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This morning, before sitting down to study God’s word and write today’s devotional, I inquired of God what he wanted of me specifically. Here’s what he told me:

“Be unrushed. I have words for you to receive and then teach. Stay attuned to my Spirit as I guide. I have a very special message for all my girls today. I’ll need you to go slow so nothing is missed and my words are heard clearly.”

I do everything (but run) fast. I talk fast. I think fast. I sleep fast. I walk fast. I write fast. Slowing down is a unique challenge for me. I want to cram absolutely everything I can into this 15 minutes with you, but today will be unrushed. Per God’s clear instructions, we’re slowing down to hear him clearly.

The scripture God has asked me to share is 1 Chronicles 17 … yes, the entire chapter.

We’re reading about David. Remember, David was the little shepherd boy, the son of a shepherd who courageously defeated the giant Goliath, and was then chosen by God as the next King. David became a mighty warrior guided by God, successful in everything he did. Now, after all of his success, David humbly wants to do something for God. But check out what God does instead!

When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”

Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”

But that same night God said to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in. I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle. Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”

“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies.

“Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you – a dynasty of kings! For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house – a temple – for me. And I will secure his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.

So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!

“What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.

“O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

“And now, O Lord, I am your servant, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever. And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

“O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him – a dynasty of kings! For you are God, O Lord. And you have promised these good things to your servant. And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

Okay, girls, it’s time to slowly unpack this!

This was about 1,000 years before Christ. God’s presence was in the Ark of the Covenant. Because of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we no longer have or need this today, but in David’s time it was a sacred chest that carried the Ten Commandments and was the divine dwelling place of God’s presence on Earth. It was carried with the Israelites on their journey, and when they stopped, the ark was placed in a tent called the Tabernacle.

One day David realizes his home is far nicer than the tent where God’s presence was kept, and from a genuine place in his heart, he wanted to build a beautiful and elaborate permanent dwelling place for God’s presence.

God hadn’t asked David to do this. It wasn’t a command. It was a genuine desire of David’s heart to do more for God than had ever been asked.

And that sums up David. He wanted to serve God more. He wanted to honor God more. He wanted it to be less about him and more and more about God.

Here’s where I must pause and check my own heart and intentions. Do I want to serve God, but only enough to check the box of requirements? Have I really ever wanted to do more for God than he asks, or have I been doing the minimum to qualify as his girl?

Yip. That has been me. I’ll give you what you ask God, but that’s my max. I’ll do what I’m supposed to do, but that’s the limit.

Have my limits limited God? Has God always had so much more to give, but he can only give according to my own heart to give?

Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” And guess, what this isn’t just about money. This is about serving. This is about showing up. This is about doing more for God. Not because he needs to you to, but because you WANT to.

And we see this is absolutely undeniably the way God works. David wanted to do MORE for God than God ever asked of him – and in return, God did more for David than he could have ever asked of God.

David – son of a poor shepherd, David – just a nobody with nothing, – to David, now promised to have a dynasty of kings appointed and anointed by God himself. Why? Because David wanted to do more for God than he was ever asked to do. And you simply can’t outgive God. The amount David was willing to give determined the amount he got back.

So, my sister, God asks us each to check our hearts and what we are willing to do for him. Are we really willing to serve? Are we really willing to give? Are we really willing to surrender? Are we really willing to trust? Or are we just doing enough to get by, check the box, and skid our way through the pearly gates of heaven to receive salvation … but barely. Whew, we are barely saved, because we’re barely believing, barely surrendering, barely trusting, and barely following.

God is gracious to save us, even when we’re barely showing up for him, but God is showing us here he has SO MUCH MORE FOR US! There’s more than you could ever imagine for you when you’re willing to offer God more than just the requirements.

Lord, go to work on our hearts! Realign our priorities. We want to do more than the minimum for you. You have given us your best, your all, your son Jesus. He literally died to pay for our sins and save our souls. You deserve our everything!

Now, notice this, when David receives this message of promised blessings from God, his response is, “Who am I, O Lord God, that you have brought me this far? You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!” David didn’t think this gift made him greater, he felt this gift made God even greater!

Sometimes when we receive a blessing from God, within we think it’s because we are someone special doing really good things to deserve it. WRONG! The gift does not reflect the greatness of the recipient, the gift reflects the greatness of the giver. GOD IS THE GIVER OF THIS GIFT. His goodness is reflected, not yours.

David didn’t say, “I am so great that even God gives me gifts.” No, instead he says, “God is so great that he gives EVEN me gifts. Me, the son of a poor shepherd. Me, the one left behind in the fields to care for the sheep. Me, the one never chosen before, but chosen by God. Not because of who I am, but because of WHO HE IS!”

When we can receive and make it all about God, then we can receive more. When the gift becomes about us, then we limit the generosity of our unlimited God.

Even with all of David’s success and his crown as King, 8 times in his prayerful response to God’s promised blessings, he refers to himself as God’s SERVANT. Even with power and a palace, with a crown and a crowd of followers, his heart remained grounded in knowing he was first and foremost a servant of God. And all he wanted was to do more for God.

God’s response was exactly as Jesus promised. David’s gift of willingness to serve was pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured out into his lap. He was given a dynasty of Kings. The ultimate King being King Jesus, himself.

Did you know that the New Testament identifies Jesus with David more than any other human ancestor?!!!! In Luke 1:30-33, when the angel comes to Mary, he says, “Don’t be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor DAVID. And he will reign over Israel forever, his Kingdom will never end.” In Matthew 21:9, as Jesus was riding in on a donkey, the people shouted, “Praise God for the Son of David!” Jesus said in Revelations 22:16, “I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”

Jesus is continually identified as a descendant of David. All of this from the humble son of a shepherd who had nothing more than a fully surrendered heart that wanted to just give God more than he asked.

What could God do with your life when your heart truly wants to do more than just check the box and meet the minimum requirements? Pray about it and surrender your heart and will to God and you will find yourself wanting to do MORE FOR HIM. What will God do in response? He will do the overflowing!

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Have you ever done something, and while you were doing it, you knew it wasn’t right, but you did it any way. That little voice within was talking, but you didn’t want to listen. The inner alarms were ringing, but you just kept on.

I have a funny little story for you …

If you know me, you know I’m a lover of bright happy colors. My wardrobe is mostly from a company called Natural Life. It’s a little bit hippy and a whole lotta happy. BIG Life and Natural Life truly need to do a collaboration of the happiest Jesus girl clothing on the planet. They haven’t reached out yet.

