I WILL NEVER GO BACK

Living outside of my abilities. There's truly nothing like it.

Over the last two years God has stretched my borders far beyond what I considered to be their capacity.  Over the last two years, the hand of God Himself has stretched out to show us great and mighty miracles like we've never seen before.

When God beckoned us to step outside of ourselves...we had no idea what could be around the corner. And we have now just merely walked the rim of a canyon of faith that we are still only beginning to descend into- our Shepherd alone leading the way.

God asked us to do something we were told was impossible for us. We believed it was impossible for us, too. God directed our steps in such a blatant and obvious way, we knew we would be denying Jesus Himself to refuse His beckoning. God opened our hearts and directed us to adopt. To bring a child who had been neglected, broken, and forgotten,  under our wing to love as our very own child. God beckoned us to respond in the way He responded to our broken and scarred lives. With open arms. We have had to walk with open arms over the last two years or we surely would have quit this difficult path. Finally, our arms will soon embrace our daughter. And even then, we will be required to continue to walk the path of healing with open arms.

We have seen miracle after miracle as God has provided around $30,000 for us to pay for this adoption.

I WILL NEVER GO BACK. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO LIVING IN MY OWN ABILITY.

I'm just crazy enough to believe that God didn't send His Son Jesus to die for us, so that we could live out our existence on this earth only believing in the hope of what we can see, and living within the bounds of what feels safe and comfortable for us.
No. God never intended for His children to live mediocre lives that only accomplish the possible.

Where does God get the glory when we are only living within the safe bounds of our own comforts? He wants to do so, so much more than that..

As God's children choose to surrender to Him, and walk by His Spirit, He begins to lead them. The Holy Spirit always beckons mankind to step outside of their capabilities. That's where HIS ability is made known.

It's amazing how every time you get in a faith walk conversation with someone, a certain phrase always comes up.

"Well, God gives you common sense!"

Did you know that never once in God's word did he call mankind to walk by their common sense? He called them to WALK BY FAITH, and NOT BY SIGHT. Walking by faith means I do not base my decisions, my direction, or my life on human sense or reasoning. I base it on the word of God, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Obviously, the Spirit of God will never lead a person to contradict what His word says. Just have to throw that out there.

But the Spirit of God will continually lead people to walk far beyond what they ever thought they were able to do. The Spirit of God will, over and over again, ask His children to surrender their own expectations, plans, and strongholds, so that He can write a greater story through that individual.

Common sense thinks on terms of man's ability. Common sense says, "You will never have enough money to accomplish that." Common sense says, "Use your brain on this decision. Do you see anyone else living this way?"
Common sense says, "That would not be fun. It would not be comfortable for me to talk to people who aren't like me. I do not want to touch those people. They stink. They might have a disease."
Common sense says: "What about my needs? I planned to retire at 50. I planned to go on vacation this summer. I planned to use this money to remodel my home!"
Common sense says: "You need a back up plan, just in case this God thing falls through."

The Spirit of God says, "Follow ME, and I will show you great and wonderful things that you did not know."
"Follow ME, and I will show just what I can do, working through you as my willing vessel."
"Follow ME, and my glory will be shown to mankind."
"Follow ME, and you will see me move in ways you could have never imagined."

We know all of man's wisdom adds up to foolishness to God. We think we're so wise walking inside of our cozy financial comforts and decision making based on fears and experiences. God calls His children to walk based on His promises. His promises need no back up plan.

Following Jesus means we trust Him, and not what we see. There is a power in living for the supernatural, rather than the natural. I believe this is what Timothy was talking about in 2 Timothy 3:1-9.

 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

I don't want to find myself clinging to some form of godliness, when a POWER is available to deliver, rescue, heal, and set people free, when God's vessels choose to walk outside of the realm of possible.

The book of 2 Kings tells us about an amazing prophet named Elisha. Elisha was not afraid of his circumstance when he was completely surrounded by the Syrians who were there to capture him. The Syrians were angry because God would show Elisha every military move they were planning against Israel, and Elisha would let the king of Israel know those plans. The King of Syria sent an army to capture Elisha. When Elisha's servant saw the chariots and soldiers surrounding the place where they stayed, he was very afraid.

2 Kings 6:16-17
 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Common sense would have told Elisha he better high tail it out of there. But Elisha had faith. He knew God was surrounding Him, and protecting him.

My prayer is that God will continually help us as a family to walk outside of the parameters of our abilities. We want to live for His glory. May we give way more than is financially possible in ourselves. May we pour ourselves out for causes way beyond what we ever thought could be done. May we live contrary to the world's norm, so we can experience the extraordinary miracles God has called us to walk in. May we raise children who base their lives and decisions on a radical faith in Jesus Christ, responding to the cry of the hurting and broken with the love of the savior, and never with the world's common sense.