Easter Blessing

Easter Sunday morning on April 24, 2011, I had never seen so many people in church. It was not standing room only, but I can tell you it was the most packed I had ever seen the church.  Everyone had come for Easter service.

While praying at the altar in the center of the church, God’s spirit fell and knocked my legs out from under me. I fell flat of my back and there I stayed, sometime later someone attempted to help me up. My head began shaking NO, and the word NO came from my mouth. However, it was not me. God was saying to me He was not finished with me. Someone then lifted me to a sitting position. While sitting on the floor, God was not finished with me and He flipped me on my stomach and there I stayed speaking in tongues. Pounding my fist on the floor, I was like a little rag doll for Jesus.

God keeps drawing me further out of my safety net, and filling me up more and more with blessings. Sure, I could stop it IF I wanted to, but I made a promise to God and I intend to honor it. Whatever He ask of me, I will do. The degree of difficulty is extreme and the comfort zone nowhere in sight. I made a promise and I will, with God’s help every step of the way …. I WILL make it through!

While you may think that this is easy, for me it is anything but. Our natural reaction is to maintain control. Giving up control and allowing God to take the wheel is when the ‘real rewards’ begin to kick in. Just like setting a car on auto pilot and then letting God take control of the wheel. You will never be more blessed; I challenge you to try it!

I have struggled constantly and been challenged to what I feel is beyond my limits. Yet, God has been there, and what I thought was impossible, I NOW SEE as possible. I am the one most happy, to sit in my pew and love God. Not to be noticed, not to get any attention. Although my comfort zone is to stay in the background, God could not use me if I was not willing to take the step and walk through the door. I am in the deep end and I WILL swim as God’s word is true and He will never leave us or forsake us.

Our constant companion

“The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:” I Kings 8:57

God would later explain to me the reason for the blessing I received. As I would later find out I was going to need all the strength I could get to do my next task. I had asked God if He would make a way for me to be able to speak to Diana’s father. This was a prayer I had been praying for 19 months. I had promised if He gave me the opportunity I would take it, I would not back down.

We had gone to Diana’s for Easter after service. I was sitting at the dining table when he walked in the room. There was an exchange of words, and he was basically telling me to stay seated. The look in his eyes told me I HAD better not get up. That made it all the harder; I had seen that look before and was always followed by a severe beating and trips to the emergency room.

It was in that instant I had to make my decision; I shot out of my chair like a rocket. I had made a promise to God and now I would not allow my fear to get in the way. If you have ever felt fear before then you know how the fear can grip and control you. For me it was more paralyzing, but fear was not an option. He could well beat me to a bloody pulp but I was not about to back down, God had told me to.

He continued on his way to his room, and I was right on his heels. I told him all that was on my heart and how he needed to stop playing around and get back in church, time was short. He was receptive to all I had to say.

Upon returning back to the dining room, Kevin asked me if I had seen the look in his eyes. I told him I had and he told me how concerned Bill, Diana, and he were for me. I told him I was just doing what I had to do. Kevin said he was surprised that there was no shouting coming from the room. See this was my window of opportunity that God had given to me and I was now having to decide what to do about it. I wanted so much to be able to witness to him and let him know how much God had turned me around a full 180 degrees. All the miraculous miracles God had given me and that he could experience the same too.

While Dale has numerous cousins that are all like faith ministers, I did not know if any of them had tried talking to him about God in the past 30 plus years. After 19 months, God answered my prayers and gave me the opportunity I had been praying for.

I needed that Easter blessing just to conquer my task, Thank you precious Jesus!