Words have power. Written words provide proof. You can read them, and reread them whenever you want. They can speak life to someone who needs encouragement. They can speak death to someone who is being deceived. The choice lies within you. How is it that you want people to remember you? Encourager...that is the gift that God has laid on my heart. To use my written, spoken, and/or sung words to lift people up. To be one link in their road to healing, restoration, joy. I have been without those things, and I claim them to be mine again. If you want me to seek God on a prayer for a specific situation...that is why I am here. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to pray God's Word of Life over you.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Pillar Up (Day TEN-30 Day Challenge)

Today is already off to a rough start. I turned on my computer this morning and... It. Was. Dead. I tried everything I could think of. Now I've resorted to typing on my iPad. Not my favorite way to type...but I'm being MORE stubborn than the enemy is stupid. he forgets who he is messing with. I. Am. A. Daughter. Of. The. Most. High. God!

I planned to write about working today. But since my thoughts and research on that post are already started on my computer...I'm completely changing my focus...and trusting that God will restore it! It was His call for me to write...and it is for His glory. I'm being stretched today. And I'd surely appreciate your prayers. :-)

Today I've decided to write about pillars. What is really amazing is that if I HAD written what I planned...and if I HAD finished my post before I left to take me kids to school...I would've missed in the blessing I will mention below. This post is for Titus
today. And what the enemy tried to use to frustrate me...only made God's goodness even more noticeable! 

Pillars. You've seen them on fancy shmancy houses. You've seen them on government buildings. You've seen them in ancient architecture. What is their purpose? What can we learn from them?

Pillars are strong. They are made from materials that are meant to stay strong over many years of time. What I feel is significant about the purpose of pillars...is that they are created for something bigger. They are made strong so that they can hold up something larger than them. They are spaced in a way that makes them effective in their purpose. If one, just one, crumbles...the safety of the rest is in danger. The whole structure could collapse.

"James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me." Galatians 2:9 (The definition of the word 'reputed' is- said, considered, believed, regarded. I, myself wasn't sure...so I thought I'd just make it clear. Read the verse again with one of these words in place if it will help!)

What does it mean for Christians, for you and I to be pillars? It means we let God mold us out of His strength. We make ourselves strong in His truth and foundational wisdom. We allow God to scrape off anything that will compromise His purpose for us. Our shape is specific. Our construction is for a greater purpose than what we know. 

Pillars are not at all weak, BUT their purpose is to help something LARGER stand strong! Just as God called James, Peter and John to be pillars for Paul and Barnabas as it says in the verse above...He is calling us as well.

You should know by know that I almost always have an example that explains/shows the point I am trying to get across. Today is no different. :-) If you have been reading these daily posts in my 30 day devotional challenge...you might remember the other day when I talked about my son, Titus. He is four years old and has been afraid and unwilling to pray. (This does NOT go over well with his prayer warrior mama. Lol.) 

You may also remember that I asked you to pray for him specifically in that area. At the point in which you took on that request...YOU became a pillar for my son. Today as we drove to school I asked who would like to pray first. He yelled..."I would!" My jaw dropped and I told him to go ahead. He exuberantly prayed, on his own, without help from anyone. Heaven and this Mama rejoiced today! The enemy tried. The enemy failed. And your faith and prayers were a link to the new strength he has found. So....THANK YOU! I can't express how blessed I am to have people willing to war with me. And even more so...to have people that will war knowing they might never meet him. That is a pillar of love!

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I found this verse to be ABSOLUTELY true this past summer. I agreed...pretty much because I am awful at saying no...to be the director of my church's vacation bible school. I was given a budget...that's it. No past rules or traditions. Just...Go ahead. Do it your way. It was great...and intimidating. I am NOT much of a leader. For real. I do not make decisions quickly. I don't like to be the one on which the weight of responsibility falls. I don't like to HAVE to have an answer for every question. And I didn't. Lol. But also...*whispers* I'm a procrastinator. 

So in this first year of me even being at this church for VBS...my weaknesses showed. But. God. 
My weaknesses may have made my life more stressful...but God. God showed up. He was with us every night. He worked out all of the details. He brought kids into His eternity. He brought adults that have leadership roles at our church...into a role of serventhood for these kids. They sacrificed at least a week of summer nights. They danced...and we've got proof via video! They sang loud. They high dived often. They sweated MUCH! 

So how? How did I show God to these kids in an over-the-top way? Pillars. I had people praying. People willing to war for the salvation  of these children. There were two specific prayer warriors that did just that. They prayed for each name we gave them. Every child that went through that week...was bathed in prayer. And I had women who were my own personal pillars. They didn't need me. They held me up. They encouraged me to keep going. They lifted my head and my arms if they started to droop.

Who are your pillars? Who are the people that God has placed in your path to hold you up when you want to give up? Have you thanked them? Have you even recognized them? Be intentional. Tell them how blessed you are by them. Or better yet...write it to them. That way they can read it on a day that they need a little boost!

And who is God calling you to be a pillar for? I GUARANTEE one of them is the pastor of your church. He does NOT need people from within pushing on the pillars in place. He does not need the ones in his flock to be stomping on the God-inspired vision he is carrying out. He needs every single person with breath...to commit to being or actively becoming a pillar for him. You trust him...or you would've left by now. So show him your love. What he holds is bigger than he. God's ways are more amazing than we give Him credit for. 

Who else are you holding up? Or maybe a better question...who else are you trying to destroy? Change your focus. God's vision will not die...but it can move on to someone else who is willing and passionate. And then where will the lost be? 

STAND STRONG!

1 comment:

  1. This is a great insight. I will never look at pillars the same way! I am glad you went this direction today instead! And i SO needed to hear the scripture about God working through my weakness! Thank you!

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