Well, recently, a friend who owns a boutique that carries the Natural Life brand sent me a link advertising a massive warehouse sale. Now, I’m currently out of the country with one little suitcase. I don’t have space for anything new and I don’t even have a shipping address to receive it. So, when she first shared the website link of massive clearance, I ignored it. A few weeks went by and I decided maybe I should order me a few new pieces for when I return to the states and have them waiting for me. So, I clicked on the link and began scrolling.

Y’all, the romper I had paid $65 for was $12. My favorite hat was on sale for $2! Entire bedding sets were $7. I don’t even own a bed, y’all I am full on homeless, but for some reason I decided I would really need a bedding set because it was so cheap. And so would 8 of my best friends. I had hundreds of dollars of items in my cart, and the total was only $65.

So, what do I do? I keep adding more things to my cart. Oh, there’s my favorite happy travel bag, I’m going to need a dozen of those and I will give them away at the next retreat. Gosh, everyone will want one of my favorite coffee mugs, so yes, let’s get 30! The cart grew and grew, yet the discounts kept piling up and my total remained at $65.

I literally spent hours tingling with excitement thinking of who would want that sweater, who would love that floral dog bed, who would be thrilled over that fuzzy blanket. Still, the total never moved from $65.

All while there was a little voice within that said, “Pamela, something isn’t right here.”

Susshhhhhhh little voice, I’m basically doing free shopping for all the happy things for me and my people. The inner alarm is ringing as I put in our credit card information. But I ignore the alarm and proceed because it’s all just sooooo pretty. At this point I have a semi-truck load of things scheduled to be delivered to my friend Nicole’s house in Illinois so I text her and tell her to make space. Gifts are on their way!!!!! Girl, I just redecorated your whole house for you! Oh the excitement.

Then comes the confirmation email … in a foreign language. Then the credit card charge … totally NOT my beloved Natural Life.

I had been scammed. And sadly, I knew it the entire time, I just wouldn’t listen. I wanted it so bad I just couldn’t be told no. And guess what … that semi-truck never showed up with my massive order, and now they have my credit card.

You know what … I did that. I have no one else to blame.

Sometimes we do the same exact thing when there’s far more than $65 on the line. We proceed with relationships we know darn good and well aren’t right. We step right into jobs and careers that were never meant for us, but the offer of money was so good. And we go from one bad decision to another because we’re chasing fickle feelings and fleeting desires.

Was that little voice within God? Was God trying to get our attention, trying to direct our steps, trying to safeguard us from disaster? Was God showing us a better way, giving us an out, and offering divine wisdom, but we didn’t accept it?

Scripture tells us of David who became a mighty warrior and King. His victories came from God. His every step came under the direction of God … WHEN ASKED! When David stopped asking God for guidance, then things got messy. As long as he was fully surrendered to God and obedient to his guidance, then he walked in supernatural victory.

One of my favorite examples of David seeking God’s guidance is documented in 1 Chronicles 14: 10-16:

David asked God, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied, “Yes, go ahead. I will hand them over to you.”

So David and his troops went up and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it!” David exclaimed. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!”

But after a while the Philistines returned and raided the valley again. And once again David asked God what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” God replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees. When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, go out and attack! That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.” So David did what God commanded, and they struck down the Philistine army.

Wow, can you imagine being able to ask God such specific questions and receiving such clear guidance? That’s absolutely amazing. The question is, is that level of guidance reserved for only a few, or is it available to all who seek the Lord? Seriously … is this available to us?

Have you ever wondered if God could answer you so clearly? I have. So, I started doing some digging and found God’s answer. God, do you still speak as clearly today as you did back then? Will you give me clear direction as you did David? And guess what, God’s word is very clear with the answer … and it’s YES!!!!!!!!!!

But, here’s the kicker … you must ask! Notice God’s plan was only revealed when David sought out his will through prayer. God didn’t push his plan on David. He didn’t force him to seek him. God always had a plan, but the plan was only accessed through David seeking God in prayer.

How many times has God had a plan for us and a clear path through our mess, but we never stopped to ask him for help. We were busy making our own plan and trying to figure things out for ourselves. David knew his first step was always to seek God. Why is it that’s often my last step when all my other steps have failed? Why are my knees reserved for the times when I’m knocked there? Prayer shouldn’t be our last resort, it should be our first step. But quite simply, it often isn’t.

The enemy has done a great job convincing us that God is too busy for our little concerns. NO WHERE in God’s word does it say God can’t be bothered with our requests. Never does it say he’s limited on his time, attention, answers or power. That’s from the pits of hell … and we’ve bought it.

It’s a scam. Oh my goodness, girls – we have been scammed. Tricked out of God’s best plans and guided steps! We have forfeited God’s divine guidance in our every step simply because we haven’t asked. And we haven’t asked because we’ve believed the scam that we couldn’t ask God.

James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

To receive wisdom, we literally HAVE TO ASK. But not ask self-help books, not ask our friends, not ask the Google or ChatGPT, no – If you need wisdom, ask our generous GOD! You have not because you ask not. You’re confused because you’re not continually asking God.

Maybe you’ve asked God before and you felt like you didn’t get an answer, so you’re hesitant. You believe God doesn’t really answer you. He doesn’t really guide you. He’s never talked to you like he talked to David with such a clear plan. That’s a fair feeling … but my sister, it’s just a feeling. God wants to answer you clearly. He wants to guide you in alignment with his will. He’s not trying to make this a great mystery.

The request must be made in faith. You can’t doubt God’s ability or desire to give you wisdom. Verse 6-7, “When you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

Sometimes I ask, but then I don’t really believe God is listening. I ask, but I don’t really believe God cares. I ask, but I struggle to believe God is really that involved in the details of my life. And my little bit of unbelief is dismissing God’s guidance and divine wisdom.

This is where we must come to Jesus and pray Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” God, I’m confessing there’s a part of me that struggles to believe, help me overcome my unbelief. I want to hear from you. I want to be guided by you. I’m asking you.

David sought God’s plan continually, and God faithfully revealed his next steps. Detailed next steps. Steps that didn’t seem like a great battle plan sometimes, steps that didn’t always make sense, but steps planned by God to bring victory. And even with all David’s past victories, David didn’t assume he now knew best, he came back to God again and again. 1 Chronicles 14:14, “Once AGAIN David asked God what to do.”

