I wrote this post yesterday afternoon shortly after yesterday’s, timing it to be published later this week. Today, I received my chastisement and Rebekah L invited me to take her day to write about things as they have happened… it floors me how I wrote this PRIOR to what happened. I’ll explain more at the end.
So I have been trying to work through all the layers of feelings behind why I have been falling into this relationship with this guy and there are MANY things I see.
A) He and I truly have SO many things in common. We’re only a month different in age so we know MUCH of the same references from childhood and we always find something outdoors to do.
B) We communicate well together. It’s kind of freaky when we randomly hit a stride in our convos where his or my texts are the answers to what the other person is texting that moment. Granted it makes sense in a way because conversations are on topics and thus have a finite amount of topic space, but it has happened multiple times in the same conversation before. Also, he and I text/skype/message each other throughout the day. It never feels too much or too little.
C) He makes me feel in person how God makes me feel spiritually- cared for, secure, safe, like I can try to conquer anything and he’d be there to catch me if I fell.
But despite all this, it’s eating away at me. It eats away because he’s not in church. I have always longed for a guy who would lead me in prayer. I longed for a man who would lead our family in a journey towards passionate pursuit of Him. A man who would have no qualms of calling a family fast. A man who would be so assured in God’s ways that when God told him something, no matter how crazy it seemed, he’d be willing to drop all for Him- as much as I feel I have done with my life.
I have dropped everything I know and love for Him. I have left home and all that I know to live this life, knowing that He is the one who has taken me here and knowing that all I do is in and for Him. And yet now… here I find myself splintering because here I live this life where I have dropped everything for Him, and yet I find myself attaching more and more to this guy who hadn’t even been to church in years until this past Sunday when he went with me.
I felt like all I deserved was a cosmic spanking. A beating of epic proportions for doing what I shouldn’t be doing. So I cowered away from God, afraid of how His chastisement would play out. Would He rip away my blessings? Make me never be able to become a doctor? Cause me to live life unfulfilled- never a doctor, never a missionary, just a nobody with no purpose… which is my greatest fear. To live a life that amounts to nothing- no spiritual legacy, lived my life that amounted to a mountain of nothingness.
Then my friend pointed out that Jesus is a Father to us. He’s our daddy. As my friend said:
Remember, He’s a Daddy who loves to bless his kids, not a godfather who gives favors in exchange for good behavior…
And it sparked a thought in my mind. Just as my parents have always known how best to reprimand me, God knows how best to chastise me. If He has a purpose for me becoming a doctor, why would He rip that away as punishment when it would cause me to fall away from the path He truly wants for me? The chastisement needs to match the child. As I expressed this to my friend, he replied:
Yes… spanking is not the first or best method of training children. Patience and teaching happen for a long time first
So why have I been hiding from God? Afraid to ask Him to help because it felt like I’d be coming to exchange help for a heavy toll. Would God truly rip away all hope of an Isaac because I just seem so lost and confused right now? I have to hold on to the hope that He is good despite my fears and doubts. I have to hold on to the hope that it is safe to express my doubts to Him and that instead of exchanging punishment for expressing my fears, He will exchange faith and bless me for trusting that He is able to help me overcome the fear and doubt. I have to hold on to the hope that He truly is a good Father who knows how best to punish me and that just as my parents always knew when I needed something to just help me push through the hard times- that sometimes, even though maybe I deserved a punishment- they gave me a reprieve instead for they knew what was best for ME . I just have to believe that He will know what I need more and what actions are what I need to help prod me to where He wants me to be.
Love,
Jesus You are my love. Jesus You are my everything. Jesus I am holding on to the fact that as my parents have loved me into going the right way in the past, You know what I need more- a rod or a loving prod. You know what I need more so I have to trust that You aren’t going to just punish me over and over again if I just reach out to You and so I do now. I reach out to You and believe that You will chastise me how You see fit. I just keep being hurt over and over again by guys in the church so I just have a hard time believing an Isaac exists for all I see is good guys out of church and guys who are either jerks or will never pursue me in the church. Help me believe that Isaac exists. Help me be like Rebekah yet once again. Help me bring myself back to the roots of it all- passionate pursuit of You as I patiently wait for the day I meet Isaac. Love, my Jesus, You are my God and my salvation. You are my everything.
Rebekah M.
So last night my parents received an email by someone in another country who has prophesied accurately multiple times. He revealed via visions what has been going on between the guy and I and I could not have been more mortified than that. The guy and I have been physically affectionate and although we didn’t do THAT, we have done stuff.
My parents’ disappointment has always been THE greatest reprimand that I could ever receive. I want to make them proud. I want to make them feel joy and happiness when they think of me- knowing that I am a good daughter who brings them honor. The only saving grace was that even in the visions, it was obvious that I didn’t do THAT. However… the whole time my parents were reading the email, I just felt how much it felt like it was God’s way of chastising me. The punishment was the most it could have been before “a cosmic spanking” in which those consequences would be irreversible.
