Hope Deferred....

The Father showed me something powerful tonight that I believe may speak to a number of you. So, I am led to share it.

Could it be that you are hanging on to something that you know God has already showed you to let go of? Why are you still hanging on? You know the weight of it is crushing. You know that deep down inside it is making you miserable. You know that God has given you little signs here and there that this is not His will for you. But you hang on because you HOPED....

Hope is a powerful word. We all have hopes and dreams that we cling to, believing that one day these desires of our hearts will be fulfilled. But are they God's desire for you? Or are you just hanging on because you can't figure out how to let go and end it graciously.

If you are outside of God's will with these hopes, it is not going to end well for you. I am suffering even now from a very painful condition, which the Father finally showed me was stemming from my refusal to let go of the HOPE that was never part of His will.

Last December I had a very vivid dream, which I knew was a Spirit-given instruction for me to lay down the old so that God could bring me His NEW, His BEST. In this dream my husband and I had a baby, but the baby rather quickly died. A few hours later someone was knocking at our door and when we opened it, the person put a newborn baby into my arms and left! I clearly remember feeling a little anxious about whether or not the baby would be able to take the breast milk I still had; but when I put this newborn to my breast, it ate heartily and thrived! Then I woke up.

Isaiah 43:18-19: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?

I perceived it, from this life-giving dream -- but I continued to hang onto the old. Until today. Today in my prayer time, God spoke to me yet one more time, and this time I got the message loud and clear. I prayed, "Father, this thing I am still holding onto feels like a corpse. I'm carrying around dead weight, aren't I?"

His response: "Yes. It is HOPE DEFERRED. AND HOPE DEFERRED MAKES THE HEART SICK."  (Proverbs 13:12).

Oswald Chambers wrote: "If our hopes are being disappointed right now, it means that they are being purified."

Wow. Hope deferred makes the heart sick - but if I lay down the old hopes and allow God to purify them and transform them into HIS WILL, then my heart shall be revived, my muscles shall be calmed and healed of pain, and my mind shall be at peace. When God restores HIS desires for me, it will be a TREE OF LIFE! (Proverbs 13:12) It will be a newborn that lives and thrives.

What is Your Great Purpose?

In my last blog I shared with you the beautiful experience God gave me in ministering to a woman just after her near-fatal car accident on an ice-covered Colorado road. I was awe-struck that God used me in those moments to help keep this precious woman, Cheryl Orr, alive, and when I visited her in the ICU a few days later, she looked up at me in wonder and whispered, "my angel!" Since then she has shared with me that she was shocked to find out that it was a mere human being who stood at her shattered window and spoke life to her!  This has all been so humbling. But one of the most precious things to come out of this experience is learning what Cheryl's "great purpose" is.

As we visited in her hospital room, recalling that terrible but amazing night, Cheryl said she did recall my repeating a phrase several times. She said, "I remember telling you that I was dying, but you kept saying, "No, you are LIVING and God has a great purpose for you!" It is probably not very often that someone gets to minister at the scene of an accident and then connect with that person later on; so, I feel very blessed that God has connected us and I have learned about Cheryl's great purpose.

Five years ago she adopted her baby granddaughter, who was abused, and this precious little one, whose name was Lily, became her own daughter. I recalled the story of Jacob adopting his two grandsons as his own sons! There was great purpose in what Jacob was doing, even as there is great purpose in Cheryl's life, raising this beautiful little six-year-old girl named Lily!

Cheryl was struck head-on by a car careening out of control, and the driver of this car, who was under-insured, was killed. There is very little help in paying her surmounting medical expenses. She is a twenty-one year veteran of the U.S. Navy, so some V.A. benefits will help with her outpatient therapy, but she is counting on our God to come through with yet another miracle to help her pay her enormous debts.

You can read the whole story about Cheryl on her Go Fund Me page (link below). It is my fervent prayer that each of you will donate however the Spirit leads, and also send this link to many friends, family, and church members. You can even post it to your Facebook page! God is clearly at work in this. Cheryl was told in the ICU that she would spend six months in the hospital, but she was just released after one short month! Doctors also told her that her crushed legs and feet would probably never walk again, but she is doing famously with her wheel chair, and has her mind and spirit absolutely set on taking her first steps!

There is a picture of little Lily welcoming her home on the Go Fund Me page - and the picture tells the story!  You have a great purpose and I have a great purpose and it may be something we've taken for granted - but in the end, it may be something for which God preserves your life!

THANK YOU FOR VISITING THIS PAGE AND BEING A PART OF CHERYL'S MIRACLE!
Shalom and blessings in our Faithful God from Kelly

https://www.gofundme.com/cheryls-life-saved-save-her-dream/donate