Stolen moments...

After a bout of dabbling in the ways of the world, God has gently drawn me back to the truths of who I am and getting my mind focused again on those things that are in line with his path for me. It's funny really how He lets us earnestly seek Him before He quickens our Spirit some times. But, when He does, it's sudden and there is no mistaken God has spoken. This morning was one of those moments for me. God has been busy prying my fingers off of all my great plans, which honestly aren't working out so well anyway. Truthfully, the fact that they don't seem to be working out so great is why I've stopped over the last few days and earnestly sought God. Just God, not really anything specific, but just more of Him--for I know that when I lay down my specific list of needs and just earnestly seek His presence, it is then that I often hear what I need to hear. So was true this morning. It was unexpected and unmistakable -- I am going into ministry. How, where, when, I don't have those answers, but the fact that God planted that seed at that moment is undeniable. But here's the part that drew me to write about this -- as quickly as God whispered that direction on my heart and I began to recognize it as God's voice, a flood of other thoughts and what if's began to fill my mind and question the validity of what I just experienced. I was instantly bombarded with reminders of other areas I was interested in studying, things I wanted to pursue, great ideas I have had over the years! Now, I'm no newbie at this game and was quick to realize that I needed to ignore those thoughts because they were nothing more than Satan's attempt to steal the word, the truth, the life giving direction that God had just gently painted across my heart. As soon as I recognized this and turned away from the thoughts that would cast doubt on what I knew to be God's sweet whisper on my heart, such a peach came over me. Relishing in the moment of having just heard from God, and seeing how scripture just played out in my interaction with God, I went to the Bible and opened up to Zechariah 3:1 -- it says "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him." This was an exact reflection of what I had just experienced. Obviously there was no Joshua involved in the process, but God was there and the enemy was right beside ready to steal the seed that had just been planted on my heart. This realization then led me to the next scripture in Matthew 13. The whole chapter has significant meaning to all this, but specifically verse 19 and 23. Let me explain -- the idea here is that our hearts are in different conditions at different points in our lives. If we are not prepared to receive God's word in our hearts, then it is easily stolen by the enemy, or choked out by the cares of this world. Having been around the block in this area a few more times than I care to admit, the soil of my heart was ready for this word from God. And, while the enemy was still there ready to scoop up the seed just planted, he couldn't because my spirit had already tucked it down deep, where the enemy could not touch it. "But he who received seed on the good ground..." This then is and should be our constant prayer -- that God would continue to soften our hearts and stir up the soil, remove the thorns, pry our hands of the things of this world that we may fully embrace and hold tight to the things He wants to show us, the places He wants to take us, the things He wants to do through us. When God speaks those simple thoughts into our hearts, there is no doubt that the enemy will come in, immediately, to start working us over. Like he did to Eve in the garden, poking at her thoughts and getting her to question the validity of God's instructions. My thought is that we need to be people who seek after God, just God alone--not what we need Him to do for us (although there is a place and time to petition Him for help!), but He already knows our needs and is waiting for us to just want more of Him. Be prepared, for the battle rages all around us, every day. God Speed ...