worship when it makes no sense

Today I could feel the devil breathing down my neck.  I could feel the weight of everything piling up and weighing me down so hard that I thought I was going to suffocate from the pressure of it.  “JESUS I AM IN THE STORM AND I CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE!”  There was a sense that my hearts cry and my burden wasn’t getting past the ceiling, let alone making it to heaven’s ears.  And on top of it, I had to see to my children’s needs.  Not an easy thing to do when you can barely breath or put one foot in front of the other.  

Luis was experiencing the same thing and we finally shut ourselves into a room and began to cry out to Jesus.  You know those times when you get before God and have these gut wrenching, heart wrending prayers?  GOD I WANT TO BELIEVE YOU AND YOUR REPORT BUT I AM REALLY STRUGGLING!!!!  GOD I DON’T WANT TO DOUBT YOU NOW OR COMPLAIN!!!!!  GOD, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE BUT TO PUT MY EVERYTHING IN YOUR HANDS!!!  I thought of Job sitting on an ash heap with his entire life in ruins PRAISING GOD!  Would you believe the only thing that God told me was that I needed to go to the store and get the ingredients I need to make muffins?  HUH!?  

So, I did it and GUESS WHAT!?  GOD MEET ME IN THE CAR!!!!  He flooded my heart with such peace and such comfort.  It was unbelievable!  I could FEEL the war raging and FELT the victory!  The Lord simply spoke to my heart that it is all going to be ok!  No direct answers, no need to understand, just that it is all going to be ok!  That He is in control!  The lyrics to this song were playing on my Ipod and they really hit home to me....if you don’t have it DOWN LOAD IT!!!  

I Lift My Hands lyrics

Songwriters: Christopher Tomlin;Matt Maher;Louie Giglio

Be still, there is a healer

His love is deeper than the sea

His mercy, it is unfailing

His arms are fortress for the weak

I lift my hands to believe again

You are my refuge, You are my strength

As I pour out my heart

These things, I remember

You are faithful, God, forever

Be still, there is a river

That flows from Calvary's tree

A fountain for the thirsty

Pure grace that washes over me

I lift my hands to believe again

You are my refuge, You are my strength

As I pour out my heart

These things, I remember

You are faithful, God, forever

Maybe God puts us in these hard valleys to test how we are going to react.  Do we shut down and pout (which is usually what I do), or do we worship the King of heaven and earth NO MATTER WHAT!?  He didn’t change our situation, BUT he flooded me and Luis with PEACE!!!  And the FAITH TO WORSHIP!!!!  Peace that is beyond any comprehension.  It makes no sense, and guess what!?  It doesn’t have to.  

Sometimes we like to talk about “going deeper in Jesus”, but maybe all that means is letting go and allowing Him to be Lord no matter what.  Maybe that means that we can have the ability to worship the one who shed his blood for our sins EVEN when things are going on that make no sense.  

CLING to Jesus!  STAY at the cross!  and DON’T LET GO!!!!  

PEACE PEACE!!!

Do you ever feel as if you are going in the wrong direction?  Do you ever feel as if everything you are setting your hands to do is coming up as worm eaten and worthless?  The condemnation rings so loudly in your ears you could swear others can hear it as clearly.  It is written all over your face “YOU ARE WORTHLESS!  THE MISTAKES YOU HAVE MADE IN THE PAST ARE FINALLY CATCHING UP WITH YOU!  WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVE AND WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPRESS?”  It rings on and on until you think you are going to suffocate from the weight of it.  You read the promises of God and think HOW CAN I CLAIM THAT PROMISE WHEN I KNOW WHAT IT IS MY HEART!?

We have been fighting that battle HARD this week!  Funny enough the Bible study I (Myranda) am working on is focusing on peace this week! 

Yesterday part of the reading came out of Matthew 14:22-23.  It is the account of when Jesus commanded the disciples to go across the lake while he went on a mountainside to pray.  They found themselves in the middle of a storm and were fighting for their lives.  All the while Jesus is sitting on the mountainside praying!  I don’t know about you but the first thing that pops into my mind when I read that was “Why didn’t he stop the storm?  He TOLD them to go across the lake, they were simply obeying the command.”   That is a point I noted, they were obeying God and found themselves in the storm.  Just because we obey Jesus, it doesn’t mean that everything is going to go smoothly all the time!   Just as Jesus had it all under control when the disciples were in the storm, he is the same God that has it under control today!  Isn’t that COMFORTING!?  

Please consider this quote:

Christ didn’t change His circumstances to make them bearable,  He mastered them a the peak of their impossibility.  Yes, Christ had perfect peace in the storm.”  Beth Moore

I wonder if the disciples had resigned themselves to certain death right before Jesus came to their rescue?  I wonder if the disciples could see Jesus sitting on the mountainside praying while they were fighting for their lives? Jesus isn’t going to change our circumstances for us to make it more bearable, he is going to ride out the storm WITH us!  He wants us to keep our focus on Him and walk in PEACE!  Then and only then will we be able to walk on water and the peaks of impossibility! 

We have shared with you all our hearts to reach out to the street children of Lusaka and how God has lead us, with the blessing of Times Square Church, to change ministries.  While we have been seeking God and praying about how and when to reach out to the kids, they keep showing up at our door.  God is bringing the kids to us!  There is one boy, his name is Moses.  He is 18, has been on the streets his entire life and knows nothing else.  He is desperate for change, but isn’t quit ready to give up the freedom of the streets.  Can anyone relate?  There is John who lives with his Grandma and shows up periodically because he knows that he will always get a hug and a plate of food.  Then there is an adorable 8 year old boy who calls himself Mr. Mwansa.  I just want to put him in my pocket he is so cute!  There is his beautiful sister Mary who is out there with him watching over him.  Just the other day as I was driving to take a dinner to someone and I found a group of boys on the side of the road and fell in love.  They looked like a group of puppies just tumbling all over each other.  Gave them a loaf of bread I made that morning.....

What we need from you guys is PRAYER!  We need direction and we need to make sure that we hear CLEARLY from the Lord the steps we are to take.  Do we get a bus and drive around to do outreaches?  Do we rent a store front in town?  Do we simply walk around with sandwiches in our bags?  

Would you also pray about how you can get involved?  How would the Lord want you to use your resources to help advance the work here....Do you send your money?  Do you volunteer in the missions office and stuff envelopes?  Do you get on a plane and come over with a team?  We believe firmly that a missionary is only as effective as the team of people behind them.  We need you!!!!!!!!! 

Prayer Points:

Pray for the kids that we mentioned above.  They need to know the love of God desperately!  

Pray for wisdom as we step out and help.  We don’t want our helping to hurt!  

Pray that God will bring Zambian workers to join in.

Pray for the finances to be available

Pray for our marriage and our family unity

As always, PLEASE keep us updated on your families!  We love to hear from you and what is going on in your lives!  

Many Blessings, 

Myranda, Luis, Amira, Hannah, Brooklyn Rose and Homer the dog

If you would like to give to the work you can send a check or money order to 

TSC MISSIONS FLOOR 4 

1657 Broadway

NYC, NY   10019

Put Morales Family/Zambia in the memo

Or you can go to tscnyc.org, select donate and specify “DONATE TO SOMEONE’S TRIP”  Put in Morales Family Zambia