearts and walks with us, nay carries us, through any storm.  We love You Lord God, our only hope and we praise Your holy Name!

A Lesson Learned Through...Football?

In all of life’s crazy situations I don’t understand, I try to find Biblical precedent to help me make sense of it.  This evening is no exception.

Throughout this football season, winning streak of Tim Tebow has been extraordinary.  Even those who are not football fans cannot help but be amazed at his accomplishments.  I have not closely followed the season, however I have read articles concerning his practice of “te-Bow-ing” to give God the glory after each touchdown; a practice which has garnished either intense admiration or extreme contempt, but very little in between.  Specifically, I have watched the comment boards, wherein I have been astounded by the vitriol of those opposed to his passion on the field.

As a former witch, I was only mildly surprised to read in the news on Friday that a coven of Wiccans in Salem, Massachusetts was planning to hold a ritual on Saturday beginning at noon time to cast a spell over the game.  They were going to cast a spell on Tim Tebow, because they are not “like that.” They are “good” witches. Instead, they insisted they were going to send good energy to Brady to help him break Tebow’s winning streak.

It reminded me for all the world of the Bible stories in which magicians had set themselves up against the Lord, such as Elijah and the prophets or Pharoah and his magicians.  As in Elijah, those belonging to God, call upon Him to show Himself strong in a seemingly untenable situation.  And so, I prayed for two days for the Lord to show Himself in a mighty way and put these witches to shame and shut the mouths of those who had spoken against our Sovereign King on the comment boards. 

I am intensely jealous for His good name.  When others speak badly of Him it hurts my soul! I cried out with all that was within me for this. And I believed that He is able and that He would. 

Moses cried out to Him in Numbers chapter 14. In that passage, the Lord is about to strike all of the Israelites dead except for Moses and Aaron. But Moses prays on behalf of the people saying, because the Lord had taken them out of Egypt in such a way all of the surrounding peoples were aware the Israelites were God’s chosen people, if He struck them down now, all the people watching would say God was not able to finish what He had started. So, Moses prayed that the Lord would show Himself mighty in order to show that He is able and not be put to shame before them.

Having this and other Biblical precedent, I prayed the Lord would put the witches to shame and show His glory to those who had besmirched His name, so His good name would not be put to shame.

As I watched the game I knew in my soul He could perform any miracle He wanted on that field.  He could part those men just like he parted the Red Sea or the Jordon River. As the points racked up in favor of the Patriots, I knew that even in the fourth quarter God could win it.  I reminded myself that quite often the Lord puts us in positions where it seems all is lost in order to show us victory is not our own, therefore He receives all the glory as it is due Him.

In the end, the Broncos lost 42 to 10.  I was numb.

Please understand, I don’t care about football. It matters not to me who makes it to the Super Bowl. I really have no affinity for any team. If it had not been for the challenge to God brought by these boastful witches, I would not care nor even be aware there was a game tonight.  But I had prayed and believed.  And then I was confused.

And so, I prayed for wisdom and understanding. 

 “Why Lord?! Why didn’t you show them the You that I know? How are they supposed to quiet their critics when You didn’t reveal Yourself?  You promised that we who believe in You would not be put to shame and now the shameful comments will seem unbearable! Now what are we to say?  If you had, so many could have come to believe in You.”

My heart was wrenched. I felt sick in my stomach.

I began to think about my children. Often they don’t understand my decisions because they don’t have all of the facts. They don’t see the bigger picture. “I still believe Lord. I know that You could, but in Your infinite wisdom there are circumstances I don’t understand. Can You please tell me why? Help me understand.”

When I had finally come to the end of my tantrum, there was only silence. And then…

“Now you understand how the disciples felt when My Son breathed His last.  He could have called down legions of angels.  He did not.  He could have spoken a single word and killed them all. He did not. He saw the big picture. His victory came through supposed defeat. Will You please just trust Me?”

And then I was reminded, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing.”

Please understand, I was not seeking a sign in order to believe. I still believe even without one. I was praying for the Lord to show off for His glory. But we are called to faith even when it seems futile, otherwise it’s not faith.

“NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” Hebrews 11:1

The very definition of faith requires that we believe without seeing proof.  And for Abraham, his faith was accounted to him for righteousness.

So, just as I believe without seeing, any who come to Christ must also believe without such proof.

God will be more glorified by people coming to believe in Christ without His grand intervention in a football game; He is more glorified by the faith of His believers than He is beaten down by the mocking of His skeptics.

Although the Broncos did not win, let alone win in grand style, I have learned a valuable lesson.  His ways are not my ways. His ways are higher than my ways. His ways are unfathomable. But, He is able.

To God be the glory forever! AMEN!

From "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat"

A quote from my FAVORITE book (ok, I have a lot of favorites, but really; this one is awesome) “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat,:” by John Ortberg: 

“There is a consistent pattern in Scripture of what happens in a life that God wants to use or improve:

... 

– There is always a changed life. Those who say yes to God’s call don’t walk the walk perfectly – not by a long shot. But because they say yes to God, they learn and grow even from their failures.  And they become part of his actions to redeem the world. 

Those who say no are changed too. They become a little harder, a little more resistant to his calling a little more likely to say no the next time. Whatever the decision, it always chages a life – and it changes the world that little life touches.”

So, how about you? Do you want to walk on water? Then get out of the boat!