Call Me
(Originally written on August 11, 2010)
Some time ago, I was feeling very alone, isolated and I could not understand why. I was trying to reach out to people left right and sideways via social sites, emails and phone calls, yet did not get one response back. In the back of my mind I felt that our Father was moving everyone out of His way because He wanted my attention, but I did not take heed to that, all I knew was that everything that could go wrong was going wrong and I wanted to take to somebody that I could audibly hear, or see in the form of a email, text, or message response. The problem was, all the answers were right there with me, I was just too frustrated to listen or see them. And so the day moved on, and finally feeling dejected and rejected, I decided to go and check my main e-mail account messages. This is the account of that day, and what powerful lesson I learned at the end of it. Needless to say, my heart recognized that when Father says "be still and know that I am Almighty", He means it. I hope this small testimonial will encourage another that has been through similar things or are currently going through, it may even bless others that have not yet experienced this but one day will.
A few years ago one of my favorite rock bands came out with a CD titled "All That You Can't Leave Behind". The group is U2, and still among those musicians whose music has blessed me, and one reason is because of the faith that they have which is reflected in some of the songs they have written, sung, and live by the principles of. When they came out with that CD, I noticed that on the cover which featured the men in an airport, an overhead sign that said; J 33-3. I was curious as to what that mean, then I read somewhere a few days later that it is actually a scripture which reads from Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not".
It was an interesting opening for me, to step into a new phase of my walk with Yeshua, because during that time, everything that could go wrong in my life did. But I held fast to that scripture as I continued to grow in my relationship with my Lord. However, over the years as it happens with a lot of us that follow Him, circumstances caused my walk to become routine and mudane, with no fire and the embers barely smothering. I was going through the motions and that was it until one day I took a look at myself and who I had become, kind of like a spiritual couch potato. So I got back in sincere prayer mode; repentance, humility, acceptance, forgiveness, praise.
Cries for help comes in many forms, but to whom are we crying out to? Sure we can call on friends or co-workers or even relatives, but can they give satisfactory answers? Not always, and even the answers that are given that are acceptable, will they remain that way? However though, when we cry out to Father, we are sure to recieve something back that is not going to last for just a few minutes or a few days, it remains steadfast, but we who seek answers from Him must also remain steadfast. That is where I have found myself in my renewed walk, looking for answers and finding myself feeling alienated from everyone. I was calling friends and family leaving voicemail messages which I really got no response. Went to a social site or two, leaving messages left and right, and although those that I sent messages to I could see that they were online; basically from responding to what others shared on their walls or whatever, yet, they could not find the time to answer me back. I get very irritated when I reach out to someone and they put me on the back burner to deal with later like I am not important enough to get back to, and although at times I realize that they just may have forgotten, the other part of me says that they feel I am just not worthy of their time.
In the past it happened before the "social site craze", when all we had was the phone or actually going to meet people in person, and it usually came from "Christians" so of course then it angered me, but it hurt me more, because I would never treat them that way. So anyway, I cried out to Father, made my "complaint" known to Him, and I was really crying. I was frustrated already, and now this on top of that, I just broke down and asked Him why am I being treated this way, what did I do to these people that treat me like I am just another "body" not worthy of them or their precious moments. I did not belong to a "click" I don't have a "people to see" list, I'm just a plain ordinary citizen that believes that I should be given the same treatment as others that are on the "a" list, in other words, like a person, a child of the Most High.
After I dried my tears, I went to one of my e-mail accounts and went through the process of sifting out the spam mail from the important stuff. One in particular I usually just delete; I know the company and their website so I figured that I could get to them at anytime, but this time I opened up the message, and this is what I found;
"Hi Celeste, Call me. Okay, but at what number? Home phone? Cell phone? Can I send you an email? At work or home? Or should I Tweet or Facebook you? I'm putting together a skit for my church and need to contact about 10 people. But how do I contact them? I have cell phone numbers for a couple of people, emails for a couple more (but they don't check them very often), and I'm Facebook friends with about half of them. I sent text messages, left voice mails (on home and cell phones), sent messages via Facebook and emails (to home and work addresses). Hopefully I've reached each person, but there's no way to really be sure. It's like playing roulette. I'm seriously considering smoke signals next."
I wonder if the Most High feels like that sometimes. He gave me His Word, He speaks through friends, through music, through preaching, even through the wonders of nature, but I'm not available to Him. He calls but I don't always answer. The prophet Eli told Samuel to make himself available to the Lord. He said when Samuel heard His voice to say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." My prayer is that I can hear Father's voice and have the wisdom to listen, no matter how He calls me.
I have a stronger desire to hear from the Lord, and I pray that this is the way it will remain in me for the rest of my life here, developing a deeper relationship with Him who's value is more important than anything else. He showed me that yes, He does hear my prayers, yes, He does answer my prayers, and no, it is not about me, not in the least, but it is about His will, His purpose, and His plan. As I continue to seek Him for direction, clarity, wisdom and knowledge, I recieve more and more of the truth of who He is and I get a deeper glimpse into His heart, and His love for His people. That love that cost Him His life to save mine, that love that carries stronger than I will ever comprehend, that love is for all of us now, those that have yet to be born, those that have passed on, and it will remain forever.
