The Bible has over 300 specific prophesies about the coming savior of the world. Hundreds, even thousands of years before, details like:

He would come from a virgin birth, he would enter into Jerusalem on a donkey, he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, he would be pierced and crucified, he would be resurrected back to life.

The odds of 1 man fulfilling just EIGHT of the over 300 prophesies is statistically IMPOSSIBLE at 1 in 100 quadrillion. And that’s for only 8 of the prophesies. Jesus perfectly fulfilled each of the over 300 prophesies and details foretold.

Jesus is the Messiah. He is the savior of the world. He is the one angels spoke of. It’s our Jesus, and now we celebrate him! Make it about Jesus!!!!!

Read the Christmas story – Luke 2: 1-20

Vs 19: Notice what Mary did … “But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”

Scripture often uses the word heart to represent the center of our thoughts and emotions. As she saw her miraculous new born baby laying wrapped in a manger, kneeling next to Joseph and now these shepherds who have come revealing what the angel had said about her baby, she kept it in her heart. She’s sitting in the moment, noticing everything, recognizing this is a profound spiritual experience.

She’s seeing how God had worked through everyone and everything to make this happen. She’s noticing the divine alignment of every detail. She’s seeing how they had to travel at such an inconvenient time so she would be in Bethleham to give birth. She’s seeing how there had to be no room in the inn and the only place to lay her newborn baby would be a feeding trough, just as the angel told the shepherds he would be. She’s seeing how Joseph had every right and every reason to leave her when she mysteriously shows up pregnant, but God didn’t let that happen. God had aligned every detail, and now she’s sitting in the middle of those details, thinking about them and keeping them in her heart.

She’s amazed by God. She’s content, fulfilled, humbled, grateful.

And this is who we are called to be this Christmas. We’re called to be the one who notices the divine alignment of every detail in God’s work. Notice it. Sit in your moments and recognize the miracles in those moments. This does not require the presence or participation of another living soul … just you. Intentionally noticing. Noticing the beauty. Noticing the moment. Noticing the miraculous.

These days hold the potential for precious memories, but you miss those precious memories if you rush through them and focus on trying to make things perfect. Stop. Just be here. Be fully here. Notice.

It’s okay if the house gets messy. It’s okay if the kids get wild. It’s okay if everyone is still in their pajamas. It’s okay if dinner is served late. It’s okay if you eat dessert first. It’s okay. You don’t have to control it or fix it, just notice all the good there is to notice.

Notice the sounds. Notice the smells. Notice the flavor. Notice the sights. Notice the moments.

My sister, you’ve been missing entirely too many of your moments. Moments that held the potential for precious memories. Moments that were nothing short of miraculous. Don’t miss these!

Mary kept these things in her heart and thought about them often. It’s time to store up some beautiful things in your heart so you can think about them often.

Notice the beauty in the moment, as is. See the life that is unfolding in front of you, this is life that is passing and you’ll never get back.

My prayer for you today and the coming days as you celebrate the birth of our Jesus, is that you have intentional and on purpose Mary moments. That you remember this. That you slow down. That you pause. That you listen. That you feel it fully. That you store up that moment in your heart so you can think about it often.

Remember this, your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely. Don’t waste your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your life matters beyond measure … and it matters forever. You only get one shot at this thing called life … start noticing it as it happens.

Every time you hear or say Merry Christmas, think about a Mary Christmas. Mary, the noticer. Mary, the one who stored up precious and miraculous moments in her heart so she could think about them often.

We’re called to be the one who notices the divine alignment of every detail in God’s work. Notice it. Sit in your moments and recognize the miracles in those moments.

My friends, my your day be filled with Mary Moments, and may you have a Mary Christmas.

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Sometimes God’s blessings don’t exactly look or feel like blessings. Sometimes they feel like an inconvenience. Sometimes they look like an unwelcome change. Sometimes blessings come in the form of everything you think you want absolutely falling apart.

Mary had her life planned out. This little small town girl was engaged to Joseph, they were going to get married within the next year, they would then have a house of their own and start their little family. She would grow her own little garden, make perfect loaves of sourdough bread, and sew matching clothes for her family. That was the plan. It was a good plan and it was all coming together.

All her good plans were interrupted by a visit from the angel Gabriel. Out of nowhere, Gabriel delivers a message from God and basically says, “So, Mary – you are so favored by God that your plans are going to be wrecked. Before you get married, before you get your own little house and before you grow your garden, you’re going to be miraculously pregnant and have God’s son!” In a time when adultery was punishable by death, this did not feel like a blessing. This was a crisis.

Joseph would know there was no way this baby could be his, so he would surely leave her, then everyone would assume Mary had been unfaithful. Judgement would come. Punishment. Shame. There was no possible scenario Mary could imagine in her head that would make this socially acceptable.

Knowing how this looked and felt to Mary, here was her reply – Luke 1:38, Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

That would be easy to say if an angel has just told you you’re winning the lottery. Okay, LET IT BE! That would be easy to say if an angel had just told you the doors have been divinely opened to your dreams and it’s all going to happen for you. Yes, may it come true! But Mary has just been told her whole world is going to flip upside down. She will have a mysterious pregnancy no one will understand, which will likely mean she will lose her fiance, she will be shamed in public, and maybe even stoned to death. And to this Mary says, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

My friends, this is what really trusting God’s plan looks like. This is a picture of faith when it not only doesn’t make sense, but when it scares you to death. God, I trust you so much, I CHOOSE your way even when it’s the hard way.

There’s a song by Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood called “If It Was Up To Me”. It says:

If it was up to me,
there’d be no gravel roads
No wounds, no blisters on my soul
Pain might come,
but it wouldn’t come for me
If it was up to me,
I’d take the easy ride
But I’d miss the grace that changed my life
Thank God, I’m not the one in charge of things
I’d never know how good your plans could be
If it was up to me

You see, if it was up to me, I would have skipped every hard day I’ve ever had. But I would miss the extra sweetness of the good days. If it was up to me, I would have never gotten sick, I would have never lost a loved one, I would have never experienced pain in my most important relationships. But then these knees would have never hit the floor and I would have never known the power of my prayers. I would have forfeited my testimony, missed my calling, missed my purpose, and missed the lives I’m here to impact.

I’m sure Mary wouldn’t have chosen a mysterious pregnancy that would potentially ruin her relationships and her reputation, but she accepted God’s plan with tremendous faith. God, if you’re saying it, then I trust it. God, if you’re telling me this is a blessing, even when it doesn’t look like it or feel like it, I will receive it as a blessing and walk in it with gratitude.

God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true.

Whew – I’m not so sure I’m there yet on my faith journey, if I’m being honest. I still have my idea of what would be best. I still hold on to what a blessing looks like and when it doesn’t look or feel like a blessing, I tend to fight it. BUT I WANT TO GET THERE! I want to receive every inconvenience, every change of plan, every heartache and disappointment, every hardship and every delay, with grace and faith instead of doubt and complaining. I never want to whine again. I never want to be pitiful again. I sure want to be a whole lot more like Mary. I’m just not there yet.

