You Can Be Free

And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” Acts 12:11

There are times in our lives that are burned in our memories as times when God did a major working in us. Maybe it was a time when you felt the greatest pain or the greatest confusion. Or it could have even been the time you felt the greatest triumph or joy. As I heard someone read this scripture this morning, my mind immediately went to one of those times in my life. It was a time of growing and a time of stretching. For me it was painful and lonely I couldn't imagine when it would end. 

But it did.

At some point the pressure eased up and I could see through the fog that had settled to one big word...expectations. As I meditated and reflected, I could see that part of God helping me to make peace with elements of my past meant doing a critical thing: delivering me from expectations of people. A lot of times we focus on the first part of what God does just like it says in Acts 12:11. We focus on being delivered from the hand of our enemies (ex. Herod). However, the fullness of God's freedom includes deliverance from expectations as well. In some cases, I needed to release myself from what others expected of me, but the main person I had to get delivered from was myself. 

So many of my hurts and disappointments were tied up in who I hoped, wanted, expected others to be for me. I have wonderful family and friends who are supportive and encouraging and loving; yet even with that I had places hidden in my heart that were disappointed by this or that. Truly my heart was tied to places where people hadn't been what I had hoped. When I needed them, they hadn't been there. What I wanted, they hadn't delivered. I had sometimes measured the love in our relationship by what they had/hadn't given to me and not always on what I had given to them. They had missed their lines in the play of my life that I had cast them in and I realized through this process that it wasn't fair because I had cast them in a part and with lines that they hadn't agreed to. 

Those people around me had been just who God wanted them to be and not who I wanted them to be. They had been who I needed them to be and not always what I wanted them to be. At the moments when I wished they had been on the other side of a phone when I called, God wanted me to be turning to Him. When they had said "no" instead of saying "yes", God's plan was at play. Even in times when they had done things "wrong" or hurtful, Romans 8:28 was truly at work with all things working together for my good. I couldn't see it then. I felt hurt and confused and abandoned at times. However, as I looked back I realized that everything had happened just the way that it should--mistakes, hurts and all. 

There's a thin line between setting standards of excellence so that we strive for the best and setting expectations for others based on an ideal that we have created that may not always be in line with what is fair and/or what God wants for our lives. Being healthy and at peace is about realizing when that line has been crossed. And so the cookie crumbles both ways. Just as God released me from my expectations of others, he also delivered me from unrealistic expectations of others that did not match the journey that he had/has me on. There are times when people want you to be more than you can be for them. The weight of that can be tremendous. There are times when your actions don't match with the hopes that others have for you. Your obligation is to living a life that strives for excellence but that is not bound by mistakes you may make or times when you miss the mark.

I don't know what you are going through or what pieces of your past are weighing you down now in your present and preventing you from moving pain-free into your future. What I do know is that God is able to deliver you from the heart of some of this pain and hurt--your expectations. Perhaps you had expectations of your mom to be positive when instead she said negative things to you. Perhaps you had expectations of your father to protect you at all costs, but you still got hurt on his watch. Perhaps you expected your child to do better than you had done and are disappointed at some of the choices they have made. 

No matter what your expectations, today is a good day to allow the Spirit of the Lord to release you from them. Cry out to Him. Tell Him. Then release it! Your total freedom hinges on this very thing. Freedom from the places of past hurts and pain does not end with apologies. Instead it ends with forgiveness--forgiving others for not doing right, for not doing what you'd hoped, and for not being who you'd expected. Today I want to encourage you to take advantage of what God is offering--freedom from your enemies and deliverance from expectations (i.e. peace of mind). It's yours for the taking. 

Be encouraged.

Blessings,
Pastor A

P.S. Don't forget to share the blessing. If you know someone who needs this word...pass it along.

DAY 25: Can't Slay Dragons You Avoid

I slayed a dragon just now.

I know that sounds odd, but it's how I feel. Beyond procrastination and beyond fear was a big ugly dragon called AVOIDANCE. Procrastination is about delaying and putting something off where avoidance tries to prevent it completely. So what I've learned over the years is that I have a bad habit of avoiding things that I don't want to deal with. (It's probably just me. The rest of you face things head on, I know, but bear with me because I'm a work in progress.) Particularly, those things I don't understand...well...it's better left off my radar (not even at the bottom of the "To-Do" list) than where I have to constantly be reminded that there's something or someone I'm avoiding dealing with and that someone is God.

I probably shouldn't admit that. I mean, I'm a minister, a pastor, a prophet of God...and I'm struggling to pray to the Lord?! I call myself a Christian (and truly am). I love God. I get excited about God. I talk about God and encourage people in God. I read about God and listen to God. What kind of sense does that make? None. However, sensible or not, there's been a couple of things (a.k.a. dragons) that I honestly have shut down the lines of communication with Him on. Or at least I had.

But this evening, I faced one of those dragons. This evening, I decided that I would stop not praying about some questions I have. Not praying got me no closer to answers but that has a good and bad side. If you pray...if you ask questions with authenticity and truth then you must be willing and ready to hear answers. And THAT is where my avoidance was birthed. I haven't been afraid really that God would say no about some things. In fact, I think I have gotten used to a "no" or "not now" in some areas of my life. So what happens when in your spirit you feel a shifting and you have a feeling that the answer may actually be "yes"? What's a girl to do!?

