The Simple Life

Hi Friends,

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and wonderful things that you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3  What a promise!  Today was an important day for me.  I had been seeking God’s will for my life in earnest for quite some time now.  The Lord is so patient with me.  Over and over again, I would ask him, “What do you want me to do?  Not, what you would allow me to do - but what you would like me to do.”

God allows us to do all kinds of things:  get a job, start a business, go to school, get married, have children, go to this church or that church, join this group, or that one, put your kids in this sport or that activity.  We have many choices, but when it comes to vocation, advocation, or ministry, these things have to do with our calling.  I believe that the Lord is more specific about these things, primarily because they take up most of the time available in our lives - other than sleeping.  

About 24 years ago, I went on an Episcopal (ecumenical) retreat, where I was born again, delivered, (really delivered!), and baptized in the Holy Spirit.  To say that my life changed would be grossly understated.  I became totally enthralled with the presence of God, and would spend hours every day in prayer. I wanted to be like Joshua, who never left the tabernacle.  I asked the Lord to make me like Anna, the prophetess, who after becoming a widow at a young age, never left the temple in Jerusalem but prayed day and night.  She and Simeon were given the opportunity to see Jesus, as an infant when he was brought to the temple to be dedicated.

During that first year, God asked me to give up my design business.  This was not a problem for me since I was already, becoming disinterested in it, having already started an exercise business.  So I gave it up immediately, with no reservations.  Six months later, my father died, and one month after that, God asked me to give up my masters degree in physiology.  This was much harder to give up, since I was nearly finished with my studies, only a few more courses to finish.  However, I was obedient to God, and left it.  It is no different now than it was many years ago when Jesus called his disciples: "They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:18-20  

I had mentioned these facts in my post called. “Our Calling,” which focuses on God’s love for us and his purpose for our lives.  However, there is also another vision, that drastically changed everything I thought God had planned for my life.  This vision really “rocked my world.”  I cannot share this with you at this time, but It caused me to think that the Lord’s plan for my life seemed to be changing.  I thought is this a detour?  Is this a new season in my life?  Uncertainty became normal, and I lived day to day wondering what the future held.

I have been praying for more clarity, more wisdom, and more revelation.  The two part vision that God gave me earlier this afternoon, is about God’s call, and I believe it is important, so I wanted to share it with you.

During the prayer time this morning, I was interceding for friends, family and church members who were sick.  Some had chronic conditions, and some were recently injured.  Some needed emotional healing and some needed deliverance.  But no matter what they needed, God was showing me through this vision that he was sending healing their way!

This is the vision:

I saw an arm extended with the palm up.  The arm belonged to a person resting in a bed.  I could see only the forearm which was wrapped in a fabric bandage up to the wrist.  There was blood on the bandage, as if the wound was still bleeding.  I saw what I believe to be the Lord’s hand touching the person’s open palm, with his two fingers:  the index finger and the middle finger.  I knew that this was in answer to my prayer.  God was send his healing touch to the people for whom, I had been praying.

Then I saw the second piece of the vision.  It was showing an old kitchen, perhaps from around the year 1960.  The style, could date it even 10 years earlier, because of the stand alone stove and the back door with its sheer curtain covering the small  window in the door.  What makes it a little later in time, like the sixties, was the presence of narrow tires on the bicycle that leaned up against the wall of the kitchen, to the right of the back door.

Now, why all the detail?  It is because that is all that there is to the vision.  The details tell a story of a time that has now past.  The fifties and early sixties, were a more simple time.  A time when the pace was slower, and a time when there was less confusion.  Nearly everyone of my friends and classmates went to church on Sunday.  We all knew the pledge of allegiance, and girls were girls and guy were guys - very little confusion.

I had been praying for wisdom and God’s direction for my life.  These two visions reveal God’s heart.  God’s plan for families, was that the man of the house worked, usually outside the home, farming, or having a special skill or trade that provided the family with income.  The wife, generally stayed at home, and raised the children, and kept the home running well.  Because of a cultural shift, much of the workforce is now made of women, quite a few of whom are single moms who are trying to wear both hats, that of provider and homemaker.

I am sure there are some women who can do both in an exemplary fashion, who raise well behaved, loving and respectful children with a bright future.  But usually something suffers when we spread ourselves too thin.  As a homeschooling mom and wife,  business owner, and student, I was doing too much.  The Lord was changing my priorities: “I do not want you to do, I want you to be.”  

The Lord said through Paul, “Make it your ambition to lead the quiet life.”  Why was this?  He explains: “You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”  1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

God wants us to trust him for our resources.  Unlike the rich young ruler, who trusted in his wealth, he could not let go of his possessions to follow the Lord.  He couldn’t give up what he knew, to follow what he did not know.  It fits the saying, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  But this is contrary to God.  He wants us to step out in faith, before we see what is ahead of us.  Before we see his provision, we must give up the bird in our hand.

What came together for me in this vision was this:  in order to understand God’s plan, we have to go back to the more simple days.  He was showing me the old kitchen, because it represents, hearth and home.  “A woman’s place is in the home.”  (not that it can’t be otherwise, like Mother Theresa’s place was in the slums of India.  And there are countless missionaries doing the Lord’s work all over the globe.)  We can be called to do many things.  But the main thing, is to do what the Lord is directing each of us to do.

One part of the vision, that I wanted to get clarity on, was the bicycle leaning up against the kitchen wall.  Generally speaking, the bicycle doesn't really belong in the kitchen, but it is reasonable to think that if you didn't want the bicycle to rust, and did not have a garage or shed, you might keep it in the kitchen,  But more importantly, what does the bicycle represent and why did God include it in the vision?  The bicycle is a means of transportation - for only one.  It is not the family car.  It is not a means to travel a great distance.  But it is primarily used as a means of local travel, as running errands.  There was no basket on the bike, so it would not be used for shopping.  It is not usually used in bad weather.  So why is it there and what does it mean?  is the bicycle for leisure or for work?  

This past week I went into New York City to get a passport for my son.  I saw two young men on bicycles with helmets, and back packs, dodging in and around the traffic.  They were messengers going from office to office delivering documents and small packages.  After praying regarding this piece of the vision, I believe that God is using the bicycle to tell me he wants me to be ready to be dispatched.  He wants me to be ready to bring a meal to someone, to visit someone in the hospital, to watch a child for a friend so she can do something important, or to pray with someone on the phone who needs healing or encouragement.  These are things that God considers important.  We have to be his hands and feet.  We have to make ourselves available to him.

What God has called me to do are two things:  to write and to intercede.  These are things that take considerable time.  I know in order to be able to pray for healing, and deliverance for others, we must be in prayer.  Jesus’ disciples asked him a question: “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”  What was his response?  “This kind can come out only with prayer.”  (“prayer and fasting” - KJV) Mark 9:28-29

We cannot be effective in the kingdom of God, if we do not spend time with the Lord.  Paul said to pray without ceasing.  I believe that a life of prayer is what God has called me to - to pray to know him, and to see his will done in the lives of others.  He has asked me to share with others, by writing about the visions he provides, which hopefully encourages us.

Whatever God has placed in your heart, do it.  And do it with all your heart and as if unto the Lord.  But if there is something in our lives that hinders us, we have to let it go.  We cannot afford to be like the rich young ruler, who was hindered in following the call of God, because he was unwilling to let it go.  

We must live a simple life.  Simple priorities -  Simply know God, and be known by God. “What does it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his soul.”  Mark 8:36  

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will come into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers?’”  Matthew 7:21-23

Let us make it our ambition to lead the quiet life.  And to know him!

Be blessed!