Blessed is she who has believed

 Do you remember learning how to walk?  Probably not!  But walking has become "natural" to you.  There are very few people that never got the opportunity to learn how to walk, and it was more than likely a limited circumstance that meant they had to learn a different mode of transporting themselves.  You would have to very diligently avoid walking to lose your ability to walk, but your brain has so many occurrences of it, that you may still imagine doing it.  

Watching a baby learn how to walk, and then in those first few months "toddle" around has been a delight of mine, recently.  I have seen my own 2 children learn this: they got it in their head that they were going to do what the people around them were doing, and got up the courage and used the strength they had gained in training (crawling and pulling up) to walk.  It started with a side shuffle- along a couch or coffee table they had pulled up on- and then went to venturing to forward steps with support, and then on their own.  Since then, I have been blessed to see 3 more children go through that process.  Every time, I am delighted and will just watch when they start to make those toddle steps to get them where they want to go.  I can hardly distract my husband when he gets home from that little child that toddles towards him with outstretched arms: a mini, cuter version of Frankenstein, "Da!  Da!"  

Our last child, Elizabeth, spent the first 9 months of her life mostly on her back.  She was a rather miserable baby, and it concerned me; both her fussiness that wore me out, and that she would not spend any time on her tummy and learning how to crawl (she would scream on her stomach and once she learned how to roll over, did not spend much time face down).  Finally, with a lot of help from her big sister, myself, and a therapist, she began to get her legs under her by herself, rock, and put an arm out to crawl.  Pretty quickly after that she learned the crawl-to-sit maneuver.  She became such a happy baby.  We were all so relieved- physically (she had gained a lot of weight eating and not moving) and mentally (her screaming decreased radically and she became such a happy baby)!  Now she could get to what she wanted on her own.  If you knew me, you might have heard me say, "it's as if she had always wanted to move, and just couldn't figure out how, and now that she can she is living her dream!"  Her learning to walk came pretty quickly after, and there's not much stopping her now!

How do you think this picture could relate to God's desires for you and your willingness to learn them, begin to walk them out?  He knows He created you to walk in His ways, and He gave you the ability to chose to learn to walk.  But too often we, like my little Elizabeth, think that on our back is best.  We think because our eyes are raised to our Heavenly Father (we're laying on our backs, aren't we?), we "should" be happy.  But we're not actually walking out what we're learning, Holy Spirit's convictions, and His purpose for us.  We're frustrated because we're not getting what we want.  The people around us look so happy, we're hungry but can't satisfy ourselves, or we see something we want to engage with but can't.... we haven't been practicing, training ourselves to make the moves that look like following.  We have to turn over, get our legs under us, ready our hands, and take those risky steps.  Our Heavenly Father delights in seeing us practice what He created us to do!

Proverbs 3:5 & 6, a promise and a warning: 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on you own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight"....  "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."

We must be ready to lay aside what has become familiar, even if it is a good thing, for what God has next.  It can be the hardest part, but we must let go in order to receive.  

When the Lord said to Jeremiah in the book named after him, 1:4,

 "before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations," 

Jeremiah's response was, 

"I do not know how to speak, I am only a child."  

Reminds me of Moses, who said he could not speak for his stuttering.  God wants to raise us up, He doesn't expect us to believe we can do something we've never done, but He does want us to trust Him.    It's trusting Him that gives us the power to "can" again and again, and then His ways will become familiar, and then He will give us the next assignment!  He had a plan for our lives, that we were set apart for something significant, that could only be done in relationship with Him.

For Elizabeth, learning how to crawl led to walking, and her favorite now is climbing steps, and scooting back down.  Oh, how she loves that!  And then transferring those abilities to begin to explore all around her, inside and out, and playgrounds!  Climbing, sliding, seeing a new section with a new challenge, she eagerly confronts those things at her level.  Did you stop there?  Probably not!  You went on to running, skipping, jumping rope, playing sports, learning new trick after new trick.  I am amazed at the flips my older daughter, Aliya, has learned in gymnastics.  She believes she can teach them all to me too.... haha, I'm trying!  It's good for her to see I will still try, and it's good for me to keep training my brain-body connection to learn new things!  To say "yes", study the steps, and then do it!  I won't land the first time, my body may hurt for the attempts, but eventually, if I keep trying, I too, can get it!  

Read on in Jeremiah, and you will see that God trains Jeremiah to see what He sees, and learn how to speak the Message He's given him.  

I am so encouraged by Mary, mother of Jesus.  In Luke 1, we first see an angel of the Lord appearing to Zecharia, a priest: one who knows the Lord well, and whose job is to preach to the people.  When the angel tells Zecharia that his prayers have been heard, and that he will have a son, he wants a proof that it will be.  Because of his disbelief, he is silenced.  Can you imagine how hard that must be for a preacher?  But how can you preach if you won't accept God's word for yourself!?

Mary's response, when she is told that she would bear the Son of God, is, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"  She knew God's desire for her was purity, and that she was not yet married, so her question, was how do you want me to be obedient?  Upon hearing, her response was "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said."  She came into agreement and made herself  available to the Lord's will.

Upon her visit to Elizabeth, blessings are spoken over her, and I want you to hear this for you, 

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" Luke 1:45  

What has He said to you?  Believe, and start walking!  It might seem risky, but with Him, we can face fear: remember fear does not come from the Lord!

Start today, read over every scripture I list, and read it in context.  If a word pops out to you look up where else that word or concept is used.  Especially look in the Old testament: what happened the first time this was introduced, and what can you learn from it?  How did God's people come to grasp that this concept needed to be a part of their life- or that it didn't? 

You may not know what the Lord is really setting you up for, but with Him, it is always worth it!