Jesus gave me Diarrhea

Funny story...

A few weeks ago I was lying in bed and I could not fall asleep. I was thinking about Jacob and his family. In Gen 35 Jacob wants to build an altar to God, so he asks everyone in his family for all of their idols and jewelery. He then uses them to build his altar to the Lord. It is strange to me that these people are moving around, following God, waiting for His commands and believing His promises and yet they carry around idols in their bags. And it doesn't stop with Jacobs family. The Israelites continue struggling with idolatry through their journey in the desert and even in the promised land. As I was lying there, unable to sleep, I just couldn't understand how people could genuinely follow God, while storing idols in their bags.

Then, out of nowhere, I felt very convicted. The Lord was saying to me, "Heather, you have idols. You may not be worshiping them now, but you keep them in your backpack and carry them around with you. When you feel that I'm not enough...you turn to them."

My first thought was, "I do not... that's ridiculous." The Lord then began to reveal some of my idols to me and I realized it was true. Then I said the prayer that changed everything, "Lord, do whatever it takes to get rid of these idols."

The next morning I woke up and told Curtis about what the Lord was speaking to me. Curt asked me what idols the Lord was convicting me about, and my response was, "Just a lot of things."

A few days later, I got sick...really sick. It started slow but then got exponentially worse. I was sick for two weeks and by the end of the second week I was ready to call a specialist. To say I had diarrhea is like saying God is big...it just doesn't really do justice to the situation. I lost 8lbs in one day!! I wasn't really talking to anyone about what was going on, (diarrhea doesn't make for a great topic of conversation) but Curtis mentioned some of my symptoms to his mom. Immediately she told him that she had had the same problem and she found that she was lactose intolerant. The same thing had also happened to his sister. Immediately he called me and told me to try cutting out dairy. So I started my lactose free diet and within a couple of days I was cured!!!

Now you are probably wondering how this all ties together. A couple weeks earlier when I was telling Curtis about my middle of the night idolatry conviction, I hadn't been completely honest with him. I was vague about the conviction because I was embarrassed. You see, the main thing that the Lord convicted me about was ice cream!!!!!!! How was I supposed to seriously tell my husband that the Lord had kept me awake most of the night to confront my love of ice cream...that is just completely humiliating! But after Curtis mentioned being lactose intolerant, I just had to laugh. I was immediately reminded of my prayer, "Lord, do whatever it takes to get rid of these idols." When Curtis got home I confessed to him the truth about the conviction. He thought it was hilarious of course. We agreed...Jesus gave me diarrhea :-)

I hope my story makes you laugh, because God is funny. I also hope it allows you to look into your own life and see if there are any idols in your backpack. Pray about it...God answers our prayers :-)

Waiting on God.

Do you ever feel like life is going nowhere...like time is standing still? Sometimes I just feel like an overwhelming passion is brewing inside me, but there is no outlet...no huge task I can poor my fire into...no huge world problem I can solve with my fervor.
I was thinking about Joshua today. Until recently, whenever I thought of Joshua, I would think of him scouting out Canaan and having faith that God could overcome the enemies of the Israelites; or of him leading the march around Jericho believing God would give His people the city. But recently I've been thinking about Joshua as a young boy. Joshua was the aide to Moses, while Moses was leading the Israelites. Anywhere Moses went Joshua also went. When God summoned Moses to speak with Him on the mountain top, Joshua was there. When called called Moses to the tent of meeting, Joshua was there. Exodus 33:11 is talking about God speaking with Moses in the tent of meeting, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent."
I can't help but wonder what the heck Joshua did in the tent of meeting without Moses? My imagination loves to run away with stuff like this. It must have been kind of overwhelming to be such a close witness to the power of God at such a young age. What an amazing opportunity!
At this time, Moses is pretty much the only guy that is truly God's "friend"; he is the only one having this kind of communion with God. And young Joshua is the only one getting to witness every moment of it. I wonder if Joshua ever felt left out when God and Moses were talking. I wonder if he ever thought to himself, "I could talk to God like a friend too...if only He would turn His attention to me and use me." I bet sometimes Joshua felt so filled with passion for God that he didn't know what to do with himself. It is no wonder that when Joshua faced the people of Canaan or the wall of Jericho, he was completely ready. The fire that had stirred in him from childhood could finally be released.
I pray that the fire in my heart will continue to prepare me for the call God has put before me. And I pray that I will never resent the waiting period; this is where I learn the character of God, so I can trust Him when He asks me to move.

NOT what I ordered!

Have you ever sat down for a nice meal at a restaurant, only to find that when your order shows up it is completely different than what you asked for? There are two types of people in this situation...people like my husband who would rather eat the wrong meal than make a fuss...and people like me, who spent the last 15 minutes dreaming about the perfect meal and can't imagine eating it any other way. I simply cannot stand when my order is wrong. Now, in most cases, a wrong order is simply a misunderstanding, but imagine if it wasn't. Imagine if after looking over your order, the waiter thought to himself, "Does she really need fries with that burger?...She might be better off with a side salad, and maybe some steamed broccoli." How frustrating would that be! Then, imagine the waiter coming back to the table and trying to explain his logic...I would be so confused, and probably a little offended.
I was thinking about this the other day while I was having my quiet time, and ironically Jeff spoke about my thoughts so clearly this past Sunday (If you missed it, it's a must see at www.elementweb.net).
In my life, I have clearly put in my order...I have let God know exactly what I want. I've been waiting in anticipation for everything to come out right. Then out comes the meal.
"Um...this is all wrong. You see my husband ordered the helicopter pilot with a side of fencing coach. He went to the Air Force Academy so it's the only meal that makes sense for him. I ordered the full-time ministry with the side of mommy/wife combo. I went to bible school...so this meal just fits me." Then I kindly ask my waiter with the nail scarred hands, "Do you think I could speak to your manager?"

God knows that sometimes we order things that aren't right for us...sometimes our order will clog our arteries and corrode our hearts. But I still always wonder when my order comes up wrong, "Is this God giving me what is good for me, or is satan trying to throw me off course." I think the only answer to that question is...who is waiting on me? Have I lined myself up with Christ so that I know my open doors are from Him, or am I living selfishly and receiving orders that comply with the desires of my human nature? If Christ is waiting on me (and I am waiting on Him), the order will always come out right.

the Leper

My devo reading for yesterday was in Numbers. Chapter 5 deals with those in the Israelite camp with leprosy. It's pretty sad to think about their lives...the Lord says, "send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them." There is seemingly no opportunity for healing. The bottom line...God is pure, you're not, so out of the camp you go. I can't imagine how horrible that must have been.
It makes me think about the leper in Luke 5:12, "While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.'"
Jesus was horrified and replied, "um...I'm Jesus, I'm pure and perfect. How dare you even approach me. You are defiling my path, please leave the city at once...oh, and make sure you yell 'unclean' on your way out!"
Ok, that's not really what happened. Jesus saw the man and had compassion. He said, "I am willing." Then He did something wonderful...He touched the man. I have to wonder how long it had been since this man had been touched, how long it had been since anyone had seen him and not been completely disgusted by his appearance. Jesus could have healed him from a distance, but He didn't...He touched the man...He placed His perfect hands on a torn vessel and there was complete healing.
Think of what our lives would be like if we didn't have Jesus. He doesn't just provide us a way to heaven. He meets us where we are. Where our imperfections once put us outside the camp, they now are an avenue for God to be great through us.