The #FiveMinuteFriday word prompt is HEAL. Be encouraged and share your own stories whether you have been healed or not, others will be blessed!
I cough. Continually. Annoyingly and embarrassingly. For the last 4 1/2 years, ever since I landed back on U.S. soil from living in the Baltics, I have coughed. The first couple of years it was here a few months then it would go away a while. This past year and a half or so it has been non-stop and, unfortunately, confounds my rheumatologist, pulmonologist, and gastroenterologist. One just sends me back to the other for endless tests and more experimental medicine.
It is maddening.
Of course I have been prayed for, endlessly and yet, still with faith. Do I believe God can heal? Of course I do! You can read my other posts about times He has healed and times He has not here and here. We all know Paul talked about something in his life that God had decided he didn’t need healed of at that time, or maybe never. I have prayed, I have studied and I have heard a lifetime of sermons on healing. I don’t believe we have to jump through hoops. Naturally, I think we need to believe but the healing isn’t in our hands, it is in His.
When Jesus walked this earth and performed countless miracles, it was for the people to see so that they might believe. I think it is the same today! When HE chooses it will benefit the Kingdom, bring glory to His name and increase the faith of others to believe that Jesus is God, He will do so, all in His good time.
Maybe many reading this today are struggling with something much more serious than a relentless cough. God knows right where you are, He has not forgotten you nor forsaken you. Maybe your healing is for “such a time as this” to bring glory to Him and many souls to salvation. And then again, maybe your testimony is bringing glory to Him every single day that you continue to walk with Him in spite of your illness or prognosis.
When You don’t move the mountains, I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters, I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers, when I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!
No matter what we face, no matter what the outcome might be, He is in control and if He decides our testimony is bigger than our healing? He will give us the strength and the grace for every single day and walk through the trial right beside us.
When we lived in the country of Latvia a few years ago we had visitors from home! Our niece, Dacia, and her husband, Jordan, flew in to visit the Baltics and to see St. Petersburg and Moscow. We also planned a road trip. To Poland! About a ten hour drive from the capital of Riga, the four of us headed out as if we were driving from Indiana to Florida. Yeah, they’re the same.
We didn’t do much sight-seeing in Lithuania except for a stop at a cemetery. They are amazing, btw, and I was captivated by the decorations (tons of candles) and the giant monuments. Sounds creepy but it was very educational.
On to Warsaw where we met up with the missionaries there and had a most wonderful time seeing the city. Heading back to our hotel one evening, we were relying on our GPS to get us everywhere. The Sweetheart was having a little bit of a hard time finding his way, it is especially difficult when the road signs are in a foreign language. Our nephew, Jordan, was navigating the best he could and the women were giving advice from the back seat. It’s what we do.
Strangely, we began to notice that people were staring at us as we drove down one beautiful street. The trees were perfectly lined up, the street was very, very narrow, one way and most walkers were families with small children and strollers that we were passing by. Confused, but enjoying the view, I turned around as we neared the end of the street and saw a sign with two words on it, in Polish, so I use my trusty Google to look it up and what do you think it said?
Park Miejski
We had just driven through a city park that was strictly for walkers! Our GPS was set on WALK instead of DRIVE and had taken us right down the path of Mommy’s and Daddy’s pushing their little darlings through the beautiful and quiet park. No wonder everyone had turned to stare!
Thankful that we hadn’t been arrested, we hurried on our way to a more vehicle-populated street.
Have you ever been down the wrong path? Found your way without clear direction and wondering what to do next? Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path.”
When God is first, when He is your go-to, your GPS so to speak, He will never lead you astray! When you put Him first and ask Him to guide and protect your life, ask Him for direction and seek His will in all things, you can be assured that He will do just that. You never have to wonder if you are in His will, just keep doing what you know to do and if He wants you to do something different then He will open a door or make your path clear and straight.
If you have gotten off of the right path, have neglected your walk with God or just not been as close to Him as you would like to be, don’t put it off another day. Make plans to spend time with the Creator of the Universe who will never leave you nor forsake you but will be your Guide in all things.
