Come see...

So I'm in Illinois....*smiles and heart warms up a tad*

And I have got so much to be thankful for. But first things first, as always, let me tell you something that God has shown me. Once again, he never ceases to amaze me. It's so his hobby..."look what I can do"..."watch this". It makes me laugh, my dad is such a love:)

I have a very bad habit of not following Christ-like impulsiveness. Everyone who loves the Lord is impulsive as long as it goes according to what the Lord has told them. You hear the voice of God...and you move. Done. Impulsive. And sometimes when the He convicts me about something I should say or do, I spend a ridiculous amount of useless seconds saying "are you sure?...shouldn't we talk about this a little more so I know I heard you correctly?....can we wait and make sure this is the right move?....hello?" And the "hello?" comes when God has told me something and is then sitting in Heaven thinking "Let's go already!!!!! I'm not talking to you 'til you move!!!" Oh how I love him, I'm laughing as I write this because he cracks me up:)

Now that I've stalled, my 'Christ-like impulse' sat deeply questioned for a good week before I made my official decision to fly to Illinois. With everything that Nathan has been through, God really convicted me on some love that I would have to show towards him. And it doesn't involve running up and giving him a huge kiss followed by an enormous hug:) He asked me to agape. Agape love is profound concern for someone else and acting on that, regardless of how it makes them feel at the moment, or if they will even have anything to do with you after you've gotten through the storm. A simply terrifying command from the Lord that only scared me because I was focused on what I would lose instead of what I would gain. And after stepping back from an intimate relationship with my best friend the Lord was able to work in Nathan in some very significant ways. Yes Nathan was mad at first, yes he was frustrated, but it's God's grace that he eventually understood why I was "absent" from the group. So as I sat on the plane all the way here, I was worried. Is it too soon? Should I have waited like I said I was going to before I knew how he would come out of this? Does this need more prayer? Am I making a mistake Jesus? And it wasn't until I was sharing this thought process(to Nathan actually) that these words settled in my heart: "Come see....come see what I've done." It was almost as if I could feel the excitement pouring out of heaven while the Lord sits on his throne, "look at this!! Look at my child!!" And so I came, and I saw, and I'm blown away. I sat on my impulsiveness a little too long, but I'm blessed at what He has shown me since I've been here.

2 Chronicles 20 has some crucial commands from the Lord: "...Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'...You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you."

When He asks us to move, whether it's a slow move into a decision, or a Christ-like impulse, we had better obey no matter what the request. No matter what the cost.

Peace in Christ,

~Laramie