Friday, April 15, 2011

INS week 3 round-up

Oh my gracious, what a week I had. I spoke out of town last weekend, came home Sunday and by Monday I wasn't feeling well. By Tuesday I could hardly get out of bed and it was evident why - stomach flu. And on Wednesday, I had to drive a few hours to speak at another church Wednesday night.

I wasn't sure if I could make a long drive up a highway with no exits and no bathrooms near by. I wasn't sure if I could make it through a 45 minute talk. Not being able to keep much food or water in me, I was weak and light headed. And I knew that if I was going to stand and deliver a coherent message well Wednesday evening, it would be by the grace of God.

I had to battle fear as well as the flu.

The way things unfolded once I got to the church - I wasn't late, there were just some technical issues and snags to take care of behind the scenes in the sound booth that took a looong time to solve - it was basically as if I walked from my car to the front pew just as the worship leader took the stage for the opening song. I had no time to get my bearings - I didn't even know where the steps to the stage where. It was being videoed - I didn't know where the cameras were. As the music began, I turned to my friend Amy Carroll who had come with me and said, "Could I feel any more scattered right now?"

Everyone stood to worship, I stood a minute, then dropped into my seat and prayed - desperate for strength and assurance and anointing. The music ended, I took the stage and Jesus showed up and called me to Him on the water. At least that's what it felt like to me.  To the audience I'm sure it just looked like a typical Wednesday evening at church. But I knew that Jesus had carried me through more so than usual.



So that was my small storm on the lake this week.  Are you reading It's No Secret along with us?  We've just completed chapter 6, "Don't Be Afraid in the Dark." And we've learned that when Jesus doesn't calm the storm right away, it's usually because He has something for us to see first (pg 126). 

In my case this week, I'd gotten an invitation to speak at a big church on a difficult topic and I wasn't so sure I could do it.  I was ... fearful. My focus was on the magnitude of the event and my own limited abilities, rather than on God. Then along came a stomach bug and Wednesday night's event, and God showed me that He can carry me through any event - that I'm never alone and I'm never dependent solely on my abilities.

Did this week's chapters stir up anything in you? Did you blog about it?  If so link up here and I'll come read your posts. Oh, and be sure to stop by Melissa's blog to comment there and maybe win a prize!


8 comments:

  1. Oh dear, what a challenging week you faced! Thank the Lord you weren't alone :-)

    I did indeed hear lots of good stuff from the Holy Spirit as I was reading INS this week. What I love the most is that when I in turn share the "ah hahs" that I'm getting (I have a church email list that I send daily devotions to), other folks who aren't reading your book get a little bit of your wisdom, too. You're going viral, Rachel :-)

    Thank you for listening to the His words and sharing what you hear!

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  2. Leah, you made me laugh with the comment that I'm going viral. That kind of viral is much better than the kind of viral I was going here this week!

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  3. Rachel I'm so sorry about the week you had, its no fun giving a speech when you would rather be under covers with hot chicken soup.

    The one thing ( of many things )I am learning is how I see the material things in my life and what value I put on them, this has come up several times and although I thought I dealt with this apparently the Lord wants me to refocus on it.

    The best thing I read is that He wants to me my calm in the weekly sometimes daily storms I have and get caught up in. ( and there have been plenty)

    Thanks Rachel.

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  4. So sorry for your discomfort..but obviously God won the battle. It sounds like someone or something out there ~or down there ~ didn't want your words to be heard.

    The words of the song "Sometimes he calms the storm, other times he calms the child" kept running through my mind as I read the chapters this week. I have been calmed many times while the storm kept on raging around me and I have learned that the storm is necessary to learn how to right the ship.

    Thanks for all you glorious insights and knowledge of scripture.

    Hope you have a better week!

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  5. One of the things that have impacted me more so far in the study is "stop creating a life for myself and finding the one that He creates for me". I even quoted you today on my blog...but it's in Spanish. However, if you go there, you'll find your name and the name of your book! :-)
    thanks for being so honest and for challenging me in my walk with Jesus.

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  6. I loved, loved, loved gettting to spend time with you. I hope our day of rest and talk was healing for you. It fed my soul!

    Amy

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  7. Hi Rachel,
    Your week makes me think about the times we aren't sick and feeling so obviously needy. I am ashamed to say that I could use a good bout with the flu to remind me who I am to be relying on, lol.
    Debbie

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  8. I enrolled for online study but did not get to get the book right now! Financially wasn't able! I haved loved reading posts! What a blessing you and melissa are!!!!! I look forward every day reading blogs!!! Thank you, missy

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