Good morning my sisters-
I am awake at the wonderful hour of 3AM. It is my once-a-week
curse and when I travel my several days a week ritual. Saturdays seem to
be a time when I wake this early. I'm a dreamer and often I have very vivid
dreams, some I remember and others there are just whispers that remind me what
I dreamed about that night but always, during this hour, I know I'm awakened to
pray.
You might be wondering, who or what I am praying for at 3AM.
Truly, anything that comes on my heart and into my mind. It's usually for world
leaders, starving children, widows and orphans but this week it is the floods
in Texas and my heart is crying out for those emergency responders and
volunteers trying to find those that have already departed to give their
families closure.
I believe we are called to pray for the mourning as well as
the workers. The workers are always fewer than the task at hand and I wonder if
Texas is having the same issue. I can't imagine what it feels like to crawl
through the rubble that is left. The stories are heart wrenching, and I guess I
just have a very big heart because the burden has been heavy as I've prayed for
people I don't know and will never know. But like all things dark, there is
always a glimmer of hope. A resounding feeling that our God is near in the
darkest of places and I typically find it in watching animals play and hearing
the innocent words of children.
Children here on earth or those that have gone to heaven
somehow have a way of leading us to God. Their innocence flows from a heart
less tainted by a world that hasn't fallen into the trap of skepticism but
rather hope, faith and truth.
I've been caught up scrolling on the Texas floods which has
been dark for me because I know how painful it is to lose people suddenly and
want them back to hold, to touch, to talk to. And yet, I keep seeing these
reels on young children asking Jesus to give them a rainbow or telling their
mother Jesus is near and then a rainbow shows up, and even in the weirdest one
I saw someone caught lightening in the middle of a rainbow, which was God's
promise never to flood the whole earth again.
Hearing little children speak the name of Jesus really makes
an impact on me. Their amazing way of believing through eyes that have yet to
see the world for what it is always reminds me that in the dark there is
LIGHT. God illustrates that to us every day. As I write, it is pitch black
outside and in 3 hours it will be light. Dark and light exist but often if we
stay quiet, we will begin to see that light shines brighter.
That's what children do. They hope, they believe, they see
things we can't see. I believe that child saw Jesus on the reel. I believe
children have seen Jesus that are sick. I believe that children have the
ability to feel Jesus more than adults and I believe Jesus cares for the little
ones just like He said in the Bible.
They remind me that hope doesn't have to be all theirs. God
reminds us often that He has a hope and a future for us. What does that mean?
It means as long as we are here on earth he has a plan for our lives. Some are
here for just a whisper and others may have a hundred years, but we ALL have
the hope and the promise that God has a plan in all this chaos. How do we know?
Look toward the innocent child that believes.
In a few weeks, the Texas floods will be fleeting from people’s
minds. Those that are living the nightmare will always remember the day their
lives changed. But there will be more floods, more disasters, more wars, and we
have to cling to the HOPE Jesus left behind. Jesus did not get to fulfill His
will when He went to the cross. He, instead, filled God's will which now gives
all of us the HOPE of eternal life. My ask of God is for me not to forget Texas
or the hundreds of families impacted by any life taking ferocious event. How do
I know that I could forget? Because people have already forgotten North
Carolina and the fires that burned LA. I don't want to forget any of them
because these events remind me to look up, to believe and to know that although
it seems cruel and unfair, God has a plan.
I would like to encourage you to spend time with a little
one. They are inspiring and so full of what we once had like wonder, hope, and
awe. It is in this moment we get to glimpse into how God wants us to act, to
think and to feel. He says, come to me like little ones. Why? Because they
don't question! I have to remind myself often to think like a child. It's
easy to fall into the darkness of this world rather than to meditate on His
words which is living and true. That's what I'm doing now. I'm reflecting on
His words, His character and what He did for all of us. I believe that many in
the flood are with Him right now and yet, I know from experience that may not
comfort many of the families impacted until they go through the full force of
their grief. My prayer is they feel Him in the dark and somehow, someway, they
see the light.
Lord Jesus, I pray you will send the Holy Spirit to every
single person needing you today. I pray that we won't forget the tragedy of
this year with fires, floods, and war. I pray that we will be called to pray
for those that have lost so much and that one day they will see light again. I
pray for the emergency responders and for the volunteers who are working so
hard to retrieve loved ones for those left behind and I pray you will put
anyone that needs prayer on my heart as you did this morning. I know that hope
and faith are hard to come by in the dark but even a glimmer brings us to your
feet and that's my prayer for everyone that is going through a dark time. I am
praying that they won't lose hope in YOU.
Thank you for every good thing and please bring about YOUR
glory from the events that washed away their light. I'm tremendously grateful
that you put people on my heart and I pray that my sins are forgiven so my
prayers can resound in Heaven. Blessings to all. In Jesus Name I pray. AMEN
