I am pleased to say that I do not live an ordinary life, and last night I had another extraordinary experience with God. Soon after 8:30pm, Shane and Belinda realized that the programme we were watching was a repeat, so it was turned off and we began a time of praise and worship - much to my delight; I love these times of corporate communion with our Lord. Using the "Songs of Fellowship" songbook, we carried on from where we had left off on the previous occasion, working through the "I" and "J" sections. Lol, that sounds quite pedantic, but I assure you it wasn't in the least! We had a wonderful time with the Lord and then discussing what He had said, done, and is doing, and generally reveling in the presence of God and the joy of being in His perfect will. It was after 11pm by the time we somewhat reluctantly headed for bed.
It was even later by the time I was finally settled in bed waiting for sleep, but as often happens, while most of me was enjoying the rest, my head was wide awake. Seems I wasn't the only one, though. A few minutes later, Shane came to share something important that the Lord had just told him. He went back to bed, and the house became quiet again. Then close to midnight, I heard Belinda moving around, saw a light switched on, and soon realized that both were in the lounge. The sound of pages turning indicated that at least one of them was reading the Bible. Being still wide awake myself, I considered joining them. And then an interesting thing happened: the thought came to mind, "Get up and join us." I wasn't sure if I thought it myself or if it was God speaking, but I promptly swung out of bed. Not quite certain yet, I waited in my doorway for a minute or so, then headed to the bathroom first. On the way back I casually paused in the lounge doorway and asked, "Is this exclusive?" I didn't really think it was, and I was right; they laughed and welcomed me. And then began the extraordinary part of the night. For the next three hours we stayed up, just to be in the Lord's presence. Three people dressed in night clothes plus socks plus an extra layer or two, occasionally singing, often in silent communion, sometimes talking, and wearing perpetual goofy grins... and all because it wasn't just us in that room. God's presence filled the room, and His pleasure in our company flowed over us.
Do you realize how much God loves it when we worship Him? The call that got me out of bed should have been written, "Get up and join Us!" because it was Jesus calling me to join a sort of divine pyjama party. Since we had never really left His presence and that sense of worship, by the time we again went to bed we had spent over 6 hours in praise and worship. That's a first for me! Is that extraordinary? Yes! Wonderfully so! But the best part is that while we get so much out of it, God also takes great pleasure in it. He longs for every one of us to come and commune with Him. No, He doesn't always call us to spend most of the night in worship, but when He does call you, do you run to Him in joy?
This hasn't actually changed the fact that we have no money, nor the related challenges we face each day, but with constant experiences like this, living this extraordinary life that God has called me to, I know that there is no way I would walk away from this. There is absolutely nothing to equal walking with God. Absolutely nothing!
PS. God is calling you to an extraordinary life with Him, too! Do say yes! (c:
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