"Deliverance from the Black Hole"

Today I got an email from a group I subscribe to called "Ephesians Four Ministries". It hit me incredibly close to home and wanted to share it..God is so Sovereign and loving. it blows my mind. <3 It starts out with a prayer...

"Dear God, As I sit here today, looking out my window, I see the rain coming down and freezing as it coats the trees, forming little icicles along the twigs and branches. How pretty it is...but how dangerous it can be. Branches may split and break, trees may fall; some may recover while others will die. Ice gets heavy and slick and and wreaks havoc on so many things, interrupting power, causing accidents, and so on. So it is with the things of the world. Sometimes things may appeal to our senses, but they bring with them danger that can break hearts, damage relationships, ruin lives, and even result in death. Please help me to remain alert to dangers and snares and be ever sensitive to the Holy Spirit each and every day of my life. Please rescue those who have been overcome by the temptations that beckon, and have fallen. Lord, protect us and lift us up.Thank you for staying close and being there, ready to reach out and grab us whenever we look up to you and cry out. May we keep our focus on you and live our lives accordingly. In Jesus' name I pray, amen."

"Deliverance from the Black Hole
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
09-30-2011

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5b).

A black hole is a place of total nothingness. It's a time in our life when God removes the resources and supports that we normally rely on to feel secure - our careers, finances, friends, family, health and so forth. It is a preparation time.

When you find yourself in a black hole experience, don't just sit and brood. Take stock of your life. Take a look at your relationship with God.

First, ask God if there are any sins, habits, or attitudes that He might be judging in your life. It's important to discern whether the trial we face is the result of God's discipline for our sin?or if it is preparing us for a future leadership role.

Second, when you enter a black hole, don't trust your feelings. Trust God. Your feelings will tell you, "God has rejected you. Abandon hope. He has left you utterly alone." Feelings change; God never changes. Feelings come and go; God is always with us.

Third, remember that your black hole experience is not only intended to refine and define you; it's also intended to influence and change the lives of hundreds or even thousands of other people. Our adversity is not just for us, but others in our sphere of influence.

Fourth, don't try to hurry the black hole process along. Remember, when Joseph was in the depths of the pit, there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't climb out, jump out, levitate out, or talk his way out. All he could do was pray and wait upon the Lord.

Fifth, lean on God. Even when you don't feel like praying, pray. Even when you don't feel like reading His Word, read. Even when you don't feel like singing songs of faith, sing. When you pray, don't just talk; listen. Be silent before Him and listen for His still, quiet voice.

Sixth, be alert to new truths and new perspectives. During a black hole experience, God often leads us to amazing new discoveries. A black hole can be a storehouse of unexpected riches for the soul.

~Praying this touches other hearts as it has touched mine. Love you dear friends..God loves you more.

Deep Calls to Deep

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.” ~Matthew 13:1

Last week, for the first time in a long time, I was able to throw my watch and time-keeping tendencies aside and truly sink into God’s love. I think “being still” is one of the most challenging things for me to do sometimes. I know I don’t do it nearly enough. God is obviously near us every where we are…but for some reason standing on the edge of a vast ocean..Looking out til the water blends with the heavens, your breathe is taken away. I am pretty sure I could have stayed there for days and I would have been perfectly content tossing and turning among the waves. Something struck me while I was in that ocean. It was an incredibly strong current. It was partially made that way, I’m sure, from the brewing storms out at sea. Connie and I fought hard against it but we kept inadvertently drifting away from our starting point. Finally I turned my back to the waves and just submitted to wherever they took me. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of ocean waves coming closer and could only laugh as I clumsily swam with the current. Every time one took me closer to the shore, I stubbornly swam harder and farther out. “Your waves and your breakers wash over me” (Psalm 42:7) kept repeating over and over in my head..There’s something powerful and awe-inspiring about being in the midst of something so much larger and greater than you. I thought about how Jesus is relentless. He literally pursues us with a persistent and powerful love. Sometimes when he disciplines us or keeps us from things we become angry and we fight. I know I have. But what beautiful freedom comes when we simply turn our backs to “trying to figure everything out” and succumb to his powerful force.

Psalm 42:

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul; how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan to Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of my enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Jesus, there are storms at sea...and sometimes it's easy to see them and let fear over take our focus...when our souls are in turmoil may we always, always turn to you. I don't always do that...and honestly, being still before you scares me sometimes because it means I have to stop running from everything and face it. May we never ever forget that when we do have to turn around and face it..we have you beside us..holding our hands. The storms...they make us ache, but Jesus, they also stir up the waves of your love. We will not be overcome, though at times we feel as though we are. Let us remember that we WILL praise you again..our Salvation. Our Rock. Our God.