But do you know how we get better? We see examples of who we want to be and how we want to live. Mary is our example. It’s easy to read this story, knowing what we know now, and think Mary was lucky to be chosen. Oh, but first, Mary’s entire world was flipped upside down and every plan she had stood to be sacrificed – YET she said, “God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Aren’t we all on a journey to that level of trust and faith? God, whatever you have for me in this season of life, I want to honor it and bring you glory. If it was up to me, I would miss how good your plans can be. Thank God I’m not the one in charge of things!

I’m assuming you’re a lot like me, in that you would prefer to just be perfect. Never fail, never mess up, never get it wrong. But then, you would never know God’s grace that accepts you anyway. Then you would be locked in a life of performance forever, believing every good thing in your life depends on you being perfect. You become a slave to performance. But thank God his plan allowed us to fail so we could taste the grace that meets us right where we are. Thank God we fell so we could meet the One who came and picked us up and taught us how to stand.

I would prefer to have absolutely no weaknesses. But then there wouldn’t be space for God’s power to work best in my life. Thank God I’m not the one in charge of things, I would miss the power of God every single day.

That song goes on to say:
Your ways are higher
Your ways are higher
You know what you’re doing with me
Your ways are higher
Your ways are higher
Put me where you want me to be

God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Put me where you want me to be. You know what you’re doing with me.

God knew what he was doing with Mary. His ways were higher. She trusted him.
God knows what he’s doing with you. His ways are higher. You can trust him.

What Mary didn’t know at the time was God was speaking to her fiance Joseph as well. Matthew tells us what was going on behind the scenes to take care of every detail. Matthew 1: 19-21, “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'”

So Joseph stayed with Mary when he had every right to leave. She didn’t get stoned. She was loved and cared for. She was right to trust God completely, because indeed, this was a blessing.

It was a blessing before it ever looked like a blessing. It was a blessing before it ever felt like a blessing. It was a blessing when it looked more like a problem and felt more like a crisis. The angel was right – Mary was favored! God’s ways were higher. He knew what he was doing!

And God still knows what he is doing. He can still be trusted in our real lives today. Blessings still sometimes look like problems and feel like crisis. But can you, in faith, say, “God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Your ways are higher. You know what you’re doing with me. Put me where you want me to be.”

If it was up to me, I would miss this – thank God it’s not up to me!

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Your feelings about a situation do not change God’s power over that situation. God is not limited by feelings. God is not limited by chances or odds. God is not limited by timelines or conditions. If God speaks it, it will happen. Done. Deal.

Your circumstances may not be telling you the truth. There could be sooooo much more happening than what you see. There may be an act of God Almighty happening in places you cannot yet see. You may not feel it yet, but your feelings do not limit the power of God.

Mary was a young teenage girl living in the tiny, forgotten town of Nazareth. Nazareth was nothing. It was miles away from a road and didn’t have a good source of water. No one important had ever come from Nazareth, and no one there had ever done anything great. This town had never been mentioned before.

I come from a small town like that. A small town where everyone knows who you are and what you’re doing. It’s the kind of town where you don’t see examples of anyone ever leaving or doing great things. So, I never dreamed of leaving. The jobs available in my small town were the jobs I imagined having. My mama worked at the only factory in town, so I assumed I would work at that same factory. The thought that God would have something different for me was completely foreign. I was a no one with nothing, and there was absolutely nothing special about me.

That’s what happens in small towns. You only know what you know, and you simply don’t know much. Nazareth was a town of only a few hundred people. Mary growing up in Nazareth meant she was a humble, small town girl, who likely never considered herself to be anyone special. But just because you don’t feel special doesn’t mean God doesn’t consider you special. Just because you never expected God to do something special for you doesn’t mean God isn’t already working in the unseen in special ways for you.

In Luke chapter 1, we’re unexpectedly introduced to Mary, living in her tiny country village. Verse 26-33, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, ‘Greetings favored woman! The Lord is with you!’ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end.'”

Mary was not expecting this. Her life was simple and uneventful. She likely spent her days doing laundry, sweeping dirt floors, helping her mother cook meals, training for her upcoming opportunity to have a house of her own once she married Joseph. She had never been told she was favored before. She had never been singled out and chosen. She had never dared to dream of anything different or bigger for her life.

Yet, here was this angel telling her the most unimaginable things. Telling her she was chosen to be a mother to a future King that would reign forever. But this didn’t make sense to Mary. How could this happen? She was a virgin, awaiting marriage to Joseph.

And what the angel is telling her is, “That’s why I’m here – to tell you that your limited circumstances are not revealing the truth to you, your conditions are not true, and what you feel doesn’t matter.”

You think you’re a nobody from nowhere with a very certain and limited future ahead of you, but God sent me to tell you there’s something happening that you cannot imagine!!!!

Yes, that’s what the angel was telling Mary. And that’s what I’m here to tell you today.

You may feel like a nobody – you may come from nothing – you may have never done anything great in your entire life – but God has so much more for you. You have been chosen for more! There are things happening in the unseen that you have not dared to imagine yet.

Why you? Because of God! God chose you! Ephesians 1:4, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” You see yourself as the girl that never quite seems to get it right – the girl who starts but always stops – the girl who gets in her head and gets stuck – the girl who says she will, but then she won’t – the girl who secretly struggles and feels flawed. BUT GOD SEES SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN YOU! God sees you without fault. Holy. Perfect for his good plans and unlimited power.

God sees the girl he has chosen for his blessings and favor. God sees the girl his power can work perfectly in. Why? Because you have areas of weakness. It’s not your perfection God is looking for – it’s your surrendered weakness. God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

All this time you felt like everything you couldn’t do and everything you could never be was your limitation – but God says that’s the perfect place for his power to work best! Girl, he chooses YOU!

You don’t have to be known by a single other person to be known by God. You don’t have to be considered special in any other way, for God to see there’s something special in you. And you don’t have to see what God is doing for God to be doing something! God’s power is not limited to your sight or your understanding.

What the angel says to Mary is impossible. It’s impossible for a virgin to have a baby. Mary knows that. But Mary also knows something else – Mary knows scripture. Mary knows the story of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis. (Yes, the story we’ve been studying together – Mary studied that.) She knows God’s words in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Mary also knows Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” And because she knows God’s word, she knows not only is it possible, but God has chosen her and his word will not fail!

If you know God’s word, my sister, you know God can do impossible things. He can show up in your personal circumstances and turn it all around. He can heal, he can restore, he can open doors, he can tear down walls, he can part seas, he can break chains, he can take down giants, he can move mountains, he can bring about victories. And that’s exactly what he does for ordinary people no one else even knows or sees.

