When you are down and just can’t seem to get up, remember what you know to do and what God can do. Remembering always gives me a different perspective and much hope. I pray remembering does the same for you.
Remember what you can do in From Pity Party to Praise and what God can do in Entertaining Angels.
Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me a word about prophecy (Joel 2:28-29).
Sometimes we just don’t believe God’s word. Oh, I know this because we have too much doubt. At least I know I do and saw this last night when talking to Casey’s mom in the church nursery. Casey is a busy boy who was playing with two of my busy boys and he almost fell on my youngest busy boy quite a few times. She kept correcting and redirecting him, as well she should, but I was hardly fazed and said, “I have three of them just like him.” “Wow. Three boys. I’m done. I took care of that.” I lingered on her wow and wowed with her, wondering, “How do I deal with them from day to day?”
Slowly her other words seeped in and I realized that she was telling me that she wasn’t having anymore children because she exercised her choice to take birth control. And I remembered that I had no choice to exercise my choice but had followed God’s choice to use my womb to bear His blessings for the world. All of that came out like “When you have boys you need a lot of grace and God gives me a lot of grace.” And she gave me five and said children are a blessing and together we chuckled and blessed the Lord for them. Our exchange had me thinking about the prophetess Anna and how she believed God’s word, not seen in my every day grace, but in her spirit and she acted like it.
And she [was] a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served [God] with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Acts 2:37-38).
At 84 years old, Anna’s regular routine was to serve God “with fastings and prayers night and day.” She made this her job so when Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the temple she knew exactly who He was, thanked God the Father for Jesus, and told people about Jesus. Yes she had the word that salvation would come through Jesus, and surely she recognized Him through prophecy, but I wonder if another prophecy sustained her:
And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
Between Jesus’ first and second comings, He said He would send His Spirit (John 16:7-15; Acts 1:8). Joel tells us that Jesus’ Spirit would be spread among Jews and Gentiles, and all groups—young and old and male and female—would have people who would speak forth divine words from God. I don’t know if Anna saw this partial fulfillment, but she knew that Jesus’ initial arrival was the first step to usher in His Spirit being poured onto all flesh. His Spirit would cause there to be pervasive prophesying among women, so much so that there wouldn’t be room for them to only speak in certain parts of the temple. Anna had seen God’s grace—first in her spirit and then with her eyes. She didn’t seem to shy away from her calling because she was a woman. Instead, she prophesied to everyone who wanted that redemption.
And I tell you, who want redemption to help you with busy boys, brutal bosses, an unkind husband or backbiting friends: you have God’s Spirit, and He may not have you prophesy to others but He has given you a word of deliverance:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Trust this word and believe that God will show up and show you exactly what He would have you to do to walk out your deliverance.
Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith
How about them apples? These are two that I found, faced-down, in a bowl of drying fruit, swiped by my 2-year-old Nate and then replaced because he knew he wasn’t supposed to have more fruit. This week, the child training challenge has been on. We talked with our 7 year old about standing up to bullies, even recognizing when they’re putting him down. We encouraged our fruitaholic to save us some apples; and we directed our 11 month old not to throw a tantrum and fists and get beastly with his baby talk when he can’t play with the phone or remote control. Frankly, Flynn and I don’t know what we’re doing. I’d like to tell Josh to give the bad boys a beat down, hide the fruit from Nate and block the baby in the corner, but none of this is godly behavior. We don’t know, but the omniscient one knows and I’m glad He does.
He knows that I feel helpless when Josh hurts from the words and I want to yell stop when Nate’s grabbing fruit and Justus is babbling beastly. God knows and sees all, and, like Hagar and how he has done for me before, he will show me what I need for my children—how to get it and how to give it. I am His child and He will take of me. He will take care of us. When I remember that God is omniscient, I live like I will know what to do even though I might not yet know what to do. This is the life I plan to lead, continually, along with embracing His daily grace and mercies. How do you live or plan to live in light of God’s omniscience? I look forward to your comments.
Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. smith
My heart has been heavy, and I am in utter disbelief, when considering that three Christian women I know got married this year without the blessing of their church. This wasn’t because the church discovered that their mates were sinful and forbade the women from marrying them. It was because the church wasn’t even afforded an opportunity to give wise counsel. These women courted and then took their vows without involving their church’s leaders. They didn’t receive marital counseling at their church, didn’t have the ceremony at their church and didn’t even invite the church leaders to their ceremonies. What’s wrong with this?
Well, I know each of these women could be typically classified as strong black women, believing that they are smart enough and know themselves well enough to make their own decisions, but this thinking is dangerous because it contradicts Scripture, particularly the “One Another” verses I discussed last week and those that tell us to submit to the spiritual authorities in our lives (Proverbs 11:14; 1 Peter 2:13, 18; and Hebrews 13:7, 17). And even if I didn’t know these scriptures, it’s hard for me to fathom choosing a church for my spiritual development and allowing those leaders to teach me from the pulpit, but not trusting them to help guide one of the biggest spiritual decisions of my life. But even with these women being typical strong black women and operating in a way foreign to me, I understand their move. They probably have had to make decisions on their own for so long and have encountered so many untrustworthy people, they simply did what they knew best—to be self-reliant.
They’ve encountered what the Bible calls talebearers, those who spread their business after they put their trust in these people. As a result, strife developed between them and the culprits, and the women suffered deep wounds. This has made them leery of people in general, but leaders in particular because of leaders’ job of guiding decisions and having to reveal “your business” to get you help if what you reveal will be harmful to you, minors or other vulnerable populations. And perhaps the leaders didn’t handle their business right. These women don’t want to be accountable to someone who they feel may harm them.
So often the strong black woman has made decisions without spiritual guidance because of untrustworthy leaders. This is a great dilemma but one that God has worked out for us: “It is better to trust God than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust God than to put confidence in princes” (Proverbs 118:8-9). Though He gives us people, especially leaders, to guide us, we must ultimately trust Him with the process He has given us. Though we must go to humans, as God’s representatives, we trust that God will speak to them and through them. And as the ultimate revealer of secrets, we must trust that God will reveal to us and our leaders what we need to live lives that give glory to Jesus Christ. This way of looking at trust is not easy, but it is better to trust God (His way) than to put confidence in man (our strong black selves).
Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith
Being controlling means not trusting. Whether we are a subordinate usurping our leader’s control or a leader abusing our subordinates, the bottom line is a trust issue. We may say that we don’t trust others to do the job the way we would. That’s why we tell them how to do it or we simply do the job ourselves. We may even justify speaking harshly to someone because that’s the only way we believe we’ll get results. We say we don’t trust others to respond properly, but we really don’t trust God with others; we don’t believe that God can, or will, direct them to behave the way we want them to. And we believe the way we want them to behave is the best way. If God has other notions we don’t always want to hear them, let alone allow them to be executed.
This is what I realized when God told me to call my sister (See ‘Lose Control’). I justified that it was too early even though the God of the universe, who knows everything, told me to call her. I didn’t trust God, my personal savior, to handle my life because I wasn’t allowing Him to be my lord (master). My pastor, Christopher W. Brooks, gave an excellent sermon on this very issue. Following are some excerpts from that message titled “Who’s the Boss,” which is part one of the series “The Master’s Plan for Your Life.” If you want the entire message go to www.evangelministries.org.
Thought One: “Most of us don’t fully trust God so we don’t submit to Him.”
Thought Two: “God never reveals His master plan for your life until you trust Him as the master of your life.”
Thought Three: whos-the-boss-clip
Copyright 2009 By Rhonda J. Smith