Maybe that’s part of our problem. We think we know what to do now. We think our experience has equipped us and we’re smart enough to make our own decisions. Oh how dangerous success becomes when we no longer seek God for every next step. This is the setup for a humbling failure!

YOU STILL NEED GOD! Honey, you don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t see what God sees. You have not reached the point in your life where you don’t need God for every single step … and you never will! You were designed to always need his wisdom and the only way you get it is to continually ask him for it.

God has given you his word as a lamp to your feet. The words in your Bible are alive, read them. They will guide you.

God has given you his Holy Spirit to prompt you in the way you should go. Listen to him and respond in faith.

God has given you direct access to him through prayer. Ask him.

Proverbs 14:12, “There is a path before each person that SEEMS right, but it ends in death.” The alarms are ringing sister … stop ignoring them. You think you know what you’re doing, but you don’t. You absolutely must consult with God for your every step. Don’t fall for the scam of the enemy to make you do this under your own plans. Don’t assume to know what God wants you to do next … ask him!

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The book of 1 Chronicles begins with chapters of genealogy all the way back to the very first man, Adam. Long lists of strange names that today seem rather unimportant to us. 4 chapters in, after reading over names of fathers and their sons, sprinkled with a few wives and daughters names, there’s a surprising detail included about one man that truly stands out. Tucked in the middle of genealogical lists, it seems almost out of place. He wasn’t a king. He wasn’t a mighty warrior. He was a man who prayed.

1 Chronicles 4: 9-10, “There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “‘Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.”

And that’s it. After this verse, we go right back to genealogical lists of long strange names. If you’re skimming through, just trying to check this book of the Bible off your list, you’ll miss it. Today, we’re not missing it.

Why would God’s word include this otherwise seemingly unimportant man’s prayer? Why would his prayer be preserved for us to read today?

In the early 2000’s, I was given the gift of a tiny book called “The Prayer of Jabez”. This book was kept in our hall bathroom to let guests know we were “spiritual people”. I read the book, and began praying the prayer as if it were some sort of hidden key to unlock the storehouses of heaven, and after a few days of nothing major happening, I forgot about it.

The Prayer of Jabez became a popular prayer for people seeking material blessings. A sort of ‘name it and claim it’ prayer that seemed to be working for others, but wasn’t quite paying my mortgage. Was I not doing it right? Not praying it enough? Not really believing?

All these years later on my spiritual journey, I come back to that prayer of a man named Jabez and I see it completely different. He wasn’t a man with a secret key to the riches of heaven, he was a man seeking God for guidance and making his life fully available to be used for the purposes of God … and to that, GOD GRANTS HIS REQUEST.

I must admit, my prayers began from a place of wanting something from God. And my sister, it’s okay if your prayers are there right now. Our God is such a good, good Father. He understands his daughter who comes to him for blessings, and he also knows he has sooooo much more for his girl! Oh how he is patient with us through our selfish seasons. Oh how he graciously allows our prayers to start wrong, and grows us to make them right.

The prayer of Jabez isn’t a hidden formula of magic words to be repeated for mysterious miracles. The prayer of this honorable man of faith is an example of God’s work within us to align our hearts to his. Jabez isn’t trying to get something from God, Jabez is calling on God to help him accomplish the promises of God in his life.

God has promises for you. Promises of purpose. Promises of grace and mercy. Promises of joy and fulfillment. Promises of peace and power. It’s time to learn how to pray for God to help you live in the fullness of his promises.

The prayer of Jabez pleased God, and God granted his requests. His heart was right. His desires were pure. He wasn’t reciting magical words, he was trusting fully in God’s goodness and power. So, let’s look at the 5 parts of Jabez’s prayer:

1. Before he speaks a word, he knows who God really is. He is the Lord. He is all powerful. He is untouchable, yet approachable. He is high above all, yet he bends down to hear the whispered prayers of the soul seeking him as Lord. Jabez believed God moved in response to his humble prayers.

2. “Oh that YOU would bless me, indeed.” Jabez recognizes all blessings come from God. We don’t need the blessings of anyone or anything else, only God. All that is good, right, working and coming together in your life is from God alone. You didn’t create it. It wasn’t luck. You can’t earn your blessings. And you cannot sustain your blessings. They continue only by the grace of God. If you have that blessing again today, it was held in place by the mighty unseen hand of God. That’s a miracle.

My friends, we already have our miracles. We’re always looking for the next miracle, but life itself is a miracle already. None of this would be ours if God wouldn’t have ordained it and held it in place for us.

Blessings are God’s to give. When he gives them, let us be grateful we have them. And when the time for those blessings has passed, let us be grateful we had them.

Blessings teach us to hold life with an open hand. We don’t control them and we can’t force them to remain. Blessings flow from heaven, and only God knows what is coming next. Keep your hands open and see the blessings from God as they flow.

3. “Enlarge my territory.” This is where we get a little confused. God give me more. More money. More business. A bigger house. More followers. Give me more.

Honestly, that’s a hard prayer for God to answer because it reveals a heart that’s chasing after things of the world. And our Father, in all of his wisdom, knows the world will only leave us wanting more and trading our lives to get it.

Jabez wasn’t praying “God, give me more”, he was praying, “God, use me more.”

Lord, use me more for your purposes. This is a surrender of your time, your talent and your treasures to be used fully by God. Lord, less of me, more of you! I give you everything, now reveal to me what I’m still holding back. Show me what is getting in the way. Go to work on my heart, Lord, so I can be used more by you for your purposes.

Mother Theresa prayed every day a beautiful little prayer that goes like this:

“Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Shine on others through me.”

Mother Theresa and Jabez’s prayers sound different, but at the heart they are they same … God, use me more. That’s a prayer God grants!

4. “That your hand would be with me and keep me from evil.” Jabez seeks God to be in every moment of his day. He’s seeking the Lord’s presence and guidance.

And here’s what Jabez knows – he knows blessings become curses if God is not guiding them. How many times have we seen fame and fortune absolutely destroy a good person? We get the blessing, then the blessing gets us. Lord, we need your hand on us in our blessings to keep us from evil.

I don’t care how good you are, you have the potential of evil within you. In the past year, I’ve seen some of the best, most generous and genuine people get twisted with evil and lose their way. Never think it couldn’t happen to you. The devil is always looking for the cracked door to sneak into your life and twist things.

Lord, please keep me from evil. I know I’m not too good for it or above the tricks of the enemy. Only with you can I live this life well and stay on the right path. Be so careful with your statements of “Oh, I would never …”, lest you one day catch yourself “never-ing like never before”.

