By: Hanny Lynn
Stearns
Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying God’s Word Around the
Globe”
October 27, 2016
“Sadie’s Journeys”
Luke
8:39
“Return to your own house, and tell what great
things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the
whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Today I get the blessing of sharing Sadie’s journey with you. Who is
Sadie, you ask? She is a snail. Yes, that’s right – Sadie is a snail. But she is
a very special snail. Let me tell you a little bit about her. Sadie always gets
up very early in the morning. She moves along the pavement ever so slowly as
she leaves a little trail behind her making others aware that she has been
there. By the time the sun comes up and it gets really hot, Sadie has already
moved off to her “safe resting place for the day, out of the way of danger and
heat.
Watching Sadie is quite fascinating really. Why, you ask? Because even though
she moves very slow – even slower than Mr. Turtle, and he moves pretty slow
indeed, she always seems to get to her destination. She is very diligent in her
journey as she makes her progress each and every day. Nothing seems to stop
her. She is always there – in the wee hours of the day, scooting along the
pavement. She has come from heaven. She is a great big minister wrapped up in a
tiny little shell. Even though she is small, she trusts in something much
bigger than she is. Her Creator is always watching out for her. She never shows
signs of fear and she always keeps on moving until she is where she knows she
needs to be.
So why am I telling you about Sadie? Because she has become a very
important member of our family even though she does not stay at our house. How
so? Well, let me take you back to the day I first met her. Back in 2012 when I
first met Denny and we started to see each other regularly, I went to visit at
his apartment one day. He showed me a snail that he kept seeing scooting across
his sidewalk outside his apartment door. Denny and I are very fond of animals
and various creatures that the Lord has made. We marvel at how creative God is
and how unique each creature or beast is.
We became very fond of our little friend Sadie. OK – so if we seem a
little childish to you, that’s OK by us. It is good to have fun like a child.
Life gets serious enough. People need to have joy in their lives, and Sadie had
brought some to ours! We got married in 2014. We didn’t see her anymore because
we both moved from our apartments to our house together in Ft. Myers, Florida. It
looked like our Sadie days were over.
While I was working hard at a Doctor’s office, I was continuing to
battle with food addiction and the Lord was working hard to get my attention
and help me understand how to get free of that nonsense. And that’s exactly
what it all was – a bunch of nonsense! It was so unnecessary to struggle like I
was back then. One morning while getting ready for work, I looked outside the
kitchen window and there she was! Sadie had followed us all the way from Denny’s
apartment to the house all the way across town! It took about three months for
her to show up – but sure enough, there she was, inching her way up the brick
wall just outside our entryway door. I could see her from the kitchen window
very clearly and I marveled.
I called to Denny to let him know that Sadie had come – she made it all
the way to our new location. He marveled along with me. No sooner did I say
this to him and I began to hear from God. The Lord spoke through Denny and He
spoke to my heart too. He was trying to show me this as a sign as if to say, “if
she could make it all the way to the new house, as little as she was and not
get hurt along the way, then I could make it past the weight and eating issues
and make it to my goal too.” I knew this whole thing with her was of the Lord.
It had to be. He confirmed what He was trying to show me in her example. She
moved ever so slowly, but she was deliberate in every inch she passed by.
The next day as I came home I noticed that Sadie had gone from about the
middle of the wall outside all the way to the top. She had literally inched her
way right up to where the wall and the roof meet. And she stayed there for
days. What came to me is this. She had reached her destination and now she was
resting in Jesus. Her journey was complete – she reached her goal and she
rested from all her labors in the Lord’s arms. She didn’t seem to move. She
just rested there. She was in a quiet resting place. She was no longer laboring
and striving. She was in a place of peace.
