I don’t know about anyone who might read this, but I sure
needed that reminder of my hope choice, this week. You see after my last post on Sept. 3, it was announced that my workplace organization is closing at the end of this
year. That means it is time for me to
find something new to do…to find a new way to pay for the expenses of
life. And how interesting that this
announcement came nine days after blogging about being led to stand… “Really Lord, how can I stand right now? I need to find a new job!” And His sweet, quiet voice, “Do you trust
me? Do you trust that you know my voice, and that I know
what I’m doing?”
It has been quite the time of standing, as I experience what He
brings my way. I’m exploring a fantastic
opportunity right now that presented itself by coming to me from a coastal
state. Yet I won’t lie…even with that
exciting potential option, I’ve been challenged in my faith.
Challenged to speak, think and live closely with my Lord – so close, in
fact, that I can do something against quick reason and logic. So close that I can simply stand and trust in
faith, as I listen and explore from this calm vantage point.
Early this
morning my phone was ringing in a dream... As I peered at my Blackberry, still in my
dream, I saw that ”Isaiah” was the
incoming caller. Right then I woke
up. I was puzzled. The only Isaiah I know is three years old and
doesn’t own a phone yet. As I made
coffee, I wondered about the dream… And then
as curled up on the sofa for my luxurious Saturday morning reading, I thought, “Maybe
God has a message for me in the book of Isaiah.” So I started reading in chapter one, praying,
“Lord, if you want to speak something to me from Isaiah, please show me what
you want me to know.” I was urged on and
kept reading, until I got to chapter seven, verse 9:
Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.
I stared at that verse, and some tears welled up within me...
It’s been hard to stand, even with a great opportunity
to explore, because, well, it takes faith – faith in the unseen...faith that my
Lord is real and knows what He’s talking about. It takes faith to know that He loves me and has my ultimate
best in mind. And that I'm talented enough for whatever lies ahead... No person would fault me
for moving around anxiously right now; I have good human reason to do so. But I don’t follow people – I follow Christ. So I stand, in faith.
And in faith we
choose to have hope, and sit in the chair called hope.
And as we do, His Spirit fills us with hope, and helps us to trust.
