Give thanks to the Lord…

for He is good. His mercies endure forever. In all circumstances…give Him praise.

We did not pass court today. BUT…I know my God is in this. If God is for us—then WHO can be against us?

Last night, I prayed throughout the watches of the night. From 1am-2:30am, Addie (one of my very bestfriends) and I were texting prayers back and forth so we could pray in agreement with one another. At one point, the Lord put on my heart to pray, “Arise, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered.” I thought…what a funny thing to pray. I started to text that to Addie and wanted to include the verse but couldn’t find it so I just texted it without the scripture.

We continued to pray…and pray…and pray…and pray. Rich got up at 3am…this momma was still praying and at 3:30 I was praying and making blueberry muffins while I prayed:). The house smelled DELISH at 4am;). Then, I woke this morning and opened up God’s word.

As some of you know, I’ve been reading through the chronological Bible reading this year. I’ve gotten a little off, but thought this morning that I’d go to today’s reading. Psalm 68-70, Psalm 86, Psalm 101. REMEMBER the scripture the Lord had me read in that chapel THE DAY Isaac was relinquished by his birth mom?? YEP. You got it. SAME verses. The Lord was showing me today—that HE IS IN THIS! And NO MATTER WHAT His will…WILL PREVAIL. Nothing can’t thwart His plan! NOTHING!

My hands were quivering before the Lord as I read scripture—indeed, the Holy Spirit was in my presense. And I was sure the answer for today was from the Lord and would be one where HE would receive the most glory!

And the Lord showed me in Psalm 68:1 where that verse I was looking for last night is found

“May God arise, may his enemies be scattered…”

Read on…

Psalm 68:5-6 “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families…”

Want more?

Psalm 68:10 “Your people settled in it,
and from bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.”

More…

Psalm 68:19-20 “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”

The Lord has helped Isaac escape from death. But the Lord needs us to pray for his birth mother. The reason we did not pass–is because Isaac’s birth mother was too sick to travel. She has malaria. Isaac’s birth father died from malaria in July–and more than anything—we need the world praying for HEALING of this mom. There are 6 more children she is parenting…and we pray that they, too, are not orphaned. RESCUE HER FROM DEATH O LORD!

Psalm 68:28 “Summon your power, O God;
Show us Your strength, O God, as you have done before.”

And then jump to the King James version and read this…where David is talking about who will come to praise the Lord…

Psalm 68:31 “Princes shall come from Eqypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”

And finally…

Psalm 68:32-35 “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,
to him who rides the ancient skies above,
who thunders with mighty voice.
Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!”

This is NOT my story. It is His. We need our story to be one that gives HIM THE MOST GLORY. If we passed today…done–go get Isaac…life is good. BUT…what IF he could receive MORE glory??? What if in this—our eyes are MORE opened to the orphan?

There are thousands…no wait–MILLIONS…of orphans who need us to pray on their behalf. Every day, malaria…AIDS…starvation…is taking mommies and daddies away. DO THEY KNOW JESUS? How can we 1. take them the gospel and 2. how can we live the gospel for those already orphaned?

I believe He wants to use EVERY SINGLE one of His people.

How will you answer His call?

I can already see how the Lord can and will receive the most glory out of this. IF the Lord chooses to heal Isaac’s mom—then GLORY BE TO GOD…she can parent the 6 additional children AND appear in court on the 24th and we can parent the child that she could not. SHINE JESUS! But what if…if the Lord chooses to take her to glory—then we will advocate and open our hands for the others left. WE NEED TO PRAY! We want every child to remain in the family the Lord made for them…but this isn’t always possible. PLEASE first pray with me that the Lord heals!!! This is our FIRST prayer! Pray for healing and pray we pass on the 24th.

Second, pray that you would open your hands wider—trust the Lord with us…and be brave, courageous and obedient in however He chooses to call you.

I am amazed how the Lord meets with us when we slow down to meet with HIM. Just think…if I had not come to Him this morning what I would have missed? Day in and day out—HE LONGS TO MEET WITH YOU. What are you missing out on when you do not come to him??? Oh…meeting with Him…there is nothing sweeter. We not only miss sweet time with our Savior…but we risk missing how He might want to lead us in the plight of the orphan…the widow and the poor. We have no time to waste…this is just one orphan’s story. There are millions others who need us to pray on their behalf. Will you join me?