Tag Archives: Faith and Hope

Dance Alone If Necessary!

Posted on by Standard 36

This past Sunday I had a family event to attend at 4pm, giving me plenty of time to drive 40 miles to see Johnny Berberian play at a huge Armenian picnic. He is one of the few “Udi’s” or Oud Extraordinaires in the world. Ninety degrees or 100, I was ready for a Halla!

The band started with a Tamzara…

I ate my last shish kebab and dashed to the band to see who would start the line dance.  I taped the music while waiting…waiting…but not one of the 800 folks there dropped their forks!  Okay, the Tamzara is a very difficult dance but the next one was easier and just as invigorating!  I urged my relatives to come join in.  Everyone balked.  Ok, they’re over 75 and 80 but still, it’s Johnny Berberian!  

So I rushed over to the band and, for the first time ever, I began dancing alone!  A one woman dance line and I was so happy!  Yet, within one minute others joined me…

 

There I am in the green dress, leading a growing line – away we go!

There is hardly anything more exhilarating for me. Not only since childhood but more so now when I realize that, in spite of genocide, deportations, landlocked strangleholds, earthquakes and recent unprovoked war, we Armenians are still here. God did not allow us to be exterminated. Although often crushed, a true and growing remnant of faith is thriving. Reasons to celebrate, reasons to dance!

I realized another thing as I dashed to dance alone. My joy arose and, even if no one joined me, it would not be squelched. This need be true for believers in the coming days when complacency and apostasy run rampant. When our heart is stirred, when we are burdened and sense God’s call to pray, perhaps no one will join in. When worship arises in our heart, refuse to suppress it, even if we’re the only one raising our hands and voice. Might I be the only one to pray at a family dinner, giving thanks to the Lord?

I say, if need be, be the only one! Encourage others with exuberance worthy of the Lord. Pray that they are stirred and go alone, perhaps others one by one will join in the line….

If God stirs your heart to have a prayer meeting, reach out to others, call them in, but if you’re the only one, believe this – you’re not the only one. The Holy Spirit is there and the Lord will honor your faithfulness.

(I’m having a prayer meeting tomorrow night…not sure who will join in – perhaps you’ll see in my next post what the Lord has in store!)

When God Leads Into a Pothole

Posted on by Standard 19

The three weeks of Prayer in the Plaza proved to be fruitful and defining for me.  I cannot measure the impact of God’s work amongst our first responders, patients, and families but I can testify that keeping an appointment has this great benefit – God shows up.   He speaks and impassions when our hearts seek to align with His.

At the same time, several of us embarked on an End Times Bible Study, posted once a day through Frontier Alliance International*.   This 14 lesson Bible Study is enthralling, opening up and igniting once-familiar prophetic scriptures.  Fruitful prayer time and Bible study churned my heart even more than before.  My husband and I both agreed – we want to be in the flow of God’s work, we want to fulfill all His call and service appointed to us – we so want our lives to count for the Lord in these end days.  

Spiritually invigorated, I prepared for a fast to go further in devotion and hear from the Lord.  To what might He call me?  To serve here in NYC, perhaps utilizing social work credentials to counsel or maybe the Lord would call us away.  I knew He would lead as I drew near…so sure and with such anticipation I began my fast, but it quickly seemed obliterated…

Before leaving for work, Bob unwittingly disclosed something that ignited a past deep marital wound.  My emotions erupted into an argument which continued fuming after he left, even moreso when I blamed him for ruining my peaceful quest to search God’s will.  How could I seek the Lord when I’m so angry?  

I immediately recalled a comment that I had just posted on David Ettinger’s site (EttingerWriting.com)  basically stating that God uses crisis and personal calamity to expose what is in us that we might rout it out to move forward in service.  This truth strongly pressed upon me, undeniably revealing a fleshly wound and sin that must be surrendered.

At first I thought I could ignore the fuming of my heart and open the word of God.  Not possible.  If you’re truly seeking God, He will mercifully corner you with what He wants to say.  I could not escape compelling verses calling believers to ‘obey’ the word of God, wives ‘respect’ their husbands, ‘submit’…there was no way to move forward without hashing this out.  The ‘argument’ was not ruining my fast, it was actually God’s response to my heartcry to serve.

When our heart is at ‘X’ but God commands ‘Y’ we can only pray for the Lord to change our heart, superficial formulas do not work.  (Although I did google ‘How to Respect Your Husband When He’s a Jerk’ which was a bit helpful).  I had to admit though, I fail at having, “…the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  If God greatly values “gentle and quiet”, He must loath to see angry and argumentative!

So, my fasting began yesterday with a repentive cry for God to change my heart, heal my heart, and enable me to obey.   Although not perfect, by the time Bob returned home, my heart had softened toward kindness and respect.

Prayer in the Plaza and invigorating Bible studies stirred my heart with a greater longing and passion to know God’s will and serve Him.  Instead, a dust-up revealed flaws of my heart, a pothole I could not but go through.

But going through, I’m pressing on – trusting in our Forerunner with Whom we will not fail!

*Frontier Alliance International   –  for End of Age Bible Study:  First download Frontier Alliance International App, then Go to Maranatha tab,  then Global Bible Study then End of Age (white horse icon), click on  Main Sessions.