Wednesday
Oct082008
Yesterday's Clothes...
Posted on 
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 7:34AM
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 7:34AM 
Greetings, Dear Friends,
And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.
Before I get into my topic, I have a little business to take care of. Each month I give away a $10.00 Caribou Coffee gift card to someone who posts on my blog (although my son thinks I should switch to Starbucks. What do you think?).
Leave a comment; share your heart; you might win a couple of cups of java!
The picture above is of my son and his girlfriend after a time of dirt biking. I think it's adorable. It doesn't exactly fit my topic but sort of.
Now on to my topic...
Last weekend I spoke at the beautiful Camp Lebanon in Upsula, Minnesota where two hundred women gathered to meet with God. It was a glorious weekend.
But something troubled me...
Though my messages went well and women seemed to track with me, I felt something was blocking God's blessings for these women. It's one thing to hear a nice message, it's another thing to be transformed by the very presence of God.
Each night at bedtime, I curled up in a ball, hugged my pillow, and prayed. I prayed for the women and their precious hearts. I prayed for myself, that I might be a reliable messenger. I asked God to please show me if I was missing anything. Anything.
In addition to speaking at the main sessions, I offered to lead a Power Walk and teach a Power Stretch class. We had a great time together.
Sunday morning I prayed in the shower; I prayed while blow drying my hair; and I prayed as I put my clothes on for the day. I prayed that God would speak to me and through me.
I grabbed my socks off the floor and put them on my feet. They weren't especially clean. Okay, they were dirty. The Power Walk had taken its toll on my little white socks. But no one would see them under my black boots, right?
The whisper across my heart surprised me, "You might want to put on some clean socks."
Huh?
I prayed that profound prayer again, "Huh?"
The Lord continued speaking to my heart, "You might want to put on some clean socks because you'll be removing your shoes in the service today. I want you to ask everyone to remove their shoes this morning because they are on holy ground. This is the Sabbath day and it's to be regarded as holy. These are My beloved Ones and they need to see themselves that way. My call is profoundly high and all need to consider it so. Re-establish the fact that I am a Holy God and you are My people."
My knees were instantly weak and my eyes welled up with tears.
I bowed my head and prayed. I committed the morning to the Lord, and I went and found the worship leader. I asked her to add a certain song to her list. I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face. She asked, "Are you okay? Do you feel sick?"
I replied, "God has something special for these women this morning and I don't want even one of them to miss it."
The worship was powerful and the stage was set.
When the time came for me to take the stage, I was all choked up. I shared what the Lord had shown me that morning. I added, "God's arms are full of things He intended to give you this weekend. Some of you run the risk of leaving this place without ever receiving what He has offered; maybe it's because of a hardness of heart; maybe because of unbelief. But I ask you to humble yourself. Look up. Open your hands. Receive what He so lovingly wants to give. All too often we wear yesterday's dirty rags when daily, God offers new mercies to us. He has a new thing for you today. Receive it."
Women responded right away.
I put on a beautiful song and with the lights down, we took off our shoes. Many kneeled to the ground. Quiet sobs of repentance erupted. The room became a sanctuary.
Many women came forward and received the prayer and encouragement they so desperately needed.
Something broke loose that morning and we were all so blessed to be there.
You know, without even thinking about it, many of us put on yesterday's rags. The rags of sameness, of doubt, of unbelief, or cynicism.
But what about expectancy? What about hope? What about God's promise to do a new thing in our midst?
In this world we are promised to have troubles. But we're also promised overwhelming victory. Overwhelming. Victory.
No circumstance can keep us from a fruitful, powerful, thriving life.
But our own unbelief can.
Dear Lord,
Forgive us for the countless times we've picked up our dirty socks and put them on our feet without even thinking about it. May we remember anew each day that the earth is Yours and everything in it! May we embrace today, that You've offered fresh mercies and new garments to Your people. May we slow down long enough to receive the peace and the comfort You so willingly offer us. And forgive us for the many times we've treated holy opportunities as common, everyday occurrences. You are everywhere. And we matter to You. What a privilege it is to be linked in fellowship with You. May we never take that for granted. Thank You for Your great and unexplainable love. Amen.
Here's to new days and new garments of praise!
Until next week~
Reader Comments (30)
Bless you Susie!!!
I need to really, really, read every book you've ever written. I have so much to learn from you.
I listened so hard to what you said--even with the lack of sleep. I was so busy thinking about the first three amazing things you'd shared that I think I'd miss the next five. It kinda kept going like that...
And you just kept pouring diamonds into my hands.
Once when I heard you mention your mentor, I thought, "What must it be like to be in a room with that woman?" I wonder if I would understand her language, or if it would sound like Elvish to my unlearned ears.
Basically, he was taunted and gossiped about by other 8 year old kids who accused him of not believing in creation, and maybe even believing in evolution. (We're not "old-earth" Christians or "youth earth" Christians--we're interested in the subject, and he has a genius of a Dad, who believes 100% in the reliability of inspired Scripture, and doesn't claim to be able to do all the math necessary to get from "In the beginning" to "Even so, come, Lord Jesus [...] Amen" with perfect accuracy.)
