The results of the election Tuesday in America were not the result of any one particular group of people, but the results of many prayers spoken to the Father concerning His will for us.  Many of us participated in Franklin Graham's call for the Christians to meet at the capital in each of their states, the Reset Prayer meeting in Washington in July of this year as well as many, many local and corporate gatherings for our country.

Unlike 9/11, where people believed that would be a wakeup call for America to humble ourselves, once the fear, the threat of further destruction, had subsided, the people went back to their normal everyday lives.  In the case of the election this week of President Elect Trump, people don't know what to expect, don't know what is coming and have heard Trump's words about the drastic measures he feels need to be taken concerning our country.  The people who did not vote for Trump feel real  fear because what they had hoped would happen with Hillary as President, they feel will not be honored by Trump.  The bottom line is we cannot be more concerned about ourselves than we are the good of the country.  This will require sacrifices and work to make changes that will be needed for long term greatness and this is never easy.  Especially when we live in a society that is all about meeting our own needs.

I pray that this wakeup call will bring lasting change in the hearts of all of us.  May we recognize that the office of the President is not held by one person, but is in essence all of us working together for the common good of all Americans.  May we continue to humble ourselves and pray for our country and trust God to lead us.

#prayer, #God healing our land, #Election, #"if my people", #9/11

Hidden Answers to Prayer

Six days before Thanksgiving, something was discovered in my home that was completely hidden from us.  My husband and I were totally unaware of it until I found it when I decided to cook some vegetable soup.  Putting away the crockpot, I noticed the shelf paper had slid in the cabinet where I store it.  In my effort to adjust the paper, I discovered mildew growing underneath it as well as water sitting on the surface.  The strangest thing was this was a floor kitchen cabinet.  Because we live in a home that was built in 1977, the cabinet was wood and a hole was in this particular one, where a wire for an outlet was running through.  Not sure what I was dealing with, I left everything as it was, until Thomas, my husband, could check it out.  When he looked at it, he thought it was definitely odd too, for how did water puddle up in the cabinet.  Looking through the door of the crawl space under the house, no water was seen and it looked as if everything was in order.  So I called a builder I had heard about, who just so happened to work for a fire and water restoration company on the side.  He came out and was perplexed too, but was not able to crawl under the house that day.  Four days later, we were hit with the surprising news that our hot water heater, which unfortunately had the pressure valve vented underneath the house, had been releasing pressure and now water damage to the floors was extensive and it looked as if the kitchen cabinets and the hardwood floors would need to be replaced.  Until it all dried out, we wouldn't fully know the extent of the damage.  The most frightening news is, the water heater could have blown up or caught on fire.  We were blessed and protected to say the least!!!

A few hours later, it hit me that this could be an answer to a prayer. For two years we had wondered why finding a final home at the beach to move all of our earthly belongings in had not worked out Why we had ended up with this home being our only choice when we knew renovations would be involved to totally make it work for us.  After 9 corporate moves and 5 additional personal moves in 28 years of marriage, building homes and renovating them, we were tired and just ready to be settled in a finished home.  Knowing God knows the desires of our heart, I just could not understand why our desire didn't come to pass so that we would have more time to focus on serving Him rather than being caught up in fixing up another earthly dwelling. It seemed like the perfect plan, I just could not understand why God didn't think so.  It was so depressing that every time I thought about renovating, I found comfort in eating as a way to get some want fulfilled.  Instead, that satisfaction was temporal and the results of weight gain made me feel worse.  Until last week, I just could not justify why the Lord would have me spend money on a house I would live in for just 10 years.  And yet, selling, closing and moving costs for yet another move, could be as much as a possible renovation.  My vision for something can be quite large and the vision for this home ran into estimations that could far exceed resell value.  As my hopes were dashed and I began to rethink about what the Lord was saying, I began to have vision as I looked around at how to renovate in a less expensive way.  I was in the process of seeing this vision when the damage the hot water heater had done was discovered.  I began to wonder if the Lord confirming that indeed a renovation would take place and He knew what needed to be done.  I felt as if I had been pounding on heaven's door and indeed my request had been answered.  Several times since I have been in this home, I have heard from the Lord concerning this house, but wasn't quite sure what He meant.  Once I was told that I would have to do one more renovation and another time I heard it would be an offering to this community.  And more importantly, before I left my last home, I heard that I could not live outside of my community and my home had to be bigger than I desired because people were coming to my house.  Of course, I thought I must have misunderstood, since none of those things made any sense in light of what I sensed I wanted to do for God and our financial desire to downsize. Our best intentions can block the flow of God's anointing in our lives. Total surrender, which I had been focused on for the last few months,  intentionally must come before He can do through us what He had intended all along.  The gifts God has given me are never wasted and one of them is to prepare homes for those to follow me or for redemption for those who had lived in them.  I have seen the fruits of that gift and truly they are God stories of His amazing plans. Another gift is hospitality and providing a place and atmosphere for God to do great things in the hearts of His people.  Being in this home at this time is important to His kingdom agenda.  Being fully surrendered to His purposes is my part for its fulfillment.


Ann Wallace (c) 2015

A few days ago I had a dear friend who passed away.  I am sad that I will not be able to see her again on earth yet rejoice that one day we will be reunited in heaven. 

I met Deb, my friend, 10 years ago when she walked into a Bible study we were doing called “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat,” by John Ortberg.  Well, Deb got out of the boat and never stopped walking on water in her faith until she reached her savior Jesus’ arms in heaven.  One of the first questions she asked me was “Do you think this Jesus thing really works?”  She said she went to church and knew that Jesus was her savior, but didn’t really see where that was working for her.  Sure she may have had some fire insurance not to go to hell, but where was peace in the midst of chaos, joy in the midst of pain, and strength in our weakest moments.  She was hungry and desperate for real change.  I told her Jesus was the only way and the way we see a difference is when we seek Him with our whole hearts.  One of the ways we do that I told her was through Bible study.  She agreed to join us and for the next 10 years she never stopped learning. It was a beautiful thing to watch as her faith grew and her peace intensified.  Once she found comfort and real life in personally knowing Jesus and what He had for her, she was on a mission that her family and friends would know the truth about Him too. 

When I went to her home to prepare to speak at her funeral, I found not one Bible but many written in and all sorts of devotionals and scriptures everywhere.  In fact there was something about Jesus in every room of her home.  I knew if she had something to say to us, it would be in her Bible.  Because she had leukemia, I thought I would find a ton of scriptures on healing, but that’s not what I found.  Instead, everywhere I looked she was claiming the promises that her family and friends would know Jesus.  In typical Deb fashion, life was not about her, but her love for others. 

In the back of her Bible I found a letter she had written to her family that was so comforting to all of us.  In Deb’s words:

         “These last few years I have lived my life as a believer—walking daily with God—what peace that has brought—what miracles I have witnessed, prayers that have been answered, giving my life to God and knowing that He is in control—how secure I am—no more concern for material things of this world—what peace there is in that.

I pray for you daily and even though you may not see it—God is drawing you to Him—follow His will—find peace—true love, joy, happiness.”

You will find all of these things as well when you seek Him with your whole heart. God is faithful and true to His promises and will do it not only for you but also for your family. Won’t you trust Him today and give Him complete control of your life?

 

A great new movie from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  A must see for everyone!