Humility Waits
I had a marvelous day yesterday! I felt so free as I worked
and started tackling the pile of work that I have had building up for weeks.
I had a dream Sunday night that looked like a mass exodus of
people coming along with a bunch of stuff, like dishes. It was as if they were
leaving Egypt. And I was walking along with them. But the Lord was trying to
show me something further that I am just now seeing. Keep reading…
I started my day with God’s help and got started on things.
I had a nice light lunch and rested while I listened to more of the humility
teaching the Lord has directed me to focus on this week. I am seeing where I
have had a lot of pride in my life and this is really helping me. My hope is
that as I bare my journal to you, it may help you in some way too; so stay with
me if you will.
This teaching is not making me feel condemned, but it is
helping me to look at how I respond to the Lord and people. Even how I treat my
husband is already changing. I am learning to show more respect to the Lord as
I show more respect to him.
Yesterday, when I asked the Lord for help, He is faithful,
and He helped me. When I asked Him a question, as I waited and got an answer. I
acted like I never went through all that battle previously with all that
struggle over what I eat or what I do each day. I went to the gym and came home worshiping the Lord as I bathed and got ready for the day. It was glorious and
very powerful. I could tangibly feel the presence of the Lord! Magnificent! 😊
We had a nice dinner. I ate what I felt was good as I sought
the Lord for help. The Lord helped me to finally make that homemade mayonnaise He
was been wanting to help me with and it turned out great! He knows how to do
everything perfectly if only we will seek Him and get the answers.
However, in all that He is showing me, today I was sensing
that there was something wrong. As I went out and walked a bit, I began to
listen more. I started hearing some things about how being driven to achieve
things will stop me from really waiting on the Lord so I can hear what He
REALLY wants to say, rather than being in a prideful hurry and listening to
what my flesh wants to hear.
Today I opened to this...
Lamentations 3:21-26
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of
the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait
for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
AMP
But this I call to mind, Therefore I have hope. It is
because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His
[tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond
measure is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says
my soul; “Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.” The Lord
is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him, to those who seek Him [on the
authority of God’s word]. It is good that one waits quietly for the salvation
of the Lord.
Yesterday as I asked and waited, I was led. I got answers. There
were some things regarding my diet that I wavered on as I am learning to eat in
freedom but not be out of control or let it have any hold on me. Today, by the
grace of God, I am seeing more of what He is trying to show me. He is showing
me that while some things may be ok for me to have, not all of them are for my
good.
So, when it comes to food, some things are better saved for
when a person eats out. For example, we wouldn’t want to bring ice cream in the
house if we used to be addicted to it! The same principle applies to
everything. What used to have a hold on us must be kept under. Our flesh can be
a much louder voice than any devil we think we are fighting.
When we wait, we get answers. When we ask, we get help! God
showed such mercy to me yesterday and helped me with so many things; even while
I was in pride and rebellion to things He has set as a standard for me previously.
As He has worked diligently to break me free of the
stronghold that food and eating has had on my mind, He is also trying to show
me that I must continue to have boundaries. I have to surrender the plan for
eating to Him each day and He will show me what is best for that day. He will
never go back on what He has shown us to do in the past! He WILL give us
the grace to do what He has asked us to do.
He is so good!
I woke up this morning with the thought of King
Nebuchadnezzar. God was speaking to me. He has been trying to get my attention
ever since Friday night when I had an unusual experience that I won’t mention
here.
I didn’t know why, until now that is. Praise God! I had
opened to the book of Daniel yesterday but didn’t really know what the Lord was
showing me. I gravitated toward how the Lord has rescued Daniel from the lion’s
den. I thought of how God has rescued me. And He has, from so many things. My
husband sent me a picture included in this message.
I thought about how God helps me to fight my battles and the
thought came to me from Holy Spirit that I have been fighting with this enemy as
if I have been all on my own doing it - as if it was up to me to get the
breakthrough I needed from the terrible stronghold I have been under in my
thinking about food and also about not being able to sit and listen to the
Lord!
Praise God! It is all being knit together by Him this
morning. When I thought I would come back into my office to journal and look at
the word before bed, I was led to just go to bed. I had run a bit over on work,
so it was late and I was grateful that He told to “just go to bed!”
I got up today with answers for my work in the marketplace
and the thought of king Nebuchadnezzar, wondering what it could mean. While my
mind tried to go down a negative path for a brief moment, I captured the
thoughts and kept focused on the positive. Sitting this morning and following
the leading of Holy Spirit, He led me to open the word.
That’s when He has me focus on the compassion and mercy of
God and how it is good to wait for and hope in the Lord as highlighted in the
Lamentations verses!
As I did, I continued to hear more. In fact, as I raced out
the door to keep what I thought should be the schedule for the morning, I began
to hear even more. Then when the Lord directed me to come in to prepare this
for the blog, He began to speak even more.
