I continue to study Ann Spangler's book "Praying the Names of God" and linking up with my friend Jill of Forever N Ever N Always.
This week our focus is on God as Adonay.
According to Ann, Adonay is a Hebrew word that means Lord. It signifies a relationship between a Lord and his servants. There is respect in that the servant listens and obeys his Lord.
As I thought about this term, I realized how much easier it is to pray to God as El Roi (He sees all) or El Shadday (He is all powerful). But if He is to be Lord of my life, I must surrender ALL to Him and His will ...not mine.
I pray to God as Adonay since I am His servant.
How easy it is to turn to God when life seems overwhelming and ask Him to take away my problems. But I know He has a plan and a purpose for my life, even though I don't always understand.
My part is to listen to Him and ... trust and obey.
Oh no, that sounds familiar! Trust and obey seems to be continually repeated for me this year.
I can identify with Moses in Exodus 3-4. God told Moses that He was sending him to bring His people, the Israelites out of Egypt. In Exodus 4:10, Moses tells God that he's not very eloquent in speech. God reminds Moses that He is the one who gives man his mouth, ears and eyes. God finally tells Moses in verse 12:
Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.
What more could Moses ask for?
And yet I've been in similar places too.
Many years ago, I felt that the Lord was leading me to speak, teach and encourage others.
I decided to get some training. At the time, I was working in a cardiovascular practice as a nurse. I listened to tapes and attended conferences. I enrolled in the Dale Carnegie speaking program and won four pens for my speeches. I became a graduate assistant the next year as I demonstrated each type of speech to the new students. I conducted a research project to find out what heart patients were most afraid of. The results demonstrated that they were more afraid of losing their independence than they were of dying. So, I taught the workshop to cardiac patients.
That was a season in my life. Years passed and I no longer worked in the cardiovascular practice. But my work wasn't completed by any means. The Lord impressed upon me where He would use me next.
I volunteered in the Homebound Ministry of my church. I visited people who couldn't get out due to illness or disability. I thought this would be right in my comfort zone as I could easily visit kind older people to encourage, help them and pray for them.
Then I met Ruth.
Ruth was in her late 80's but she was a feisty lady with strong opinions. She had a rough life. The first time I walked into her home it was very dark. She told me to sit down and proceeded to spend the next hour telling me how the people of my particular denomination let her down over the years. She went on and on and I couldn't interject a single word. After she finished talking I simply asked her what I could do for her.
With tears in her eyes, she said "Would you stop by some times and pray with me?"
Oh my, how could I turn her down? And so began a beautiful friendship between Ruth and me that lasted years.
Every Sunday for several years, I would pick up Ruth and her granddaughter and attend church. She had been absent for many years but she came back to "that denomination" after all. Her granddaughter Iva got to spend a week in the mountains at church camp one summer. There's so much more I could write about Ruth and how blessed I was to know her.
Adonay asked me to be His servant and minister to His child, Ruth.
My part was to trust Him and obey and in the midst of it ...I was blessed.
I had the privilege of being at her side holding her hand when she took her last breath. She was able to stay in her home as this was her wish. And I can't wait to see her in heaven one day; no more pain or sorrow.
If Adonay asks you to do something and it just doesn't fit in with your plans, I would encourage you to listen to Him.
I'll end with a quote from Ann:
...it is in knowing Him as your Lord that you will discover a true sense of purpose.
I can say a loud amen to that!
Blessings and love,
I'm wrecked by this name! WHEW! I just finished my post for today!
ReplyDeleteTo yours I say sitting down before Him - AMEN!
Love you Debbie!
Humbled completely today!
Jill
Debbie...
ReplyDeleteYour words always speak to my heart. Today is no exception. To think of Ruth up there, waiting to greet you one day... gives me tears!
You have a way with words Debbie, and it always reaches me.
Love you much,
Sonja
And I say a loud Amen to that to & I'll add a Hallelujah to go with it!!!
ReplyDeleteWylie
How precious: both the study and the story! In fact, they're both about relationships, and that really speaks to me. It seems to me that that's the bottom line of it all ("all" being life): our relationship with Him, and our relationships with others.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you soon!
Hugs,
Kathleen
What a beautiful story. To serve God, there's nothing better!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! I needed to read it...so very encouraging. To remember to listen to HIM and not to myself.
ReplyDeleteBless you for this, love you.
ReplyDelete"Feisty".....well, that was one way of describing her. I smile as I think of Ruth. She was a blessing, wasn't she, and at the same time, a bit of a challenge. But not only did God bless you for your faithfulness, I believe He blessed others by her presence. Thank-you for reminding me of Ruth, and the possibilities of other "Ruth's" to come.
ReplyDeleteA very encouraging study and story. God's names are so meaningful. Thinking of you, my friend.
ReplyDeletei love this post, debbie. this spoke right through my heart.
ReplyDeleteBut if He is to be Lord of my life, I must surrender ALL to Him and His will ...not mine.--- VERY TRUE!
so many times i tried to reason out because i didn't understand what He's up to. but several times i realized that He knew what He's doing after all. He knew everything about me.
i miss you too, debbie. (((HUGS)))
How your story of Ruth has blessed me tonight. I have a "Ruth" in my life too!
ReplyDeleteI love how the outcome has blessed, how it ties to the meaning of Adonay.
Obey. Yes, that's one of the hard ones.
There is a little song we used to sing, "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." Your post brought that to my mind today. As always your post blessed me.
ReplyDeleteI say Amen to that also, Debbie. What a lovely story of Ruth. You are precious!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing the story of Ruth. You have met so many neat people - I am so thankful that you are sharing your life with us.
ReplyDeleteLove & peace,
Iris