Carolyn and I are in Myrtle Beach, SC. We are taking some time away. We visited the Biltmore in Asheville on the way down. Wow, what a pile of stone. So while we are here we are doing our annual marriage checkup with our friend and counselor, Chip Judd. He has been such a blessing to us these last few years. It's hard to always work on your "stuff" without some godly, prophetic help. We are blessed to have folks like Chip and Colleen, and Dave and Linda Roeder, to engage in some robust dialogue with about growth points, or sometimes the lack of growth, in a way that is redemptive and healing. Good stuff usually happens by intention. Sometimes people can tell us our short comings, failures, and sins, but cannot help us find the healing and restoration we need. Thank God for those who can help. Good marriages take effort at every stage of life. This August Carolyn and I will be celebrating 41 years of marriage. We are committed to continue to grow in our relationship with each other and the ministries to which God has called us.
We are in a season, where in the school of the Holy Spirit, that we find ourselves in different classrooms. Carolyn is in a season of finding her own voice in a more authentic and personal way. I love how Carolyn is learning to go into a room with God and with confidence in the Lord minister to those who are there. I love how she has grown as a teacher and preacher, prophetically engaging us with the Word of God. On the other hand, I am in a season when God is shutting down the voice I have exercised, and I believe is helping me discover a new voice for me to express His heart, for this season of my life. I am being provoked to intimacy, being further reduced in dependency, to more fully express God's kingdom authority through my life. I have told some about the dream I had where the Lord took me to heaven and there was a jubilant party going on. I asked the Lord what was going on. He said it was a "surprise party." I asked who the surprise party was for and He said, "That's the surprise." I woke up with the profound feeling that God was getting ready to surprise me! The Bible declares, "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him." 1Cor. 2:9 As we get older, as we have had many experiences in God, we come to think we have God all figured out. When I get opinionated because of my past experiences, God finds a way to shake me out of my presumption if I will let Him. I illustrate it this way. I prayed for a bicycle and God sent me a sewing machine. I prayed what I thought I wanted, but God sent me what I really needed. Now I have to ask Him what to do with it, unless I get offended and refuse the answer. I've done that too. Is. 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts, than your thoughts." In this season, in the church, God is doing many new things, as He releases Kingdom life and power to the Saints. Do we want it or are we satisfied with yesterday's manna? Prov. 27:7, "One who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry, everything bitter is sweet." How hungry am I for God and for what He is offering now? "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matt. 5:6 The amazing thing about the Kingdom of God is this. The more hungry you are for God, and the more you feed on Him, the more hunger you have for Him, yet as we continue to receive Him, He does satisfy as nothing else does. God is preparing us for what is coming next. If we want more of Him, we need to make room for Him by laying aside our opinions, and be willing to accept what He offers with delight. I want more, don't you?