Faith in the Finisher
A story of faith in the Finisher ↑
As I have spent the last few weeks praying and seeking the Lord to figure out what He would like me to do in this season, I felt peace about taking a few weeks to process, spend time with family, and adjust from the drastic change in climate (both environmentally and spiritually 😅) I had just experienced. During these last few weeks, I have heard many reports of the crazy things happening around the world as COVID-19 has sweeped across the nations. I have heard from friends and family of the many deaths, the overwhelmed health systems, and the financial crises that have been spreading just as fast as the virus itself. As I heard more of the reality going on around me, I was faced with the pressure of trying to figure out how I would react to all the news and difficulty. Being a nurse, I know I have the skills to help provide the care needed. I know I have what the world needs right now, training in health care and JESUS. But as I could feel the pressure from the world start to close in around me, I felt a caution from the Lord.
I felt Him wanting to teach me an important lesson about patience and staying attuned to His voice. I felt Him wanting to teach me not to jump when the world says jump, but to wait for His still and peaceful voice to give me a word to take a leap of faith. This is not to say I feel there always needs to be a clear cut word from the Lord to help those in need; there are many times we should respond to the needs around us because that is what Jesus would do! However, in this season, I felt Him cautioning me to wait for the specific door He wanted to open up for me. So after a few weeks of praying and seeking the Lord, I felt the Lord speak.
It started with a series of conversations and news headlines about the effects of COVID-19 in New York City. For a few days, it seemed I couldn't escape hearing about what was going on in the city of New York and how the virus had taken a huge toll. One of the first conversations came in the car with Paul as we discussed the irony of me being a nurse filled up with the love of Jesus and not working during this global crises. Shortly after talking this through with him, the radio popped on and there was a man from NYC pleading for doctors and nurses to come and help in the relief work. Hearing this man's plea was very difficult as I knew I had the skills to help but wasn't sure yet what my response was going to be. I thought "well obviously I'm not going to New York right now so I wonder if there's something here at home I can do to help out." I had more conversations that week with a few friends about the tragedy and severity of the effects of the virus in NYC. It was difficult to listen to and process the amount of deaths and cases within the city, and I again felt a sense of responsibility to help, mixed with a sense of peace in knowing the Lord would reveal what He had for me to do in this season.
After spending a day intentionally seeking the Lord for clarity, I woke up to a message from Elaine, a friend from church, letting me know she heard a plea on the radio from an organization called Samaritan's Purse looking for medical staff to come and work in their field hospital in Central Park. I saw the message and easily disregarded it again saying to myself, "there's no way after being away in Hawaii and out of nursing for 3 months that I am walking into the heat of this virus in New York City." It really wasn't even a question in my mind of if I would do it, I was honestly ignoring it as even an option. That is until I sat down to talk to the Lord that morning.
I sat down to spend time with the Lord and started reading my Bible when all of the sudden, out of nowhere, the dots started connecting in my head. I started replaying every conversation, every news headline, and every plea I had heard about New York City and something started to stir in my spirit! I was like "oh my word Lord!! Is this where You're sending me? Is this where You want me to go next?"
I knew this was the next step He wanted me to take as soon as the idea entered my mind and began to settle in my spirit. I felt a peace about going almost immediately. An excitement for what the Lord might want to do while I was there started bubbling up inside me! I began to imagine what it would be like to work alongside other believers in Samaritan's Purse field hospital and care for the sick and comfort them with the love of Jesus. I began to think about how this is what I have been filled up to do over the last few months. I have been filled up to preach the Gospel. I have been filled up to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the hardest places. I have been praying that the Lord would use me to care for the hurting and the broken and here He is opening a door of opportunity to do just that. These next few months were supposed to be spent in Thailand ministering to women in the red-light district, but I could feel the Lord shifting my focus to those suffering and dying of the coronavirus.
After feeling the confirmation in my own spirit that this might be what the Lord is leading me to do, I reached out to a few friends to tell them I had felt a word come from the Lord about what He wanted me to do in this time. I didn't tell them any details about what I felt the Lord speak, I simply asked them to pray on my behalf because I sensed the Lord wanting to confirm this to me through some other people. I am so thankful to have sisters in Christ to run alongside who are willing to take the time to pray and pursue His heart for me. Thank you so much to each one who did this! I believe each one of you heard from the Lord in a unique way and He used your words to confirm different aspects of this process.
