Ready, Set, Stand

This is my Thankful Thursday edition:

So, we had a Women's Conference at church this past weekend and it was wonderful. God showed up in a big way. But, then doesn't He always?! That seems a little silly to say since He is everywhere, but you know what I mean.

The speaker that was supposed to come cancelled at the last minute because her dad is very ill and they aren't expecting him to make it. So they called another lady, which we've never had at our church, the night before the conference to see if she could come. She lives 7 hours away in Florida and still agreed to it!

Right when she got up to speak, she prayed for the other speaker and her family. I thought that was neat for her to do that considering she was our "second" choice. She was very humble.

She then said that it's funny that it happened this way because 2 months ago, the Lord gave her a message about prayer and spoke to her heart that she would speak this message to a very large crowd. Well, months ago, we determined that the theme of our conference would be none other than...Prayer!

She did an outstanding job...as if she'd had weeks to plan for this conference. She spoke from 2 Chronicles 20 regarding King Jehosaphat.

The message was simply this: The battle is not our's, but the Lord's. We don't even have to fight it. We just have to show up for the fight!

She said a lot of people ~ as they go through things ~ sort of crawl back in bed and hide under the covers and say, "Okay Lord, put up a good fight and let me know when it's over!" Nuh-uh! You need to be there or what will you get out of it?

This scripture says, (in so many words) "Do not be afraid! Stand and see the salvation of the Lord." It doesn't say "put up your dukes!" or "ready, set, brawl!" Just "stand and see."

She told so many encouraging testimonies of things she had been through in her lifetime. Some things which made my life to this point seem like a cake walk. Then, we heard numerous testimonies of ladies right in our church of what they've been through. WOW - you really have no clue where people have been. They seem to have it all together and it's easy to assume they've had it easy.

One girl...she is very young and in our youth group...told of how her parents were on drugs and her dad would come in high and abusive and instead of her mom protecting her and her lil' sister, her mom actually attempted to kill them, but they got away. They were raised by a family member and are blessed now with a great life. A battle won.

The speaker actually told of watching her first husband commit suicide. There were so many situations that she spoke of that I won't go into, but he was gone and she was stuck with a child to raise on her own. She had to figure out how to tell her daughter that she'd never see her daddy again. She had to figure out how to pay the mortgage she was now left with...and so much more.

But, today she is sharing the goodness of God with everyone she can. She had major battles to overcome, but she didn't have to do it alone. She didn't even have to do the fighting...

...and you and I don't either. God says the battle is His. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get in His way. He just tells us to show up and see. See victory and freedom take place. It won't come easy, but it will come if you trust.

I hope someone reading this today needed to hear this. We are all going through battles. Physical, mental, emotional, financial, spiritual...and you are weary. I certainly am. It gets tiring, but do not give up hope. Get your battle gear...the most important weapon of all...the Word of God.

The enemy is defeated!

Kisses from the Father...to you!