He chose Mary when no one would have chosen her. He chose her as the mother to bare the savior of the world. He did it in impossible ways, foretold thousands of years before. And he found her in a tiny, forgotten village of a couple hundred people.

What you need to know is, God knows exactly where you are! He knows how to get to you. He knows how to show up in your impossible circumstances. He knows exactly how to bless you. Nothing can hide you and nothing can stop him.

Your circumstances may not be telling you the truth. There could be sooooo much more happening than what you see. There may be an act of God Almighty happening in places you cannot yet see. You may not feel it yet, but your feelings do not limit the power of God.

Mary woke up that morning like every other morning, assuming her life would unfold exactly as planned. But there was something so much more happening than what she knew and what she saw. You woke up this morning feeling like your life is quite predictable, maybe even boring and disappointing. But my sister, you don’t see what God is doing! You don’t feel it yet.

Am I saying you’re going to have a miraculous pregnancy? No (unless that’s what you’ve been praying for, and maybe!). What I’m saying is you have no idea of how God wants to use your life. You have no idea of what God wants to do for you. You’re not even aware of the doors God is opening, the impossible situations he is making possible, the future circumstances he is aligning just for you.

Why would he do that? Because he sees you. He knows you. And he CHOOSES YOU!

You’ve always been chosen. You’ve always been set apart. There are blessings and favor here just for you.

You may feel like a nobody – you may come from nothing – you may have never done anything great in your entire life – but God has so much more for you. You have been chosen for more! There are things happening in the unseen that you have not dared to imagine yet.

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The number 1 question I receive is, “How do I know God’s will for my life?” What they’re saying to me is, how do I know God’s voice? How do I know if that thought, or that feeling, or that stirring within is from God or from the devil?

Maybe you don’t trust yourself anymore. You’ve made so many wrong choices, acted on impulse chasing after the wrong things, that now you can’t trust yourself. That’s actually good. Coming to the place where you know that you alone can’t get this right is a great place to be. Knowing you’re not self-sufficient is a beautiful first step of a surrendered life. Knowing you can’t lead yourself is how you learn to follow Jesus.

But there’s one way to learn to trust your inner voice – let that inner voice be filled with God’s words. If it’s God’s word, then it’s not wrong. However, on a very practical level, how do you get God’s words to become your inner voice? ONE WAY, my friends, ONE SIMPLE WAY. The only way God’s word gets in you is to put it there. Read it, listen to it, study it.

The more you read God’s word, the more his word gets in you. The more his word is in you, the more you will hear his voice.

Think about it like this – what is someone’s voice? It’s the words they speak, right. So if you want to hear God’s voice, you’re looking for his words. The Bible is filled with God’s words! This is how you get his voice.

How do you know God’s will for your life? You read his word. How do you come to know the difference between a thought or a feeling that comes from God verses the ones that come from the devil or your own imagination? You read God’s word and learn what his voice says. That’s how you’ll recognize it.

If you’ve been listening to me very long, you know my voice. You know the things I say. You know the words I use. So, if you were to read this devotional instead of listen to it, you would still know it was me. You would even read it in your head with my voice. You’ve heard me say, “Good morning, Beautiful” so many times that now when you see it on a coffee mug, you’re like, “Oh, that’s Pamela!” You recognize me now because you know my words.

If you know God’s words you’ll recognize him. Plain and simple, there’s no other way to know God’s voice.

When people talk about, “Well, the Lord told me this or that …” there’s a filter to put that through – Does that sound like God? If someone says, “Well, the Lord told me leave my husband and chase after yours”, I know that’s not from God because it doesn’t sound like God. How do I know what God sounds like? I READ HIS WORD!

Even on days when I feel like the words I’m reading don’t make sense or don’t apply to my life right now, I’m learning God’s voice. Nothing is wasted when it comes from him.

So, let’s be clear – if you’re questioning how to know God’s will for your life and how to hear from God, the answer is you get to know his voice. His voice is the words he speaks, and our Bibles are a written transcript of his words. And while you may not be able to open your Bible to the exact answer to your questions and see in black and white what your next step is, you’re learning to recognize his voice. And once you recognize his voice, then you start noticing those thoughts, those feelings and those little stirrings you sometimes feel are actually God speaking directly to you.

You’ll miss them if you don’t know his voice. And you only know his voice by reading his word.

Before you can hear it, sense it or decipher it, first you have to read it. Oh I know, you want to HEAR God speak to you, but you don’t want to READ it. Well, my sister, you’re not going to hear it until you read it. Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart.” The person who has hidden God’s word in their heart is the person who can then hear from God and know for sure it’s him.

Of course the enemy of your soul would prefer you NEVER tap into knowing God’s voice. That’s why he fights so hard to keep you distracted and busy. That’s why you find it so hard to sit down and read your Bible. There are divine words in there for you, and those words are your weapon against the devil.

Here’s the weapon most of us don’t realize we have – When we pray God’s words, we are affirming who God is and what God says as an offering of faith to God, as a reminder of truth to ourselves, and as a block to the enemy.

Do you realize you have all the right words to pray IN YOUR BIBLE! You don’t have to conjure up words on your own – just repeat what your Father said. If you’re praying for someone who is sick, what does God’s word say about healing? If you’re praying for how to pay the bills, what does God’s word say about his provision? If you’re praying for your children who are struggling, what does God’s word say about his guidance and protection? PRAY THE WORDS OF GOD!

Which words – what about the words of Paul? What about the words of Abraham? What about the words of David or the words of Moses? YES. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us “All scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” How is that? We’re learning his voice!

Pray the words in your Bible. You already have the words. Pray his words.

In the book of Ezekiel is the coolest example of this. The Lord takes Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones become living people again?” Ezekiel replies, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.” Then, God said to Ezekiel, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, LISTEN TO THE WORD OF THE LORD! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’

So, here’s what Ezekiel did – HE SPOKE GOD’S WORD to the valley of dry bones. Not his own words. God’s words. Suddenly as he spoke God’s words, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together.

To the cancer, to the sickness, to the pain, to the illness, you speak God’s word. Isaiah 53:5, “By his wounds we are healed.” Jeremiah 30:17, “God will give you back your health and heal your wounds.” Psalm 103: 2-5, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.”

To the depression and anxiety, you speak God’s word. Isiah 26:3, “God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Philippians 4: 6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

For protection, Psalm 91:11, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.”

For your children, “Isaiah 44: 3-4, “I will pour out my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on the river bank.”

I’m currently making a written prayer journal with each individual name and prayer request on it’s own page. Then I will write GOD’S WORDS concerning that person and situation. Instead of only praying my own words, I will pray God’s words first. I will declare his promises and his truths.

My friends, this is what we’re called to do. We’re called to stand in the gap. There’s a battle going on, and it’s a spiritual battle. We are called to be intercessors and pray in that gap.

