Are you there, God? Its me Brownie.

Via

I wonder sometimes what a preacher intends for their sermons.  Growing up Methodist the preacher always prefaced their sermons with this:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be what you want them to be

That's a Psalm - in case you didn't know - Psalm 19.  

I had been in a precarious situation for a little while.  My heart was truly torn.  Knowing that I could not make the decision on my own I turned to God.  In every situation that causes me any type of distress I always go right to the Big Man.  I go to a quiet place where no one is around and I let it flow out of me.  My fears, my praises, my human-ness.  I just let it go.  

For days I had been seeking God's counsel.  Like any human who wants a pizza in thirty minutes or less and the bank account info at the click of a finger I didn't like the speed at which His delivery was going.

I sought the advice of my husband.

I sought the advice of two close friends.

I needed something greater.  I needed to hear from the Creator who knows my story already.

Sunday morning came with rain, and if you ask me it came way too early.  When I am stressed over a situation I tend to not sleep enough.  Looking at the rain and the dropping temperatures and the fact my husband was headed out of state I decided to lay low.  

Then I asked my daughter what she wanted to do.

"Go to church!  It is Sunday!"  She was excited, she loves the church we attend.  I however did not share in that excitement on this particular sleep deprived, cold, wet Sunday.

To be honest, I started thinking of ways to persuade her otherwise.  My daughter was working faster than my noggin and it was literally within the blink of an eye that she came out of her room fully dressed and ready to go.

Being a good Southern woman you don't mess with a child who is ready to go to church.  You put on your pearls and face and get in gear.

We arrived at church and the baby went to the nursery and we went to the sanctuary.  

Then service started.

The opening prayer from the minister was tailor made for me {No, she doesn't know it but man oh man did I...."some came dragging and some came skipping....some with heavy hearts and some overjoyed...."}

The music moved me more than normal.  The words were reflections of what I know and believe -

Holy, holy, holy,

Lord God Almighty

Early in the morning

My song will rise to thee

Then the minister and her son did a beautiful rendition of 10,000 Voices by Matt Redmon.  I have heard this song 10,000 times and I always sing along when K-Love plays it but this time, in this setting, knowing my heart was heavy yearning for guidance it just really hit home.  My eyes swelled with tears.  Please God give me some direction was singing from my heart.

When the sermon began I felt the thump of God's knuckle on my head.

Terah's family was dying out....there were no more....God had been trying to form a connection with mankind but they rejected Him and built in their own honor....then God said to Terah's family go and He will take care of them.

No, I'm not Terah, I'm not Abram, and I'm not the last of my family and I don't have a tower to myself.

That's when she took the scripture to relate to us.

The Ancient Hebrew translation of "Go".............

To us we think go means {proper Southern} "get on" {say that like your memaw did to the old dog that used to wander up and mess with her scratching hens.}

The Ancient Hebrew translation for go is this:  enter a void in order to fill it

Whoa.

I sat there and for a second I was just another pew-holder-downer and then she said it again -

Go - enter a void in order to fill it

Then it was taken a step further.

Sometimes God wants us to go so He can use us for the purpose He created us for.  He wants us to create {enter} a void in order {for Him} to fill it.  

Then came the clencher.

God said to Terah's family - I will take care of you.

God never leaves us if we are willing to trust His hand in our lives.  God will ease pain, provide a way, and take your hand and lead you to what He wants you to be.  Of course you have to be willing to accept his lead and willing to be patient with Him and also willing to get up and not be lazy.

For days I have begged God for an answer to my stupid, tiny, non life or death problem.  There are people who are battling addictions, diseases, poverty, famine, and civil war. Here I was wanting his attention STAT and his answer even STAT-er.  

But God says nothing we ask is too small or too large.  He wants us to bring it all to Him.  Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light..."  Matthew 11:30 - and he asks us to claim it.  To give Him our problems and let Him give us happier existence by having faith and trusting him.

I gave him my problem a while back.  I waited impatiently.  I became upset that I couldn't get a quick answer.  Not enough sleep, too much worry, lots of doubt.

Then in a Sunday morning message....that I would not have even heard had I not let my six year old daughter excitedly say she wanted to go to church.

Go and He will provide.

Go and do not worry he will take care of you and your worries.

Go and let Him do His work.

Create a void in order for it to be filled and He will fill that void.

I must admit after we finally made it to the car I sat there and just stared at the church.  For the first time in what felt like weeks I felt an enormous pressure...gone.  I smiled and I laughed and I thanked Him.

We had a beautiful rainy and cold Sunday.  It was all due to the words of our pastor's mouth, the meditation of her heart, and some Ancient Hebrew translated and put before me.

God is great.  God is good.