One pretty specific word that a friend received from the Lord spoke specifically about the location of New York City! How crazy! Another friend got a vision of me standing in my blue scrubs looking in the mirror at my parent's house and leaving with suitcases packed. She also saw a compass pointing North to the letter E which I believe was indicating the direction of Northeast which is exactly where NYC is situated in relation to my hometown! These words of confirmation were such sweet reminders of the Lord's love and desire to speak to His children. I am so thankful He gave me not only a settledness in my own spirit but words from others to confirm what I felt I was hearing. This was the affirmation and confidence I needed to be able to tell my parents about this call to go. 😉
There are a few other details and confirmations the Lord has given me throughout this process, and I have felt His hand so strongly on this decision to go to New York. I applied and got the job with Samaritan's Purse on Easter day! I found out my tentative start date on the following Wednesday which was exactly 4 weeks after I arrived home from Hawaii. That may not sound significant, but that is the exact timeline both Paul and I got from the Lord about when I would move forward with next steps, 4 weeks! The Lord hit the mark to the day and used this as another confirmation to me to continue pursuing work in NYC. The faith part of this story doesn't end in simply hearing and obeying the word of the Lord to go to NYC; it actually begins in the time of waiting to be deployed and in the time of going there to serve. In this time of waiting, I have felt the Lord giving me measures of faith and hope for what He wants to do!
I have felt the Lord challenging me to write about this testimony that is still in the process of happening because that is FAITH! I want to tell you a story of His faithfulness that has yet to be finished because I already know I walk with the One who is faithful and who is the Finisher of my faith. I am choosing to have confidence in what I am hoping for and assurance of what I have not seen happen yet. I have faith He is sending me to New York in His perfect timing. I have faith that He is going to heal the sick and resurrect the dead. I have faith He is going to bring salvation on the earth. I have faith He is going to use me to bring the reality of heaven under those tents.
His love for those that are suffering is so strong.💓
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Oh how the Lord has shown me how He delights in faith. He delights in the faith we have in Him as our Savior. He delights in the faith we have to believe God sent His most prized possession, His one and only Son, to die for us and take on our sin. He delights in the faith we have to believe God resurrected His Son from the grave and made a way for us to spend eternal life with Him. He delights in the faith of our salvation.
So I want to release over you all a measure of faith like you have never experienced before. I want you to hear this testimony of faith rising out of disappointment and unfinished business and I want you to take it for yourself. I want you to know that He is going to not only author new faith inside you, but He is going to finish it. He is the author AND the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Let the Father author new, fresh faith inside of you to start believing again. Let Him show you how to start hoping again for the impossible to happen. Let Him show you what it looks like to pray and pull the reality of heaven down to earth. I declare new faith will be written on the hearts of God's people, and we will start believing God for the things we could never do on our own strength. He can do it and He wants to do it. We not only serve a God who thrives in doing the impossible, we have a Father who loves to pour out blessing and show Himself faithful to His children. We will believe God for the immeasurably more to happen in and through our lives!
In the precious name of King Jesus.
Amen.
♥ Melissa
After spending a day intentionally seeking the Lord for clarity, I woke up to a message from Elaine, a friend from church, letting me know she heard a plea on the radio from an organization called Samaritan's Purse looking for medical staff to come and work in their field hospital in Central Park. I saw the message and easily disregarded it again saying to myself, "there's no way after being away in Hawaii and out of nursing for 3 months that I am walking into the heat of this virus in New York City." It really wasn't even a question in my mind of if I would do it, I was honestly ignoring it as even an option. That is until I sat down to talk to the Lord that morning.
I knew this was the next step He wanted me to take as soon as the idea entered my mind and began to settle in my spirit. I felt a peace about going almost immediately. An excitement for what the Lord might want to do while I was there started bubbling up inside me! I began to imagine what it would be like to work alongside other believers in Samaritan's Purse field hospital and care for the sick and comfort them with the love of Jesus. I began to think about how this is what I have been filled up to do over the last few months. I have been filled up to preach the Gospel. I have been filled up to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the hardest places. I have been praying that the Lord would use me to care for the hurting and the broken and here He is opening a door of opportunity to do just that. These next few months were supposed to be spent in Thailand ministering to women in the red-light district, but I could feel the Lord shifting my focus to those suffering and dying of the coronavirus.
After feeling the confirmation in my own spirit that this might be what the Lord is leading me to do, I reached out to a few friends to tell them I had felt a word come from the Lord about what He wanted me to do in this time. I didn't tell them any details about what I felt the Lord speak, I simply asked them to pray on my behalf because I sensed the Lord wanting to confirm this to me through some other people. I am so thankful to have sisters in Christ to run alongside who are willing to take the time to pray and pursue His heart for me. Thank you so much to each one who did this! I believe each one of you heard from the Lord in a unique way and He used your words to confirm different aspects of this process.
