GIVEN

My sweet friend Nicole is one of the people in our inner- inner circle who is standing with us in complete faith that I will be healed, and like us, she is thanking God in advance for the victory. Last week she sent me this wonderful devotion she had just read. It aligns completely with our knowledge of God's promises. I thought I would share it with you all here. There is a gem of a message here for anyone who needs to believe that God's promises in His Word need to be trusted!

Given

Marybeth Whalen

“The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, ‘Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!’”
Joshua 6:16 (NIV)       

Devotion:
Whenever I share my marriage story, I share the moment that I knew that God was calling me to hang in there when I wanted to give up. I was reading the story of the battle of Jericho in Joshua 6 and today’s verse jumped out at me. More importantly, one particular word jumped out at me: given. Past tense. It was already done even if from where the Israelites were standing it didn’t look done.

God was telling them, “Hey I’ve done this thing. You’ve just got to be willing to do something that sounds a little crazy to take hold of it. March around the city for seven days.” I know the people who were watching from the high walls of Jericho thought they looked crazy marching around the city over and over in circles.

Anyone who’s ever heard the old song about it knows that they did what He asked and received a great victory in return. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down. But that’s not the only time that one of God’s people counted on something being given to them before it looked like it had been accomplished. In Judges 7 Gideon has snuck into the enemy camp and heard the soldiers there talking about a dream one of them had about their impending defeat.

Even though the odds looked stacked against them for a victorious battle, God was working behind the scenes to accomplish His purposes, in ways the Israelites could not have foreseen. Judges 7:15 says, “When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, ‘Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’” Again the word “given” is used. Gideon was counting on a victory that hadn’t happened yet, and was moving forward in confidence.

I think Gideon’s response here is key. He immediately worshiped God as sure as if the victory had already taken place. He trusted God completely even though the circumstances weren’t certain. After he worshiped God, he took action. He operated according to God’s faithfulness, not his own perspective.

What has God given you that you need to take hold of—even if it doesn’t look like it from where you’re standing? Freedom in finances? A healed relationship? A better marriage? A job in an unstable market? A dream He’s whispered to your heart? Can you move forward in worship and trust, counting on the fact that it has been given to you already? Focusing on what lies ahead and not what’s happening now? Given. It’s already happened. Are you living like it has ?    

 Here is what Nicole sent me a couple days after she sent the devotion that so deeply touched Dick and me:  

You are doing everything medically and spiritually necessary to allow God to work His miracle in you, I can't wait for the day of celebration when He reveals His healing in you!! THAT is what my focus is in my prayers...visualizing you and your family hearing those results.  Visualizing the doctors' faces, perplexed and amazed, as they give you the miraculous results.  The shouts of joy!  The phone calls!  The exhilarating news spreading from your mouth and fingers to the ears and eyes of all those that love you and prayed for the day to come!  I see that day in my mind and have complete faith in that day!  


We do too, Cole. We do too!!


Chemo went well yesterday. The biggest praise is that the lab tech got my vein on the first try AND my infusion nurse (my favorite one!) got the catheter in my arm on the first try too!! My last steroid dose is tonight so now maybe I can get a few more hours of sleep. Thanks for the prayers for yesterday.