That’s what Abraham did. In our study of Genesis, we come to chapter 18 and see that an entire city had gone absolutely vile in corruption. The city is Sodom. The Lord heard the outcry about the wickedness there. So God declares he himself is going to do something about it. Abraham intercedes for his nephew Lot who is there in that city. And he says to God, “Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city – will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes. Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

Abraham is boldly reminding God of who he knows him to be. Abraham knows God does what is right. He is a just God. He cares about his people.

And God agrees and says, “If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”

Keep reading because Abraham keeps praying. It’s such an amazing story and example to see how we are to pray with bold belief in God’s word. Abraham’s prayers of intercession, saved the life of his nephew Lot.

Effective prayer doesn’t just act as a passive spectator in what God does, but it participates WITH GOD. Stop just tossing wishes to Heaven. Be specific with God. Speak his promises and his truth. Stand in the gap with his word. This is intercession.

How do you know God’s will – you read his word.
How do you hear God’s voice – you read his word.
How do you pray effective prayers – you pray his word.

We don’t have to make up a single word on our own. It’s all here for us.

It’s what Jesus did. Did you know when Jesus is hanging on the cross, he’s praying. And his prayers are actually scriptures from the Old Testament. He knew God’s word. He had read it, studied it, hid it away in his heart. And now, on the cross he’s praying it.

What would Jesus do? He would be in God’s word!

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There’s two sides to every coin. Just because the coin lands on heads doesn’t mean tails no longer exists. They’re both there. They co-exist together, heads and tails.

God sees your situation much like a coin. There are two sides to it. The two sides co-exist together. Now, he’s asking you to see the two sides and trust him with the flip.

Hold on to that, because we’re coming back to it. An ah-ha moment is just a few minutes away! Know there are the two sides and trust him with the flip.

We’ve been studying the story of Abram and Sarai, the old couple never able to have children. For 25 years, Abram has waited for God to fulfill his promise of future descendants. In Genesis chapter 17, God gives them each a new name. Abram becomes Abraham, which means the father of many nations. And for Sarai, she becomes Sarah, which means “mother of nations.”

Now, with new names given by God at the age of 100 for Abraham, and 90 for Sarah, they are visited by 3 men. And what they didn’t know at the time was, these 3 men weren’t just strangers wandering through their town, it was the Lord and 2 angels.

Genesis 18, starting in verse 10:

“One of them said, ‘I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!’

Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself and said, ‘How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my husband is also so old?’

Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.'”

Hmmmm, did you catch that? Verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

The Hebrew word used here for ‘hard’ is hă-yip-pā-lê. Is anything too hă-yip-pā-lê for the Lord? Too hard.

Maybe you’re facing a situation right now that seems too hă-yip-pā-lê. Instead of getting better, it’s getting worse. It’s too far gone, too broken, and too late. Too hă-yip-pā-lê. Too hard.

But this word, hă-yip-pā-lê, too hard, has another meaning. We find this same Hebrew word in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Your works are hă-yip-pā-lê, I know that full well.

hă-yip-pā-lê means too hard on one side of the coin, but on the other side it means wonderful!

Same word, same coin, both are true.

If it’s too hard, on the other side of it is something wonderful!

Abraham and Sarah having a baby at their age with her old womb was too hard … and it was wonderful! God flipped that coin and gave them a wonderful miracle.

Let me tell you, God can do that! Whatever hă-yip-pā-lê you’re facing at the moment is too hard for you alone, but on the other side of it is something absolutely wonderful.

When you’re on the side of the coin that is too hard, know this – When you’re not okay, God is still good. God is good even if your heart hurts, even if your whole world seems to be breaking. God’s goodness doesn’t depend on your situation. You can continue trusting him despite your circumstance. He is still good even when life is not.

Wonderful is on the other side of this, and God can flip it at any moment.

hă-yip-pā-lê too hard – hă-yip-pā-lê wonderful. God is the God of both sides of that coin.

There’s a saying I love that says: I asked God, “Why are you taking me through troubled water?” He replied, “Because your enemies can’t swim.” Your enemy can’t survive the part of this that’s too hard.

Your pride can’t swim in those trouble waters. Pride drowns in this hardship.

Your self-sufficiency will be found insufficient, and it will be left in these troubled waters.

Your plans can’t swim. They’re dropping to the bottom.

Your money doesn’t save you and your good looks won’t help you in these waters.

The story you tell and the fake facade you’ve built around you are washed away here.

These are all your enemies. The things you’ve battled from within. And God takes you through this troubled water because your enemies can’t swim. It’s too hard hă-yip-pā-lê here in this troubled water by design. What’s the design? So you can walk out of this trouble free of everything that has been holding you back, everything that has been eating at you from the inside, and you can experience God’s hă-yip-pā-lê, his wonderful!

You don’t have to hate the hard seasons, on the other side is something wonderful.

Abraham and Sarah had experienced the hard side of the coin for years and years and years. And now, here’s God telling them, a year from now, I’m coming back to visit you and Sarah will have a son! This coin is flipping, and on the other side of what has been too hard for all this time, is something wonderful.

Let me tell you what happened 3 chapters later. Genesis 21: 1-2, “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age.”

The coin had flipped. Same coin, just a different side. What had been too hard became absolutely wonderful. And it was more wonderful because it had been too hard for so long.

I have a few coins in my life that seem a little too hard right now. But I know on the other side of them is something wonderful. So you know what, I won’t hate them, I won’t waste them, I won’t allow them to make me miserable. I will treasure them knowing the time will come for them to flip!

I also know this, I hold a few flipped coins already. Things that were once too hard, but now God has flipped them and made them wonderful. I’m the girl who was left unable to walk or talk after a massive brain stem stroke. The odds of fatality for that type of stroke are 70-80%. And if you survive, you’re left forever changed. Against all odds, I survived what was too hard. And I am forever changed! I simply can’t look at a new day of life the same, and I can’t waste it! I’m living on the wonderful side of that coin. God flipped it!

Look at your coins today. Aren’t you already on the other side of things that were once too hard, and against all odds, God has made them wonderful? Give him praise! Look what he has done!

And for those coins in your life that are still on the “too hard” side of hă-yip-pā-lê, remember there’s another side. There’s a wonderful on the flip side.

Just like there’s a heads and a tails on the same coin, there’s a too hard and a wonderful in your life. You can trust God with both.

Open your hand, surrender your timeline, and let God take this situation. When God enters the scene, miracles happen. And my sister, he has promised to enter your scene!

Too hard and wonderful – know there are two sides and trust God with the flip.

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When God moves, a shift takes place. Heaven responds. Mountains start moving. Seas start parting. Walls start crumbling. Chains start breaking. When God moves, impossible becomes possible. It happens in an instant when God moves. However you and I do not know when God will move. We don’t know his timing. We don’t see the timeline of his plan.

It’s not our job to understand when or how – it’s our job to know WHO. Who will do this? God will. When? No idea. How? No clue.

When life feels uncertain, God is in control. When you feel forgotten, God’s eye is on you. When it feels too late, God knows the time.