I told him all about Galileo... and how the "church" people, as it turned out, were wrong about the sun. But that that wasn't even the important question... They tossed him out of the church probably never bothering to ask him if he believed Jesus came in the flesh, died for them and for him, rose, and is coming again...
I said Jack's first job is to bless those who persecute him, so he needs to pray that God will bless them abundantly... and I told him how the enemy wants him to be separate from other believers so that his and their effectiveness will be lessened; how one puts a thousand to flight, but two put 10,000 to flight.... I told him that he isn't called to defend himself, but that he has a strong God who has promised to vindicate him.
All these diamonds were at my fingertips at the same time..... um.... do you wonder how they got there all at the same time?
I thought, after I posted the first time today, how amazing it is that you had to suffer so profoundly to gain the great truths that you just hand to me, over and over again... I thought, "How do I rate that?" Then I thought of Jesus... I don't rate all He suffered to gain and then just give to me. He does it out of love. You do it out of love for Him, and an otherwise unexplainable love for relative strangers.
And now my bright and bold little Jack has hope, and a mission. And he stood a little taller.
You should win the Starbucks card just for using such a cool word in your post!Ha!And with regard to my sons, truly I'm the blessed one to have them. They are priceless to me.Bless you~
I loved your post. 'We need to listen closely during those 'huh?' moments.'Indeed.Thanks for sharing your thoughtful words.
Thanks so much for your post! And you are right, God always has a plan, doesn't He? Any time I can be with the Hearts gang, I love it, but this one was booked something like two years ago. Even so, I'll see you all in November.Blessings to you!
What a faithful prayer warrior you are! Thank you so much for thinking of us last week. Our fruit is your fruit! May God pour out on you what we received!Thank you so much again. :)
I got off the phone and knew I was to obey to God's calling to go speak to my husband. As soon as I thought that, God added that I needed to apologize to him. Okay, that's NOT exactly what I had in mind! So God brought you, Susie Larson, to mind, and how you wrote in your Alone In Marriage book about a time God told you to apologize to your husband. You also felt like you should be the one on the receiving end of an apology, but you obeyed God and apologized for committing the greater offense of "letting your love grow cold." God caused healing in your relationship thru your obedience to God.
So, much in the same fashion, I asked my husband if I could have a moment with him. I apologized to him, explaining that God had pointed something out to me about my behavior today (and last night). I said that although I was hurt by his actions from the night before, yet God had shown me that I had committed the greater offense by withdrawing my love that day. I allowed myself to pull away, withdraw my love, and let the beginning roots of bitterness to form, instead of dealing with it together with my husband. My husband, on the other hand, had not intentionally set out to hurt me by his actions. I know that I offend my Lord when He freely gives His love and then I turn around and choose to nurture my hurt, angry feelings instead of passing on the love and forgiveness that I receive from God. I confessed to my husband that I had committed the greater sin/offense by intentionally withholding my love, and I felt led by God to apologize and ask for forgiveness from both God and him (my husband).
Well, let's just say that God is still in the busness of healing relationships that we give over to Him. My husband had a soft heart, a miracle in and of itself, and he even apologized for his stuff as well. Unbelievable!! I've never felt convicted to do that before, but I knew that the enemy would use the "funk" I was in that day to derail me if I didn't take care of it soon. I couldn't seem to bring myself to do, that is, until my friend was praying for me (and she wasn't even praying for my marriage!). Amazing how prayer can lay on our hearts what God's will is.
God used your words, Susie, to speak His will for me. Thank you for being available to be used by God.
In His Love,I.A.B.
You are such a brave woman! Thank you so very much for sharing your story and your heart the way you did. Wow. I'm amazed once again by the power of love and humility. There's such great access to God's precious promises when we are willing to humble ourselves under His mighty hand.Bless you, dear one!
Starbucks, it is!
I'll be in San Diego for a speaking engagement in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!Blessings~
"The room became a sanctuary." I read these words and my eyes teared up... a sanctuary... not just a "holy place" where we meet God but also "a place of refuge and protection"... in the Presence of the Lord... protected from the world... from evil... from being called and pulled in different directions away from the Lord and His good and loving plans for us and those whose lives we touch in His name.
The Lord protects us and delivers us from evil. The Lord refreshes us and restores our souls! We can live in sanctuary with Him!!! Praise the Lord!
Thanks for the reminder, Susie!
In Christ,Linda
Your post meant to so much to me, and wouldn't you know it, it came at a time when I got buried under a pile of emails! I've been slowing digging my way out and it's good to see the light from under the pile! It's a tough one, I care so much about connecting with people along the way, but it's getting to a point that I haven't been able to do my work because I'm spending so much time replying to email. Something's got to give! :) Please pray for me as I work hard at doing the highest and best thing God calls me to do each day.Bless you!