5. “That I may not cause pain.” To understand this part of Jabez’s prayer, look back to our introduction of him. Scripture says his mother named him Jabez, which means “born with pain”. A name was very important. It says who you were and who you would become. He was labeled with the shame of causing great pain. So, the genuine prayer of Jabez comes to God letting go of past shame and guilt. His prayer invites God’s glory into his weakness.

Lord, I don’t want to be who I used to be. I don’t want to do what I used to do. I don’t want to be held back by my past. Use my weakness for your glory. Be in my story.

And now we see, the prayer of Jabez is far from a name it and claim it prayer. It’s not about riches. It’s not about getting more. It’s about surrendering your life fully to be used more by God. It’s about asking God to help you live in the fullness of his promises.

With a heart that is right, recognizing the power and glory of our good God, we pray together:

Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!

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Join Pamela in this unscripted devotional as she shares her testimony of God’s saving grace and healing power from a massive stroke.

1 Peter 4:15, “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

1 Chronicles 16:8, “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.”

Revelation 12:11, “(The accuser) has been defeated by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.”

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Guidance. Isn’t that what you really need? You need God to guide you, direct you, show you, because honestly you don’t know what you’re doing here.

Stop everything and grab something to write this word down. It can be a handwritten note, or a typed note in your phone. Whatever you do, just get this written word in front of your eyes now so you can really see it. Write the word GUIDANCE. Do you see the beautiful word hidden within guidance. Look at it. The last 5 letters. Dance. Underline it. Highlight it. Put a box around it.

The guidance you seek is a dance. The problem is, you’ve been trying to lead the dance and it was never yours to lead. Your job in this dance is to follow.

Now look at the word again. G-U-I-Dance. The G is God. Then there’s a U and I. God, U and I Dance.

This is what your life is supposed to be. A dance with God, your creator. You are his beloved daughter of the dance, he is your trusted and skilled guide.

A friend shared this word with me yesterday and I can’t stop looking at it. G-U-I-Dance. God, you and I dance.

Psalm 32:8: The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life, I will advise you and watch over you.” If you’re not trusting him to be the lead, then the dance has become a real mess, hasn’t it? He knows the best path for your life and you don’t always see it. If you’ve taken over the lead, the dance isn’t flowing like it should.

Two people trying to lead one dance leaves absolutely nothing feeling right. It’s awkward. It’s jerky. It’s forced. And it’s evident … someone is lacking trust. I wonder if that’s what your life feels like? You’ve been trying to force your own way, make this all happen in your timing, now it’s become awkward and you feel deeply unhappy. Oh honey, you’ve been trying to lead this dance. At the root of that is your lack of trust in God.

Really, are you struggling to trust God to actually get this right? Are you questioning God’s goodness in this? Have you convinced yourself your timing would be better? It’s hard to follow someone you simply don’t trust.

Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, don’t depend on your OWN understanding.” This is a complete surrender to the one you’re trusting to know the way better than you. This level of trust and surrender doesn’t happen overnight, but you’re taking lessons and learning.

That’s what this is – you’re taking dancing lessons. You’re learning the art of surrender. You’re learning to follow. Your dance lessons are teaching you to trust God as your guide. Honey, just keep showing up for the lessons. You’re getting better. You’ll learn the flow.

With God, life becomes a flow instead of a force.

Proverbs 3:6 TPT, “With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make.” God’s guidance IN everything comes as a result of you fully trusting him WITH everything. Then, you dance. You move. You flow. You go together so effortlessly. He guides and you follow.

After God says “I will guide you” in Psalm 32:8, he then says in verse 9, “Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a a bit and bridle to keep it under control.” Now I’ve never trained a horse, but I’ve leash trained our 130 pound yellow lab. At 2 years old, that dog was uncontrollable. Whichever direction I was leading, he wanted to go the other way. Always. He literally dislocated my husband’s shoulder on our first trip to the beach. It was comical to watch our walks, because he was most definitely walking us more than we were walking him.

But, with training, he learned to follow our lead. Ultimately, he learned to trust us. He came to trust we would let him stop and smell that irresistible smell along the way. He came to trust we were leading him somewhere fun. He came to trust there would be a water stop. He came to understand we don’t chase cats, we don’t smell crotches, and we don’t have to pee on absolutely everything. Now, walking our dog doesn’t even require a leash. He will stay by me. He will listen for my call. He will obey my commands. He will trust my lead.

And because of his trust in my lead, I get to take him to so many great places. He can go everywhere with me now.

Oh the places God wants to take you!!!!! Oh the things he has to show you and share with you. But can he trust you to stay with him? Will you listen for his call? Will you obey his commands? Will you trust him to lead you?

Our dog, Tank, used to choke himself out fighting for his own way. It’s like he permanently messed up his alignment and he literally walks kinda sideways now from his former pulling days. Have you ever seen the dog that can’t walk straight because they’re so used to pulling hard on the leash?

Hmmmmm … have you ever seen a person who has a hard time walking straight because they’ve been trying to go their own way so hard for so long? Is that person you? Lord, please fix my alignment.

Tank no longer requires the forceful, full body weight pull to guide him in the right direction. He senses the slightest turn in my feet and he responds. He watches my pace and matches it. Oh what joy he brings me.

I believe we bring our God such joy when we learn to trust him and follow his lead. Just like a skilled dancer, he gives gentle cues for our moves to flow with him. All we have to do is respond to his cues and trust he knows exactly what he is doing.

In dancing, we imitate the moves of the leader. We move how they move. We move when they move. We flow as one. God is not to imitate your moves and follow you. You’re a terrible leader in this life. You imitate his moves. See how he does this and follow him. Move how he moves and when he moves. Then you live in the flow of a beautiful dance.

A beautiful dance requires two things:

1. A skilled leader with gentle guidance – that’s our God.

2. A surrendered response to the cues of guidance – that’s us, the beloved daughters of the dance!

Psalm 149:3, “Praise his name with dancing.” Oh what praise we offer our God when we follow his lead in the dance.

GUIDANCE: God, you and I dance. I trust you to guide my life. I’m willing to let you lead. Thank you for the continued dance lessons.

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God is in the details of your life. His word tells us of our value and his individual care, down to numbering the hairs on our head. Yes, you are only one of billions in a great big world, but you are HIS ONE and his eye is on you.