Isaiah 60:22, “At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.” So, it still hasn’t happened for you? Then my sister, it’s not the right time yet. But when the right time comes, God will move and everything you’ve been waiting for will go into motion.

What God has for you, is for you. You can trust his timing. You can trust his plan. You can trust his move.

And let’s be clear – this is God’s move, not yours. You can’t force this – atleast not the really good stuff. You can force the lesser than, imitation version of this. You can cut corners and jump through loop holes to find something you could settle for faster. But if you want the best stuff from Heaven’s storehouse, then you must wait for God’s move. He will make it happen, and he will make it happen at the RIGHT time.

When Abram was 75 years old, God promised to give him so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted. Wooohoooo, a word from the Lord. A promise to hold on to! That’s fantastic.

Then, nothing.

10 years later, now at 85 years old, the Lord speaks to Abram in a vision. He takes him outside and says to him, “Look up into the sky and count he stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Another promise followed by nothing actually happening. In this desperate wait is when sad and sick hearts make bad choices and create messes with a servant girl named Hagar and her baby. Abram and his wife were willing to settle. They were willing to accept a baby any way they could get it. But that was not God’s plan.

Right now, maybe you’re willing to settle. You’re so tired of waiting that you’ll take a “good enough” version you can have now and sacrifice God’s best that you still can’t have. I’m so grateful God knows his girls. He knows our tender hearts. He knows our loneliness. He knows our minds that so easily play tricks on us, putting lipstick on pigs and creating fixer upper situations that would be a disaster. And he covers us with his grace.

GRACE TO WAIT FOR GOD’S BEST.

Father, close the doors I would so easily run through that lead to the second rate version of your plans for me. Block the way that leads me to my plans and guide me to the narrow path that leads me to yours. Help me to wait patiently for your move.

Patient waiting isn’t just about what we get at the end of the wait, it’s about who we become in the waiting. This is where God molds us. It’s where we find joy in the simple things as we wait on the big thing. It’s where we find that actually God is enough.

After Abram waited for 10 years and God shows him the stars in the sky that number his future descendants, guess what miraculous thing happened next. Go ahead and guess. Guess how God moved. Guess how everything changed in an instant. Guess how 10 years of waiting became worth it.

It didn’t. Nothing changed. Abram received a renewed promise of children and still nothing changed. No move from God.

In fact, following along in Genesis 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, Abram didn’t hear from God again for 15 years. It’s now been 25 years since God first told Abram of his promise over his family and his future. All this time, God could have moved, the wait could have ended, and Abram could have received his blessing. Abram had been faithful. He had been patient. He was the recipient of God’s divine covenant, covered in a promise God would never break, yet here Abram was waiting in the silence of God.

God says, “I heard your prayers, now trust my timing.” And he’s actually saying that to YOU today. You’re so quick to say, “I just never hear from God.” But, honey, you just did. He’s responding to you right now. I HEARD YOUR PRAYERS, NOW TRUST MY TIMING.

I once put God on my timeline. I kept making deals with God to bring an end to my wait. What was I waiting on? I was waiting for my family to be healed, whole and together. I was waiting for the prodigal to come home. I was waiting for everything to be made right again. I would get my hopes up for a specific timeline, and it wouldn’t happen, so I would continually extend the timeline. “God, by next month.” Okay, not next month, God, by Thanksgiving.”

This timeline of mine continued for several years with things only seemingly getting worse. Then one day, as I was studying the story of the crippled man who had been laying at the Pool of Bathesda seeking his healing for 38 years, I finally heard from God. And what God said to me was, “Pamela, take me off your timeline.”

But you see, my timeline was all I had to look forward to. My timeline was holding me together. The hope that maybe by next Christmas my family would be healed, whole and happy. And God said, “Would you trust me for 30?” The sound of 30 was sweet to me. 30 days – God’s going to move in 30 days! You bet I’ll trust you for 30, Lord. Then, he revealed to me 30 years. “Pamela, will you trust me if it takes 30 years? Will you still choose joy on the journey if it’s 30 years? Will you refuse the invitation of misery and pity and waste absolutely zero of the days I give you if it takes 30 years for your family to be whole, healed and happy?”

That day I said yes. I chose to trust God in the wait. I chose joy over misery. I chose faith over fear. I chose my attitude, my perspective, my heart posture, and my praise. I will wait. If it takes 30 years, I will wait. It’s been nearly 7 already – how much longer do I have to go? I don’t know … I released my timeline.

Isn’t that what God is asking of you? Release your timeline. Surrender it. God will do it when the time is right. Meanwhile, he’s going to do an amazing work in you!

Genesis 17:1, “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddi – God Almighty.'”

El-Shaddi means God all-sufficient. Sheddah is where we get our word shed. It actually means to pour out. God is telling Abram, I am the God who pours out blessings. What is in God sheds onto us, pours out over us. His power, his blessings, his provision, his anointing.

At 99 years old, after 25 years of waiting, and 15 years since he last heard from God, Abram hears, “I am El-Shaddi.” I am all-sufficient. I will pour out my blessings on you. “I am God Almighty.” In Greek, that is pantokrator, which means ‘one who has his hand on everything.’ Abram, I have my hand on you, I have my hand on your future, I have my hand on the empty womb of your wife.

After all these years, God still had a plan, and that plan would unfold perfectly under the hand of the Lord when it was time. It was true for Abram in his wait – it’s true for me in my wait – and it’s true for you in your wait.

Here’s the truth about the timelines you try to put God on – God is bigger than that! He’s already way ahead of your timeline. He’s gone before your suggested time and beyond your suggested time, and he knows exactly what he is doing. He will bring the time to pass, and you can either experience that time being miserable, or you can experience that time choosing joy. Joy knowing God is always working. Joy knowing even when you don’t see your circumstances changing, there’s something inside of you changing.

When it’s time, it will happen and God will do it. God will move, and there will be a shift. Heaven will respond. Those mountains will start moving. Those seas will rise up and begin to part. Those walls will begin to crumble. Those chains will fall off in pieces. God will move and suddenly the impossible will become possible. The prodigal will come home. Hearts will be forever changed. Healing will happen. Love will be found. Arms will be filled. And those surrendered timelines will be fulfilled in God’s perfect timing.

This is Christmas #6 without our family together, and God has given me an overflowing Joy. What will next year look like? Well, that’s not mine to know, to manage or to worry about. It’s been given to God. That’s his timeline. I trust he knows what he’s doing and he will do it when it’s just the right time.

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Do you ever feel like you’re not the main character in the story? Like God’s promises aren’t for you? Like the good plans don’t include you? Like you’re left on the outskirts watching everyone else get their turn and their blessings?

