Divine Intersection

Photo by Bgrace

Praise is awaiting you, O God, in Zion;

And to You the vow shall be performed.

O You who hear prayer,

To You all flesh will come.

Blessed is the man You choose,

And cause to approach You,

That he may dwell in Your courts,

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,

Of Your holy temple.

Psalm 65:1,2,4

(NKJV)

These verses were ushered into my heart this morning.  With them came the remembrance of Jim Elliot's words in a letter to a much beloved friend, Pete, who joined him later in ministry in Ecuador.

"He will lead you too, and not let you miss your signs.  The sound of gentle stillness after the thunder and wind have passed will be the ultimate word from God.  Tarry long (wait) for it. Remember the words of Amy Carmichael: 'The vows of God are on me.  I may not stay to play with shadows or pluck earthly flowers, till I my work have done and rendered up account.'"

A beautiful reciprocity flows between bowing and intimacy. It is He who draws my heart to approach Him.  His love births in me a love returned.  As I come before my God, I know that it is He alone I am beholden to.  My vows are to Him alone. I step my soul forward and bow my flesh before Him, the might of His love moves through me and bends my heart and my will to His.  Nothing more can hinder my approach to His sanctuary, and the flow of my heart becomes the flow of His.  Satisfied in His Holy presence, it is my blessedness to enter into all and only the steps of His leading.

The morning of September 18, I was on my way to a "tea party" event.  Rev. Mary was speaking at the Sheraton.  Before I left, she sent me a quick e-mail to make sure I wasn't going to the Sheraton in Hershey--but in Harrisburg--off 81.  This kind bit of information actually served to confuse me.
 "It's a good thing she told me that, or I might have gone to the one right off 283," I thought to myself.
So I figured I'd just follow 81 until I reached the right exit.  It didn't take me long on 81 to realize what had happened. I needed to go back to where I would have headed in the first place. So I was a bit stressed as I pulled off the first exit right above Hershey and I remember saying something like,
"Lord, why did you let me be confused?  I'm trying to get there early so I can be helpful." 
As I pulled onto the exit ramp, I was about 2 cars back from the stop light at an intersection where there was construction and the road crossing in front of us was a bit congested.  My eyes rested on the car blocking the path of our traffic lane.  I did a double take and realized I knew the driver of the car.  Suddenly every cell of my being rushed into my heart and out toward that car... which at exactly that moment began to move forward, through the light, right and around the corner.  I felt every measure of desperation to get to that car.  Every question, every doubt, every fear that the driver wouldn't receive my embrace was irrelevant.  I knew if I could only get the car to stop, that I would rush toward the driver and throw my arms around this dear one and that my love would overwhelm every possible hindrance that has warred against our friendship.  Every nerve in my being was amped up,  willing the traffic to clear in front of me. 
It was no use.  As I turned the corner there was no sight of the car.  The pain of disappointment set in. I knew that I was not to try and find it.
"Why, God?  Why did you do this to me?" 
There was no doubt in my mind this was not a coincidence.  I knew that I hadn't been misdirected.  This was a divine intersection at an appointed time.  Why, it has been said before, so close and yet so far?
The only way to understand was to yield my Spirit to the Lord.  I was actually quite miffed at Him. 
"Do you have any idea what you just did to me?"  (Why do I continue to ask questions like that even though I know perfectly well He knows exactly what He just did?)
Trust, I reminded myself. God is good. I silenced myself and waited. 
A quiet question welled up in my spirit.  "What did you feel when you saw your friend?" 
"Love, overwhelming love. There was absolutely no hesitation in my spirit," I answered.
"That is how it will be," came the Lord's reply.

I tell you this story because it is so much a picture of what I am learning on so many levels.  We have earthly desires and longings.  Earthly does not mean sinful.  We are earthly creatures.  But we are spiritual creatures as well, and our earthly desires must fall in line behind our yieldedness to our heavenly Lord.  At times we want for things we feel the lack of and we want to be freed of things that are burdensome.  Our Lord does not disregard these things.  He knows of them and He cares.  And yet the order of things is that our worship of Him and His work for us come first.  We then place ourselves in position to receive from His hand and to be relieved of burdens as He sees fit or allow them to be redeemed according to His will.   

Seek first the kingdom and all these shall be added...

Worship, work, wait...

And if you find that you have a hard time believing that God can bring you together again with an estranged friend, here are a few more words from Amy that have helped me and I pray would bless you.

If...I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget," as though the God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

(From her book If.  I highly recommend it. If you are dealing with this difficulty, especially Part 3, chapter 5.)