In Havilah Cunnington's book, "Stronger Than The Struggle" she shares a story about a time she and her husband lost their jobs at the church they had been serving for 15 years. At the time, she was dealing with having a newborn son in the NICU, while parenting her 3 younger boys. The day her husband called to tell her they had been let go due to financial difficulties, their three older boys had just been diagnosed with hoof and mouth disease and were put under quarantine. When the phone call from her husband came, she walked into the bedroom, shut the door, threw herself on her bed and had an "adult tantrum" with lots of tears. She asked Holy Spirit what she was supposed to do now and He said, "Make chicken". Say what? When she questioned this, Holy Spirit said, "Get up off the bed, take care of the boys, and go make chicken".
A little bit of dust yourself off, pick yourself up and trust I have a plan for you...for good and not for evil. If she and her husband were no longer employed at the church they planned to work at their whole life, well, then, God had a better plan! There is peace to be found in trusting God and doing the next thing He tells you to do, knowing He's got your back.
I can't recall Holy Spirit ever telling me to go make chicken, but I do remember when He told me to find a natural spring and drink the water. A friend in Canada shared via email that Holy had insisted she tell me to drink from a natural spring. I had received many devotionals talking about living waters so we put the two together and out of obedience searched for a natural spring on our way out and on the way home from a healing conference we drove to in CT. It was our last stop in Indiana on our way home when we were directed by an Amish man Joel met in a gas station to a natural spring where I did indeed drink the water, even though I was sure I would end up with parasites. Out of obedience I did as Holy directed and the chronic urinary tract infections I had been suffering with were gone for 3 years.
Sometimes God's instructions at the time don't always make sense, but we need to stand firm in believing He has only good intentions for us. We need to trust His plan.
When we were going out to Bethel, I prayed as I researched the Bethel listings of guest homes where you can rent a room and use the living and kitchen areas besides. There were several but one drew my attention. There were no photos of the rooms and I did not get a response to my email inquiry so we decided to look elsewhere. I searched out all other options but none of them worked out and I ended up coming back full circle to the house with no photos on their website. Hmmmm Because we had been hearing from God about the shelter of His wings, and we were finding beautiful owl feathers in our yard, we decided to go ahead and book a room in the guest house called, His Healing Wings. Their replies to my emails were sparse and slow to the point of frustration. I began to question if God was sending us to this guest house or not, but eventually we decided to stick to the plan, so we moved forward. Our stay there was lovely. The hosts were nice and challenged us to move out of our comfort zone. Everything they used to clean in the house was a natural product so it was chemical free. We met some nice people ~ from India and Nigeria and the USA, and we were just a 5 minute drive from the church!
And the rest of Havilah's story? She and her family eventually became part of the staff at Bethel Church in Redding CA. They relocated and began working with the school there. Now, Havilah travels around the world to speak, has written several books and she and her husband have their own ministry. What looked like a disaster opened the way for "something more". God had bigger plans than they ever imagined and because of her obedience and initial step of trust (go make chicken) she kept her focus, She believed God had her back and had a purpose for them. They are now living a life of service to Him beyond what they had imagined. Only God.
I can't help but laugh when I think about the "make chicken" reply from Holy. He certainly had Havilah's attention with that one! A little humor is good for the soul. And so is a lot of obedience. No matter what God instructs us to do, big or small, it is going to turn out best for us and others if we say, "Yes Lord!". Whether it means going out to the kitchen to make chicken or drinking from a natural spring along the side of a country road in Indiana, yes will open the doors to something more!
No comments:
Post a Comment