It has been one month since God spoke
to me to start blogging. He was direct this time. I mentioned
before that I have felt for some time to start a blog, but when I
heard God's voice this time, it was more than a suggestion. There
was an urgency and a directness that said, “Now. It's time.” As
I began to pray and seek God for direction on what to write about, He
made it very clear to me. I felt Him leading me to be vulnerable,
sharing with you what He was doing in my life as a follower of
Christ, as a woman of God, as a wife, and as a mother. Just as our
personal lives take us through different seasons of life, we
experience different seasons spiritually as well. Lately, I have
been in a learning season. I have loved Jesus and served Him all of
my life, but I feel God stirring in me a desire for His Word like
never before and He is teaching me new things and stretching me in my
faith. I was excited about this opportunity to share with others how
God was changing me! However, when I sat down at the computer for
the first time, I literally just stared at the screen and the words
just wouldn't come! I would try to get something started and as I
reread it, it just didn't sound right, so I'd delete and start again.
Once again...nothing. I was getting frustrated and a little worried
because this blogging thing was proving to be harder than I thought!
I took a break and that night as I laid in bed, I began to talk to
God. I knew without a doubt that it was God that told me to start
blogging. I knew without a doubt that God gave me clear direction on
what to write in my blog. So why was I having such a hard time
coming up with the words to say? I began to pray that He would give
me the words and help me write. I wanted to be used by Him and in
order for me to do that, I needed His help. When I stopped to take
the time to truly ask for His help, that's when the words came.
Today's post was actually the very first blog post that I wrote,
however, after I wrote it I felt God telling me to wait. It has been
my prayer from the very beginning that God will use my story, my
experiences, and my words to draw others closer to Him. Sometimes,
that may require some extra time for Him to begin preparing hearts to
receive my words with the right attitude. Well this morning, I felt
the release in my spirit to post this story, so I pray you will
receive it well.
**NOTE: I decided to leave my story as
I originally wrote it, so the time references are off by about a
month, but the message is still the same **
Last week, God used the words from a
dear friend to completely change my heart. I pray a lot, I read my
Bible often, I love Jesus with all of my heart, and I know His voice.
He speaks to me often...offering wisdom, direction, warnings, and
confirmation. However, last weekend, He corrected me. Discipline is
tough, even as an adult! It has been years since my parents have had
to get onto me about my behavior or actions. However, I can still
get a knot in the pit of my stomach thinking back to times that I can
remember my parents having to discipline me for the choices that I
made, not because of the punishment, but because I know my actions
disappointed my parents. Well, that's exactly how I felt this past
weekend when The Lord corrected me!
Let me back up. Last week, I shared an
article on Facebook about Target's new controversial restroom and
dressing room policy. It was a great article with some statistics
that I felt were worth sharing. However, instead of just sharing the
article, I decided to give my opinion along with it. Honestly, I
can't even remember exactly what I said, but I know I made the
comment that Target is my favorite store and there was no way I could
boycott them. I did, however, comment that I planned on calling and
writing a letter about their new policies. I even added a scripture
about how our words should be gracious and seasoned with salt...which
they should be and I still stand by that. It wasn't long after my
post, that I began reading some of the comments that others made.
