Isaiah 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliel. (KJV)
I am sitting here quite tickled! I can see the face of Jesus looking at me with a twinkle in His eyes and an expression that says, “I have been telling you!” For many moons the Spirit has been telling me to be still and be quiet! Don’t worry, I promise this will be alright. I know you are sick of the “two tails.”
My “two tails” have names too! Your “two tails” have names. It may be more than two but we know it is more than ONE! They are smoking firebrands which means screaming hot, sizzling angry, branding scars into another, do their damage and grow ice cold. Caustic words burning holes in souls, ripping hearts to shreds, throwing complaints, criticism, and confusion into the lives of others, leaving us quite fainthearted. They have a need to be heard by everyone as if to garner support.
Isaiah the prophet is speaking to King Uzziah’s son Ahaz. Isaiah speaks wisdom. This wisdom is the opposite of what we would think prudent. Hear Isaiah’s words: be quiet, do not grow weary and you need not be afraid for these are just talking tails. In other words, in 2016 language they are talking out of their………….ummmm…. you get the idea! This IS prudence at its best. If I keep quiet, I do not regret MY words. If I be still and don’t respond in anger, I will not regret MY actions. If I trust the LORD to handle this, stay out of His way, the resolution will come sooner because He is not having to get ME out of HIS way. The enemy really does use God’s holy objects (you and me) for unholy purposes if we allow it. (Thank you Beth Moore for the Daniel study where I learned this!)
Discretion truly is the bigger part of valor! Happy dance!!! For once I have listened! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! Whoo Hoo!
The Father used this verse to confirm what His Spirit has been speaking into my heart. “Be still, Be quiet, Stop worrying. I got this.” I will be honest, nothing has changed from my vantage point except………………….ME. I have changed. I layed down an idol I was unaware I had made. I decided to trust tomorrow to Him. I still hurt like the dickens. My tears still flow. The words of others scald my soul. The change in me is I have opened my controlling hand and put the “two tails” into His care and the problems I have long struggled with at the foot of the cross. This is what Ann Voskamp calls a “hard Eucharisteo.” Those hard places in our life where we must decide to give God our thanks for what He is going to do through the situation we find ourselves in. Brene’ Brown calls it the arena: “showing up, being seen, and being willing to fail for it is in the struggle that compassion, creativity, and courage are birthed.” (paraphrased from her TED talk on youTube)
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. TEDDY ROOSEVELT
Have you ever noticed that when the Lord wants you to learn something He will put the CD on repeat and everything you hear, read, and are attracted to repeats the lesson in a thousand different ways. The LORD does not want His children afraid. He wants to restore to us what the enemy has stolen: OUR COURAGE! Fear not harsh, hateful words. Our God will vindicate every single one of them.
Speaking of words, as we have begun this blog I have had it dawn on me that the curious, the questioning, the searcher, may “happen” upon us. At the outset, our goal was to encourage “the body of believers in their daily lives.” My niece and nephew once told me, “Christians are the meanest people I know, it is their way or no way.” Our intention is NEVER to be mean, egotistical, or holier than thou. Let me quote Amy Lynne Andrews (she blogs about blogging), for she reflects our heart best: “I am a Christ follower. When I talk about Christ, this is what I intend: ‘Oh my stars, He is amazing and you will not believe what He did.’ When I talk about Christ, this is NOT what I intend: ‘Oh my stars, if you don’t know Him, I don’t like you and I can’t be your friend.’”
Again, WELCOME to our water. We are so thankful you have jumped in with us. We are all treading to the best of our ability and for the glory of God. I hope to introduce you to the God of Heaven who adores you His prized creation and encourage you as you struggle day to day in a world that is not as God originally intended. I certainly do not understand everything. Collectively, we are explorers. We write what we understand at the MOMENT. Trust me, we do not claim to be Biblical experts. You can disagree, heck we disagree with each other. We will still be sisters. To any I may have offended please understand, it was not intentional. God’s Word offends me because it is convicting. God through His word is pointing out my failures so I will seek Him more. Trust me, He has needed help from no one else to show me myself. I am sharing my experiences. I am in no way judging you. As a cutie on YouTube reminds us I should “worry about yourself.”
My life is an abomination except for Jesus. His blood alone makes us
Yvonne
