Out of the Wilderness

It's odd how the Lord works. So often, He answers prayers in such unexpected ways that you can't help but chuckle a bit.

I don't know how much specifics I want to go into, but it is night-and-day different between how I felt a few days ago and today (see the previous blog). Most of that has to do with a little bit of what I mentioned at the end of my last blog: seeking the Lord, having friends to encourage and pray for me, trusting God in times of spiritual dryness, etc...

Well, here's the deal. God has been revealing Himself to me and I've found myself coming out of the wilderness and into His presence. Through time in the Word and prayer, He's grown me a lot. At the end of II Corinthians, Paul mentions a lot about his weakness and how God's grace allows His strength to be perfected in our weakness. Also, in the next chapter he challenges the Corinthians to examine and test themselves while reminding of a key element of faith that they've forgotten: Jesus Christ dwells inside of them. The same message extends to us, and I took it to heart. While waiting in the wilderness/wasteland in faith that God would reveal Himself, I realized how weak I was... I felt physically weak, my heart was broken and I felt emotionally weak, and I was so thirsty and hungry for the Lord that my spirit, too, was weak. Upon realizing this, accepting it as truth, and embracing the fact that I cannot stand on my own, the Lord began a work to strengthen me with His joy. He is continuing to take me through a process in which the more I accept the fact that I cannot live without His Spirit, the more joy and strength He provides through His Spirit. Also, Paul's message has challenged me to continue to examine and test myself: am I living a Godly life? am I asking God to fill me with His Spirit? do I have the right motives in the things I do? etc... As I test and examine myself, it challenges me to pass the tests. There's one catch, though, to pass the test, I MUST remember the all-important fact that Christ dwells within me. It comes back to living a life dependent on the Spirit Of God!

In addition to His lessons from the Word, He's revealed a lot through the wise counsel of friends. In my times of trials, there have been many people that have reached out their hands to lift me to my feet. In those people, I see the love and compassion of Christ. Even if they are not physically close to me, they are compassionate enough to lift me up to the Lord and care for me the best way they can: praying for me. On top of that, the Lord has given certain people the exact right things to say at the exact right moments. Through the words of a friend, I was able to gain a good and healthy perspective regarding certain things in my personal life.

Aside from that, God has addressed my community needs by showing me that community and His Body extend far beyond geographical limitations. Even though I am separated by many miles from some of my closest friends, they are only a phone call (or e-mail, or facebook message) away. Many of them have continued to pray for me, check in on me, and talk to me even in far away cities. I am sure that the prayers that my brothers and sisters are raising for me have a lot to do with the drastic change that the Lord has accomplished in me. So, experiencing this "far away community" has caused me to want to be there for all of you whom God has put in my life. I want to be available to pray for all my friends and anyone else who faces any trials and troubles. I want to love and care for those who need it in the best way I can: lifting them up to the most powerful being in the Universe, the Lord!

As far as the many family problems I've been faced with, the Lord is also reaching them. My uncle has decided to fight his cirrhosis by quitting alcohol and continually seeking medical help. Please, please continue to pray that he stays committed to this. He's also started to go back to church and attempt to live for the Lord again.
My grandma has fully recovered from her surgery, and my aunt is still in stable consition with her cancer. Also, my parent's haven't fought much, and have become more loving since I've asked many of my "Far away community" friends to pray for them. The Lord is a miracle worker, eh?

So, in the past few days, the Lord has done a lot in my life. After spending time in the wilderness and awaiting the Lord's lessons, He has taught me well. I no longer feel far from God nor do I think/feel that I am alone. I want to thank the people in my life who have been praying for me and keeping in contact with me. There are a few in particular who have gone above and beyond in their encouragement, prayers, and wordsof wisdom; so Rob, Ricky, Oleson, Rachael, Mikey, and Tredger, thanks for the calls and messages and really showing you care. There are many others who I'm sure are praying for me, whether I know it or not, and I want to thank you all too. Remember, everyone... My last blog post was only about three days ago, and the Lord has done a great deal of work already.

To let you all know, I still deal with pain and stress a lot, and everything is not completely fixed, but the Lord has definitely begun the process. Now, though, I am more confident in His strength. Please keep praying. Also, if you have prayers, get a hold of me; I want to pray for you.

I encourage anyone reading this, seek the Lord. Those who know Him, remember that Christ dwells within you. Continue to examine and test yourselves. Also remember, we are weak, but His strength is perfected in our weakness and His grace is sufficient for us.
Those of you who don't know Him, I'd highly recommend meeting Him. As you can see, He changes lives.

I hope that anyone who reads this can be encouraged and I pray that the lessons I've learned and shared here can reach someone else who needs to hear them. I've been incredibly blessed, and hopefully the same blessings (and more) can be passed on to my readers, too.