One pretty specific word that a friend received from the Lord spoke specifically about the location of New York City! How crazy! Another friend got a vision of me standing in my blue scrubs looking in the mirror at my parent's house and leaving with suitcases packed. She also saw a compass pointing North to the letter E which I believe was indicating the direction of Northeast which is exactly where NYC is situated in relation to my hometown! These words of confirmation were such sweet reminders of the Lord's love and desire to speak to His children. I am so thankful He gave me not only a settledness in my own spirit but words from others to confirm what I felt I was hearing. This was the affirmation and confidence I needed to be able to tell my parents about this call to go. 😉
There are a few other details and confirmations the Lord has given me throughout this process, and I have felt His hand so strongly on this decision to go to New York. I applied and got the job with Samaritan's Purse on Easter day! I found out my tentative start date on the following Wednesday which was exactly 4 weeks after I arrived home from Hawaii. That may not sound significant, but that is the exact timeline both Paul and I got from the Lord about when I would move forward with next steps, 4 weeks! The Lord hit the mark to the day and used this as another confirmation to me to continue pursuing work in NYC. The faith part of this story doesn't end in simply hearing and obeying the word of the Lord to go to NYC; it actually begins in the time of waiting to be deployed and in the time of going there to serve. In this time of waiting, I have felt the Lord giving me measures of faith and hope for what He wants to do!
I have felt the Lord challenging me to write about this testimony that is still in the process of happening because that is FAITH! I want to tell you a story of His faithfulness that has yet to be finished because I already know I walk with the One who is faithful and who is the Finisher of my faith. I am choosing to have confidence in what I am hoping for and assurance of what I have not seen happen yet. I have faith He is sending me to New York in His perfect timing. I have faith that He is going to heal the sick and resurrect the dead. I have faith He is going to bring salvation on the earth. I have faith He is going to use me to bring the reality of heaven under those tents.
His love for those that are suffering is so strong.💓
_________________________________________________________________________________
Oh how the Lord has shown me how He delights in faith. He delights in the faith we have in Him as our Savior. He delights in the faith we have to believe God sent His most prized possession, His one and only Son, to die for us and take on our sin. He delights in the faith we have to believe God resurrected His Son from the grave and made a way for us to spend eternal life with Him. He delights in the faith of our salvation.
And I believe there is more faith to be had. There is faith to be had not just in believing we have a Savior (although that is the greatest faith of all!), but that we have a God who is alive and active on the earth TODAY! I feel the Lord stressing the word faith in this season because faith DESTROYS fear. The enemy has been trying to play his schemes of fear on the earth, and as Bill Johnson says in his book When Heaven Invades the Earth, "fear attacks the foundation of our relationship with God...our faith." As we break agreement with fear, we are able to make agreement with faith. I believe He is building strongholds of faith in this season because He needs His children to believe He has the authority, He is at work amidst the chaos, and He has greater plans and purposes than we could ask or imagine.
"Faith is a testimony of an invisible realm called the Kingdom of God. Through prayer we are able to pull that reality into this one--that is how faith functions" (Bill Johnson).
As I have been pursuing the Lord and studying His word, He has drawn me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews is one of my favorite books of the Bible and always has been. I feel it clearly lays out the foundations of our faith and speaks of the rich heritage we have to follow in faith.
Hebrews 10:22-23 says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unnervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
Faith is hard. You will have to believe through the seasons of winter that are sure to come. You will have to believe through the seasons where everything looks dead and barren. You will have to hold onto hope and truth when things look hopeless. You will have to press in and be prepared to look a little crazy on account of believing the promises of God are true over your life. This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 119, "My soul is weary with sorrow, strengthen me according to your word." By the word of the Lord, we are strengthened. By the promises He has spoken to us, we are given fresh hope.
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."
The Lord is looking for the faithful ones. He is looking for the Noahs, the Abrahams, the Moses, the Davids of this generation. He is looking for the ones who will believe Him for the impossible to happen through their lives. He is looking for the ones that will say I believe even when it looks crazy! I believe You are bringing revival and renewal out of the devastation of COVID-19. I believe You are bringing strongholds of faith out of the broken chains of fear.
So I want to release over you all a measure of faith like you have never experienced before. I want you to hear this testimony of faith rising out of disappointment and unfinished business and I want you to take it for yourself. I want you to know that He is going to not only author new faith inside you, but He is going to finish it. He is the author AND the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Let the Father author new, fresh faith inside of you to start believing again. Let Him show you how to start hoping again for the impossible to happen. Let Him show you what it looks like to pray and pull the reality of heaven down to earth. I declare new faith will be written on the hearts of God's people, and we will start believing God for the things we could never do on our own strength. He can do it and He wants to do it. We not only serve a God who thrives in doing the impossible, we have a Father who loves to pour out blessing and show Himself faithful to His children. We will believe God for the immeasurably more to happen in and through our lives!In the precious name of King Jesus.
Amen.
♥ Melissa
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