Wednesday in the Word

Ezekiel 12:1-3

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.

3 “Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people.

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Over the past several weeks God has been bombarding me with Jeremiah 29...specifically verse 11, "For I know the plans I have for you...". Each morning I get up...turn on the coffee pot then sit down to read my bible a few minutes while the coffee perks. And each morning I say a little prayer asking God to lead me to the scripture He wants me to read. For weeks...the same thing..."For I know the plans I have for you...". And...can I be honest here? I'm getting a little tired of Jeremiah 29. I'm getting a little frustrated that He's not giving me another scripture! A different scripture. I think to myself, "OK God, I got it...yes, yes...You know the plans You have for me...yes...yes...I get it. Now...what else?! What's next?"

But...maybe I don't get it. Maybe I don't have it at all. This is usually the case when God puts something in front of me over and over and over again. It's not that He can't think of anything else to say to me. No. Not at all. More than likely it's that I haven't heard Him good enough yet. More than likely He continues to give me the same scripture...or the same lesson...many times over because I have yet to learn what He's trying to tell me.

In the meantime, while I try to let the lesson sink in...I continue to wait on God. And you know...waiting on God is HARD. I feel like I've been waiting on Him for a long time. Waiting for my creative breakthrough...waiting for my call in life....waiting for the business to improve...waiting for everything. There have been times when I've taken things into my own hands...thinking that maybe God wanted me to be brave...to take that first step of faith...and then open the flood gates of whatever it is I've stepped out about...only to find that I stepped in the wrong direction. Or...stepped too soon.

I don't know...life is hard. Walking with God is hard. Waiting...is hard. Not knowing is hard. Trying to explain to others where you are at spiritually...and having them look at you like you have three heads...is hard. I guess it's not for everyone to understand. Sometimes, things are just between me and God. Or you and God. Sometimes...not being understood by others just could mean you are on the right track with God.

However...ALL that aside...this morning I was actually given a different scripture. Ezekiel 12. And one of the first verses says, "...pack your belongings for exile...". This confirmed for me that God is calling me to be prepared...calling us to be prepared. With everything going on in the world I feel a sense of responsibility to prepare. Not a sense of worry...or of panic. But more a sense of calm urgency. I saw an interview with a young man from Japan last week...he said they had a lot of rice stored...but only a few jars of pickles and even fewer cans of meat for his family to survive on for who knows how long? I realized that I wanted to be better prepared than that...for any situation...because you really just never know. Since the tsunami in Japan I keep imagining that we have some sort of emergency here in the US...and there I sit, with my family, with no means of caring for them. And the worst part is that I knew I should prepare...I knew I should store food, and water...I knew that I should put together a First Aid Kit...I knew these things...yet did not do them.

So...seeing as how my word of the year is DO...I have taken some steps to be prepared. Just in case. I'm not worried...I'm not frantic...I'm just determined to be ready should the need arise. I am following along with my friend Amy at Homestead Revival...she's doing a preparedness challenge that is very helpful and full of good information. I am feeling prompted to put together a 3-month supply of food, water and other supplies. If we only need it for a week...or a month...then that means I have some to share with others. Some lost kids that can't find their parents? The old couple down the street? You never know.

My plan is to get a few extra items each time I go to the store...whatever is on sale more than likely...and add it to the preparedness pile. Extra rice, extra beans, extra canned items, extra first aid items, extra water. I am also saving my milk jugs, filling them with tap water and setting them aside to use for washing and flushing should that be necessary. Storage is a bit of an issue for those of you who know how small my house is. But...it's just a good excuse for me to rearrange and reorganize a few shelves in the garage...a job I've been putting off for long enough!

Anyway...I know today's Wednesday in the Word is a bit jumbled... and scattered. It's just where my thoughts are lately...welcome to my world!