Trust Me

For quite some time, everywhere I looked I would see the number 11:11. I saw "ones" everywhere. They would appear on clocks, timetables, radios, photographs, receipts, and hotel room doors. I would glance at the clock on my phone only once or twice a day, and if the time wasn’t 11:11, it would be 1:11 or 11:01. It could have been a coincidence, but somehow I knew that it wasn’t.

Whenever I asked God what it meant, I would only get a smile in return. I happened to be in one of the most difficult seasons of my life, and every time I saw 11:11, it reminded me that He was here with me, and that was all I needed. Sometimes seeing the number would make me laugh out loud; sometimes it would make me cry. It never failed, however, to move my heart and bring my focus back to the reality that God is good and His promises are true for my life.

One day during this time, I walked into the bathroom at my parent’s home in Southern England. Some poor, unsuspecting male in the family had left the toilet seat up. I was livid. So furious, in fact, that even in my state of blind rage I could see that my anger was vastly out of proportion to the situation at hand.

I immediately looked heavenward and asked Papa what was going on. Why was I so angry? The answer came back: “Because you ARE angry.”

As I heard His words, I had the startling realization that I had been feeling constantly angry for a long time. I asked Him why and His answer stunned me. “You are angry with me, because your life hasn’t worked out the way you thought it would.” I was incredulous. After all, wasn’t He my closest friend and constant support through this dark season? Yet, at the same time, I knew it was true. I was undone. The toilet seat was not the object of my pain; my loss of trust in God was.

Sarah in Genesis has long been my hero, so when I finally found my 11:11 in the book of Hebrews, I was captured by the simplicity and power found in this statement about faith:
"For [Sarah] considered Him faithful who had promised."

Faithfulness is the source of faith. A promise has only as much value as the person making it. In evaluating his words to us, we are actually judging whether or not we believe that God is trustworthy. Faith is not spelt R-I-S-K. It is spelt T-R-U-S-T. Unless, of course, you consider God to be a risky bet.

Every promise and dream for your life is anchored in the level of trust you have in God. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." It is our knowledge of His faithfulness that gives us assurance of the promises He has made. This is faith: judging Him faithful who has promised.

If we do not have faith in Him, our belief in His promises are based on what we can currently see happening around us. This, as I experienced, often results in our feeling as though the carpet has been pulled out from under our feet. Faith is essential because in the day when you cannot see the promises for your life, your trust in Him has to be your guarantee. We must have ‘the conviction of things unseen.’

When trust is real in your heart, hope is never deferred. Your hope for the promises He has spoken to you is secured in who He is, not your circumstances. This is faith. We can have confidence in a promise before we see it become a reality, because the one who has made the promise is the ultimate assurance.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a promise realised is the tree of life.
It is not the absence of fulfilled promises that ‘makes the heart sick,’ but when hope itself is deferred. It is easy to be hope-full continually when you trust the one that promises good things. We realise His promises are assured and it is our tree of life.

life

Sweet Alabama

I had the awesome privilege to travel to Alabama with some giants in the Kingdom this week. It was amazing.

Hundreds got healed and I got to participate in a bunch :) Thank you for praying - it was a great trip and I grew a lot - thank you!!

Releasing the rhema word
Two nights in a row i gave a word of knowledge from the front, but when the people responded they found they were already healed as the word was released - they didn't even give me a chance to pray for them!! ha ha! I love it!!

The first was a young man from Atlanta with 3 broken lumber vertebrae who had a metel rod in his back holding it rigid. He was not only completely healed on the spot, but also had full mobility - it will be interesting to hear what happened to that rod!

The 2nd were a group of people with a specific fracture in the base of their toe(s). Several of these were healed when the word was released. Bill Johnson (who was leading the trip) sensed this and paused to ask them before we continued. They tested it out and several were healed already!

At school we are taught to take notice of coincidences because they are oftentimes the language of the spirit. I had never seen people healed just by me releasing a word of knowledge and then I had two in a row. I'm taking note and learning that what we say and release has creative power!

Hip Restored

I also prayed for a pastor who was scheduled for a right hip replacement within two weeks. She  had no cartilage and her hip was bone on bone (very painful!!). We prayed and then asked her to test it out by doing things she couldn't do before. First she put on her sock, then she walked, then she ran and then she ran up and down stairs!! We eventually told her she could stop, but she cried saying "No!! I get to do this now!!" This was a really encouraging miracle for me as it's something I'm contending for with a family member. Since there is creative power in telling the testimony - maybe this will be the day!!

Ovarian Cysts Dissolved

I had the privilege of praying for a young woman who had ovarian cysts on her left side. One cyst was so big that she could feel it with her hand and it was extremely painful. As we prayed she felt it dissolve and could no longer feel it with her fingers or feel any pain!! God is so cool!! She is going to get the medical results this week :)


New Website and Itinerary

Bill has a new website - it's awesomely interactive!! It was created to resource people hungry for the Kingdom. Please go and check it out at http://www.bjm.org Our trip is blogged on there :) Bill is also coming to your area of the world: if you want to access more of the Kingdom, I really recommend you go. My life has never been the same since I heard him teach:

Feb 2 - 4
New Wine Cymru - On Earth as it is in Heaven
City Temple
Cardiff, Wales
www.flamesoffire.co.uk/news_and_events/bill_johnson.php
April 22 - 25
United Kingdom Healing School with Randy Clark
Southampton, United Kingdom
www.globalawakening.com

April 28 - 30
New Wine Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
new-wine.org/countries/Sweden.htm

Blessings!
Sarah XX