You have no idea what he is doing for you right now. You cannot imagine the way he is moving heaven and earth just for you, but without your knowledge and awareness he is doing it. He is doing great things for you. He is aligning a way through this. He is clearing the path to his open door.

But my sister, he will not force your feet to move in that direction. Your faith in action will be required here.

As we study 2 Kings together, we find a true story of God working in the unseen at the same exact time a movement of faith is made. It would be easy to miss, but today we’re going to look for God in the details and find his marvelous power at work.

Reading in NIV, 2 Kings 7: 3-8:

Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank.

Okay, now let’s dig deeper to see God at work in the details of these four men’s lives. These men had leprosy, a deadly disease which caused them to be completely excluded from the care and connection of family or society. No one touched them or even came near them. They were forced to spend their final desperate days on the outskirts of the city, left to die with others who were infected.

But God still cared about these lepers. They were not forgotten by Him.

My sister, you may feel forgotten by others, left out and excluded, but God cares deeply about you. His eye has never left you. He hears your cries and every time you call out to him, he comes near to you. Psalm 34: 17-18, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Do you really believe that? Do you believe he hears you? Do you believe he is responding to you? Do you believe right now he is close to you? He is responding to you. In the unseen, he is doing something miraculous in response to your faith.

You have to look at this story in 2 Kings chapter 7 to see the power of God at work. What time of day was it when these 4 men with leprosy got up from the desperate and hopeless situation and set out for the enemy’s camp? Scripture says it was AT DUSK. That’s an important detail, because God is showing us what he was doing at the same exact time in response to their desperate step of faith. In the enemy’s camp, the Lord had caused the entire army to hear sounds of an attack coming. Sounds of chariots and horses. In fear, the Aramean army left everything in their camp behind and fled IN THE DUSK.

This little detail shows us at the same time the 4 men took their desperate steps of faith, God was clearing the way for them. He was doing the impossible for them!

And woah, if you listened to yesterday’s episode, you know there are unseen angel armies protecting and fighting for us. God didn’t make the enemy army able to see those angel armies protecting God’s people, but perhaps that’s precisely what they heard! They heard what was happening in the unseen, and it made them flee. When? AT DUSK. The same exact time the 4 desperate men are moving towards the camp.

What could God completely move out of the way if you took your step of faith? ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING. He could move it all for you. He could clear the way. He could take out every obstacle. He could tear down every single thing standing in your way before you even get there … but maybe your step of faith is required to activate the miraculous clearing.

Why are you letting the details discourage you, my sister? Why are you looking at this with such a negative lens of ‘not possible’? You know what I’ve learned – I’ve learned even if it doesn’t work out the way I had hoped, God is going to show me another way. But I don’t get to see how it could all work out if I don’t take my step of faith.

Staying stuck is always our choice, but my friend, it’s simply never a good one. Your steps of faith are rewarded with God’s movement. His movement does what your steps could never plan for, and what your steps could never self-create. This is a divine partnership.

Time and time again, that’s what God is showing his girls through his word. He’s inviting us into a partnership in the miraculous. You move, and he creates movement! You step, and he supplies. You show up and he shows off. But honey, if you choose to do nothing and stay stuck, you dismiss yourself from all that could be here.

1 Corinthians 1:9, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God doesn’t NEED your partnership to do anything, but he has extended an invitation to you for this partnership. You’re being invited to be part of the miraculous movement of God and how you accept is YOU MOVE. You take your step of faith. You put your trust in God into action. My sister, you can’t just sit there and say you trust God, get up and trust God. Move forward and trust God.

The very thing you fear can be moved by God by the time you get there. It could be completely eliminated. You imagine this massive battle. You envision this exhausting defeat. But you cannot see what God may do before you even get there … and you’ll never see it if you don’t get moving in faith! It’s said that 85% of what you worry about never even happens. That makes me wonder how many of those worries were in fact real threats, but our moves forward in partnership with God unleashed his movement that cleared the worry before we got there.

Divine partnership with God – my moves and his movement. That’s what I want to live in every single day. Don’t you?

Imagine if the 4 men with leprosy would have just sat at the city gate and accepted their lot in life to starve. They would have never known the movement of God that was always possible. The movement of God on their behalf was dependent on their next move. When they moved at dusk, God caused the enemy army to hear the sounds of a battle in the unseen and they fled in the dusk. Left behind for these 4 men on the move was an entire camp full of food and supplies. Every single thing they could ever need was right there for them.

GOD DID THAT! God did that for them personally. His care was put into movement when they moved.

My beautiful sister, please know God cares about you in the same exact way. Every detail of your life is cared about by the Almighty. His eye has never once left you. He sees your situation. He hears your cries. He responds to your prayers with an aligned path of provision and blessings. Now take your step and make your move. This is your partnership with Jesus.

You move, and God moves. You do what you can do, and God does everything you can’t. When you’re on your way, he clears the way before you even get there!

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Faith isn’t asking you to believe in something that isn’t real. Faith is asking you to believe in something real, something promised, something guaranteed, yet in the unseen. Can you believe it without seeing it? Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real.

Girl, you have no idea what is surrounding you at this moment. You have no idea of the powers that are FOR you. But you can absolutely trust in it.

We’ve been studying about the life of Elisha, a prophet of God in the Old Testament. All good comes under attack, and the enemies of Israel had zeroed in on Elisha and wanted to take him out.

2 Kings 6: 14-17:

“One night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city (where Elisha was).

When Elisha’s servant got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

The young man could see all that was stacked up against them, but in his fear he couldn’t see all that was stacked up FOR them. What was for them was far greater than what was against them.

It’s easy to see everything that is against you right now. The odds may not be in your favor. Circumstances may be desperate. Your chances seem to have run out and nothing seems to be coming together for you. All you see here are closed doors and dead ends. But my sister, what you see is NOT all there is. In the unseen is far more working for you. Miraculous unfoldings are aligned, but you can’t see them. Goodness, blessings, open doors and provisions are here for you. Faith is calling you to believe in the promises of God, even when you can’t see evidence of those promises.

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real. It’s unseen, not unreal.

The horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha and his young servant were real, whether seen or unseen. They were indeed there even before the servant’s eyes were opened. Through faith, they could be trusted before they were seen.

Have you ever lost your cell phone? (On the daily, right?!) You know it is exactly where you left it, but you just can’t remember where you left it. Does this make your phone any less real? You can’t see it right now, but you know it’s still there. You know it’s working even when you can’t see it. So you have someone call you. You listen for the ring, follow the sound, and find it where you left it and immediately remember, of course that’s where it is. Your phone was just as real when you didn’t see it and when you couldn’t find it. You never stopped believing in it’s physical presence.