Isaiah 32:18
My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in
secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
Jesus was showing me that this could be me too. He wanted me to see that
if I would keep my mind on Him, rather than food all the time, I too could have
that perfect peace…
Isaiah 26:3
You will
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
The Lord was using this tiny little snail to
teach me a great big lesson. I was hearing Him but I didn’t stop eating the
things I shouldn’t – at least not yet. Little by little I did make improvements
to my eating and exercise routine. The next thing you know, one day Sadie was
gone. I thought we would never see her again. She had come to deliver a powerful
message from the Lord, and once that mission was accomplished, she left. Her
work was finished, or so I thought. She has had a fond place in my heart and I
wanted to tell others about her someday. Well friends, that someday is here.
Why is it that I am telling you about it now?
After living in our rented house in Ft. Myers for
barely one year, my husband was transferred up to Bradenton, Florida; a 90-minute
drive from Ft. Myers. We moved to our current location, a cozy little apartment
while we wait to get our ministry building and home. We have been here for 22
months. This morning my sweet husband took our puppy out for an extra early
walk. It was pretty unusual that he would want to go out so early. Normally he
is like a sleepy teenager in the morning and prefers not to be disturbed until
about 7:30. But today was very different. He came to worship with us and then prompted
us to take him outside. Off they went while I prepared breakfast.
When they were almost back I went outside to
greet them and let Jesse come running to his mama for some early morning exercise.
Denny exclaimed to me, “Sadie’s back! I walked over to the place where he had
seen her, but she had already moved to her safe place for the day. She knows when
it is safe to be out and about and when she needs to take cover. She is a very
wise little snail. I didn’t get to see her, but the message I am getting from
the Lord is significant.
Though it took her 22 long months to appear –
here she is, again, bringing a powerful message from the Lord. As always, she
never gave up. She kept on moving. And when the “heat was on” she drew aside
until the danger passed, continuing her journey one little inch at a time. Sadie
has come a very long way in her progress with Jesus. She has left old places
behind. She has found a safe place to “hide” in troubling times, and she knows
when to proceed, with caution of course.
Today, because of the Lord and His presence and
His word in my life, I am farther along than I have ever been in my freedom
from food addiction. Just tonight as I considered what to eat for dinner, I was
asking the Lord if I should have one egg or two. If I would take two eggs it
would have put me 25 calories over the limit on my food plan for the protein
allowance for the day. In days past, He has been OK with 20 calories over here
and there. But as a rule, following the food plan means staying within the
boundaries that are set. This is the safe resting place for me.
I know when I
am there, inside the numbers I should be, I can rest peacefully and know that I
am in the Lord’s perfect will, safe from the attacks of the enemy. I finally
made it to the place I have so desperately longed to be for such a long time. I
have found my quiet resting place in Jesus. My mind is at peace tonight because
I made the right choices. He told me He is very pleased with the choices I made.
This brings me inexpressible joy. I spent far too much time disappointing Him
with my rebellion and pride. Disobedience was blocking Him from doing so many
things in my life.
But lately, I have been really walking in the
freedom that His powerful word brings. He had told me countless times that man
does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God. When we moved to our current location and church, I got a strong dose of
His word and it brought me to my knees. I knew I had to stop acting like the
devil and start behaving like the born-again child of God that I am.
When I look at how tiny my body is now, and the
muscles that are protruding in my arms and legs, I give God all the glory for
helping me to see the light after all that toil and struggle. You see my
friends, Sadie is me. God sent her to help me. Angels can come in many forms.
For me, I have had some very real encounters with angels. Oh did I keep them
busy, let me tell you. But this angel came in the form of a tiny little snail.
She went from Denny’s apartment to the house to the apartment we now live in.
She has arrived safe and sound. No harm had come to her. She was kept safe
under the shadow of His wings as she made her slow but steady journey to this
latest destination.
I got a saying from somewhere in the last couple
of years. It goes like this, “Slow and steady – steady and slow is the way we
always go.” Sadie didn’t give up because I didn’t give up. God gave me the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! And one of the ways He did
it was through a tiny, faithful snail named Sadie! God’s word really does work
when we work it friends.
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