Now That's God!

Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

If we listen for God's voice and if we respond to it, we will see the details played out time and time again. He's amazing.

I've seen this before but it's worth sharing. I don't know if it's real or the product of someone's creative literary ability, but it's very good. It ties in a bit with my blog on Listening for God.

NOW THAT'S GOD

It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The creeks and streams were long gone back into the earth. It was a dry season that would bankrupt several farmers before it was through. 

Every day, my husband and his brothers would go about the arduous process of trying to get water to the fields. Lately this process had involved taking a truck to the local water rendering plant and filling it up with water. But severe rationing had cut everyone off. If we didn’t see some rain soon...we would lose everything. It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own eyes. I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He wasn't walking with the usual carefree abandon of a youth but with a serious purpose. I could only see his back. He was obviously walking with a great effort ... trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. 

I went back to making sandwiches; thinking that whatever task he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful stride toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour: walking carefully to the woods, running back to the house. 

Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey (being very careful not to be seen...as he was obviously doing important work and didn't need his Mommy checking up on him). He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked, being very careful not to spill the water he held in them ... maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped his little face, but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much higher purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site. 

Several large deer loomed in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did not threaten him...he didn't even move as Billy knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn lying on the ground; obviously suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand. When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house and I hid behind a tree. 

I followed him back to the house to a spigot to which we had shut off the water. Billy opened it all the way up and a small trickle began to creep out. He knelt there, letting the drip, drip slowly fill up his makeshift "cup," as the sun beat down on his little back. And it came clear to me: The trouble he had gotten into for playing with the hose the week before. The lecture he had received about the importance of not wasting water. The reason he didn't ask me to help him. It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to fill his hands. When he stood up and began the trek back, I was there in front of him. 

His little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting," was all he said. As he began his walk, I joined him...with a small pot of water from the kitchen. I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It was his job. I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save another life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, other drops...and more drops...and more suddenly joined them. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, himself, was weeping with pride. 

Some will probably say that this was all just a huge coincidence. Those miracles don't really exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I can't argue with that... I'm not going to try. All I can say is that the rain that came that day saved our farm...just like the actions of one little boy saved another. 

I don't know if anyone will read this...but I had to send it out. To honor the memory of my beautiful Billy, who was taken from me much too soon... But not before showing me the true face of God, in a little, sunburned body. 

*~THAT'S GOD ~* 

Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for? 

THAT'S GOD! He speaks to you through the Holy Spirit 

Have you ever been down and out and nobody seems to be around for you to talk to? 

THAT'S GOD! He wants you to speak to Him. 

Have you ever been thinking about somebody that you haven't seen in a long time and then next thing you know you see them or receive a phone call from them? 

THAT'S GOD! There's no such thing as coincidence. 

Have you ever received something wonderful that you didn't even ask for, like money in the mail, a debt that had mysteriously been cleared, or a coupon to a department store where you had just seen something you wanted, but couldn't afford. 

THAT'S GOD. . He knows the desires of your heart. . 

Have you ever been in a situation and you had no clue how it is going to get better, but now you look back on it? 

THAT'S GOD! He passes us through tribulation to see a brighter day. 

Don't tell GOD how Big your storm is. Tell the storm how Big your GOD is! 

We so often tend to think the Lord doesn't care about the small details of our lives. It's so untrue. His arm is never too short for any situation. He speaks to us all only some just don't recognize His voice.

After being in Arizona for several days with two friends, we nearly daily relished in the beauty of God's creation as we'd sit outside with our coffee, listening to the cacophony of birds flitting through the yard, gazing at the Superstition Mountains as our backyard backdrop and delighting in the wispy clouds against the bright blue sky and noting the fast growth of spring in the southwest. More than once the words Isn't God amazing? spoken...and probably more often than not, thought.

He can bless us in one instance just by recognizing the beauty of His creation and then He can call us to do something in the next where, when we obey, we see His hand at work in another way. In our trials, if we know Jesus as Lord and Savior, we realize all we need do is call out for Him and He will hear. I'm certain He will hear the heartfelt cries of those who don't even know Him when they are in desperate need, and He will make Himself known to them, that they will believe.

I think about little Billy above and his childlike trust that what he was doing was the right thing. If we could learn to be more like him and listen to our hearts...listen to what God plants in our hearts...fully trusting He will bring about successful ends, this world might be a better place. It's all about God. It's all about trusting that He only desires the best for us and trusting His still, small voice that leads us to realizing He exists in even the small things of our lives and all He wants is to give us all we could ever hope to have.

Now this is God: once about twelve years ago I heard the Lord speak to me and I responded and received the fullness of what God has to offer. I'm thankful that I know this God and know that whatever happens on this earth is only temporary and what lies ahead for me is eternal. I have that hope. 

Ephesians 3:19 - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.