Well honey, God has promised REAL things to you as his girl. These things are really there and really working. It’s time you believe it even when you don’t see it.

Psalm 34:7, “God’s angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray.”

I’ve never seen that circle of protection around me, but I’ve benefited from it countless times. I’ve been in those close calls and split second saving grace moments. My angel has put his hand on me time and time again to protect me, saving me from disaster and harm. God’s angel has done that for you too, right?

I live an adventurous life and I tend to put myself right in the middle of shark infested waters, tall cliffs, and questionable safety harnesses … a lot. I used to tease that my angels were being punished with extra duty. Then a friend said to me, “No, Pamela – your angel was promoted. Trusted with the hardest job. You get the best of the best. My angel is expert level!” You know what, I’ve never seen my angel, but I live in a continual circle of protection. My angels have done a remarkable job and I certainly haven’t always made that easy.

Faith calls me to believe it even though I don’t see it. Why can I believe it? Because God’s word clearly tells me when I pray, God sends angels to circle and protect me. It’s not unreal, it’s just unseen.

There are real things here that cannot be seen. Will you believe in them?

When I was a little girl, I had a tiny great-great aunt in her 90’s named Aunt Opal. Aunt Opal had exciting stories of living at the beach and a jar of tiny dried baby seahorses. She also had hidden treasure. Literally. When she was no longer able to live on her own, her house was sold. On auction day as all her belongings are being taken out, she says, “Dig in the planter and find the chicken bone.”

We thought Aunt Opal may have been talking a little crazy, but there sat a brick planter in the middle of her family room where she grew flowers under the skylight. Curiosity led us to digging in the dirt. Sure enough, we found a chicken bone a few inches into the dirt. Tied onto the chicken bone was a string. When we pulled the string, we unearthed a burried coffee can. Inside that coffee can was her life savings. Legit buried treasure, hidden in the unseen.

We almost didn’t believe her. Whether we believed her or not, the chicken bone was still hidden in the planter, and attached to that chicken bone was the coffee can with her treasure. It was unseen, not unreal. It was almost unbelievable, yet it was 100% real.

Thinking of angels circling around us in the unseen is almost unbelievable, but it is 100% real. Oh my goodness, it’s time to start believing it and dig for it! You can live life with a greater sense of confidence and freedom knowing you’re circled by the greatest power ever known! I have no reason to fear when I am protected by God’s angel!

Psalm 92:11, “God will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” Notice it’s wherever you GO. You’re not supposed to live your life sitting still and stagnant. Go in faith, get moving, God’s angels will protect you as go!

Now, check this out. Psalm 92: 14-15 MSG:

God says, “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life, I’ll get you out of trouble. I’ll give you the best care if you only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.”

Your job is to get to know God by spending time with him, study his word, search for his fingerprints on his creation all around you, and grow in your trust of him. As you get to know him and trust him, you can call on him and he will not only rescue you, but girl, he will throw you a party. He will celebrate you. He loves to see his girl living in wreckless abandon with wild faith. He loves to see your faith in action with a wide open life holding nothing back. He loves to see your faith overcome your fear.

Hold on to God with everything you have. He can be trusted. He’s all around you with his angels. You can’t see them, but you can trust them. They’re unseen, but not unreal.

There’s so much more FOR you than against you. The enemy doesn’t stand a chance against you when you call on God. You’re surrounded. You’re in the middle of a mighty circle. You can go unafraid!

Fear has held you back for far too long. It’s time to go knowing you’re circled, surrounded and protected!

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God truly does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? His ways are so mysterious, that they can appear disappointing in our human perspective. The question is, in your disappointment, have you given up and dismissed yourself from seeing the fullness of what God was doing?

Many years ago, my husband and I gave up a very successful business we had built in Dallas to follow the prompting of God to go to El Paso, Texas to help build a church. Once there, we struggled to pay rent, struggled to keep the repo man from taking our truck, struggled to buy groceries. Life became one big struggle.

Our little boy was in kindergarten and he was required to wear a uniform. We could only afford to buy 2 uniform shirts, so when 1 of those shirts got ruined, I was washing that lone little white shirt by hand every single night. Struggling.

My sister, if you’re in a season of struggle, please know I understand. I’ve been in the struggle.

But we were there out of obedience. I thought surely obedience would be handsomely rewarded. Then the church fell apart and closed, the family we moved there to help left, and there we were left with absolutely nothing but a mess to clean up. Why in the world did God bring us there to fail? I’ve never been more disappointed in my life.

Y’all it’s one thing to struggle when you still have hope. It’s a completely different thing to struggle when you’re sorely disappointed. But what if this disappointment is part of God’s mysterious way? It is for a purpose and your faith is being called to action here.

2 Kings chapter 5 tells of a successful man in a struggle. This man was Naaman. He was a commander of the Syrian army and had nothing but great victories. He was a loved, mighty warrior. But as successful as Naaman was, he had an incurable disease that would slowly kill him. He had leprosy. Leprosy was a problem he couldn’t fix.

Through a series of connections, Naaman ends up going to see the prophet Elisha for healing. And there, he is disappointed.

2 Kings 5: 9-12: Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

The key word here is EXPECTED. Naaman expected the man of God to work in one way, but he experienced something radically disappointing instead.

You may be disappointed in God right now, and that’s okay. He knows your human mind cannot conceive the fullness of his divine ways. He knows your sight is limited. He knows his ways are so much higher than your ways and he never expected you to understand him. However, he does call you to trust him in faith.

Faith can look at a disappointing reality, deal with the real emotions of it, and still take the next step. Faith can lean in instead of tapping out. Faith can be disappointed without dismissing the appointment.

My sister, you can still show up disappointed.

I was so disappointed in God’s provision when we stepped out in faith. I was so discouraged by the utter failure of hard steps taken in obedience. I wanted nothing more than to pack my bags and go back home … the problem was, there was no home to go back to. There was no money to go anywhere. We were stuck. Stuck in a place we didn’t want to be. But what we didn’t realize then is we were stuck there for a purpose we knew nothing about in our moment of disappointment.

There would be 2 little girls waiting for us to meet them at an orphanage just across the border in Mexico. We were unknowingly there to meet them. They changed the trajectory of our lives.

There was a wise old man named Mr. Winton waiting to become my mentor. I was unknowingly there to meet him. He changed the trajectory of my life.