The email ended with the fact that if I do end up doing THAT, my salvation is on the line. We have choices that we all have to make. I need, I MUST, choose to pursue purity in Christ with all that I am, for all that I am today is because of Him. Without Him, I am nothing. So without pursuit of purity in Him, I will become nothing.
Lord, despite my mortification and shame, I thank You for Your chastisement that awakens me before I mess up beyond repair. I thank You for Your grace and mercy. I thank You for Your unending love that would even be willing to shame me before my parents, knowing it would spark their full prayer support and an awakening like no other. I thank You for Your ways, even if they sting right now. I love You Jesus,
Rebekah M.
Related post: https://beingrebekah.com/2013/01/06/the-shame-game/
https://beingrebekah.com/2013/01/28/praying-monday-pressing-on/
https://beingrebekah.com/2013/02/14/the-visions-part-1/
https://beingrebekah.com/2013/02/28/the-visions-part-2/
https://beingrebekah.com/2013/04/12/the-visions-part-3/
https://beingrebekah.com/2013/05/02/the-visions-loved-like-gomer-was/
Being Rebekah 
I’ve been taking a course our church offers, called Men’s Fraternity. All of the guys who take it say they wish it had been offered when they were 18. I wonder if there is something like that for women? So many men have wounds formed from growing up without the right models in their family. There are a lot of men who look like men, but are really boys inside, trying to make their way. Forming healthy relationships in dating and marriage can be a huge challenge for men and women and it ends up being very much hit and miss. I pray that you all find men who will honor you and do the work it takes to form relationships with solid foundations built on Christ.
I wish I could go back and do it all again… my parents are such good people but there are SO many different messages going on even within the church- some say DON’T DO ANYTHING! Others say “so long as you don’t do THAT, you’re fine.” Others find the line somewhere in between… and God is working on my heart and showing me it’s not a line, lines don’t work, it didn’t work for Israel and it won’t work for us- it’s about direction. It’s about attitude. An attitude of purity will act MUCH different than one of “well… the line is here.” I also wish that I saw my worth before I ever started dating… I thought I was just SO lucky that a guy would pay attention to me. It was amazing and surprising because part of me was convinced that no man would ever notice me- that I was worthless. When really, it’s that God was hiding me until the time I met Isaac… I just hope that I can turn into a good testimony instead of a “don’t do what I did”… so I must press into God and hide myself in Him and I know I’ll end up on the other end how He wants.
I did all 3 terms of Men’s Fraternity and it was some awesome material. All the older men were saying they wished they had it when they were younger. I felt blessed that I was able to learn and apply a lot of it. Some of it I’ll definitely be referencing for if/when I ever have kids. I don’t think any Christian guy who goes through the course would regret it.
Pingback: Becoming the Other Son | Being Rebekah
Pingback: Prayer Monday: Breaking Oppression… Again | Being Rebekah
Pingback: The Visions: Part 1 | Being Rebekah
Hi Rebekah, I read your post with interest because you are another woman, besides myself, who the Lord promised an “Isaac”. In my story (Chapter 5) I was told by the Lord that he would choose the husband and it would be a happy marriage. At first the Lord called him “the Chosen”, and later identified him as “Isaac.” The Lord kept his promise (Chapter 60) and we are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Not only that, its a second marriage for me. He is the God of second chances, He is faithful, and I am proof that He gives us so much more than we can ever deserve or imagine. I’ve been asking the Lord for some verses for you. Psalm 37:1-7, and Romans 4:20-24. If you don’t waver in unbelief but come through in faith, it will be credited to you as righteousness. He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn. You can’t lose your salvation, but you could lose your righteous reward, an inheritance you need to grab hold of and fight for. You hang in there, Princess Rebekah 🙂 May the Lord grant you the desires of your heart.
wow…. all I can say is wow! this seriously made me cry a little… thank you so much! I have been a little less “full of faith” the last few days b/c this guy… I know that God wants me to keep talking to him and hanging out (just to keep things pure!- not even make-out sessions lol) but it can be frustrating and wearying since he doesn’t know God so part of me feels like I’m wasting time that could be spent “in search of isaac” but clearly, the key is to trust in God’s plan and just wait… and I still like him so it’s soooo easy to feel insecure about everything… I don’t know if it’s only to help this guy finally meet the REAL God (vs. his untruthful version he has of God in his mind of an only restricting God), or more one day… but this was so encouraging! God bless you and thank you for helping my day start off right!! Thank you!! ~Rebekah M.
You’re welcome Rebekah M. Yes, that’s the key. I’ve learned that God’ wants our trust, and He rejoices when we delight ourselves in Him. God bless 🙂
Pingback: The Visions: Part 2 | Being Rebekah
Pingback: Confident in His Love | Being Rebekah
Pingback: The Visions: Part 3 | Being Rebekah
Pingback: The Visions: Loved like Gomer Was | Being Rebekah
Pingback: Praying Monday: Pressing On | Being Rebekah