“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11
The night I brought my first newborn home from the hospital I rocked him to sleep. And I sang. Rocking away in that uncomfortable chair, not a care in the world (as long as he wasn’t screaming) and singing Jesus Loves Me or the morbid lullaby, Rockabye Baby in the Treetop. As time went on, I began to widen my repertoire and sang songs that I created impromptu. Somehow, silly as they were, I could make them rhyme and even though they were not going to make it into a Dr. Seuss book OR a Dr. Spock instruction manual, My Three Sons loved them.
Fast forward 35 years and enter Norah Jayne. The very first time I was able to rock her to sleep? I sang. What came out were old choruses from church services gone by. I am a huge fan of the “new” worship songs, can sing along with KLove like nobody’s business but when I sit in that rocking chair, Jesus is a Waymaker.
If you have never heard it, the lyrics are:
Jesus, He is a Waymaker
Jesus, He is a Waymaker
Jesus, He is a Waymaker
One day, He made a way for me
One day, when I was lost in sin
One day, Jesus took me in
One day, He made a way for me
The tune is upbeat and catchy and it has become Norah’s favorite. I used to go into an entire medley of old choruses, from Isn’t He Wonderful, I Call Him Jesus, My Rock, When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me….you get the idea. But as Norah grew from a few weeks old to a couple of months, she became particular. She wanted one song and one song only and that was Jesus is a Waymaker. It has become such a part of the two of us that, if she is fussing, I can start singing that song and she will immediately calm down and go to sleep.
(Btw, I can sing this song even in the middle of the Dixie Stampede pre-show and Norah will go to sleep!)
It is true that Norah doesn’t know much about Jesus making a way for me, you or anyone else. She doesn’t realize that she is a miracle sent from Heaven and only Jesus could have made a way. This sweet baby isn’t aware of the many times God has answered other prayers right on time. Norah has never read the Word, hasn’t prayed a prayer and doesn’t understand the word, Hallelujah. Until she is old enough to comprehend, she just takes comfort in the Name that her mommy, daddy and grandmothers sing about and the peace and serenity it brings to her every single time.
You see, Jesus IS a Waymaker whether we can see it or not, whether we feel it or not. Even when we don’t understand the reason a family member is suffering, our prayers don’t seem to be answered, the bills have all come due at once, the kids are sick, the tensions are high even in a home where God is first…He is still a Waymaker.
When we find ourselves in those difficult seasons, we need to follow the pattern that this old song has set. First, it DECLARES that Jesus is our deliverer, the way-out-of-the-way, the One who can make clear the path for us. Then, like most great songs, it REPEATS the declaration, not once but two more times! We must remind ourselves WHO it is that CAN make things better, that can deliver us and we must declare it. Once we have done that, we then begin to REPEAT it and remind ourselves of that Truth!
Then the chorus tells WHY we know He is a Waymaker…because one day He made a way for ME. Begin to LIST the times that He has showed up with an answer. DEFINE it!Remember the other prayers He has answered and how it was done. Play it over in your mind and give God praise for it. The chorus ends with the same declaration, that it was for ME, so DECLAREit again.
Declare it.
Repeat it.
Define it.
Declare it again.
If you have something in your life today that is impossible for man, take it to The Waymaker. Sing this old song if you know the tune, or make up your own, and begin to declare the promises of God while remembering what He has already done for you!
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 1:20,21
It is not only our job to teach our little ones that Jesus will be their Deliverer, Savior, Friend, and Ever-Present-Help-in-Trouble, but we must remind OURSELVES and EACH OTHER that He is STILL a Waymaker, making a way for all of us. So, tomorrow, when something impossible comes against you…
Declare it. Let your spirit know that Jesus is God!
Repeat it. Say it a couple more times and with authority.
Define it. List the things He has done for you or others in the past, building up your faith.
Declare it again! The more we say it, the more we believe it and nothing shall be impossible, according to His will and in His perfect timing.
Do you have a favorite lullaby or song that you sang to your children or to your grandchildren? How are you influencing them for the Kingdom? Share with our community of friends! I found a Gaither version of the song that is very similar to the one I sing to Norah. I didn’t know it had verses and the middle is a little different but the tune is the same. Enjoy!
