Part III....this is getting more difficult as I move forward but I'm determined to share the fullness of this story!
This part can best be titled "My Spiritual Zap." And, yes, I did just call it that.
It had been a few days since my rehash of My Utmost for His Highest, and I was still wondering what all these little things that God was showing me were leading to.
I decided it was time to work on one of my least favorite tasks at work: facebook stalking. Okay, okay, that makes it sounds worse than it really is. Facebook is actually a marketing tool for us, so one of our tasks is to continually update our boss's friends list. We add contacts based on specific criteria and send out messages of events/programs we have going on.
During the process of contact searching, I stumbled upon this verse on someone's wall: "Call to me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and hidden things that you have not known." Jeremiah 33:3
It grabbed me and I couldn't quite explain why, but it was enough that I stopped wrote it down and shared it with B. We may have gone back to work, or we may have started discussing what we were learning....
At any rate, Brandon started telling me about his feelings on the job he had applied for (previously mentioned, amazing job). He explained how his perspective had changed from past job applications and searches. This time he said he wasn't trying to control everything about it, to do it according to his plan, but he was able to pray, "God, whatever you want to do with this." It was an attitude of "I'll do everything you set before me, but the outcome is in Your hands." Pretty great perspective, right?
So lunchtime came and we went back to our apartments. I looked up the verse from Jeremiah and read it over again. Somehow in my reading I ended up at 2 Corinthians. There is a verse that has been underlined in my Bible for a few years, but to be honest, I didn't fully understand it. It's 2 Corinthians 1:20, "For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory."
What stood out to me this time was the meaning of amen. I had heard this explained in sermons before, but never had I understood it as it applied to this verse. Amen is most commonly interpreted as "so be it."
Suddenly it all came together! God will fulfill all His promises, and when we recognize this, we are able through Christ to say 'Amen' or 'so be it' to everything He brings that God may receive the glory in it all.
I was so excited. In truth, I don't know that I can convey how excited I was. It was one of those moments where this new understanding was so great I just had to tell someone. I burst back into our office practically bouncing with joy. B was a little surprised by my sudden bound of energy. Quickly scrolling through terms in my head and finding them all unsastisfactory, I proclaimed, "I feel like I just had a spiritual zap!"
With a rather amused look on his face, Brandon replies, "I'm not sure I've ever had that happen, so please explain!" So I did, and the "so be it" part really resonated with him too.
A little bit of research taught me that Amen also implies truth and acceptance of an outcome. The first time Amen is used in the Bible is in Numbers 5: 22. Here a woman accused of adultery was to take an oath and drink the water of bitterness. If she had committed adultery, the water would make her sick, but if she was innocent, she would be fine. After taking the oath, the woman was to say "Amen Amen." It signifies acceptance of the curse/method of testing. In other places in Scripture, amen is translated 'truly' or 'truth.'
There are a more in-depth studies on the word, but these simple summaries brought plenty of meaning to me. As in B's case of saying, "Have Your way," he was uttering his amen to God in a manner of acceptance of God's plan. In my case of trying to figure out life and doubting God and His faithfulness, I was learning to utter my amen to God in surrender to His truth.
This really made me stop and think the next time I ended a prayer with "amen." Am I really surrendering to God when I say it? Do I really have a spirit that says, "So be it, LORD. To You be all the glory"?
Much love,
~ Redeemed
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