I have come to a new obsession of fearlessness, causing me to feel a bit wild enough to eat calamari & reckless enough to ask God for the gift of tongues. I feel like such a rebel compared to the girl who was afraid of her own shadow for so long.
I am so edgy in the sense of my magenta lipstick & my mismatched socks. I am not proposing anyone ask me to test parachutes as I free fall & I still haven't found a craving for frog legs. But, I have experienced quite a bit of firsts this year.
2013 was my first 4.0 grade point average, trying calamari, being prayed over through the laying on of hands. A year of moving back home, changing jobs, & restarting the college life. The year of my first nephew Jacob Ryan Danks bringing a new, unique twist of heaven to earth.
& then there are the firsts I've asked God to erase. The things that shouldn't be firsts for anyone. The things that spoiled a playful game of listing my firsts of the year.
& you know something? God said I can forget about those things.
He separated them, east to west. He permits me to be whole,
& delights in this girl perfected in rounds of second chance.
I've pressed in.
Lord hold me. Like the child burying his head further & further into his mother's chest, I am cheek against chest, feeling for His heart beat, quiet for His words.
December has brought tidings of joy & good news. The Father is running ahead of me down a narrow hall, throwing open doors as I lag behind experiencing every room of opportunity.
2014 isn't completely foreign & unmapped. Unmarked, yes. But the planning is where God has met me over the drawing board of His word, revealing the mysteries & stepping into the year before I can even contemplate the day.
The past month He has been preparing me, hinting a get ready.
I texted Mary earlier this month. I told her God was going to move in 2014, that He is calling us to get ready, to prepare for what's to come. His movement, in the sisterhood, localized. He is for here & now & Youngstown. Do you hear me?
God is for today & for such a time as this & God is for Youngstown, OH.
This shabby hole of carelessness & immobility.
& God is pointing at us & saying 'hey you', get ready.
This wee little place of violence & destruction.
& God is stepping off His throne, getting His hands dirty, & breaking chains.
Listen, you women who lie around in ease.
Listen to me, you who are so smug.
In a short time-- a little more than a year--
you careless ones will suddenly begin to care.
ISAIAH 32:10
I wanted to cut out the 'a little more than a year' part, replacing it with the triple dot. Because I know how people think, & I know the procrastination within us that preys with words of
there's still time.
But, sweet sister, we have been living in the stride of tomorrows, & it is not doing us any good. Besides, would you believe me if I told you God brought this verse to my attention late November, early December? This year is it, sweet child. But ideas cannot move without bodies.
When God spoke through Isaiah, He did not leave them on the note of you'll care when your crops fail & no harvest comes. No, because the point of the devastation was not to strip the people hungry. The point was for their hearts to be restored to their heavenly Father. The point was that they would 'suddenly begin to care'.
So God says instead of waiting for all this to come about & then to have a change of heart, to prepare now. Because God is for today.
Tremble, you women of ease;
throw off your complacency.
Strip off your pretty clothes
& put on burlap to show your grief.
V. 11
Throw off your complacency today. Strip yourself of carelessness today. & move, baby. Today.
This scripture from Isaiah 32 is prophesying about the ultimate deliverance from Jesus Christ, but I think God gave us stories with the intentions to let them grow. Let them move us. Let them build us. I am telling you how God moved me, the words He used to convey a meaning that is for here & now. For the sisters. For Youngstown.
So I read this & felt this as my insides twisted with anticipation & excitement. & then I shared it with Mary. In the following weeks God began to set up this year of flourishing. I was asked to speak at a woman's ministry. I got asked to partner with another sister & create a new women's ministry. I am currently planning a girl's fellowship night with another sister.
God is for today. God is for His daughters. God is for Youngstown, OH.
Daughters, will you believe it?
Even more so, you have this twinkling new year with a banner over it, to label as you'd like.
Will you act on His promises? Will you lead the transition He's placed in front of your hands?
This is what I will leave you on, this beautiful verse from the end of the chapter.
the Lord will greatly bless his people.
Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up.
V. 20
Wherever you plant your seeds, bountiful crops will spring up. Because the thing we don't realize until we look back is that every moment we're planting seeds. We have the seeds & graze as you wish, the seeds will fall where you are.
Give them soil to grow, sister. Be intentional about where you are & where your seeds are dropping. Water them. Know, trust, & believe God's word over you. Your seeds are capable of producing a garden. So begin the movement. Spring up. Flourish.
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