Thank You Father.
Some time ago, I was feeling very alone, isolated and I could not understand why. I was trying to reach out to people left right and sideways via social sites, emails and phone calls, yet did not get one response back. In the back of my mind I felt that our Father was moving everyone out of His way because He wanted my attention, but I did not take heed to that, all I knew was that everything that could go wrong was going wrong and I wanted to take to somebody that I could audibly hear, or see in the form of a email, text, or message response. The problem was, all the answers were right there with me, I was just too frustrated to listen or see them. And so the day moved on, and finally feeling dejected and rejected, I decided to go and check my main e-mail account messages. This is the account of that day, and what powerful lesson I learned at the end of it. Needless to say, my heart recognized that when Father says "be still and know that I am Almighty", He means it. I hope this small testimonial will encourage another that has been through similar things or are currently going through, it may even bless others that have not yet experienced this but one day will.
A few years ago one of my favorite rock bands came out with a CD titled "All That You Can't Leave Behind". The group is U2, and still among those musicians whose music has blessed me, and one reason is because of the faith that they have which is reflected in some of the songs they have written, sung, and live by the principles of. When they came out with that CD, I noticed that on the cover which featured the men in an airport, an overhead sign that said; J 33-3. I was curious as to what that mean, then I read somewhere a few days later that it is actually a scripture which reads from Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not".
It was an interesting opening for me, to step into a new phase of my walk with Yeshua, because during that time, everything that could go wrong in my life did. But I held fast to that scripture as I continued to grow in my relationship with my Lord. However, over the years as it happens with a lot of us that follow Him, circumstances caused my walk to become routine and mudane, with no fire and the embers barely smothering. I was going through the motions and that was it until one day I took a look at myself and who I had become, kind of like a spiritual couch potato. So I got back in sincere prayer mode; repentance, humility, acceptance, forgiveness, praise.
Cries for help comes in many forms, but to whom are we crying out to? Sure we can call on friends or co-workers or even relatives, but can they give satisfactory answers? Not always, and even the answers that are given that are acceptable, will they remain that way? However though, when we cry out to Father, we are sure to recieve something back that is not going to last for just a few minutes or a few days, it remains steadfast, but we who seek answers from Him must also remain steadfast. That is where I have found myself in my renewed walk, looking for answers and finding myself feeling alienated from everyone. I was calling friends and family leaving voicemail messages which I really got no response. Went to a social site or two, leaving messages left and right, and although those that I sent messages to I could see that they were online; basically from responding to what others shared on their walls or whatever, yet, they could not find the time to answer me back. I get very irritated when I reach out to someone and they put me on the back burner to deal with later like I am not important enough to get back to, and although at times I realize that they just may have forgotten, the other part of me says that they feel I am just not worthy of their time.
In the past it happened before the "social site craze", when all we had was the phone or actually going to meet people in person, and it usually came from "Christians" so of course then it angered me, but it hurt me more, because I would never treat them that way. So anyway, I cried out to Father, made my "complaint" known to Him, and I was really crying. I was frustrated already, and now this on top of that, I just broke down and asked Him why am I being treated this way, what did I do to these people that treat me like I am just another "body" not worthy of them or their precious moments. I did not belong to a "click" I don't have a "people to see" list, I'm just a plain ordinary citizen that believes that I should be given the same treatment as others that are on the "a" list, in other words, like a person, a child of the Most High.
After I dried my tears, I went to one of my e-mail accounts and went through the process of sifting out the spam mail from the important stuff. One in particular I usually just delete; I know the company and their website so I figured that I could get to them at anytime, but this time I opened up the message, and this is what I found;
"Hi Celeste, Call me. Okay, but at what number? Home phone? Cell phone? Can I send you an email? At work or home? Or should I Tweet or Facebook you? I'm putting together a skit for my church and need to contact about 10 people. But how do I contact them? I have cell phone numbers for a couple of people, emails for a couple more (but they don't check them very often), and I'm Facebook friends with about half of them. I sent text messages, left voice mails (on home and cell phones), sent messages via Facebook and emails (to home and work addresses). Hopefully I've reached each person, but there's no way to really be sure. It's like playing roulette. I'm seriously considering smoke signals next."
I wonder if the Most High feels like that sometimes. He gave me His Word, He speaks through friends, through music, through preaching, even through the wonders of nature, but I'm not available to Him. He calls but I don't always answer. The prophet Eli told Samuel to make himself available to the Lord. He said when Samuel heard His voice to say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." My prayer is that I can hear Father's voice and have the wisdom to listen, no matter how He calls me.
I have a stronger desire to hear from the Lord, and I pray that this is the way it will remain in me for the rest of my life here, developing a deeper relationship with Him who's value is more important than anything else. He showed me that yes, He does hear my prayers, yes, He does answer my prayers, and no, it is not about me, not in the least, but it is about His will, His purpose, and His plan. As I continue to seek Him for direction, clarity, wisdom and knowledge, I recieve more and more of the truth of who He is and I get a deeper glimpse into His heart, and His love for His people. That love that cost Him His life to save mine, that love that carries stronger than I will ever comprehend, that love is for all of us now, those that have yet to be born, those that have passed on, and it will remain forever.
Thank You Father.
Comments