Day of Trumpets

Today is Rosh Hoshana (the head of the year, or Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets or the Day of Blowing). It is the onset of the fall feasts, and the beginning of the 10 Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur, and the Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. There is a lot of speculation as to what this time means in regards to the Day of the Lord, end times and all that, but I will leave that to people more knowledgeable than I.

I’m reflecting on the fact that this day is about announcing. It’s heralding the time of harvest, prodding us to reflect and repent, which can be bitter, humiliating, and I don’t know what else. It’s also a preparation for a glorious 8 day party, celebrating the Lord, His blessings, our family, our community, etc.

In Deuteronomy 32, the Song of Moses is taught. Yah instructed Moses to compose a song and teach it to the children of Israel, which was passed on from generation to generation. It calls for His people to learn from the past and look to the future. We sometimes either get bogged down by our past to the point that we can’t move on to what He has for us, or we completely dismiss and ignore our past, and can’t figure out why we keep making the same mistakes. Our Father –  so loving, trustworthy, and faithful – framed the appointed times in such a way that we are always growing closer to Him and shedding or turning away from the things that hinder. I am in awe, and during these Days of Awe, I will continue to reflect, repent, and learn, that I may go into the future celebrating His glory!!

Redshoooz – Give Me Your Eyes
BYNA 40 Days – Day 28, Day 29

 

Trust on another level

I did mention before that this trust thing is not a journey for the faint of the heart. Today was rough – very, very rough. So, my reading this morning took me to Genesis 22, the recounting of God asking Abraham offer his only son, his Promise, on the altar to Him. I can only imagine Abraham’s shock and second guessing, but what we see in this passage is a steadiness, confidence, and trust that blows my mind. In verse 5, he tells his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there and worship, and come back to you.” He’s being completely obedient, yet trusting that the promise the Lord has given him about Isaac will still come to pass. When his son asks, understandably, where the sacrifice is for the offering, Abraham replies, “…Elohim does provide for Himself the lamb for an ascending offering.” Hebrew 11:17-19 (NASB) tells us:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

There is no dialogue of discussing, reasoning, pleading. I simply see obedience and a trust that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do, regardless of the circumstances.

So as I sat reflecting on that – a trust that seems to me to guide an unequivocal obedience, a confidence in a trustworthy Father who fulfills His promises – He brought to the front of my mind a couple of promises that I had folded, boxed up, and put away because it was no longer possible. I had let them go because the time seemed to have passed, and the process was truly one of the more painful times in my life. I figured I needed to just take my hands off and leave it to whatever God wants to do with it. But as I reflected on Abraham and his son, I felt the Lord point them out and ask me if I will trust Him in that, too.

I wept. I cried off and on all day, and I’m wiping tears off my keyboard as I type. This is way harder than trusting Him to provide for the bills. I remember some verse about those faithful in a little will be faithful in much, and I’m thinking, I’m so not ready for the much. I feel so bruised once again; I don’t have the strength for this. And still He asks, will I trust Him in all things.

I find myself repenting – not just repenting, but making teshuva, changing my direction. Instead of walking away from broken things and dreams, I choose to stand and make an offering to He who is Trustworthy. Instead of reasoning based on circumstances, I choose to trust in His promises. And in spite of the whirling emotions of fear, pain, weariness, etc., I chose fulfill my promise I made to my Father decades ago, that whatever He asks of me, the answer is yes.

BYNA 40 Days – Day 21, Day 22

Firm and Faithful

So, I headed to my Strong’s dictionary and saw a wealth of information. There are (according to Strong’s) 9 Hebrew words associated with the root word “trust”, and 5 Greek words. Of course I’m going to dig deeper!

‘âman; to be firm, faithful, true; to trust. To build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; fig. to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; to be true or certain; hence, assurance, believe, bring up, establish.

Words carry weight, often times more than we realize. So when I say, “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God'” (Psalm 31:14), I am cognizant that I am firm in what I say, and I will be faithful in that belief, and I believe in Him with all of my heart. There is no room for doubt in that. Amen.

BYNA 40 days – Day 11, Day 12

 

Can we be entrusted?

Just a reminder – trust works both ways. While I’m working on fully trusting the Lord, I myself need to be trustworthy. I want to be faithful with the things at hand, in front of me, that I may be entrusted with future and possibly bigger things.

I really like what this article below from First Fruits of Zion has to say about preparing to by trustworthy. It definitely does help me recognize areas I need to focus on…

Forty Years of Preparation

Before God can entrust us with great things, we must prove faithful with the little things. Yeshua says, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10). God tested the children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness before bringing them into the Promised Land to humble them and to see if they would remain faithful to His Torah.

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

During the forty years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, God provided for their every need. He fed them manna from heaven and water from a rock. He miraculously preserved their clothing and shoes so that they would not wear out. Through these daily miracles, the children of Israel learned to trust in God for all their physical needs. They learned that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

All of that was about to change… Read More Here

BYNA 40 Days – Day 8