You know that kind of dirt that is just old and crusty and doesn't yield much growth? It takes patience, rain, plowing, love and care to change the chemistry of that soil. After it has been healed, the soil is moist, dark brown and smells like earth. But it didn't get to that point without a little work.
Think of yourself as the old dirt. God wants to plow up the old crusty part of your life that isn't fruitful anymore and replace it with new, moist, healthy soil to plant good seed. God wants to take you higher than you've ever been before but you have to want it. The process may be painful but the fruit will be delicious. I want to encourage you to come into the newness of the spirit but you'll need the strength of God to get your through, not your own strength.
Last week, my husband and I had to take his truck in because it was like riding Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. For whatever reason, the tires we received a couple months ago shredded and needed to be replaced immediately. Each tire cost $360 and we literally didn't have the money to pay for it. We started scheming how we could use our credit cards and pay it off over the next two months so that our bank account didn't have to go into the negative. They called us the next day to come pick the truck up and on the way over, we got stuck in the turn lane that goes into the tire store. I was feeling a little frustrated with how 2016 has started out and exclaimed, "Why don't we just sit here in traffic until tomorrow and maybe by then God will send a check to pay the bill!" The traffic cleared, we parked and Jarrod went inside to pay the bill and get his keys. He soon came out to my window and explained that the bill had been already paid by someone else. I cried with joy and couldn't believe the grace of our God. Soon after you know I did a hand-to-forehead because I felt like such a brat for smart mouthing Him not two minutes before. He provided the person with the money to pay for the tires and he did it long before I threw my little fit. He's brilliant.
We left at the same time in our separate vehicles (Thank you God for two vehicles) and I soon realized driving home would be futile. It was that time in the day when the sun is DIRECTLY in your eyes and combined with a dirty windshield makes for a scary drive home. I stopped off at a gas station and text messaged Jarrod to tell him I'd be stopping at the strip-mall until the sun went down. He said he'd meet me there and we could go home after that. I got there and decided to go to the most inexpensive store available - The Dollar Tree - and was assaulted with this awful smell. Come to find out, they were re-tarring the rooftop and it was quite pungent. I got used to the smell, grabbed a few items and made my way to the register. At the register I was second in line and found the cashier literally bawling, bent over crying uncontrollably. I immediately had the feeling I should pray for her but also had the thought that praying for her would be really weird. As I'm waiting in line I'm having this inner battle:
"Do it!"
"Don't do it!"
"You have to!"
"You'll look REALLY weird."
"Who cares if you look weird? Ask her if she needs prayer."
"She's probably not even a Christian."
"Why would that matter? Go pray for her."
The manager came at this point and excused her for the night. I took this as my "get out of jail free" card and figured God was giving me an out. The manager did my transaction but the crying cashier stuck around a little longer. I asked what was wrong and she said the smell was making her sick and making her chest hurt really bad. She said she couldn't breath and that she was starting to feel achy all over. It sounded a lot like the flu to me but I'm no doctor so I didn't offer my thoughts.
As I swiped my card, I landed on the fact that I'd rather go pray for her and look stupid than walk away and regret not doing it. So I got my bags, walked over to her and said, "I know this might seem weird but can I pray for you?" She hesitated a second and then said yes. God gave me a prayer for her, I said it as I held her hands and when I was done, she stood up straight, looked at me with clear eyes and thanked me.
I was SO nervous to do this and it was something that is very outside my personality of never wanting to intrude on anyone. But do you know what? It. Felt. AWESOME! I had an immediate rush of adrenaline and the natural high from doing something outside my norm. Now I'm craving my next victim and I can't wait to improve. I didn't stay and ask her if she felt better because I was so shocked that I just said you're welcome and ran out! HAHAHA! Next time I'll stick around and talk to see if they felt anything AND I won't start off with "this is weird". LOL.
