Day 259

It's Day 259 of  The Red Shoe Project and while sitting at my desk, in RED shoes, blogging away, I noticed that Pauly was licking his paw voraciously.  Upon closer examination, I noticed that his paw was RED-RED.  Ouch!  
So I did what any good master would do.  I grabbed the first-aid kit, cleaned the wound, poured on an excessive amount of Neosporin and bandaged him up, so he wouldn't lick it all away in two minutes.  Then I laid hands on him and asked God to heal him. It wouldn't be the first time God's miraculously healed this dog!

 Hey... a trip to the vet's office can be overwhelmingly expensive these days!   So we go to Dr. Jesus.  Pauly doesn't seem to mind a bit.  He's a  "Jesus dog."   That means he's totally comfortable in the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit.  As a matter of fact, he hasn't been distracted by this big bandage on his foot at all.  Right now, he is at my feet, snoring away, totally content.  LOL!

Okay... so as silly as all this sounds, there is a point in all this.

When it comes to partnering with God,

 you can't just be available, 

you also have to be up for it!  

You know, if I had the money, I'd just bring Pauly to the vet.  If I had medical insurance, I probably wouldn't be so eager to jump in the prayer line for a healing on my shoulder.  Nope!  Like most people, you'd find me leaving the doctor's office with some sort of sling on my arm and a prescription for pain pills.

It's great that we live in a day in which there's such a great supply of help all around us... but the downside to that, is that we often consider what the world has to offer first, and then -- maybe -- we turn to God.  Sad, but true.

 These days, people aren't

"in the habit " of going to God!

It's no secret that, on a personal note,  this Red Shoe Project experience has its financial limitations.  And although that's quite challenging at times, it also has it's benefits.  For me, there is no choice.  When it comes to provision, I go directly to JESUS!  God's got me back "in the habit!"

"My God shall supply all my needs, 

according to His riches in Christ Jesus!"

Philippians 4:19

This just happens to remind me of a time in which God supernaturally used me in meeting a temporary need in our church.  I must have been 5 or 6 years old in the Lord.  I was co-pastoring a small, pioneer church in Rhode Island.  We had started the work in a storefront on the main street of town with less than ten people.  When that had grown to about sixty or so, we moved to a larger, commercial building.  After a couple years there, we outgrew that and moved to a little white steepled church with a detached fellowship hall.  It was during this last phase of the work, that a dear couple in our church moved and we were without a piano player.  Normally that could be devastating to Sunday worship! BUT we prayed.   God knew our need.  

That week, while I was cleaning the church sanctuary, I sat down at the piano and I remembered some chords someone had once shown me.  I looked at the sheet music that was sitting there, and low and behold, to my amazement, I was able to play it!  Okay... it wasn't great.  I had by no means become Liberace overnight, but I could supernaturally play chords and fill-ins, enough so, that the worship didn't seem empty.  It was actually pretty funny and amazing all at the same time!  That lasted for about six weeks or so until God brought someone new to the church who just happened to play the piano.  

And then... the gift was gone.  I was never able to play like that again.  

POOF!  It disappeared as quickly as it came.  

I think there are some key things to note here:

1. There was a definite need in God's work.
2. We were continually praying for that need to be met.
3. God did something totally supernatural in order to meet the need.
4. There was a willingness to be used.
5. And I got up there and "did it" even though I didn't know how it was possible. It took a leap of faith!

This is important to understand...

I didn't decide on my own... 

"Hey, I think I'll just become a piano player!"  No!  In my eyes that wasn't even an option.
I was incapable of doing such a thing.

It was more of a "set up" by God, 

and going with it, by faith!  

He decided to supernaturally orchestrate something and just needed a willing participant to move through.

On another occasion - right around that same time -  a great woman of God, Sister Jeanne Wyns - who is an influential, missionary, spiritual mentor and teacher of God's Word - happened to be visiting our church for a time.  I remember there was a particular service in which one of those powerful, congregational tongues, once again poured out of me.  Afterwards, she pulled me aside, validated that God had indeed equipped me with a powerful gift, and encouraged me, according to 1 Corinthians 14:13,  to pray that God would also give me the gift of interpretation to go along with it. 

I took her advice to heart and began to pray.  You know... you can't just give yourself the gift of interpretation.  It doesn't work that way!  For me, the tongues would come upon me, and present themselves boldly.  But afterwards, my mind was blank.  I had NOTHING!   There was no "Word from the Lord"  that followed.   That said,  it was quite the mystery as to how God would do this.

Years went by.  That right... Years!  Two, maybe three.  I was now attending another church, and my pastor asked me if I would head up the Prayer Team there.  I wanted to sit back and rest, but they were in need of leadership.  God had already told me in advance,  "Do whatever the Pastor asks!"  So I agreed.   

I met with the prayer team one night a week, and we'd pray together for the needs of the church, for the pastor, for the worship team, and for one another.  Often, near the end of our meeting, we'd lay hands on one another and pray however God lead us to pray.  After several weeks of this, I started noticing that people were coming back to me afterwards and saying things like:  

"Oh my gosh! 

 How did you know that about me?"  

- OR -  

"When you were praying for me, 

it was as if God was speaking directly to me!" 

Some people even came back and told me 

that they did what I said and it worked!

Okay, so I know I'm not that good!  LOL.  I didn't even really know what was going on.  I just thought,  "Isn't that how it is with everybody?"

One of the things I've discovered over the years, is that very often your gift is so common and normal to you that you don't recognize it as a gift.  But in time,  people will tell you.  They'll point it out over and over again.  And when it's God's time, He'll pull it out of you and into the forefront for His Divine Purpose!

Here's the example:  You see RED.  Everything you look at is RED.  It's been that way for so long, you can't remember it ever not being that way.  RED is the norm!  You assume that everyone else sees RED too.  Then one day, someone confides in you.  They tell you... 

"We all see  in black and white.  

You're the only one that sees RED." 

   

You think, "No way!  Really?" 

And they say..."Yeah!  Don't you know that?"  

That's when it sinks in... 

My gift is that I see RED!  

Shortly after that, God gave me the gifts of Interpretation and Prophesy.  You see... without even realizing it, He was allowing me to experience and practice these gifts, in this small little prayer group, where it was safe.

So here's some key take-aways:

• It started years earlier, receiving guidance and direction from a godly mentor, to pray for a gift.
• I acted upon the guidance given, and made it a matter of continual prayer.
• I yielded to God's instruction and "did whatever the pastor asked of me" which provided an unexpected opportunity for God to answer my prayer with this new gift.
• He also set me up to experience and practice my gift in a safe, small group setting.
• Later, He expanded on that gift in greater measure and magnitude.

I hope you're gleaning from these examples.  I'm confident that God will use them one day to confirm something He's doing in your own life.  You'll think, "I wonder how this works?"  and He'll bring one of these stories to mind.

More tomorrow,

Gail