WOW
I am just in awe of God right now.
This last Saturday I went to church service as usual. Pastor Paul's sermon was entitled, "Take Heart, Daughter", in which he spoke of the verses Mark 5:21-34. It was to encourage women that God is nearby and will provide what they need, no matter what they are going through, and for men to learn better how to pray for and support the women in their life. I won't go into the sermon itself. It's just too complicated to convey in my blog.
But let me tell you the awesome experience this weekend. After the usual altar call on Saturday, he ask any woman who felt led by the Holy Spirit to step forward and he would pray a special blessing. Without hesitation I stepped forward. I've never actually done that before and something inside me just said 'do it'. To my surprise quite a few women stepped forward. I can't explain the deep knowing in my heart that God was ministering directly to me and directly to all these women. It's such an awesome and wonderful thing to know that the Lord is able to meet each of us in that unique place of need in our hearts. I'm just not able to wrap my weak human brain around that concept. It's just too amazing to rationalize!
You might think that I've been struggling with some things lately which would cause me to 'feel God', but that's not true at all. My life has been going well and I've not been terribly concerned about anything lately. I clearly just felt God telling me he was there for me, that he knows me, that he is working in and around me whether I took time to acknowledge him or not, and that he'd take me a lot further if I would just surrender more of myself to him. I'll elaborate on this in my next post.
I felt very moved at the end of Saturday's service. Something inside me told me to attend Sunday's service to hear the message again. My first thought was to attend 8:30AM and 11:00AM service, but I told myself that would be overkill. The same message 3xs that weekend? Yikes! I would later regret not listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting. I should have attended 8:30AM service as well!
This is what happened. My words are limited in conveying the experience I had. Words can't fully capture the awe I feel in my heart and in my spirit.
On Sunday I went to the 11AM service. As the celebration choir began to sing I was really moved. It was the same selection, same format as Saturday's service, but for some reason I really felt my spirit respond. And, it was very unlike me to do this since I tend to be conservative regarding how demonstrative in church I am with regards to expressing my faith, I stood up halfway through their singing and just felt myself surrounded by the Lord and his presence. Something in me knew I just had to revere the Lord and to sit down during this moment was just not appropriate. I've never done this before in church so it was definitely a first! As the song continued, others also began to stand up and you could just tell a lot of people were moved in one way or another.
So, in an unusual move by the Pastor, he said he could sense that the Holy Spirit was at work. He asked the celebration choir to sing that particular song again and for anyone who felt the Lord calling, to worship as they saw fit. And as the choir began to sing again, about half of the congregation stepped forward to pray and praise at the altar, many were doing so in their seats, and I just knew something spectacular was taking place. I can't fully convey it. I just knew I was observing something that the Lord was doing. It was part disbelief and awe that I saw HIM working so tangibly, and part gratitude for Him manifesting himself for me to see.
Pastor Paul just let the Holy Spirit move that day and ended up only having about 15 minutes to preach. It was a big contrast to Saturday where he did preach his entire sermon. Later on I found out that in the 8:30AM service the same thing had happened. People were moved left and right as the Holy Spirit entered the church. In the earlier service Pastor Paul invited people to share their testimonies and he never got a chance to preach any of his sermon in that service! I sure wish I heard those testimonies! Anytime someone comes to know the Lord is truly a miracle in and of itself.
I don't know where I'm going with this post, except that I wanted to capture the moment, but words are truly limiting. As I am seeking God more and more these days and spending more devotional time in His Word and in prayer, I really see the truths and his workings in my life and in those around me. It's surreal and just mind-blowing at the same time.
Stay tuned. Next post to share what's been happening in my life the last few weeks.
posted by ramblingmuse @ 9:46 PM
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