Psalm 5:2
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
God is moving....
(Isn't God always moving?).....
Of course He is. But sometimes His movement is manifested before our very eyes that reveals a truth we may not have been aware of.
I drove out to Rapha yesterday to hold a Bible Study. I usually do one on Monday afternoon, but because of our family vacation and a few other issues that had cropped up, I haven't been out there in three weeks. So I was determined that we were having one yesterday. In the course of three weeks, you have turn over in a treatment program as people leave and new ones come in for treatment.
It was a whole new crop of men that greeted me yesterday. Couple of familiar ones, but for the most part brand new faces. We spent some time getting to know each other, sharing our stories and history, then it was down to business.
Psalm 23 --- "The Lord Is My Shepherd, I shall Not Want." Spent the entire hour on this one particular chapter, and we didn't get past the second verse. These men were hungry. Question after question came my way, and we took time to interact and lay out opinions as to how the verse was viewed. In the end, God's truth stood as opinion after opinion fell by the wayside.
Even after the Bible study, there were several who stayed behind wanting to talk some more. Stories of the old life, hunger for a new and better life. All the stories were basically the same...."this is how I got here!". Here, being the treatment program. It's like God has marked a big ol' "X" in their life and has declared it to be a place of decision. What takes place at Rapha defines the rest of their life. DO they find the truth and began the process of changing? Or do they find the truth and simply wander back into the darkness of addiction again?
Bottom line in our meeting is that these men need God's intervention into their lives.
So as I asked for prayer requests, I sensed that God truly wanted to intervene in their life situations.
The prayer requests yesterday seem to focus on physical healing.
1.) Damage done to liver and kidney's due to alcoholism.
2.) Blood disorder that could be life threatening
3.) Multiple health problems, as well as severe arthritis. Hard to get up and down the steps to the dormitory.
4.) Short term memory loss.
Along with the physical healing, there seem to be a consensus of a need to become more focused on their personal recovery, and not to get caught up in the camp drama. Take these request seriously if you would. My thought is that God really does want to reveal himself to these men, so let's be in prayer for each man.
The men continued to follow me as I made my way to the car. We were talking and laughing (not something that most in addiction do....laugh that is) when one of them asked, "Can you come back more than just Wednesdays?" I knew right then, God was speaking through this man. "Sure, how about we have Bible study on Monday AND Wednesday?" So God is stirring the pot, so to speak. There is divine preparation going on for something bigger that God has in store. My part? To simply obey and teach. I believe I can do this.
God on you...
mbb
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