"My Heart Greatly Rejoices"

THIS WEEK has been blessing after blessing. As I told my friend Jenny White on Wednesday, there has been joy everywhere all over my life. This joy derived from answered prayer and awe-inspiring stories.

First, in response to my prayers God gave me the strength to let go of some hard feelings I had left over from the past year. As a result I have renewed a friendship and seen a raincloud removed from my sky.

So the week had already gotten off to a great start when I heard a very amazing story from my friend Arun at Bible Study. I have been telling it to many people for the past few days, and my Youth Pastor has agreed to let me share it with my Youth Group on Wednesday!

Arun's mother's friend, Sheba, went Christmas caroling with her church in New Jersey a few weeks ago. They went to the houses of non-Christians to sing for them. They came to one house where the woman who answered the door was crying. When they asked her what was wrong, she told them that her niece in India, who had just had a healthy baby, was very sick. The doctors had given up on her and had told the family to begin planning the funeral.

This woman and her family had been praying to their Hindu gods that the girl in India would recover, but nothing was working. So the carolers asked if they could pray with them. They came inside and prayed to Jesus for her healing.

Very soon after this, the woman informed the carolers that her niece had made a 70% recovery. The doctors could not figure it out. They were going to try to let her start walking around.

As for the family in New Jersey, they have all been converted because Jesus answered their prayers while their prayer to other gods had not worked. They attended the church's Christmas event. The girl in India is alive and well for her son and husband, and she wants to know all about this Jesus who saved her life.

I love telling this story. God performed this miracle across half the world - from New Jersey to India! It's just very reassuring to see that He is not done doing miracles. He does now what He did when He walked the earth - healing the sick, making the blind see and the deaf hear, casting out demons, and much more - because He is still alive! And His Holy Spirit has given us, His people, the power to do things that are only possible through God.

Mark 16:15-18 "[15] And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. [17] And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; [18] they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'"

God does truly amazing things in very surprising ways. For example, at Youth Quake Live on Friday night I watched a skit which was meant to be a reenactment of a true story right that happened in my city, Jacksonville.

A young man who loved the Lord was sitting in his Spanish class, taking a test. Suddenly he heard God telling him very clearly and unmistakably, "Say 'Burrito'." He was very hesitant to say 'burrito.' It seemed very awkward to blurt out such a seemingly random word while his class was trying to take a test. But God insisted that he say this word, specifically to te girl sitting in front of him.

So the young man told the girl that God wanted him to tell her 'burrito'. She was overcome with emotion. She said that she had prayed that if God exists He would just say this one word, and she would be sure. Now she was sure.

I'm so glad God listens to prayer and responds. For the past few weeks, actually, I was praying that I could hear His voice in a way that is well represented by the story I just told you. I want to hear Him say things like 'burrito', and I want to be the kind of person who will say it if He tells me to. I was begging Him to tell me what college to go to, for example.

He spoke right to me through my Youth Pastor this Wednesday. Near the end of the sermon, Pastor Ryan explained that we do not need to worry about things like what college we should attend or whom we should marry in the future. That's God's mysterious will. Our concern is with obeying God's known will, which we learn by reading in His word and by seeking Him in prayer. My mouth dropped open when I heard the Pastor saying this, because I knew this was the answer to my prayers. He had even used examples which were in my own prayers! Now I understand that God doesn't want me to stress about receiving answers to my questions my way and in my timing. He knows what I need, and He will answer me when I call, as He always has.

So instead of praying that I'll hear Him speaking into my ear right when I decide I want Him to, I'm praying that I'll hear Him when He calls. I'm going to seek Him in His word and in prayer, and I'm going to pay attention every day so that if He is saying 'burrito', or anything else, I'll be aware.

Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my sheild; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him."

Have a great week!