Yes, I know it's no longer Easter, but, about that Easter post I promised...
I hope that everyone had a great Resurrection Sunday!!! The climax to the most important story that is the foundation of the Christian Faith!!!
I saw this posted on Facebook and felt that it summed up everything about the conclusion to Holy Week:
Yep, that's it, that's all. For believers such as myself, Easter is the most wonderful time of the year! That is because it is the conclusion of the prophecy foretold in the Old Testament: sure there's Christmas, which symbolizes His birth, and then there's Good Friday, which symbolizes His death, but without the Resurrection? There's no glory! And so it is the best part of the story!
Service was very lively on Easter; it was truly a celebration! The praise dance ministry danced along to the choir's singing and it was out of this world! Pastor Singleton preached a special message entitled "The Living Don't Belong Among the Dead." The text came from Luke 24:1-12. It is in that passage of scripture where we find the women going to the tomb to put spices on the body of Jesus. The women weren't seeking Him; they thought that they knew where to find Him. However, as we know, Jesus wasn't there...
Pastor Singleton noted that things are not always as they appear to be - Jesus appeared to be defeated, but He conquered death by rising again. When He rose, He left the tomb because the living don't belong among the dead. As believers, we are resurrected to newness of life. We were born again, not to fit in again; we weren't saved to go back among the world. Moreover, going to church is your covering for when you have to deal with the world (for those who think that they don't need to attend church).
So now for some real life application, right? I know that Easter was over a month ago now and you might be scratching your heads as to why I decided to post this message anyway. Well, I'm glad you asked! So just go with me here...
To sum up the image above and one of the main points of Easter weekend - a lot can happen in 3 days. Sometimes, all it takes is 3 hours! See, the Pharisees, the devil and his minions thought that they had won by crucifying Him. But the fact of the matter is this, the plan had been set in place from the beginning of time and He had already won. His resurrection was the physical manifestation of the sovereign power of God! The resurrection was the conquest of death and that is good news for believers because we already know the end of the story.
Now, I have to admit, I'm not always so good at having hope. Real talk? I've been beaten down so much that there are times when I just expect the worst so that I won't be disappointed. Which is a horrible, horrible way to see things, but sometimes that's how it is. There have been many times (too many to count) in the not to distant past that I have felt defeated concerning some situations in my world (just looking at the surface). But that's not where my story ends (thank God!). I will get a call, text, facebook message, read a post, a scripture or something that just speaks to my situation and it's like a match lit in a dark room. It's not a whole lot of light, but it is light. And in that light lies hope. When hope burns, then prayer and praise go up. And in 3 days (hours or minutes), what looked like a dismal and hopeless situation can be turned around! That's my testimony; too many times to count!
So can you holla @ Darvi and share your 3-day testimony with me???? I love hearing your stories, they speak light into my life. I have a lot to say, so get ready for the ride! Be blessed! xoxoxo
Well hello, blogland! Did you miss me??? I sure did miss you! We are well into the holiday season with Thanksgiving under our belts (or over depending on how much you indulged) and we are heading right into Christmas! I am recovering from either a very bad cold or a mild case of the flu; but at any rate, I am with you once again and very excited about beginning December! So let's see; here in Chicago we've already had our first snow of the year (November 21st) and it has melted away and now here comes the rain again (love that song by the Eurythmics, by the way! You can check it out here). I was in a fashion show (also on the 21st, I guess I did ok, that was WAY outside of my comfort zone!). I had a wonderful holiday, despite being sick, with my family: the parental units, my babies, my niece and great-nephew. I even cooked the whole dinner while being sick (now of course, there were several issues and we ate later than we ever have, but everything was good (or so they told me!)). Slept through that whole Black Friday thing - the sickness just took over! I had a relaxing Saturday - worked in the morning (yes, I went in on the weekend and while sick), had a great lunch at a local sports bar in University Village with a special friend, then had a quiet evening with a great movie. I did make it out the the local outlet mall on Sunday after church for some quick Christmas shopping (until the sickness took over again...). Believe it or not, it is officially December.
So I have several things going on in December, one of which I have referenced several times, that being my December Daily album. I am very excited as this is my first time doing one! The idea is that you slow down the chaos of this season and take the time to capture one story per day for the month of December. Intrigued? Not sure if I've shared this before, but I'll do it again just in case someone wants to join in. Check it out on Ali Edwards' website here. Those of us that scrapbook are using that medium to record our stories; but I think you could do it just in a journal too if scrapbooking isn't your thing - it's really about recording your stories. I am looking forward to doing it this year because this is a new season in my life (more about that in later posts) and it's time to create some new traditions! The second thing I have going this December is that I will be participating in a 31-day Scripture writing plan. Last year I did a 25-day scripture reading plan leading up to Christmas, but this year we'll be writing (I will be including this in my December Daily album). I will try very hard to share my stories and the daily scriptures here (sometimes that may be the whole post, I'm just saying). So... if you'd like to join in, the scripture passage for December 1st is: Isaiah 7:14-17.
