It shall be well!

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

I got a feeling...

Happy Friday, everyone!  I wasn't sure whether I was going to write again today after just writing yesterday, but, well, since I have something to say, here we are! 

We've been having our typical Chicago weather - warm one day, cold and rainy the next.  I've learned just to always dress in layers, keep an umbrella in my bag and even a light scarf because I never know what the weather will turn out to be and the forecasts are of no help (I still say that weather person is the only job where you could be wrong everyday and yet, still keep a job!  Try that if you wanna if you work at a bank or restaurant where your job depends on accuracy... just saying).  Anyway, I digress.

I'm feeling some kind of way.  Have you ever felt restless, anxious, excited and a little scared all at one time???  That's how I feel right now (for about the past week) and I'm not sure why.  Well, scratch that, I have a pretty good idea of why.  There's so much going on, that my head is on swivel! But, and let me clarify this, not in a bad way.  I think I am truly in shock and awe at how quickly things can change, ever heard the phrase "turn on a dime?"  Yep, that's my life right now.  (I paused for a moment because all of these old gospel songs just popped into my head; may have to boot up iTunes...).

So let me try to break this thing down outta my head and onto this page! 

Restless:  I feel restless typically when I feel something coming and I'm not sure what and I'm trying to wrap my little OCD head around it.  I also feel restless when I feel like I'm not doing everything I should or could be. 

Anxious:  Well, the OCD makes me anxious at times, but this is more than that.  Again, I'm feeling like something is coming and I want to be prepared but I don't know what I'm preparing for.  But I feel like I'm being urged to move and get things done, so, to manage this anxiety, I'm trying to get things done.

Excited:  I'm excited about a few things (my scrapbooking retreat for one and also working on December Daily for the first time ever!  I FINALLY found page protectors for my album and I just had to run out and get them this evening, so now I'm ready to start playing and planning my album.  Why did I have to have them this tonight?  Because I wasn't going to be able to rest until I had them...).  But as exciting as those things are to me, I know that they are not the true reason for my excitement...

A little scared:  I feel a little scared because I don't know if I'm prepared for what's coming...

Got it?  Of course not, I know that was as clear as mud!  Let's try this again, shall we???
I'm feeling some kind of way.  I'm feeling like I'm tap dancing on the edge of the biggest thing to ever happen to me, but I have NOT ONE idea of what it is!  A few weeks ago on new member Sunday at church (y'all know, but just in case you forgot - Victory Apostolic Church), each of us was given a rock with the letters "A.P." on it.  Ok, so I was kinda late that Sunday and had missed the Sunday before so I had NO clue what was up with the rock thing, ok???  Anyhoo, besides taking a group photo (which is currently hanging in the foyer of the church), we watched a testimonial video from some Victory members who had some severe life challenges but were there to share their victorious testimonies with us.  And then Pastor Singleton explained to us that we, the new members, were part of the original members prayers that the ministry would grow.  Accordingly, the rock was given to us as a tangible reminder of "answered prayers" and that perhaps we could share our answered prayers with the ministry.  How neat is that????  

A few months back while in my One-on-One Discipleship class, when we did the unit on prayer, our leader, Evangelist Harrison, told us we should pray some God-sized prayers but to make sure that they were specific and measurable so that we would know when God answered them.  Shoot, I started asking for miracles!  Seriously, I took out my faith journal, turned to the prayer section and wrote out several specific things I wanted God to do.  I also verbally prayed over those same things and told God that I wanted Him to work it all out in such a way that there was no doubt that He did it (there are some other steps to prayer, but that's not what we're talking about at this moment - just don't want anybody to get confused and think this is like rubbing Aladdin's lamp and the genie appears to grant your wishes - uh, not!).  I have consistently prayed the same prayers for the most part since then.  I also have some friends who have also been praying with me.  Nothing big happened right away, just a few little things.  But then things kept happening and they began to stack up.  I became hopeful. Then a few huge negative things happened all at once and they crippled me for a moment.  Just a moment though.  I got myself back on track, and I verbally and mentally submitted all of it to God.  And just like that!  I could feel the shift in the atmosphere and I've felt free ever since. And the little things have continued and gotten bigger and now they're starting to stack up to the point that I am speechless!  To the point that all I can do is chuckle and say, "I see you, God." 

Now, does this mean I have it all together and that everything I've been praying about has worked out?  Nope, not all.  Being human and prone to worry, when bad or threatening things occur I get panicky and I want to pick things back up and try to fix them myself.  But you know what?  I've already tried that and it didn't work.  So I figure I may as well try it this way.  I can't remember where I heard this, and I have heard it many times from many preachers, but I'm gonna share it with you here:  sometimes God allows things to happen in our lives that we don't understand and that we can't fix ourselves so that we have to submit to Him and so that He can get the glory.  I'm talking about stuff that seems impossible to our human eyes, He can turn that thing around in the blink of an eye! 

So my feeling?  I got a feeling that God has just begun to show up and show out over here and when He's done, my testimony will be one for the record books!  So it is with restless, anxious, excitement (that scares me just a little) I'm just waiting and praying.  And listening to those urgings (which I know is the Holy Spirit) as I get myself in position.  I got a feeling that my miracle is on the way!

The song that was in my head?  Dottie Peoples, "For my good," you can hear it here.  It so accurately describes what I'm experiencing in my life and maybe it will speak to you as well, whatever your situations.  Know that even though the devil meant it for bad, God meant it for your good and you will win!  Now take that with you over the weekend!

Wanna see my rock?  It sits on my dresser as my visual reminder that God is still answering prayer:

 

And now I've shared it with you!  

So how about you, blogland - have you ever just "had a feeling?"  Or is it just me???  Holla @ Darvi and let's talk about it!  I like to celebrate victories with other folks, because it confirms that He is still working... Have a blessed weekend and I'll see you on Monday!