I thought I was there to start a church and I was so utterly disappointed when it all failed. But God knew exactly what he was doing all along, and what he was doing back then is what brought me here to you today. If I could have seen a glimpse of my life today I wouldn’t have been disappointed. I couldn’t see where the disappointment was leading. I couldn’t see God’s full plan. I just had to trust it and take obedient next steps when it didn’t make sense, when it hurt, and when I really didn’t want to.

God works in mysterious ways … and sometimes those mysteries are a disappointment to our expectations. But remember, you don’t know what God is doing, so don’t give up in your disappointment. Keep moving in faith. Mysterious ways are supposed to be a mystery … let it be a mystery and let your faith guide you.

Ecclesiastes 11:5, “Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tin y baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”

Naaman was used to being known and honored as a successful and mighty warrior. Now he felt dismissed. He felt insignificant. And his pride almost got in the way of his healing.

Girl, don’t let your pride get in the way of your healing. It won’t look like what you expect it to look like.

Don’t let your pride get in the way of your calling. It won’t look like what you expect it to look like either.

I’m going to clue you in on a little secret … your healing and your calling will be HUMBLING. It won’t be flashy. It won’t be magical. It probably won’t “feel” the way you thought it would feel. It won’t be on your timeline. You will be humbled in this.

Naaman was being humbled. He was told to go to a dirty river and wash in it 7 times. What would others think seeing a man like him washing in a river like this? And remember, he’s a mighty warrior for the Syrian army. He’s gone to Israel to see Elisha. Israel is enemy territory. He would literally be washing in the enemy’s dirty nasty river. Not what Naaman was expecting!

As he’s leaving in a rage over unmet expectations, his officers try to reason with him. Verse 13, they said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!'”

And that’s it right there, my friends. We’re expecting God to move and work in a way that makes sense to us, but God cannot and will not be confined to our little boxes. He sees what’s really in our way, which is often our pride. In our pride, we think we know what is best. In our pride, we want to control things. In our pride, we have it all worked out and set our expectations accordingly. And God often goes to work on our pride through humbling disappointments.

If you’re currently disappointed in the way God has or has not shown up for you, could it be that your pride is being humbled? Lord, has my pride gotten in the way? Have I assumed to know better than you? Am I dismissing myself from your powerful work because it doesn’t fit in my box? Please forgive me. I want to be humbly obedient.

Verse 14, “So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!”

Naaman almost missed his healing because of his pride and his expectations. Faith calls for pride to be left on the bank of the river. Faith calls for expectations to be stripped off like the rags covering Naaman’s sores. Yes, it might be a dirty muddy river in enemy’s territory, but if that is where God is telling you to go for a swim, then GIRL JUMP IN!

Faith doesn’t make sense. Faith doesn’t first explain itself. Faith doesn’t always feel good.

Faith is humble action with all pride left aside.

God does work in mysterious ways. Let them be a mystery. Stop trying to figure it all out and trust God knows exactly what he is doing.

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Our God is unlimited. He cannot fit in our little box of reasoning and understanding. He cannot be contained by earthly constraints and limits. GOD CAN DO IT. He makes the impossible possible, and he does it without sweat. Nothing is too hard for him. Nothing is out of his reach. The only thing you have to do is bring him your limits, bring him your insufficiency, bring him your way too little and far too late and BELIEVE he can do something with it.

Don’t you know he can, my sister. He can do far more than you could ever ask, think or imagine. Time and time again he can come through for you personally in the sweetest and most divine ways. You won’t be able to understand it. You won’t have a plan for it. You won’t be able to reproduce it on your own. It’s simply God’s miraculous work in the details of your fully surrendered life.

But first, you really do have to fully surrender your life to him. Yes, surrender before you understand God. Before it all makes sense. Without a sense of fully getting it or a means of control. You just have to surrender to the God who formed you and chose you and is relentlessly calling you to a relationship and partnership with him. And once you surrender your life, then you find all those questions you had simply don’t need to be answered anyway. Your human mind has a head on collision with faith, and faith says God holds it all and can be trusted.

This week I’ve been messaging with a podcast listener who so desperately wants to surrender her life to God, but she’s struggling. She’s struggling to understand. Struggling to make sense of some restrictions of religion and exclusions of evangelism. And it just doesn’t feel right to accept the saving grace of the Jesus she believes in when it means that others aren’t saved as well. So, the beautiful soul that she is, has decided if Jesus can’t save everyone, then she doesn’t want to be saved.

I can’t pretend to have the right words to guide her. But I know God’s word is for her. I know when God says in 2 Peter 3:9 that he is not willing, wishing or wanting anyone to be lost from him, he absolutely means it. How will he save everyone? How will he reach the ends of the earth with the saving grace of Jesus? I don’t know. That’s my little box, and God simply does not fit in my little box. But I know the impossible is made possible with God and my understanding is simply not required. My faith is calling for my surrendered mind to simply trust him.

And I believe that’s what God is doing in this precious woman’s life as she is seeking. He’s calling her to faith that will bring her to a place of surrender and trust. A place where her little box will be crushed with an encounter with the Almighty. You know why? Because God is not willing, wishing or wanting to lose HER.

Maybe that’s what he’s doing in your life right now too. He’s personally showing you he’s not willing, wishing or wanting to lose you. So he’s been speaking to you. He’s been calling you. He’s been relentlessly tapping on your heart and you know it! Girl, just let him in!

I’ve been studying 2 Kings 4 in depth this week. It’s truly a book of the Bible and a chapter I’ve sped right through before and missed the depths of the lessons available in the stories God wanted preserved for us. I’ve been practicing a slower pace to savor the fullness of God’s word and let it come alive in me. That has brought me to the final paragraph in the chapter and an ‘ah-ha’ moment to be shared here with you.

Let’s read it together. 2 Kings 4: 42-44:

One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God (Elisha) a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

“What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?”

But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!”

And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised.

Does this sound familiar to you? Doesn’t this sound like Jesus and his disciples feeding the huge crowd with the lunch of a boy? Yes! But understand this is 400 to 500 years BEFORE Jesus. This miracle came first. Then God did it again in even larger scale. First with 20 barley loaves for 100 people, then 5 loaves and 2 fish for 5,000 men plus women and children.

Here, the people are starving during a famine. They have nothing. They are desperate for food. And God cares about them. God’s care shows up in practical ways through impractical means. He simply takes what is far too little, and he makes it not only enough for the immediate need, he makes it enough for future need. There was leftover! They even had bread to take home with them. Impossible. Miraculous. ONLY GOD!