Well this girl did the first unhealthy, negative thing I could think to do--took it off the radar and avoided. I checked emails, talked to people, surfed the social sites, made phone calls, wrote blogs...and didn't do the written prayer in my journal that I knew the Lord was calling for specific to this one issue. What's worse, I didn't even know I was doing it until I looked up and realized that I had been eating it up. Instead of facing the Lord, I was facing a plate or a snack. After such great progress in my journey towards health, I began putting that on the line again all in the name of avoidance.

And yes, fear is tied up in this thing. Truly my fear of failure has risen to the top on multiple occasions but what scares me more (and what was at play here) is about that fear of success. Success and yeses mean expectations and responsibilities. Somewhere along the way, I had managed to convince myself that I could not handle either. Somewhere along the way, I'd allowed the enemy to whisper that LIE into my spirit and it stuck...well until today. Today, I faced that dragon. Today, I looked it squarely in the face (after I ate the last snack bar of course) and said DIE because "Greater is He that is in my than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4) Today I decided to heed the scripture that says to "walk in the Spirit, and don't gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Though that verse truly speaks about sin, I think it's applicable to walk in the spirit and not give in to the desire of my flesh to avoid God.

If what I've written here sounds familiar to you too, then bravo in advance for facing and slaying your dragons. You can't slay them though if you avoid them. And if this is not you...well then pray for us. Either way and most importantly...be encouraged to face GOD head on with boldness or with hesitation. He can take it.

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea

DAY 1 - Countering Contrariness

I just don't want to.

          It's just the way I am.

                    I'm grown.

                              I'm playing devil's advocate.

...Yeah...that last one there is the one that truly gives me pause. I mean who really wants to be the devil's advocate? In theory, not me! But, in reality, there are times though that I can admit that I just want to be...well...contrary. Like most human beings, I want what I want when I want it and sometimes that includes wanting to not let someone else have their way. (Stop looking at me like that. You know you do it too.) If we're telling the truth, we all do it. We get it honest. We want things a certain way just because we can or just to prove a point on "general principle". Like little children, we throw tantrums and our minds do serious battle with what we know to be good and just. Galatians 5:17 reminds us that "the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit". It ain't right, but it's real.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I was just feeling like going the opposite direction of everything coming my way. I didn't act on all of my feelings but I was sure thinking in a negative tailspin: If people went left, I was in the mood to go right. If people said "run", I'd want to slow to a stop. And there was nothing that was moving me out of this funk except the Lord. You see, in the midst of my spiritual pouting session, the Lord drew my attention to what I was doing; and what looked back at me in that mirror was not a good look. The word CONTRARY kept flashing in my brain. It became a needle in my side that pierced every time my huffiness started to raise back up. How could I huff and puff when I thought about how graceful God has been with me. How could I have no patience with others or feel so annoyed with them when God continually works with me--though messy I may be.

There is no magic word or special pill that you can take to counteract the place that the pouting, contrary child has in your heart. The solution to contrariness lies in making a decision pure and simple. Today, you can pout like a little girl, or you can grow up--own your emotions and walk with self control. Be encouraged today to allow the needling of the Holy Spirit to convict you, call that contrary spirit what it is and pray for God to renew a RIGHT spirit in you.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; 

according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. 

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin... 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit 

from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

(Psalm 51:1,2,10,11,12)

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea

Lifeline Thru The Fog

I spent the majority of the day in bed. As I messaged an old friend, I couldn't understand why this had hit so hard. It was just a cold. Colds in February are a norm of life. However, my fatigued body was lacking the emotional and spiritual reinforcements that would have normally made it possible to press through the day with a measly cold. It was like I could feel a fog settling in over me. Have you ever felt that way? So weighed down by circumstance or simple reflections that you can barely connect the dots of your thoughts?

We often allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by what feels like a storm raging around us. Sometimes the storm is obvious with wind and hale and thunder; and sometimes the storm is more subtle like the settling of a fog over a chilling day. Sometimes the storm of life is obvious like the loss of a loved one, divorce, health challenges, financial mayhem; and sometimes life's storms are those subtle moments where your mind and emotions lose focus and allow the "shoulda", "woulda", "coulda"s of life to seep into your soul.

But, at the end of the day, God prevails even over the foggiest brain. As I rested, a friend messaged me to say that they noticed the spiritual fatigue and reminded me of a Word from the Lord that had come to me weeks ago. In the midst of my fog, the Lord sent me a lifeline. The depth of the fact that we don't war against the flesh but against spirits (Ephesians 6) took root in my soul. I felt the weight begin to lift and my mind begin to clear and felt an urge to write. Immediately, I wanted to pay it forward. You may be unaware of even what's really got you down for the count. You may simply feel a little bit under the weather or a bit bruised from the season of life you are in...blue or down. But God sent me today to tell you that He sees you! God loves you enough to not let you flounder and sends His redeeming Word as a lifeline. Be encouraged today to hold fast to His Word that says:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

3 

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:2-3a)

Blessings and peace,
Pastor Andrea