Reasons We Drown and How Not To by Susan Barclay

Sometimes I think God must find us "as thick as a plank." We can be just like the drowning man who dies and goes to heaven only to learn that he passed up three opportunities God had provided for him to be rescued. 

What makes it so hard for us to listen or see what God is trying to tell us? Here are a few possibilities:

1. We're in too big of a hurry. We want what we want when we want it. We're not patient enough to wait on the Lord, His direction and timing. We rush ahead of Him, arrogantly thinking He needs our help to bring things to pass, believing we know what's best even though we can't possibly see the big picture or know what better thing He might have in mind. We forget that:

image by Ben Steed, Heartlight.org

 2. We don't seek His input. Our prayers are one-directional, upwards. We talk to Him about what we want or need; we send up pleas and pleases, as in "Please, God, do x-y-z," "Please, God, provide a-b-c." We don't spend any time listening or being still. Maybe we don't believe He wants to talk to us as much as He wants us to do the talking. I wonder how much trouble we could be spared if we only sought His leading instead of supplicating then getting on with business as usual...

Heartlight.org

 3. We don't know how to listen or see. We don't know how to be quiet for once. We haven't been raised in Christian homes or we haven't had good examples or teaching. The Holy Spirit is there to guide us and show us; all we need to do is ask, attend and be available.

image by Joshua Batchelor, Berea project

I don't know about you, but I've been guilty of not listening or seeing. There have been times when I've been in a hurry, I haven't sought His input, or I just didn't know how to wait on God or even how to accurately interpret the big red flags He was waving. Sadly, He has had to get my attention in hard ways that could have been avoided. 

Though I don't always get it right even now, I've become much better at asking the Holy Spirit to teach me, calling on the Lord and seeking His answers, searching for Him and hoping in Him. My greatest desires, apart from the salvation of my children, are to spend time with Him, learn from Him and experience His goodness while I am yet in the land of the living. Essentially, I want to prevent drowning!

As for a story about a time when God provided me with "extraordinary directions," that's currently under consideration with a publisher. Prayers for a favourable response are appreciated!
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You can find out more about Susan Barclay's writing at www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

An Extraordinary Passing by Lynn J Simpson

“Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Genesis 18: 10-12

Have you ever nervously laughed when something so extraordinary is told to you that you have a hard time believing it could truly come to pass? 

After already a long life-time that had Sarah and Abraham still childless, I can imagine the news that they would have a son in a year was astonishing. Their life experiences had thus far shown them a child of their own becoming an impossibility as time marched on. Today we may flippantly refer to times when things just don’t happen like we expected as “it just wasn’t in the cards,” or  “it is what it is.” We may laugh at ourselves while we try to justify in our minds and hearts that our unmet dreams were silly or unrealistic in the first place.  Or we laugh at others when suggestions so extraordinary from our own perception have us choking down chuckles while internally we throw water on any flame sparked in our hearts. 

The realistic and ordinary become the safe places to navigate rather than the possibility of the extraodinary. Dreams dim as circumstances prevail. Years, maybe even decades pass by and, like Sarah, the womb stays empty. Hope leaves with the passing of time.

But the Nourisher never stops working. Consider the extraordinary small bee that makes fertilization possible from sticks of hair on it’s body that carry droplets of pollen. In time these droplets of pollen reproduce and flourish the necessary plants to nourish our bodies. An extraordinary process from circumstances of a creation with only a two millimetre body. Perplexing but true.

Sarah, worn out and old, perplexed of how God’s promise will fill her womb with a son, laughed at herself. Her laugh may have come from a combination of emotions including joy, irony, and amazement. Later, a son born to her, she reflects on her extraordinary circumstances. “Sarah said, “God brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:8) Is anything too worn out, too old, too broke or even too wonderful for God? Is anything too extraordinary for God?

No!

Instead, it is God’s extraordinary ways with us, especially during uncertain and perplexing situations, that fertilizes our faith. And maybe even erupts in us a laughter from pure joy. 

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2

Have faith! With God, the extraordinary can truly come to pass. 

Extraordinary Directions, Extraordinary Peace by Marcia Lee Laycock

My husband and I, Dawson City Yukon, 1978

As I made our bed, the one my husband had constructed that week as a temporary place for us to lay our heads as we finished our eight-sided log home, I wondered how long we would live there. The still small voice that responded, “six years,” made my hands stop their tucking and smoothing. I did not recognize the voice of God at that moment, but for some reason I believed it. I peered out the window at the hayfield and hills around it and listened to the gurgling Klondike River that ran just beyond our door. Six years. Well. I purposed in my heart to enjoy every day of that time.

It was six years later when my husband came home after a hunting trip with our pastor. He was laughing as he came in the door and when I asked him why he shook his head and said. “Oh, that crazy Pastor Jack Sailor! He just told me he thinks I’m going to be a pastor someday.” I smiled. I knew it was true and I knew God was about to cause our world to turn upside down, once again.