My sister, I want to tell you the truth about YOU, and if you will receive it, it can change that deep feeling of unworthiness you’ve always battled. This truth can heal that broken place within you that makes you feel like you’re never good enough. Here’s the truth about you – God’s eye is personally on you. You are chosen. You are special. You are seen. You are set apart. There are blessings specifically for you. Your name is known and his plan for you is sure.

I encourage you to look up Jeremiah 1:5 and read it in several different translations.

MSG – “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.”
TPT – “I had divine plans for you before I gave you life, and I set you apart and chose you to be mine.”
AMP – “Before I formed you I knew you and approved of you as my chosen instrument.”
GNT – “I chose you before I gave you life and before you were born I selected you.”

You know what this tells me – it tells me it was never up to you to get chosen. It was never about your performance or your success. If God chose you before you were even born and set you apart for his holy plans and approved you as his chosen instrument before you ever took your first breath, that means you were good enough in the mind of God from the very beginning. It means you have always been worthy because God designed you as worthy. Situations and circumstances do not determine your worth, DESIGN determines your worth.

God designed you as worthy.

You are the main character of God’s plans for your life. Every day of your existence is covered in the personal promises of God. If you’re on the outskirts, honey, it’s because you’re sitting where you don’t belong. You are seen, known, chosen, set apart, approved and loved. Nothing about that tells me you’ve been overlooked or dismissed. You may feel unimportant, but your feelings are not fact. They are fickle. Stop being led by feelings and be led by what God says about you.

Let me tell you something, the day you stand up with some fire in your eyes and courage in your gut and declare, “God has good plans for me!”, everything changes.

Within the well-known story of Abram and Sarai awaiting their promised baby from God, is an unlikely character. A servant girl named Hagar. She has no home of her own, no family of her own, no big plans for her future. She seemingly just belongs to Sarai as her servant. But Hagar belongs to God! While her positioning seems less important, she is of tremendous importance to the God who created her and chose her. He sees her. He hears her. And he has good plans her.

Hagar got caught in the middle of Sarai’s bad idea born from a sick and broken heart. Sarai so desperately wanted her promised baby that she steps in and tries to help God. Anyone else ever try to “help” God? I mean surely God has his hands really full trying to handle the problems of the whole world and he would appreciate my help with my problems. I’ll just help myself and save God the trouble.

You’ve heard it said, “God helps those who help themselves.” Hmmmmm, totally NOT in your Bible. For real, that’s not at all scriptural. God helps those who call on him, those who trust in him, those who are hurting and weak. NOT THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES. Those who help themselves instead of seeking God’s help create messes. The self-sufficient eventually become self-destructive. Why? Because self-sufficient is sin. It is not God’s will for you to make anything happen on your own.

Sarai decided to make that baby happen with her own plans, so she talks her husband, Abram, into sleeping with her servant, Hagar. Abram agreed, but Hagar had no say in this arrangement. It wasn’t her plan. It wasn’t her desire. It became her assignment by the people she worked for.

So, to the delight and scheming of Sarai, Hagar the servant girl becomes pregnant by Abram. But then guess what happens? Jealousy! Envy! Competition! We have a girl quarrel over God’s blessings.

Genesis 16, starting in verse 4, “When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.” (Hagar became proud and treated Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility. She basically flaunted the fact that she was the pregnant one. Finally, for the first time, Hagar was someone important, and she didn’t handle it well.)

“Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong – you or me!'”

“Abram replied, ‘Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.’ Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.”

Hagar seems to be the secondary character in a story that was never about her. She was just used and mistreated. And now she is pregnant with a pride issue, running through a desolate, dry wilderness. She has no food, no shelter, no plan, no rescue. This wasn’t her idea, but she’s caught in the middle of the mess.

And this woman, this seemingly unimportant, lesser-than woman who no one was willing to rescue or help, was the very first woman in the Bible to be visited by an angel. The first time we ever read of God sending an angel to help someone is right here!!!! Verse 7, “The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?'”

“‘I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,’ she replied.”

“The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.’ Then he added, ‘I will give you more descendants than you can count.'”

What an unlikely character to be the first to be visited by an angel. A seemingly unimportant, secondary character in a story which wasn’t her own, receiving God’s personal love. And what this angel reveals to her is her lack of plans does not mean God doesn’t have a plan for her. He says to her, “Where have you come from and where are you going?”

Imagine her answer. Her answer is, “I’m coming from an unfair place where I’m mistreated and unimportant. I’m going anywhere but there because I can’t stand that woman I work for. I’m wandering. I’m desperate. I’m likely going to die out here with my unborn baby.” And the angel reveals God still has a plan. A plan that includes specific blessings for her and her future. Go back, you are going to be blessed with more than you can count.

Hagar was always important to God. This servant girl was so important that God would see fit to send the first visit by an angel to just her. Her, in the wilderness. Her, while she’s running away. Her, after her pride swelled up and she said things she shouldn’t have. Her, pregnant and desperate. Hagar was always seen by God and now she knows it. Verse 13, “Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.'”

A woman who had never felt seen her whole life now knows she is seen by God. A woman who was always the secondary character in a story that wasn’t hers, now knows God has plans for her. And that changes everything.

God sees you. Yes, YOU. He knows exactly where you are. He knows the mess you’re in. He knows if you’ve been mistreated, used, discounted, or left out. He knows if maybe you’ve been wrong too, and that doesn’t make him turn away from you. He knows if the story you’re living isn’t the story you have even chosen for yourself. And because he sees you, you can know he has a plan for you.

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU.

A plan that confirms you are set apart. These are holy plans. Divine plans. God has approved of you as his chosen instrument, selected before your very first day.

May today be the day you stand up with some fire in your eyes and courage in your gut and declare, “God has good plans for me!”

This is where things change!

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Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you couldn’t get it? Have you ever desperately longed for something to change, but it still wasn’t changing? Your whole body begins to ache. When there’s this one thing you truly want but it’s left unfulfilled, eventually even the good areas of your life have a dark heaviness over them. When what you’re hoping for isn’t happening, you hurt. That’s natural. You’re human.

Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Meaning when what you hope for is continually delayed, your heart becomes sick. And my sister, when your heart becomes sick, you are in danger of doing really stupid things to make you feel better.

Have you ever done something you knew wasn’t right, but it was the only way you had a chance of getting what you wanted? You cheated. You twisted things. You ran right through the caution tape and ignored every red flag. You rushed it. You forced it. You got your way. And your way ended up being a mess. You were temporarily happy, then sorely disappointed.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and a sick heart is very susceptible to bad choices. Desperation is not a place from which to make plans for the future. Desperation is a place for your knees to hit the floor and seek God. Your heart cannot be trusted here, but God’s can.

Let’s continue our study of the book of Genesis, picking up in chapter 16. Abram and Sarai are now in their 70’s and 80’s and they’ve never had children. Back then, being barren was a social stigma. You were looked at with curious eyes, wondering why you were being punished. If you weren’t blessed with children for your lineage, then surely you were cursed. Cursed for what, became the question everyone had when they looked at you. Surely you had some sort of hidden sin, some sort of disobedience to bring this deep shame upon you.

