DIVINE DISPENSATION

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

 

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

 

It was an eye-opening WEDNESDAY that is for sure.

 

It was PACKED with the normal “stuff” that comes with my work but I say it was eye-opening because of the way that GOD showed up like He tends to do with me.

 

I mentioned yesterday that Pastor Anna, one of my colleagues from Xenia has been ‘challenging’ some of us via a daily blog of sorts.  The last couple of entries have focused on FORGIVENESS.

 

So in an effort to do my best to be faithful to her and the process, I have been reading, printing and reviewing her thoughts and words.

 

That brings me to the eye-opening part about this past Wednesday or should I say divine dispensation.

 

I try not to have days chocked so full of counseling that they run one right after another, but yesterday I had that going on.  The chair across from me from 7a to 5p was occupied.

 

The needs and conversations were intensely diverse. 

One was with a potential new intern, another with a troubled friend, one with a “fairly new” believer and another with a shared client. 

The challenges were all very unique. 

Their stories were all most certainly unrelated.

 

Yet the counsel and conversation GOD inspired led us to share was the same in every case

 

FORGIVENESS.

 

In my first session, my friend shared how he had forgiven and the power that obedience had had on his walk and his growth as a Christian.

 

In the next session my friend needed to UNDERSTAND the importance of FORGIVENESS in order to move forward!  And while he didn’t “like the message” he knew it was the right message.

 

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

― C.S. Lewis

 

The next two needed to know that we FORGIVE OTHERS in spite of how we feel about them or if they deserve it or not.

 

1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

 

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

 

Different, deeply complex lifelong stories but with a common thread; a common solution, a thread I was reminded of and equipped with from another friend and sister just hours before.

 

Wednesday like that make me appreciate the intricate nature of GOD.

 

He knew what I was going to need for my day of counsel and work before I did and He made it available to me.  There was no way for Anna to know what these meetings were all about, yet it was her sharing that gave me what I needed to share.

 

GOD is great that way.

He knows what we need before we need it and if we will just trust Him to provide it, He is faithful to step in and do just that.

 

So that brings me to the question…

 

What do you have available to you today for inspiration?

Got a devotional you promised to read but haven’t today?

Maybe there is an inbox message from a favorite pastor or website that you skipped over already because you are too busy.

Have you paused to PRAY?

 

Be careful.

You might want to take a sec.

Maybe you should look back through those messages. Perhaps there is something you need to HEAR from GOD.  Perhaps there is the equipment, the WORD, or the insight for something you are about to encounter today.

 

You too just might find exactly what you need for your next meeting as well.

 

REMEMBER:

 

“God’s presence is everywhere around us. God is able to penetrate intertwine himself within the fibers of the human self…Dallas Willard

 

He may be looking to ‘intertwine” and inspire you right now just as He did me yesterday.

 

Going to let Him?

 

I love you all!

Freedom Church