In the confidence of our Father

"Be joyful... rejoice for her, all who love her." (continued)




Part 2 KNOWING EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT

"... As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
And shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Then you shall see this, and your heart shall be glad.
And your bones will flourish like the new grass."

We've been realizing again how God looks upon the church, upon us, even Sarah, and sees everything complete. He knows us acording to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. He sees us wrapped in Jesus. We are clothed with Him. So the Father is not looking at us seeing all our imperfections, flaws, and sins. It seems He is looking to bring to fruition and bring to light all that is already existing in His heart for us, what He's already done. His intent is to manifest what already is true. If parts of our lives are where they should be, if Sarah isn't whole in body, soul, mind and spirit and heart the way she should be, then He's wanting to correct that and bring about a change. He wants "the word" - His opinion, His testimony of her life to be realized, to become flesh. He wants the reality of Heaven to fill the earth, even little Sarah's body. "The Word became flesh" He's forever doing that, causing the Spirit to be "fleshed out" in us, so we become the embodiment of that word. We are to be moms and dads... like Him of course. So He speaks to us sharing His perspective according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. He's speaking to us about Sarah according to how He sees her, not accordding to how the doctors might see her.

God sees the Church complete and perfected. It's not living that out yet, but He's purposed in His heart to move her there. He's moving her to a place where she is fully the mother giving the full measure of comfort she was and is meant to give. In her, in the her bosom we will be comforted. When we see this come into a more complete expression, whether now or later, it says our hearts will be glad. I think He's speaking of tremendous, outrageous joy and gladness.

With the gift of Sarah to our lives, God is saying:

"I am making you into my church, a mother and father who comforts and cares for my beautiful child-bride. She may seem incomplete and not fully formed to the fullness I have for her, but she will be. I want you to see her that way. I want you to stop looking at her shortcomings and her sins. Do not reject her or despise her. I want you to get my heart for her. I desire that you would get my heart of love for her and see how beautiful she is as if seeing her for the first time, like when you see a little boy or a little girl whose pure and innocent and full of life, joy and excitement about life. It's like what Adam saw when he first set eyes on Eve. I want to give you eyes to see her that way. I will help you see that in her, not only in Sarah but in my people. I want you to see it in those that have yet to come to know me, for they are like Sarah too. Not only do I want you to know people according to the Spirit, but I want you to see every circumstance according to the Spirit. Every circumstance, every conversation, every moment of your life there is a perspective for you to step into that I've made available to you. You simply have to train your eyes and ears to live there. The gates of the kingdom are always open to you. I am always with you and all that I have is yours. I have something for you in every situation. I've already prepared these things for you. All you have to do is simply live without walls. You must live open heartedly... live without fear. If you learn to do that with every person, with every circumstance that you face, nothing will be impossible for you. Mountains will move and the gates of hell will not prevail. You will be indomitable You'll be more than an overcomer. You'll live in perfect peace. You'll be unmoved by the storms of life. You'll be able to speak peace to the storms and they will be still. And this life will be for you - a celebration of my life in you. You will be rejoicing always and full of my joy. Behold I extend peace to you like a river."


Through the gift of Sarah to our lives, we are learning that God wants to teach us to live increasingly in the Spirit. Watching Jen with Sarah everyday is a constant reminder of where we need to be living. It's a choice we have to make moment by moment. It might seem as if we are living a fantasy at times trying to escape what's really going on. I often wonder if people think we're doing that. I'm sure some do. It doesn't really matter either way. We have to live out this situation the best we can. We also know how easy it is to become cynical and calloused and to have a dull heart, an unbelieving heart. We want to avoid that. That would be far worse to allow our hearts to be filled with that kind of poison.

Listening to God is sometimes subjective and unclear. But I know He's okay with us making mistakes. He's wanting us to grow in the knowledge of His ways, and get to know Him better. He's more concerned about our trusting Him I think, than us always getting it right. We are going to stay imperfect. We will always live with weakness and our inadequacies. And I'm so thankful He's okay with that. In the gospels He made that reall clear to Peter.

We are learning to keep embracing our weaknesses and accepting them while leaning into the perfection and healing of God and all His strength made available to us in our weakness. Without God we are powerless to do anything for Sarah. But with God, we have the power to see the impossible submit to the authority and lordship of Jesus. We are expectant, but fully vulnerable in holding our hearts out this way. We do it because His hands are underneath us. We also know what joy it brings Him to see His kids confident in who He is to them as they face difficult circumstances. That's something any father would enjoy. Fathers I think love seeing their kids take risks when it is directly influenced by their fathering in their life. I can hear a father saying even now: "That's my boy... look at him now... look at him go! I'm so proud of Him."

While we hold onto the words Father has shared with us, we are willing to yield where we still need to. We are willing to change course if He wants us to. We want our hopes to be solely in Him alone, not in Sarah's healing. In all that has been said, this is true, we are trusting not in what we want to happen, but in what He says He wants to do. We do our best to hear what that is. We try to keep ourselves from running down paths that are in an attempt to comfort ourselves. If we took paths like that we could end up disappointed and deeply wounded, or possibly disillusioned.

Thank you God for your ways and your thoughts. Bring us more Holy Spirit... tell us of what Father has been dreaming up even before we were born. Take from Him that which He wants to give to us in this time.

I saw the stars tonight. God reminded me of what He said to Abraham, of what He promise Abraham. Abraham is a father to us. And as it was for him so it is with us. We are walking down paths others have worn in before us, even paths Abraham himself walked. They are not new. Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." Our situation is not new, it's the stuff of dreams. God shared His dream for Abraham with Him and I feel He's doing the same with us. So we take the way of of our father going in the confidence He has given to us looking to the stars and there blinking faces to remember the promises that we all share in common.