Well, a dear friend of mine, made a simple, yet direct comment on my
page. Her words were gracious, seasoned with salt, and full of
truth. When I read them, I was immediately convicted by the Holy
Spirit. I knew without a doubt that God used my friend's words to
get my attention and speak to me. As I prayed and stewed on this
conviction all weekend long, I actually realized He had been speaking
to me all along, but I didn't want to hear what He was saying because
He was asking me to take a stand and I knew deep down in my heart
that He was asking me to do more than write a letter or make a phone
call. You see, God is such a gentleman. He doesn't force Himself on
anyone. He was so gracious when He disciplined me. He was stern,
but so loving. By Monday morning, I knew exactly what He wanted me
to do. I woke up that morning and I knew God was leading me to
delete my previous post. He wanted me to delete it because He has
entrusted a large audience to me on Facebook. If my words have the
ability to cause even one of my friends to stumble, it is my heart's
cry that God will always correct me so that I can hopefully make
things right. I was reminded of Job 5:17 “Blessed is the one whom
God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
After I deleted the post, I knew God wanted me to go to my local
Target and ask to speak to a manager. This is where His discipline
was so loving. You see, He knows Target is my favorite store. He
knows I absolutely adore their children's clothing, rugs, and throw
pillows! Instead of just telling me to never shop there again, He
was gentle and just told me to go speak to the manager. He used
those 3 days over the weekend to begin preparing my heart for a hard
decision, rather than just telling me what to do. He is truly a
gentleman. Once I spoke to the manager and media relations
department, The Lord opened my eyes that this was a spiritual matter
and I knew at that moment that as a believer in Jesus Christ and as a
woman who desires to follow Biblical principles and truth, I knew
that if I continued to support this company with my money, that I was
contributing to the moral decay of America. Yes, me...1 person out
of the 323 million people in America...God was showing me that
although I am a mere speck of sand when you look at the number of
Americans that shop at Target, I was part of the reason America is
where it is today culturally. When He opened my eyes to that truth,
what I thought would be a hard decision to stop shopping at Target
soon became the easiest decision I have made all year!
Of the 323 million people in America,
80% identify themselves as Christians. Of those, 25% are Evangelical
Christians. Sadly, the church has no one to blame for the moral
decay of America on anyone but ourselves. God reminded me of the
story of Simon Peter when he was fishing all night and caught
absolutely nothing. He was an experienced fisherman so I can imagine
what He was thinking when Jesus told him to throw out his nets where
he had just been fishing all night long and had caught nothing!
Simon Peter loved Jesus, he trusted Jesus, he followed Jesus! I
wonder how his story would have ended had he responded like many
believers do today. Pray. Trust Jesus. Don't fear. Be the light
in the darkness. Sound familiar? You see, Simon Peter could have
prayed all night long for Jesus to give them fish, but those fish
wouldn't have just jumped in his boat. He wasn't afraid and yet
those fish still didn't come. He was experienced and an example for
other fishermen to look up to. Yet even though he did all of the
right things, the fish still didn't fill up the boat. He could have
been shining God's light so bright on that boat...teaching his
friends about Jesus and acting like Jesus, but even that wouldn't
have brought the fish onto the boat. It wasn't until he obeyed God's
command to throw out the net, that his nets were filled with fish, so
much so that they almost sank the boat! You see, God always requires
us to partner our faith with our actions when we need a miracle. Our
country needs a desperate miracle. We can't just pray for a miracle.
God is asking us as believers to take action that aligns with our
faith. He is loving. He won't ever ask anything of you that will
contradict that love. When we begin obeying with our actions, I
believe we will begin to see a shift.
Shifts are slow...very slow. Look back
to when abortion became legal. I'm sure many believers had the
insight from the Holy Spirit that this was a terrible decision and
that it needed to be reversed. I'm sure there were many who fought
the decision. I'm also sure there were many believers who disagreed
with it but didn't say anything, whether due to thinking it didn't
affect them or maybe they believed there might be some cases where
abortion was necessary to save a mother's life. And I'm sure that if
there were social media back in those days, there would be believers
hashtagging #bethelight or #Godprotects or #stopmakingsuchabigdeal.
You get my point. No one could have ever imagined when that decision
was made that over the next 40 years, there would be over 58 million
babies murdered. What some assumed was not a big deal turned out to
be a very big deal. God had a plan and a purpose for each of those
lives, just as He has a plan and purpose for my life and your life.
But God will never push His will onto us. He gives us a free will
and it is up to us to choose to do things God's ways or our own ways.
