On Wednesday, I posted about the first lesson God has taught me on this journey. Today’s blog, even though I named it “Lessons Learned: #2” is not so much about a lesson learned as it is about God reminding me of things He told me recently as well as things He told me many years ago.
Several years ago, God directed me to write out a mission statement for my life. After praying about it, this is what I wrote:
To be a woman after God’s own heart, helping other women recognize
who they are in Christ through the use of the creative gifts God
has given me: writing, drawing, photography, singing and dancing.
At the time, I thought it was rather presumptuous of me to think that I could write, draw, photograph, sing and dance. In fact, I thought God was ROLF (rolling on the floor laughing)! Me, dance? Ms. Two Left Feet? You’ve got to be kidding! I realized that writing was number one on the list so I decided to start there. I did research, I took classes (am still taking classes) and I believe this is God’s direction for me.
Fast forward to this past June during my denomination’s convocation, held at our church. I was sitting in church, listening to the message and I felt that God was speaking to me. It addressed something that has bothered me for a long time. When I was a child, I believed with all my heart that God was calling me to be a missionary, but nothing ever came of that. After all, I was only a child of 10 or 11 – what did I know? Here is what I heard on that June night:
I called you to the mission field when you were a child.
I called you then and I am calling you now to the mission
field in your own backyard. You are a Missionary to every
woman you meet.
I am willing to admit that I could have not heard correctly when I was a child. As I’ve already said, what did I know at that age? But I don’t believe I missed Him this time. This word lines right up with my mission statement.
A few days ago, I was looking through an old journal for a particular entry, and came across this one that I received from the Lord on August 2, 1994:
I am taking you in a new direction, says the Lord. You will
begin to do a new thing and will stop doing – lay down – some
of the things you are now doing. There is a new and fresh
anointing on your life. The old book is closing and the
new book is opening.
I know that the Lord will give people words about their life that will take place far in the future. I think He does that sometimes to teach us patience – certainly that is the case for me. Until recently, I never saw “the new thing” manifested in my life. At least not what I felt the Lord would call a new thing. Yes, many great and wonderful things have happened to me in the last 15 years, but nothing that I believed lined up directly with this Word given in 1994. However, when I read this Word, and then the Word I received during Convocation, and thought about those in light of my mission statement, it all came together. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle that has been missing a couple of pieces for almost 15 years. Now the puzzle is complete and it makes sense.
So this is lesson number two in my journey. Patience is a virtue. And if God said it, He will do it.
Isaiah 55:11 (New International Version)
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
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