So how does king Neb fit into all this? He was rebellious
and very prideful.
Well if I think about how the teaching on humility is
affecting me, I see there had been a lot of pride in my life. One of the ways
that pride shows its ugly ways in life is through impatience and interruption.
God hates pride and it’s a word we shouldn’t even use. I had
learned that previously. But what I had not yet learned well was how to
recognize pride in my own life. This pride can severely block the flow of God’s
blessings for His people.
Well, I look honestly at myself and see that I have been
very impatient and not waited on the Lord for my answers like I should have. As
a result, I am sitting here with a very long list of questions that I
desperately need answers from Him for in order to proceed.
Also, in that impatience, pride interrupts. It can’t sit
still long enough to listen to what the other person is saying. How can I show
respect to the Lord God Almighty who created all things if I can’t sit still
long enough to wait for the answer I just asked of Him? How rude!
If I asked a teacher at school a question and then turned
and walked away, wouldn’t they be rather offended at our rudeness to ask and not
wait for the answer? Indeed they would. And if we think we wouldn’t treat a
human that way, why would we treat our God Most High this way?
I began listening to a series about humility this week on
the prompting of the Lord from a meeting I attended this past Friday. It was a
powerful night! He gave me such breakthrough regarding a stronghold that I have
been fighting for far too long! In addition, He pointed me to this teaching I
am hearing about humility through the man of God who was speaking, and I am
listening to this as I go through the week.
I am seeing the things I need to see as I have prayed that
the Lord would help me to see pride in my life and help me by His grace to get
rid of it. I have been in pride all these years and wondered so many times why
I had not gotten the breakthroughs that I have been looking for on several
levels. I have spent far too much time fighting all the devils as if it were
all up to what I do to get the victory.
Yes, we have to do our part, but Jesus does the greatest
part. He is the One who brings the breakthrough. So today as I look at the past
weeks and months and how yesterday played out I see Holy Spirit tying all these
things together in the most awesome way only He can! I continue to stand
amazed!
From the teaching that was given from our own pastor on
Saturday evening about all the time we spend fighting with the devil every day
which is tormenting and a terrible waste of our valuable time, to the teaching
on humility about how to recognize pride, to the fact that it is God who is
fighting our battles for us, I stand completely blessed and grateful for God’s
amazing grace and mercy that is new every morning. Indeed, His faithfulness is
great.
King Neb was a prideful man. Reading the book of Daniel, see
Daniel chapter 4, where we see the king’s prideful boast and what came upon him
for several years. Then look at what happened when he came to the end of his
foolish prideful ways and recognized God for Who He really is. We see him
giving God glory, honor and praise.
Next, we see the mercy of God and how the Lord fully
restored the king to even greater blessings than he had had before! Glory to
God!
This morning as I sat here and continued to seek the Lord,
He began to really show me what I needed to see – once He got my flesh out of
the way.
In Lamentations 3:40-42… (It would be good to read the
entire chapter to really get a grasp of the sin and rebellion that was going on
then and still goes on now with God’s people. All of which is the nature of the
devil and we must repent!
Let us test and examine our ways, and let
us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]
toward God in heaven; we have transgressed and rebelled, You have
not pardoned. (AMP)
Once I really listened after crying my heart out
to the Lord and repenting, He was able to show me how I have caved into
temptation and my flesh these past few days. He sent people to me to draw my
attention to the teachings I needed to hear. He spoke through my husband, who
even brought a teaching to me from a preacher on You Tube who was calling out
to God’s people to destroy the flesh and come back to the Father and get right
with Him.
All weekend God was trying to help me, and I was
allowing myself to go my own prideful and rebellious way. Here I sit on Tuesday
morning and it is time for me to be at work. I couldn’t go any further until I
knew things were right between me and God.
Finally, I heard! Finally, I got the breakthrough!
Finally, I heard the song come back in my heart that He gave me yesterday. The
words say that “In You I will Remain.” His presence is where I belong, He is my
home. I should not be wandering around in some pig pen as a rebellious child who
has run off to live a riotous life! I had to come running back into His arms
again.
There is amazing grace! If we will humble ourselves
and pray and seek His face, another song and another verse from Sunday that He
was bringing to me, then we will obtain mercy! If anyone thinks that God is not
speaking, we must think again. The problem is the reception! Are we WILLING to
hear what He has to say? Will we show Him the respect of waiting and listening
until we do hear?
He is far more gracious than we ever give Him
credit for. MY friends, I hope this inspires you to search your heart today and
ask God to show you any pride and rebellion in your life that may be blocking
the flow of healing and blessings that He has for you. Then watch the
floodgates of heaven open and the things you may have been in faith for over a
long period of time will start to pour in like we have never seen! Praise His
holy Name and be blessed as you grow in Jesus Name!
Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.
Hannylynn05@gmail.com
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