All-Consuming
Have you ever met one of those people who just seems to be fearless for God? I have a friend that I do outreach with regularly, and she is one of those people. She doesn’t think about what could happen; she just goes in and does what God has asked her to do. She is not careless. She is confident. And there is a big difference.
She and I do outreach in parts of our city that are not considered the safest. We were just out last Saturday as a matter of fact, and our group needed more ice. She hopped in her car and went around the corner alone to get ice. She came right back a few minutes later with the ice. She was fine of course, but I would have never thought to do that alone. I absolutely would have taken someone with me. Some of you may be thinking, “Yeah, well that would have been the smart thing to do,” and maybe you are right. Or maybe this friend of mine demonstrates a level of trust in God that I have yet to reach.
You see, there is something different about this friend of mine. She is in constant communication with God throughout her day (she even has a podcast about hearing the voice of God). She hears from God regularly and talks openly and confidently about what she hears from Him. When she talks about God, it’s like she is talking about an intimate lifelong friend. It’s captivating and leaves me longing for a relationship like that.
When she moves through the world, she moves with confidence that God is with her and is protecting her wherever He has asked her to go. Once she hears from God, she moves. She doesn’t stop and think about what could happen and play out all of the “what if” scenarios. She simply moves, confident that He is going to make a way and provide the protection and strength that she needs to accomplish whatever it is that He has asked her to do.
She has been fostering a little boy for 3 years. She knows that God has a plan for her to adopt a child, and once the little boy became available for adoption, she began praying and asking God if this little boy was her son. Every time she prayed, God said no.
She loved that little boy so much and would have adopted him in a heartbeat, but God kept saying no, so she obeyed. She didn’t get down and depressed about it or get angry with God. She simply obeyed. It was hard at times because the little boy wanted so badly to stay with her and asked over and over again why he couldn’t continue to stay with her since she was his momma. She just kept telling him that she would always be a part of his family but that he had a mommy and a daddy out there somewhere and maybe even some siblings, and that God was moving things around and clearing the path for them to find each other. She told me on Saturday that he had been adopted by his new family a week ago. She still talks to him on the phone and goes by to visit, and she said that he is adjusting wonderfully.
That whole scenario seems so crazy to me. She loved that little boy with everything she had, and she would have gladly adopted him and been his legal momma for the rest of her life. But God said no. God told her that he wasn’t her son, and she obeyed.
When she would talk to me about it, she didn’t talk to me as if she was sad and depressed and confused about why God would tell her no. She talked to me as if she was completely confident that God knew what was best for her and the little boy. She was completely confident that because God said no, He had something much better than what she had planned for the little boy, and she wanted that for him. She wanted what God had for the little boy more than what she had. She wanted God’s plans for her and for him more than her own plans. She definitely misses him and was sad that she wasn’t meant to be his forever momma, but she trusts God much more than her sadness and disappointment.
This friend of mine is confident in God’s goodness. She is confident in His faithfulness. She sees her life and the world through the lens of what God is saying to her, and because of this, she exemplifies Isaiah 26:3 in the way that she lives.
I love the Passion Translation for Isaiah 26:3. It says, “Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations are consumed with you; they confidently trust in you” (emphasis mine). Those whose imaginations are consumed with you. I love that. I long for that. I would love to get to a place where my mind is completely and totally consumed with God. So much so that even my daydreams and imagination are utterly consumed with Him. How much differently would I see the world? How much more confidence would I have to step out of my comfort zone and into what God is calling me to? How much more clearly would I be able to discern the voice of God? How much more content would I be in all situations of life? How much more joy would I have than despair each day? I know it is possible. I have seen it firsthand through this amazing friend of mine, and I want it more than I can say.