Journal | Heartstone Journey

God’s Signposts Are Where The Destiny Trail Begins

We had worked hard all week and finished our work early, leaving Sunday open for exploring this magnificent city, so of course we headed right up to the castle. I believe that this was another God stumble, for what I found hidden in the middle of this awesome structure was a treasure of Scotland: the Stone of Destiny. I don’t know about you, but thought this was really cool, although the guard didn’t think so when I tried to get a picture of it.

In 1296 the Stone was captured by Edward I as spoils of war and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted into a wooden chair, known as St. Edward’s Chair. On this chair, subsequent English sovereigns, except Queen Mary II, have been crowned. In 1996, the British Government decided that the Stone should be kept in Scotland when not in use at coronations, and on November 15, 1996, after a handover ceremony at the border between representatives of the Home Office and of the Scottish Office, it was returned to Scotland and transported to Edinburgh Castle where it remains today. Scottish tradition holds the Stone of Destiny to be the pillow stone said to have been used by the biblical Jacob.

This in a sense became a signpost for me and I knew that woven into my business trip to a far away land was the confirmation of my destiny moment back on that mountain top.

What Are The Purposes Of Hardships In Our Lives

One day, it’s all going fine and the next day, the bottom drops out with no real explanation. It only takes a split second for everything to change. Maybe you lost your job, or a family member had a serious accident…fill in your own personal hardship. Whether or not you are presently encountering hardship in your life, you can be certain that they will come as we live in a fallen and broken world. You can’t escape life without hurt. Jesus even said,

I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world. —John 16:33 (MSG)

The second chapter of Corinthians provides a glimpse into the hardship Paul had to endure and walk through. Five times he received the forty lashes minus one. Three times he was beaten with rods; he was stoned; three times he was shipwrecked; he spent a night and a day in the open sea; and he was constantly on the move. He had been in danger from rivers; from bandits from his own countrymen, in the city, in the country, and at sea; and from false brothers. He had labored and toiled and had often gone without sleep; he had known hunger and thirst and had often gone without food; he had also experienced coldness and nakedness.

The very credentials that once defined his place of security and identity were dumped in exchange for Jesus. Paul made a choice with life’s hardships…he gloried in them. He came to a place in his relationship with God where God became everything good and true in his life. He began to see that God shaped his character through these hardships.

Why It’s Easier To Run Into The Headwinds With God When We Believe

Goliath came at King Saul and the armies of Israel so hard that he paralyzed them with fear and panic. Then into this wild scene walks a shepherd boy named David, who didn’t tremble or run from the taunts of this giant. David saw the giant he was facing through the eyes of God, which changed his perspective. We can learn from this confrontation that David did not weigh the risk of failure because his faith was resting totally in the living God. In God, there is no real failure when we act.

Court, intimidation, financial problems, and tragedy after tragedy were some of the training grounds the Lord used to teach me to confront my fears head on. I began to understand that the giants I faced on this journey did their best to intimidate me, but I would learn that these were merely tactics of the enemy designed to keep me in fear. These lessons on the battlefield of life are sharpening my faith and building my trust in the Lord no matter what circumstances come my way. I read in a study of Matthew 6:34 that fear robs us of our today, our tomorrow and gives victory to our past.

Every Step Away From The Lord Is A Step In The Wrong Direction

Pressing ever so hard against this diminishing hope of gaining acceptance and approval, I convinced myself that this purpose was unattainable and my hopes and dreams shatter in the many tears I cry! I arrived at the point in my life where this emptiness and brokenness actually becomes my symbolic birthright represented by my broken leg. I would struggle to fully walk in this life. It’s no wonder I developed an unquenchable appetite for applause, wealth, and power from any source in an attempt to compensate for the loss, to fill this void.

With my broken leg, I would limp through life.

This blurred reality defined my focus outwardly, a public pursuit which left my inner world empty. Behind this intense quest for power was a deep desire for love. As I soon learned, my heart was lifeless, without a beat, and my soul was sick.

I slipped slowly into a shrouded pit as the sorrows and hurt of the scarring wounds from within tore me down. Listening to the faint voices masquerading through the mist and haze of discouragement as the answer to these chains that have entangled me, I slowly leave behind the will to hold on and let go. The core issue we all face is when the self becomes our god and we worship it. When the self is our god, we strive to make all of life revolve around it, and with a consuming zeal, we seek to satisfy empty vanity.

I finally came to the end of myself.

Why Waiting On God Is Frustrating And Transforming

In the months following Promise Keepers, the Lord moved me into a season of learning the importance of being still and waiting upon Him. This was not a time of inactivity, but a time when I was learning how to rest in Him through the circumstances that came my way. These were extremely difficult, lonely, and necessary lessons to learn for my growth. It was not my nature to be still, to wait, and to remain idle; I kept hammering at God with absolutely no answer! I continued crying out to God, waiting for Him to show up on the scene and fix things, but nothing happened, and I became more and more frustrated. Needing Him every day, I would ask Him where He had gone. It was like a scene from a long family road trip with the kids in the back of the vehicle incessantly saying, “Are we there yet?” and the parents finally uttering a simple “No.”

After some time the Lord would answer me by directing me to Psalms 46:10a, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Not particularly liking this response, I continued to grumble, so God used an e-mail from my cousin to get His point across in a different way. The e-mail had a poem called “Wait” attached to it; check it out.

God’s Signposts Are Where The Destiny Trail Begins

What Are The Purposes Of Hardships In Our Lives

Why It’s Easier To Run Into The Headwinds With God When We Believe

Every Step Away From The Lord Is A Step In The Wrong Direction

Why Waiting On God Is Frustrating And Transforming

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Never Out Of The Fight!

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