I felt like this whole experience with the truck and with this girl were part of God plowing up old soil in my life. I felt so new and alive that I can tell he's already changing me. It was scary and maybe I didn't handle everything the best but next time I'll know and I'll do better. Then when I get comfortable with that, he'll ask me to do something else outside of my neat little box. And next time I'll also remember that it'll be worth it during the process. Please use my experience as encouragement to act stupid for God. Ask him what he wants you to do and do it with courage. Go! Be idiots for Jesus! (That's me being an idiot---->)
Think of yourself as the old dirt. God wants to plow up the old crusty part of your life that isn't fruitful anymore and replace it with new, moist, healthy soil to plant good seed. God wants to take you higher than you've ever been before but you have to want it. The process may be painful but the fruit will be delicious. I want to encourage you to come into the newness of the spirit but you'll need the strength of God to get your through, not your own strength.
Last week, my husband and I had to take his truck in because it was like riding Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. For whatever reason, the tires we received a couple months ago shredded and needed to be replaced immediately. Each tire cost $360 and we literally didn't have the money to pay for it. We started scheming how we could use our credit cards and pay it off over the next two months so that our bank account didn't have to go into the negative. They called us the next day to come pick the truck up and on the way over, we got stuck in the turn lane that goes into the tire store. I was feeling a little frustrated with how 2016 has started out and exclaimed, "Why don't we just sit here in traffic until tomorrow and maybe by then God will send a check to pay the bill!" The traffic cleared, we parked and Jarrod went inside to pay the bill and get his keys. He soon came out to my window and explained that the bill had been already paid by someone else. I cried with joy and couldn't believe the grace of our God. Soon after you know I did a hand-to-forehead because I felt like such a brat for smart mouthing Him not two minutes before. He provided the person with the money to pay for the tires and he did it long before I threw my little fit. He's brilliant.
We left at the same time in our separate vehicles (Thank you God for two vehicles) and I soon realized driving home would be futile. It was that time in the day when the sun is DIRECTLY in your eyes and combined with a dirty windshield makes for a scary drive home. I stopped off at a gas station and text messaged Jarrod to tell him I'd be stopping at the strip-mall until the sun went down. He said he'd meet me there and we could go home after that. I got there and decided to go to the most inexpensive store available - The Dollar Tree - and was assaulted with this awful smell. Come to find out, they were re-tarring the rooftop and it was quite pungent. I got used to the smell, grabbed a few items and made my way to the register. At the register I was second in line and found the cashier literally bawling, bent over crying uncontrollably. I immediately had the feeling I should pray for her but also had the thought that praying for her would be really weird. As I'm waiting in line I'm having this inner battle:
"Do it!"
"Don't do it!"
"You have to!"
"You'll look REALLY weird."
"Who cares if you look weird? Ask her if she needs prayer."
"She's probably not even a Christian."
"Why would that matter? Go pray for her."
The manager came at this point and excused her for the night. I took this as my "get out of jail free" card and figured God was giving me an out. The manager did my transaction but the crying cashier stuck around a little longer. I asked what was wrong and she said the smell was making her sick and making her chest hurt really bad. She said she couldn't breath and that she was starting to feel achy all over. It sounded a lot like the flu to me but I'm no doctor so I didn't offer my thoughts.
As I swiped my card, I landed on the fact that I'd rather go pray for her and look stupid than walk away and regret not doing it. So I got my bags, walked over to her and said, "I know this might seem weird but can I pray for you?" She hesitated a second and then said yes. God gave me a prayer for her, I said it as I held her hands and when I was done, she stood up straight, looked at me with clear eyes and thanked me.
I was SO nervous to do this and it was something that is very outside my personality of never wanting to intrude on anyone. But do you know what? It. Felt. AWESOME! I had an immediate rush of adrenaline and the natural high from doing something outside my norm. Now I'm craving my next victim and I can't wait to improve. I didn't stay and ask her if she felt better because I was so shocked that I just said you're welcome and ran out! HAHAHA! Next time I'll stick around and talk to see if they felt anything AND I won't start off with "this is weird". LOL.
I felt like this whole experience with the truck and with this girl were part of God plowing up old soil in my life. I felt so new and alive that I can tell he's already changing me. It was scary and maybe I didn't handle everything the best but next time I'll know and I'll do better. Then when I get comfortable with that, he'll ask me to do something else outside of my neat little box. And next time I'll also remember that it'll be worth it during the process. Please use my experience as encouragement to act stupid for God. Ask him what he wants you to do and do it with courage. Go! Be idiots for Jesus! (That's me being an idiot---->)
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