raley family's farm

VISIONS

Well this road will be hard
But we win in the end
Simply because of Jesus in us
It's not if but when
So take joy in the journey
Even when it feels long
Oh find strength in each step
Knowing heaven is cheering you on

(Almost Home, by Mercy Me

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. (Micah 6:8)

Recently, someone was telling me that when they were younger, they believed you could make life perfect. If they just made the perfect cup of coffee, decorated the perfect house, and had a wonderful marriage (something along those lines), then life would be perfect.  But recently, they realized that life would never be perfect.  That people are mean, and life is hard…

I thought this was profound, and I thought about it for several days...

And you know, the Bible tells us that very thing she was realizing:

...though now for a little while, you have been grieved by various trials… 1 Peter 1:6

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.  James 1:2

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  1 Peter 4:12

And one of my favorites:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...

2 Timothy 3:11

Why is this my favorite?  Because I think it says it all.  

Have you ever had what you felt like was a calling from God?  You are certain you heard him, and what you heard from him lines up with scripture.  You begin to follow through on that calling, and it seems so glorious to be working with God on a vision he has given you.  But after a while, you hit a brick wall.  This is too hard. You begin to doubt your calling.  Maybe you never really heard from God after all.  Maybe it was always just something you wanted to do, anyway?

This recently happened to me.  I hit a brick wall so hard, I began to doubt I ever had any calling on my life in the first place. That it was always just "me," and not God.  I had just missed the mark, and now everything was a mess, and it was all my fault.  I don’t know that I have ever cried so much in my entire life, and my life has had a lot of tears.  I despaired, even while I stood on my feet and tried to muddle through the mess and do the right thing.

I sought some counseling from several people. 

And God got through my muddled mind.

A calling from God is no picnic.  Satan does NOT like visions from God.  He will throw in every wrench he has to mess it up.  It’s called spiritual warfare, and we need to study this and realize this is going on over our heads even as I write this and you read it.

Maybe you were rebellious in your teens and in your young adult life and you really messed things up. But God got ahold of you and showed you what life could be like, you accepted it and life is changing, and you are beginning to reap from the GOOD things you are newly sowing. But there is always someone there, reminding you of the mess you used to be and how you will never be anything but that mess, and it's gets you so, so discouraged...

Maybe you feel like God has asked you to homeschool your large family when it would be so much easier to just put the kids in the local public school around the corner. It's hard, and there is always someone telling you that your children will never amount to anything, that you are ruining them by homeschooling them, and sometimes, in your weaker moments, you wonder if it's true...

Maybe you are caretaking elderly parents, and you are tired, and your get maligned and accused of false motives...

Maybe you are the guardian, foster parent or adoptive parent of a traumatized child. You know this child was created in the image of God, and you KNOW God has big things planned for them. But working through the trauma together is hard, and it comes out in a lot of messy ways. And there is always someone pointing a finger and blaming YOU... (But hang in there, because the end result is beautiful!! I know from experience!)

Maybe your husband just got elected to an office, and suddenly your family is under a microscope...

Insert your own hard calling from God...

Mamas, this is Satan, trying to throw you off track. Don't let him. Don't give up. Keep putting one weary foot in front of the other and keep running this race. Endure to the end, because there is a reward coming. Maybe you won't even see that reward in this lifetime, but if God has given you a vision, and he will, and he does, because he created all of us for a purpose, that reward will come, one way or another, at one time or another.

...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph. 4:1-5

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various form. 1 Peter 4:10

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide... John 15:16

Almost home, Brother, it won't be long.

Soon all your burdens will be gone.

With all your strength, sister, run wild, run free.

Hold up your head, keep pressing on.

We are almost home.