I could list many more examples of past decisions made in America
that have had similar effects to the moral decay of our country. I
can only imagine what some believers will be saying in 40 years when
they see the statistics that resulted from this recent decision, or
worse, they become the statistic. We can no longer sit idly by and
continue taking an active part in the moral decay of our country by
remaining silent. I have heard many believers take the stand that if
we stopped supporting the businesses that in turn donated money to
charities or causes that went against our moral values, then we would
no longer be able to do business anywhere! That may very well be
truth, however, we can't justify sin simply because we live in a
fallen world. I may not know the specific values, beliefs, and
motivations behind the companies that I do business with, stores that
I shop at, or the restaurants that I eat at, nor do I claim to know
where they choose to invest their profits. However, if any of those
businesses that I support with my money, choose to take a public
stand on an issue that goes directly against God's Word, that is the
moment where I am given a choice. We have been called to do more.
We are the hands and feet of Jesus! We can't just pray for
change...we must be the change! It's time for us to be different
than the world. It's time for us to align our actions with what we
believe. When God's truth is mocked and scorned, it's time for us to
take a stand. Romans 12:2 says “Do not copy the behaviors and
customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think.” We can't remain silent and continue
conforming to a new normal every time these decisions are made that
go directly against the Word of God! We have to take a stand and
align our actions with God's truth. Money talks. If everyone who
“identifies” as a Christian began to take action, I guarantee we
would see some decisions reversed...and not just the most recent
ones! With God's help, we could see lots of changes! But it
requires action and God has stirred me to action.
Just as He
used the words from my dear friend to change and stir my heart, I
pray He will do the same through my words. He is waiting on our
obedience. Just as Simon Peter's obedience resulted in blessings
more than he could contain, can you imagine what God will do with our
obedience? Could we possibly be the change that ushers in the
greatest spirit of revival that the Bible speaks of before Christ's
return? Maybe! I'm ready! Are you? I truly believe we are living
in the last days. The Bible is clear in warning us that in the last
days, times will be hard. People will be easily mislead. Right will
be called wrong and wrong will be right. People will discard
holiness. They will act as if they worship God, yet they will not
let God's power work in their lives. Paul warns us to stay away from
people like this. I love how Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 3
that despite the hard times that he will be faced with, he has been
equipped to make it through! Listen to his letter.
“Timothy, all who want to live a good
life in Christ Jesus will be troubled by other people. Bad men and
those who fool other people will grow worse and worse. They will fool
other people, and other people will fool them.
But you, Timothy, must keep on doing the
things you have learned. You know they are right. You know who taught
them to you. From
the time you were a child you knew the holy writings. They showed you
how to be saved by believing in Christ Jesus. All that is written in
the holy writings comes from the Spirit of God. The holy writings are
good for these things: to teach people, to show them when they are
wrong, to make them see what is right, to teach them to do what is
right. In this way a person who belongs to God has all he needs. He
is ready for every kind of good work.” - 2
Timothy 3:12-17
It is with this
same urgency that I write to you today! We
have all that we need! We have God's Holy Word and the Spirit of God
lives within us! Friends, we
know God's teaching and we must keep on
doing what God's Word has taught us! We know it is right! I
am so grateful that God spoke through my precious friend when I
failed to to listen to the teachings in His Word. In these last
days, it's imperative that we tune into God's voice and
then respond with obedience. I can pray for change until I'm blue in
the face, but meanwhile, God is simply
saying, “Mary, I heard your prayer the
first time and I have equipped you with My Word and My Spirit to go
BE the change! My Spirit is within you leading you, directing you,
and guiding you. While I am away preparing a place for you, I have
sent my Holy Spirit to be with you because it is YOU who will now be
my hands and feet. It is YOU who will lay
hands on the sick and see them healed and set
the captives free. It is YOU who will
stand up against those that mock and
scorn My Name. It is YOU that I have equipped! Be wise with your
words and diligent in your actions, because your days are numbered.
I desire to work THROUGH YOU, but once you pray for the change, you
must be obedient and go be the change!”
In Him,
Mary
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