Whew, that was a lot! Now onto the subject of this post! I missed church last Sunday and I was out of sorts the whole week (I did go to the Thanksgiving Eve service on last Wednesday night, but it just wasn't the same...). So I made sure to be up in the place on Sunday morning and it was such an awesome time! The choir was great and as usual, Pastor Singleton shared a timely message that I can carry with me this week. And as I so often do, I will share the gist of that message here with you. The title of the sermon was simply this: "It shall be well." Scripture text found in 2 Kings 4:18-37.
By way of background, the text finds us in the time of the prophet Elisha, who was the successor to the prophet (his mentor) Elijah. The text tells the story of the Shunammite woman who prepared a place for Elisha to live as he traveled back and forth. For her kindness, Elisha told her that God would bless her and her older husband with a son within the year. And so it came to pass. Later, the child died. The woman did not tell her husband that their child had died, but instead took him upstairs to the room she had prepared for Elisha and laid him on the bed. She then went out to the field, asked her husband for a donkey and a servant to go with her and said she was going to find the prophet. When her husband asked why she was going when it wasn't new moon or sabbath, she replied to him "It shall be well." She and the servant went to mount Carmel where Elisha was. When he saw her, he sent his servant Gehazi to meet her and inquire of her, her husband and her child. She replied, "It is well." When the woman reached the hill, she fell to Elisha's feet and Gehazi tried to stop her, but Elisha stopped him and said that her soul was in distress and the Lord had not told him what it was about. The woman's reply was: "Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?" Elisha immediately sent Gehazi with his staff to the woman's house to lay his staff on the child. Gehazi did so, but the child remained dead. When Elisha and the woman arrived at the house, Elisha shut himself up in the room with the dead child and prayed. Then he lay upon the child and the child's flesh warmed up. He then left the room, walked around the house, returned to the room and lay on the child again. This time, the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
Of course, this was a resurrection miracle of the Old Testament, similar to that performed by the prophet Elijah with the widow's son (you can read that story in 1 Kings 17:17-24).
So what are the lessons to be learned from this scripture passage?
1) in difficulty, you MUST believe that it shall be well; don't lose hope even if you can't change the current situation. Here, the woman's son was dead, she took him into the house and laid him down and only told her husband that she was going to see the man of God and It shall be well. She knew her son was dead and yet she still felt that it would be well. Powerful stuff!
2) keep a positive attitude - say (and believe) that "it is well" regardless. We can only get through this life one day at a time, so we should pray for God to help us through each day as it comes without worrying about days to come. We cannot figure out why God allows certain things to happen in our lives, but we have to learn to trust Him in spite of.
3) And here is the most powerful lesson of all: "It shall be well" is only for those who have faith and trust in God. I'm going to let that sit for a minute. When you look at it, it makes perfect sense. Of course we with our limited vision don't know what the outcome of situations in our lives will be. But He does. The question is whether you have enough faith to trust Him enough to believe that it shall be well whatever the outcome??? See, that's grown folks faith right there!
I have to admit that this has NOT been my strong suit. I'm a worrier by nature and there have been times that I've lost sleep (and weight and hair) worrying about situations that were outside of my power to change. It was only once I let go, gave them to God in prayer and believed that whatever the outcome it would be "well," that I saw those situations start to turn around. And when I say turn around, I mean in an instant! Because I daresay that God was just waiting for me to understand that He had this thing and to let go so that He could do what He does! What that actually amounts to is that "S" word that a lot of women don't like to hear - "submission." It also amounts to killing my flesh daily, seeking God's will everything and letting Him have His way so that it can be "well." I'm a work in progress, so I stumble (A LOT) but I am definitely learning.
I am in the midst of a major life change that I truly did not see coming, and I've been struggling to adjust to it. I let it go and then I picked it back up (the worrying) and yet God has still seen fit to take care of that too. I promise I'm going to put it down and leave it down! It is my testimony that God will send you what you need, even when you don't know that you need it. You just have to trust Him enough to give him whatever it is you're dealing with. I am thankful for my constant spiritually maturing each and every day!
So what say ye - have you reached a place in your walk where you can say "it shall be well" in spite of what it looks like at the moment? I dare you to submit it to God and allow your spirit to rest in knowing that it shall be well. Holla @ Darvi and let's talk about it! Be Blessed!
xoxoxo