You have a need. What is that need? Will you let God meet your need in practical ways through impractical means? Your surrendered life and faith will be required here.

This man didn’t have much to offer, but the amount is never what is important to God. God multiplies. God magnifies. God amplifies. God expands. God exceeds.

Whatever was offered, and however big the need, with God, it is enough. Whether 20 loaves for 100 people, or 5 loaves & 2 fish for 5,000, the numbers are not important. The needs are important, and God meets those needs. Regardless of the numbers. Regardless of the supply. It’s all God’s miraculous work which we cannot understand.

How sad it would have been for this man with the 20 loaves of bread to have not offered them because they seemed insignificant. And how sad would it be for you to miss out on the saving grace of Jesus because you’re just one of billions. Trust God can and will work this all out.

What is God showing us with these repeated miracles on unimaginable scales? I believe he’s showing us to take the limits off! God is unlimited. He can take what is far too little and make more than enough. He can provide today and he can do it again tomorrow. He can meet your need and the needs of countless others with the tinniest supply. He can save you and he can save them without your ability to understand it, reason it, estimate it or control it.

This is faith. This is surrender. This is what relationship with our unlimited God looks like.

You will forever be in a place of never being able to understand how he does it … but you’ll be invited right into the middle of the miraculous. When you trust in and act on the promises of God, you will see them fulfilled.

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Today, we’re going to study a beautiful story turned tragic, then made miraculous. God has specifically asked me to share this story with you, his girls today. We will look at this story in 3 separate parts.

First, the beautiful part. 2 Kings 4: 8-17

One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. (Remember from yesterday’s devotional, Elisha is a prophet of God with a very special connection to deliver God’s messages and do God’s miraculous works.) A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for something to eat.

She said to her husband, “I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. Let’s build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by.”

One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared, Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?”

“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”

Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”

Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”

“Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arm!”

“No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”

But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.

My friends, you simply cannot out-give God. He sees the good you do, and he responds. God responds with blessings so overwhelming good that we couldn’t even dare ask for them.

But, know this … God sees the heart of your “good works”.

Are you doing good things just to be seen? Are you hoping good things will come to you as a result? Jesus warns us about this in Matthew 6:1, “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” Verse 4, “Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

This has been a a very hard lesson for me personally. If I did something good, I wanted everyone to know about it. I was intoxicated with the praise. I desperately wanted to be liked because of my good deeds. Then God asked me to shut down my public life, draw close to him, and be completely obedient in secret. I cannot tell you how good this has been for me. Maybe God is calling you to the same secretly good life of obedience where absolutely no one else will know of the goodness you do. This truly opens a door for God’s blessings on a whole other level!

This woman gave a room to Elisha not to be seen or praised, but out of pure goodness and obedience. As a result, God saw her private gifts and he rewarded her.

His reward to her was a blessing she didn’t even dare ask for. It was a gift so big she hadn’t even hoped for it. The thing her heart most wanted, but she hadn’t allowed herself to dream of … a son. A son when it was too late. A son when it was totally unlikely. And God did it for her.

She couldn’t out-give God, and neither can you. What if on the other side of your obedience and humble acts of kindness and goodness unseen by everyone else, God has a gift so perfect for you that you don’t even know to ask for it!

Now, part 2 of the story, this is the tragic part. How many of us know real life can be beautiful, and it can also be tragic? Tragedy is part of the human experience and eventually, it touches every single one of us.

2 Kings 4: 18-30:

One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters. Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”

His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”

So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”

“Why go out today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.”

But she said, “It will be all right.”

So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”

As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehzi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?'”

“Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”

But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.”

Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

God showed me something tucked away in this story so many of his girls needs to hear today. This woman didn’t wait for her husband. She didn’t wait for him to pray. She didn’t wait for him to lead her family in faith. She didn’t wait for him to go with her. She sought God for herself. She sought God for her family.

For so many, we wish our husbands would rise up and be our spiritual leaders. But honey, if he won’t, then you be the one to rise up! Don’t allow his hesitation or his failure to become your hesitation or failure. Sometimes you have to go first. This woman went. She didn’t wait for her husband. He questioned her, even tried to discourage her, but she sought God anyway.

Maybe your husband won’t go to church with you, or maybe you don’t have a husband at all. Go alone. Maybe you don’t have anyone to pray with you. Pray alone. Maybe you don’t have anyone seeking God with you or for you. Seek alone.

This woman stopped and talked to absolutely no one else. She didn’t need anyone to join her. She didn’t need anyone to cry with her, pray with her, or understand her pain. She was on a mission. She was going straight to Elisha, the man of God.

Understand, because of Jesus, we no longer need a middle person to communicate with God for us. Jesus is our mediator. Because of him, we now have direct access to God. We can go directly to God … but are we? Or are we hoping someone else will do that for us?

God’s been waiting to hear from you! He’s given you access, now use it! Talk to him about this tragedy! He cares and he’s prepared to do something about it.

Now, the miraculous part of the story. I don’t know if you’ve gotten to the miraculous part of your story yet, but I assure you God has miracles aligned for you! He has not left you out of the miracles.

2 Kings 4: 32-37:

When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. he went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!

Then Elisah summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!” She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

This woman had to trust the man of God with her son. She wasn’t in the room. She was outside when the miracle happened. And what the Holy Spirit whispered to me reading this is, “You have to trust me and stand outside while I work my miracle.” Sometimes we want so badly to be part of the miraculous works of God that we get in the way.

Girl, get out of the way. Let God do what only God can do!

Once you’ve called God in, then trust him. Trust him to revive what needs to be revived, heal what needs to be healed, restore what needs to be restored, or take what needs to be taken. Your job is to seek God, trust God, and continue on with gratitude knowing he is working!

And that’s the whole story. Beauty, tragedy and a miracle.

With this story, I believe God is checking our hearts and intentions today. Why do you do the good things you do? Is it to be seen and liked? Then that is your only reward. Cancel the show and shut down the audience. God wants your acts of obedience to be private.

I believe God is reminding us to seek Him first and go alone if we need to. Stop wishing someone else would do it with you or for you. No, you have a connection with God, use it.

And I believe God is reminding us his miraculous works do not require our presence in the room. We seek him, then we trust him enough to work behind closed doors in ways we cannot see or control.

And for this, God’s girls say, THANK YOU, LORD – WE HEAR YOU!

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