Far Out!

Sometimes, God gives us some far out orders. Some of His promises are way out there, and well, they just seem too far out to comprehend…or believe. Don’t they?

God told Abraham that his wife, Sarah, would have a baby. When Sarah heard it…she laughed! I mean, she was in her 90’s, so I guess that promise really seemed far out! But then she conceived and had Isaac. (Genesis 18:1-15)

When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and told him that he would fight against his enemies and win, Gideon asked for a sign to be sure he heard it right! After he got the sign, he asked for another sign just to make sure (Judges 6:33-40). And when he went to battle against thousands of Midianites with only three hundred men…he WON!

The Angel of the Lord (Gabriel) appeared to Zechariah and told him that his wife, Elizabeth would conceive and have a son. Instead of belief, Zechariah questioned and was struck silent until Elizabeth delivered their son… John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-23) Pretty far out!

At the same time Elizabeth was carrying her baby, Mary was visited by Gabriel and given the message from God that she would conceive and carry God’s Son, Jesus! What’s so far out about that promise is that Mary was a virgin! But instead of questioning the validity of the promise, Mary just wanted to know how it was going to happen since she was a virgin. The angel was all too happy to explain it (Luke 1:26-38).

When God healed me, He gave me a promise, too. He told me through a very godly man, that I would minister to women and give them encouragement and hope. My initial thought was, “Oh God, not THEM!” But God’s answer was, “Yes. Them.” Women were my intimidators. Many of them were the ones who hurt me the most, who kept me in misery, who judged me the worst. Yet they are the exact ones that God sent me back into the ring to fight for (Luke 4:18-19). What a far out promise. What a far out task!

Each one of the above people received a far out promise from God…including me! And each far out promise was backed up and fulfilled. God is in the promise making/promise fulfilling business. He never breaks a promise. He never goes back on His word. And you can bet that if He told you to do something and that you will do something, it will happen!

When God healed me, I never dreamed that what I would be doing would be ministering to the very people who intimidated me the most. Yet, I am. Not only that, but I also get to meet many more women who are broken and hurting just like I was… and I am able to tell them that there is hope for them, just like there was hope for me!

What good would my healing be if I never shared it with others? What good would yours be if you never shared it? Hurting people hurt other people, it’s true. But healed people help hurting people to find hope and healing through the capable hands of Jesus. This is my calling. This is what I do. I’m not a counselor, I’m just one of the called. 

And that is FAR OUT!