FROM THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT:
"NO MORE CAMPING OUT IN PAUCITY!"
FROM THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT: "NO MORE CAMPING IN PAUCITY!"
2nd Corinthians 1: 3, 4 "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. "
Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Who would think of God’s "comfort" as a gauntlet being thrown down and a forceful, a loving but formidable command to fully exit the Slough of Despond and the sorrowful pit and " no more paucity-camping, UP and out, Warrior daughter!" That is what Papa God said to me recently, in my daily time with Him, with notebook and pen.
Paucity...what a sad and stern word! It means basically, just not enough! Actually, to me as a lover of the immense power of the realm of words, SOME words are so stern, they drip for me with emotional poison, extremely tart, NO hint of sweet to blunt the sour edge. For a sensitive soul like myself, certain words not only do not make it on to my "Miss Wendy's list 'o unpleasant verbiage, part one."...but they write out a parking ticket and revoke my hall pass!
I am guilty of too much "sorrowful meandering " in sad places, bent askew to some degree by the...FORCE OF HABIT. Yes, in my many years in the poverty realm, much is revealed to be a perverse protective habit that does not mitigate my weeping a bit and reveals a still wounded and cynical heart refusing to receive. This is just what Holy Spirit told me years ago, as I can actually block my own blessing and healing provision. Just WHY in the heck would I be dense enough to refuse to receive?? A large part of it is lack of self-worth, that sits its bony butt at the top of that fetid heap...been there, done plenty of that, have to get out of here or die trying. "Enough already", I screech at myself...and you do not want to hear me screech!! A 71-year old screech...uh-uh...
God is profoundly loving but also can be an incredibly blunt guy, Who actually knows things. Can I in my sorrowful stubbornness, short-circuit God's blessings in store for me??? Yes, the stark answer is yes.
Don't wanna do that anymore.
God tells me I am needed in this battle of the world, November 2023, there is work for me to do and PROVISION for more than enough. This is SPIRITUAL WARFARE. While I have never been one chasing after material wealth but to simply have more than enough to “spare and to share”, I can be used to help others in some fashion. I can be a conduit for the overwhelming love of God and His Son Jesus Christ, to help each who will grab hold and ask for help, day by day!
I learn more effectively by front-line character lessons. I vividly remember one day during my final years in San Francisco, walking on my neighborhood errands near Polk and California. For some reason, I began briefly conversing with a young man who appeared homeless, sitting on the ground next to the Washington Mutual bank ATM machine. The man was so sad and down-hearted, I felt compelled to hunker down next to him, gently hold his hand and pray for him. I was that not far above his financial " station", myself being in a constant and relentless battle for basic survival as an " elf" in a hard driving city. As I began to pray, I felt God's presence. I spoke to this man and reminded him that there was only one of him on the whole earth, only him with the unique skills, talents, abilities and experiences that he had to share with the world and asking for God to help and guide his life, as he was needed in this place. I never forgot the single tear that slowly flowed down his sorrowful face. This moment was so brief but remains so viscerally in my soul years later, as I did my humble best to plant one sincere seed of God's love and encouragement, a gift that God has given to me to " encourage the discouraged. "
I am intimately familiar with the realm of despair. Not cool, not hip, not fun, not a popular game at parties. No, despair parks its stinking self square on your chest, impeding breath itself and trying it's best to sully the water and throw you off the bridge.
I am learning, even at this late age of 71, to throw back, to actually shove the devil right off the narrow bridge he corners me on. He is a thief, a liar and a bully and I am agonizingly, slowly learning to fight back in muscle memory, not just in the intellect I love so much. I, who have shed oceans of tears in my life, so much awash in the heaviness of grief and sorrow, hunkered in the shadows, have been lovingly but forcefully called out of my cold cavern and onto duty on the field of battle...to serve in my humble blunt Oregon girl capacity until God brings me Home.
One single solitary moment and day at a time, no other way! Please join me, dear people out there who also struggle with despair! I do not remotely talk down, I do not scold, I do not harangue. One single minute, one hour, one day at a time, we walk the road with God and His Son next to us for every single step. Remember Jesus' words that "I will never leave you not forsake you." How profoundly we need these words in these chaotic and horrifying times of 2023.
Hold fast to God and His Son, repent quickly when you miss it, ask every single day for HELP, counsel, guidance and protection (Psalm 91!!) and for a direction for the gifts God has given only to YOU.
Hugs from my life to yours,
Wendy