Everyone knew Abram and Sarai had prayed for a baby, and as the years went on and on and on, it was an added shame to know God wasn’t answering them. Sarai felt cheated. She felt punished for some unknown sin she didn’t know how to fix. All she had hoped for was a baby, and now at 76 years old, her heart had grown sick from all that hope being deferred. Waiting and waiting until now, all hope was gone. It was too late.

Hopeless. Heart broken. Sick-hearted. Desperate. And susceptible to any idea that might fix her problem and change the situation. Again, this is a dangerous place to be.

So Sarai gets an idea. An idea born from a sick heart. Genesis 16: 1-2, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.'”

That’s a broken sick heart talking. That’s an idea born from a place of brokenness. And it was a bad idea.

Abram sleeps with his wife’s servant, and that woman does become pregnant. What follows is straight out of a Jerry Springer episode. Chaos. Drama. Division. Jealousy. Disaster.

Why? Because a sick and hurting heart was bearing ideas and making the decisions.

If you’re in a place of dark hopelessness, hurting because what you’ve wanted simply isn’t happening, please know this – God wants to hold your heart. He wants to heal your heart that has become sick from the continual delay of what you’ve been hoping for. And he CAN HEAL THIS. Somehow, someway, he will make this okay.

Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” We are the sheep and he is the good Shepherd. We desperately need him to bandage our wounds and heal our hearts. If your leg were broken, I wouldn’t judge you because you’re walking with a limp. So my sister, if your heart is broken, there’s no judgment for past choices made in your hurt. There’s healing for that.

You can trust God with this. You can trust his plan. You can trust his way. You can trust his timing.

You can’t trust your own. Not when your heart is sick and hurting.

Psalm 55:22 TPT, “Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.”

Can you believe that could be true for you? Could you receive God’s measureless grace to fill these holes and somehow bless you in this reality?

God’s grace is his undeserved favor, love and divine assistance. It’s his involvement in the details of your life. God’s grace makes impossible things possible, it makes dark things to be filled with his light, it turns Hell’s intended harm into Heaven’s good. Grace turns barren wombs into future mothers, long waits into destined timelines, broken relationships into stories of redemption, and sick hearts into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

My sister, whatever you’re waiting on, whatever you’ve been hoping for for so long, GOD HAS GRACE FOR THAT. If you will surrender it all to God, he will fill your heart with his immeasurable grace. You will be supernaturally strengthened. You will find joy again. And your heart will be healed.

But if you don’t surrender it, you will likely have a heart that grows more and more sick and you will make your decisions from that sick, broken heart. And you will create messes.

God isn’t going to force you to trust him with this, but he’s hoping you will.

There was a promise spoken over Abram and Sarai—a promise that their descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky—and it was fulfilled in God’s divine timing. God wasn’t in a rush. He never is. He holds all eternity, he sees the end from the beginning and he’s not at all stressed about a few more passing years. We are – he’s not.

Sarai’s heart was so sick from her deferred hope, that she concocted a really bad idea in impatience and forced the timing on God’s promise. And guess what – our timing is never better than God’s. EVER. Our way is not the best way. Our plans are embarrassingly bad compared to his. God had a miracle planned – Sarai had a sleeping arrangement planned.

I don’t know what you have planned – but please know God has a miracle planned for you instead. Don’t get in his way. Don’t let your sad, broken heart make decisions here. Surrender all that hurt, all that disappointment, all that hopelessness over at the feet of the Lord. And it’s probably not a one time surrender. It’s an again and again surrender.

Every time you think you’re going to go out and find that man yourself – surrender.

Every time you think you’re going to just force the deal and make it happen – surrender.

Every time you think you’re going to just say something yourself – surrender.

Every time you think you’re going to drop the hints harder – surrender.

Every time you think you can make this work with your own power – surrender.

Every time you think you need to rush this – surrender.

Lord, I want your plan more than I want my plan. I don’t trust my own feelings here because my heart has become sick. I need your touch. I need you to heal this heart that has been broken in the wait. I desire your miracle over my idea.

That’s what surrender looks like.

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God is in covenant with you. He has spoken a promise over your life, one he will not break. He is in agreement with how he will care for you, how he will bless you, and the future he has waiting for you. The crazy thing is, you may not be in agreement with him – you may be fighting him. You may not even believe him. But that does not change God’s covenant with you.

We really don’t talk about covenants much today. Now, we sign contracts for our agreements. And we often break our contracts and cancel our agreements. Yeah, I thought I wanted to stay here for a full year, but now I don’t, so I’m breaking this lease. I thought I wanted to be married to you for the rest of my life, but nahhhh, I’m not feeling it now, let’s get divorced. Contracts are now something we scroll through to simply get to the bottom of the page, click agree, and submit a digital signature. They don’t even mean anything to us anymore.

But a covenant – a covenant was sealed with blood. A covenant is irreversible and forever. And God has a covenant concerning YOU. He made that covenant with Abram, and it was a promise for all his descendants. 4,000 years later, you and I are his descendants. We are among the counted stars God promised him so long ago. My sister, YOU ARE INCLUDED. You were included then and you are included now.

A blood covenant was a seal of a promise, and while the scene of a covenant would look quite gruesome to us today, in the day of Abram, it was quite familiar. Animals would be killed, and their carcasses would be split in half. The two halves would then be laid out on the ground with a narrow path between them. So, essentially, you would have the left side of cow on one side of the path, and the right side of the cow on the other side. The same with a goat. Each animal split in half, divided with a narrow path between them. Then, the parties going into agreement with one another would walk that path together, often holding hands. They would recite the terms of their agreement together as they passed through the slain and divided animals. Each would make a commitment that if they broke the promise to the other, they themselves would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their families if they broke their promise.

A covenant was never made with the thought of breaking it in the future if something changed. A covenant was never a decision made in the moment like a midnight wedding in front of Elvis in Las Vegas. A covenant wasn’t a “let’s give this a whirl and see if we like it” kind of thing. A covenant was an all-in commitment with agreed upon non-negotiable terms.

If you and I walked hand and hand through a path of split animal carcasses, making a covenant to go into business together – You and I were in business together forever. No loop holes, no expiration, no addendums. Done deal.

Hmmmm, imagine if weddings today looked like true covenants. Animal carcass is a very different color choice than most are going for these days. And that level of commitment is hard to find too, huh?

So, remember how God makes a promise to Abram that his descendants will be as many as there are stars in the sky, and while Abram and his wife are now old and can’t have children, he dared to BELIEVE GOD, and because of his faith he was counted as righteous. That was an awesome moment of faith. Wow.

Then, God makes another promise to Abram. (And that’s really how God works. If you can believe him for one promise, then he’ll make more promises to you. If you trust God with one thing, he will trust you with more.) So God sees that Abram will trust him with something as impossible as children at this point in his life, so God starts making more promises. Genesis 15:7, “Then the Lord told him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur to give you this land as your possession.'”

