When will we see the fruit from all the seeds sown?
How much longer do we pour out and give and not see the increase?
I'm tired. I miss my home church. I'm frustrated.
The wait is wearing me out.
I know better than to compare one ministry to another. I look anyway and sometimes ask...God why did we have to come this way? Why can't we have XYZ? Why is growth being delayed? Why are finances so ellusive? This hurts. A beautiful woman of God gave us a Word that said to pursue.
Well I'm pooped. Confirmed word after confirmed word about expectation and manifestation have been spoken and STILL NOTHING!
Huge sigh.
I'm tired.
I needed to vent.
Picking up my "light" burden and "easy" yoke and I continue.
Sorry I missed your post yesterday. It was crazy for me with "grandma" stuff. Then came home & learned that there was a wild fire very close to our church. What a day! But enough about that.
As you know, I'm at the "when" stage myself. I was looking back over past posts for a specific scripture verse someone had quoted but I couldn't find it. I did find this quote from Flow that really ministered to me, even today.
FLOW: "Today in my weekly devotional at work, we talked about Scriptural Memorization... And I shared how we are to memorize scriptures because we are required to always be ready with an answer (I Peter 3:15)... Well today I just wanted to encourage you that feel as if you are in limbo that God has not forgotten you... One of the strangest feelings that you can have (especially in ministry) is the nagging thought that you are not where you belong, as if you are adrift and unattached from God's will for your life. Be encouraged that this process of being "out there", although it seems to be against everything we believe about the Body of Christ, is a part of God's will for your life. The proof is in the word of God. Before Jesus started his earthly ministry, the Bible declares that God affirmed Christ publically and then just when you would think he would be able to do great things, he was led BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness to deal with the devil. And according to scripture he was there for 40 days with no support - no food, no friends, who would understand, nothing but him - and the devil... And for many of you who are waiting on God to fulfill His promises to you that is how you feel also - alone with the devil looming... And the crazy thing is that the devil is not attacking you, you just feel him there like a vulture circling over you waiting for you to get weak enough that he can devour you without much effort because the devil did not truly attack Jesus until he was hungry... The devil sees that you have entered the wilderness and knows that you were led there by the Spirit, but he is not interested in you until you reach a level where you are grasping for something... And then he dangles a form of what you want in front of you but puts stipulations on it that make it clear that it is not God. So like Jesus while you are going through this wilderness experience, you must bring the Word of God to your remembrance and declare boldly that God supplies your every need (and not just say it but look around and notice that He IS doing it!) because he is the one who gives you your sustenance (man shall not live by bread alone), then recognize that God alone is worthy of worship and that any power or glory that comes from any other source has no eternal weight in glory... and finally accept and declare God's plan for you is greater than any trick of the enemy... And once you have made that declaration you will find that ANGELS will minister to you... You are in the right place at the right time to receive a blessing from the Lord... EVEN IF THAT PLACE IS A DESERT PLACE...!"
Trace again: On Sunday, the churches in our section met together to celebrate Pentecost Sunday (which is actually this Sunday.) Our presbyter was one of 3 ministers who spoke. He preached about Jesus in the wilderness. He pointed out that before Jesus went to the wilderness, He was filled with the Spirit. But He left the dessert, EMPOWERED by the Spirit. These are two different words. The pastor pointed out that to be empowered, you must go through the wilderness, just like Jesus had to.
So, maybe, just maybe, we are going through the wilderness. It is a difficult time. It's not easy. But at least, we are not alone. We do have each other & of course, the Holy Spirit.
Looking back over the posts, I was amazed to see how far we've all come. I've read over my "please pray for me" posts & realized that God has indeed brought me through, as well as many others on the board. One day, you will be able to look back at this post & know that God helped you through this time, too.
Thank you for the words. You know what? Within hours of writing that post, God did some pretty awesome stuff.
Our ministry is looking to lease its own space. We currently share a facility with another church.
We looked at a bldg. and fell in love. High visibility, lots of space and they were asking a fair price for it. But it might as well been a million dollars because right now our ministry is so small.
Well the agent called THE SAME DAY I POSTED THE MESSAGE. I had left him a message earlier saying we would no longer pursue and if he had something smaller to let us know.
He asked what could we do. Well hubby and I had figured that out the day before and I told him our plan. I also told him it wasn't our intent to offend him or the owner. He was SO impressed with that response that he is going to submit our offer to the owner, and put down new carpet and paint.
God had sent a word that said we were about to experience open doors and insane favor.
I promise it happened the day I got weary.
I love him for coming through...not on my timetable but his.
Keep us in prayer. We're in serious fundraising mode!
Trace, you wrote, "On Sunday, the churches in our section met together to celebrate Pentecost Sunday (which is actually this Sunday.) Our presbyter was one of 3 ministers who spoke. He preached about Jesus in the wilderness. He pointed out that before Jesus went to the wilderness, He was filled with the Spirit. But He left the desert, EMPOWERED by the Spirit. These are two different words. The pastor pointed out that to be empowered, you must go through the wilderness, just like Jesus had to."
I am so moved by those words. "He left the desert, EMPOWERED by the Spirit." Thank you for sharing. I'm speaking this Sunday on Pentecost, too, and this afternoon I plan to look again at Jesus in the wilderness. Thank you for sharing.
