(day six) H2O

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill

As I've been reading through the word this time around, I keep asking for the Lord to give me true revelation in each book and to help me identify with the characters of the story so i can make some connections with who we are called to be, how much we are loved, and how we should be living our lives. So the past few days I've been thinking a lot about Moses. I noticed how water always seemed to be in the picture when Moses was around. I mean, his name even means "I drew him out of the water", for crying out loud! So whether it's water into blood, bitter water sweet, water splitting, or coming out of a rock... he was present and involved in the show. Today i found myself surrounded by bodies of water all day long. I had the amazing pleasure of spending time with my sis and dad at the river today. I kayaked (which took the place of my p90x today), they fished and we read (as much as we could with all the drunk hillbillies hoopin and hollerin in the background). And although there were several distractions from the beauty, it still shined through and i was a happy girl. The more the drunk rednecks (whom God loves, and so do i) acted up and seemed quite careless of their surroundings, the more they reminded me of the israelites. And the more i began to see myself in them a lot of times... consumed with "my stuff", careless of surroundings, tired of not seeing "results".... etc. How often do we do this? How often do we stay enslaved to "our stuff" because it's familiar and we'd rather live and die there, than risk our lives or sacrifice something for freedom? Is it worth it to you? Do we VALUE freedom in every area of our life like we should???

B90: (Exodus 13 – Exodus 25:40) Yea, so the Israelites seemed a little fickle if you ask me, but all day long my sister and i were wondering if we'd do the same thing. We sure hoped not, but sometimes you have to walk through that wonder to see the depths of your own heart revealed. I love what Moses says to the people in Ch 14 vs 13 "Fear not, stand firm, see salvation of the Lord, who will work for you today." So, basically all you have to do people is trust, stand, and see. Sounds simple... but it wasn't that easy for them.

Another thing I loved to highlight is the fact they followed a cloud by day and pillar by night. My pastor once said he wondered if just about the time they were ready to put in the pool and settle down with payments and such, God was ready to move. I started laughing... because our culture sets us up to be "settled" rather than "mobile" and free to go where He wants us. Don't get me wrong, sometimes we are called to be somewhere for awhile if not forever... but there are several questions to ask ourselves. Does our stuff, debt, payments determine our answer to the Lord if He says go? Could we be enslaved to those things in some way? Do we still see our lives in that place as a mission for the Lord, to love and serve all those around us and giving sacrificially? What if everyone in our neighborhood was saved? Would we move to a different neighborhood? What about city? If we gave away everything (which i'm not suggesting you should) could we trust he'd provide for our basic needs? Are there ways in which we could live below our means to help others more? These are all questions to get us thinking hopefully in a healthy WHOLE way.



XTRA BONUS!!!! I still can't imagine what it would've been like to be in Moses's sandals for a day, but physically I can understand a tiny bit. A few years ago, when i was in Sinai, my YWAM team decided to climb Mt. Sinai. Let me just tell you, nothing about this task is easy... and Moses wasn't exactly the youngest cracker jack in the box. In the climb alone, I went from an emotional high... to wanting the Lord to take me right then and there. We got to the top in just enough time to find front row seats to the most amazing artist painting the most unbelievable morning scene i've ever seen! Hundreds of people watched our God at work as my team's worship echoed off the mountain tops. As we descended and my weaknesses were again highlighted, it began to hit me... I wasn't pushing my 100's and I definitely wasn't carrying two ginormous stone tablets down the strenuous trail. Oh, and there probably wasn't a trail in his day. Ha. But the YWAM experience I was living out there and the sunrise i had just witnessed were only a twig on the burning bush scale of hearing God speak and seeing Him move. Now approaching bottom, i began to see how "normal" was now just plain ole gross. I wanted to be back with Him in that moment where everything seemed so pure, perfect, blissful and serene.

As my day drew to a close, I spotted a new song released by a guy i know named Brady Toops. The name of the song, believe it or not, is called "The Song of Moses". I listened and wept, as it concluded my day perfectly. He said he would LOVE for me to share it with you!!! So here you go...