This land was the sought after land of Canaan. Abram had no way of obtaining this land. No way of fighting for it, buying it, or claiming it. So he couldn’t understand HOW God was going to give it to him. And that’s when Abram says, “Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” Remember, it’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to believe and have unbelief at the same time. God can handle our questions. He can handle our fears. He can handle our tendency to over-think. And he will handle it if we give it to him! Just give him those doubts.

That’s what Abram did. He didn’t pretend to understand what he couldn’t understand. He didn’t try to manufacture a feeling that wasn’t there. He didn’t hide behind fake faith. No, he honestly said, “Lord, how can I be sure?!!!!” And now, you have to know what God does next!

This is how God responds to the questions of our heart. This is how God responds when we bring him our fears and doubts. He makes a COVENANT.

What we’re going to read next has probably never made sense to you before, but now that you understand more about the scene of a blood covenant, you’ll understand, just as Abram did, what God was asking for.

Genesis 15: 9-10, the Lord told him, “Bring me a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side …” This is the scene of a covenant.

Abram knew God was calling him into covenant. They were about to make an agreement together. A commitment that could not be broken. And again, remember, a covenant was an agreement between both parties as they walked through the narrow path between the carcasses together signifying whoever broke the covenant would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their family with a broken covenant.

Now, here’s the amazing part … God walked the path alone. The covenant was his to make. The terms were his to assume. Abram didn’t make the covenant with God, God made the covenant alone for Abram and his descendants.

Verse 17, “After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day.”

This is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus as the ultimate blood covenant for us. A promise God alone would fulfill to save us, redeem us, and give us a hope and a future far beyond anything we could ever hope, dream or imagine.

You see, that covenant is for YOU. The promises are over YOUR life. Here’s how we know – Galatians 3:29, “Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

What are those promises and what do they mean to you today?

God’s covenant promises to Abraham were to give him descendants as many as the stars, a promised land, and to be a blessing to all nations. Now, through Jesus, we are heirs of this promise. We have a promised land awaiting us. We blessed to be a blessing. We are set apart, chosen, called, anointed and appointed.

We are in covenant with God. He assumes all responsibility because he did it for us. He walked the path for us. The blood was his. Our job is to simply live like we know we are forever covered in his promises.

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Do you have something you’re believing God for, but you’re still battling for it to make sense in your mind? Some days it’s easy to believe what could be, and other days you wake up to current reality so hard that you can barely get out of bed. What do you do on those days? On the days when what you believe God CAN do and what is happening right now seem to be a world apart. On days when the gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through is a massive divide. What do you do on those days?

You get real with God. Yes, just be honest. God wants to fill that gap, so don’t hide it from him in shame, invite him into it! Lord, I believe you can do anything, but right now nothing seems to be happening, so come fill this gap. I hear you, Lord – but I don’t see you, Lord. I need more help from you here.

That’s the kind of relationship God is calling you into. A real one where you’re honest and you hold nothing back from him.

There was once a father who’s son suffered from convulsions and seizures. The father brought his son to Jesus for healing and says, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” Can’t you hear the desperation in the father’s plea. Have mercy. Please, if you can help us, I’m begging for your help. And Jesus says this in reply, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Mark 9:24, “The father instantly cried out, ‘I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'”

There it is. That’s what you do on those days. On the days when you’re believe what could be, but your reality nearly cripples you. On the days when you believe what God CAN do but it’s a world apart from what is happening right now. On the days when there’s a massive divide between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through. On those days, you cry out to Jesus with all your belief and all your doubt, all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it – “Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

What? You think God would be disappointed if you admitted you struggle with part of you not believing he can get it right? You think God would be hurt by your questioning? Girl, God knows exactly how you really feel. He knows precisely how you’re struggling to fit his promises and your reality in the same box. He knows about that gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through, and all he wants is for you to stop hiding it from him and invite him into it.

Lord, here’s the gap I’m struggling with – the things I don’t understand – the things I can’t see even being possible at this point – and I’m inviting you into this gap where my unbelief resides. Here’s my unbelief, help me to overcome it. I believe you, God, but I’m still struggling.

You don’t have to hide in shame over your unbelief, you have to ask God to help you in it. You don’t have to be ashamed of the desires of your heart that are a far cry from current reality, you just have to invite God into the gap between the two.

The father cries out to Jesus in honesty, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” And do you know what happens next? Jesus commands the spirit to come out of the boy, takes the him by the hand and helped him stand. As the father was struggling with holding both his belief and unbelief, Jesus healed his son.

Jesus doesn’t need your belief to be perfect and without wavering. What he’s asking of you is to acknowledge the part of you that still struggles to believe and just invite him into it. Help me here, Jesus, where I still don’t get it. I believe you can get it right, but I’m still holding part of this back. Help me to surrender it all to you.

In our study of Genesis, we see the 75 year old Abram who was married to his barren wife Sarai, and they couldn’t have children. All Abram wanted was a family. But the reality was, it was impossible. What’s the point in continuing to hope for something that is totally impossible? And that’s when God takes him outside and says, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

WOW! Amazing. In that moment, Abram believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Then when God told Abram what was next, Abram went from a place of believing to a place of doubting. He was back in the gap of reality not aligning with God’s promise, so he questioned. And that’s what we’re supposed to do.

Questioning is okay – but it must be correctly placed. Questioning doesn’t stay in your head. Questioning doesn’t stay in your heart. Questioning doesn’t fill your conversations or delay your steps. Questioning is to be brought to God. God, I believe you, but help me with my unbelief!!!!! God, I hear your promises … but HOW?!!!!! That’s the space for God to fill, so invite him into it. God, I have questions, I have doubts, I’m struggling to believe, come help me here! I’m not pulling away from you in this gap, I’m asking you to fill this gap.

Genesis 15:8, Abram, the man who was counted as righteous because of his faith says to God, “O Sovereign Lord, HOW CAN I BE SURE?”

And this is pleasing to the Lord! Why? Because this is how honest feelings are brought to a powerful God in faith. It takes faith to say, God, I know you can, I know you hold all the power, I know you’re in every detail, but I’m still struggling with it. It takes tremendous faith to say, God, I hear you but I don’t see it and I need more of you here.

If today is one of those days when you believe what could be, but your reality is nearly crippling, you ask Jesus to help you with your unbelief. If today is one of those days where you believe what God can do, but it’s a world apart from what’s happening right now, you invite Jesus into that space and cry out to him with all your belief and all your doubt, with all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it, and you say, “Lord, how can I be sure? Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!

This is God’s space. Let him fill it.

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What do God’s rewards look like? They look like impossible things being made possible. They look like things you could have never even dreamed up in your own mind. God’s rewards are bigger, better and sweeter than what you even asked for. They are exceedingly great. And God rewards the ones who have messed things […]