But I had complete peace. God didn’t reveal all the details of what was about to happen, and it’s a good thing He didn’t or I likely would have tried to run, but I knew, as each step unfolded, that we had been called to go in an extraordinary direction by an extraordinary God.

We had only been believers in Christ for about two years. Our lives had already been turned upside down, the changes obvious to all. Now the road was narrowing even more, and the challenges just kept on coming as we made the decision to go to Bible College.

We had to come to terms with selling the house we had built with our own hands, giving it to God, not as a precious sacrifice on our part, but as something He had given us for a time and was now taking back so that He could give us something much more valuable– a life lived in service to Him.

We had only just gotten our heads and hearts around that hurdle when things started going awry. We bought an old station wagon and a tent trailer to make the 3,222 km. trip south with two young children and an aging husky dog, but shortly after we bought it the motor died. A wonderful mechanic friend came to our rescue, helped us find another motor, and installed it for us for free. 

We had thought the house and property were sold but that fell through at the last minute. The new butcher in town asked if he could rent it, so we agreed, with a handshake but no lease signed. He backed out just after we’d mailed all our belongings away. Then a man who’d just had an amazing conversion to Christ told us he’d dreamed about living in our house and believed God wanted him to buy it – two days before we had to leave. Those are just a few of the details that should have shaken my world. 

But I had extraordinary peace. 

God had told me we’d live in that home for six years and it came to pass. He made it clear to us that He wanted us to go to a Bible college in Saskatchewan and even though my husband resisted that idea at first, I knew it would come to be. Things began to fall apart in many ways, but I just kept on packing.

That was thirty-five years ago, almost to the day. It has been an extraordinary path He set our feet, and our minds and hearts on, way back then. It hasn’t all been easy, by any means, but it has been a life I would not change for all the gold and silver in the world. His blessings have abounded, His grace evident at every turn and His mercy enough to send us to our knees over and over again, as He continued to teach us and grow us into His disciples. Flawed though we are, He continues that work.

Extraordinary directions. Extraordinary peace. Extraordinary God.

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Read more at www.marcialeelaycock.com

How Has God Given You Extraordinary Directions? By Sandi Somers

Image by Bridge Community Church

God gives us extraordinary directions—ways of making His mind and will known to us, just as He did with Moses.

One ordinary day as Moses was tending sheep, he saw a burning bush that was strangely not burning up. As he looked carefully at this strange phenomenon, God told him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Then God commissioned him to go back to Egypt and deliver His people out of slavery.

We may not see God's extraordinary directions from something as spectacular as Moses' burning bush.  We may see no blaze in the sky or light from heaven. We may see no spectacular miracle.

Our extraordinary directions may often appear clothed in the ordinariness of every day.

So it was with me last spring. Two friends and I began praying for Canada. As I read Canada’s statistics, I became alarmed at how much our country is becoming decreasingly Christian. Although 75% call themselves Christians, only 8% are considered devoted followers of Christ, and these numbers are declining.

I sensed God calling me to pray for spiritual renewal—for people to turn back to God, for Christ followers to hunger for a deeper relationship with Him, and for people to pray for our critical situations in Canada—including some dire needs in my province, Alberta.

The particular verse God gave me was 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Little did I know what was coming. This spring the Covid-19 pandemic burst upon us with the force of a tornado. The implications of its seriousness became the conduit for calling people to Him.

I joined others in Zoom meetings to pray for our churches, Canada, and nations around the world.  I saw and heard of people turning to God.

I knew I was participating in great spiritual changes.

God has myriads of ways of giving us extraordinary directions. He may come in soft whispers through a prompt to call someone in need. He may send His angels ahead of us in divine timing to meet a person’s need that was unknown to us. Or He may simply guide us in doing the next thing.

And yes, God does direct in extraordinary ways. He may speak loudly through a burning need that arises in us—our heart pounds or our palms perspire.  Sometimes the Sprit’s inner voice is so strong that we obey and discover later that our prayers or presence has rescued someone from great danger.

Image by JerushaAgen.com

But whatever reasons or ways God communicates, Moses' experience with the burning bush teaches us to take off our metaphorical shoes and reverence God’s presence. He teaches us to notice, and then draw close to “ponder what it might mean, with utter willingness to follow the wisdom or guidance that comes."[i] God will be with us as we take that step of faith. 

As we do so, we will participate in His greater purposes to extend Christ’s kingdom on earth in our own spheres of influence.

When and how has God come to you with extraordinary directions?

What did you discover about God’s purposes in your family, community, marketplace, church and beyond?

How did your experience(s) impact your own life, your faith, and your writing?

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[i] Ruth Haley Barton. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. 2020, 2018. P. 70.