★★★★★
Last week, after practicing how to remain peaceful, I woke up to discover such an encouraging testimony that a woman had submitted.
Of course, it made my day so bright and I just thought what a wonderfully peaceful day this will be! That’s when I noticed (after being up for almost an hour; after waking up singing a song about being “Happy”), I heard a loud pop, saw a flash of lightning and our home began to rumble. I found out that a storm had been raging for hours! Yet, I felt completely safe and what amazed me is that I had slept right through it! Even after I woke up, for over an hour, I was clueless to what was happening outside.
Both Matthew and Mark give us an account of what happened when our HH slept through a storm—a storm so massive that threatened to drown everyone on board the ship He was on. Before reading what I’ve got to say, take a moment to read these accounts first and ask your HH to point out what He wants to show you.
When I read it, He first pointed out that when Matthew begins his account of what happened, he says that His disciples “followed Him into the boat.” As His brides, He reminded me that each of us has chosen to follow our Husband, our Maker, and that as His bride, totally “in love” with Him, we want to be willing to go no matter where He takes us, and no matter what means of transportation He chooses to get us there along our RJ “Restoration Journey.”
Then, when I read Mark’s version of the same story, he gives us even more information as he explains why they were in the boat… “Jesus suggested they cross over to the other side of the lake.”
Traveling along our own restoration journey, though we often prefer to stay put, especially when where we are is finally comfortable and calm, the last thing we want to do is to move to the other side of the comfort we have begun to enjoy. Yet, may I say, dear bride, that what He has ahead for you and me is always going to be better than what He’s asking us to leave behind.
My hope is that He will lead you to cross over from your restoration journey to a more peaceful and certainly enjoyable, Abundant Life Journey! Make sure you Journal and send "postcards" by posting praise on EW
Today in the testimony submitted I mentioned above, I sat stunned when I read something she said, something He told her when she sought His answers, which was the same thing He had told me almost a year ago!
How it came about was rather strange. There was a “treasure” box that was sitting next to my bed (while we were staying in a short-term rental while in Florida visiting a few of my children). And inside was a fortune that said simply, “The best is yet to come,” which is what I read in my email this morning. She said, “I LISTENED TO YOU, ALWAYS GIVING ME ENCOURAGEMENT !!!! NOW IS MY TURN TO CHEER YOU UP!!! BE ENCOURAGE, THE BEST IS STILL COMING.”
Now, I want to pass on something to each of you because that’s what He wants you to know and be clear about…
“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare [the health, happiness, and good fortunes of a person] and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope.’” Another version says, “For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you [*how could you ever think that?]. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope”!
*By the way, I was who added [how could you ever think that?] because I chided myself for thinking it was He who was using others to speak to me, accusations that were painful. Why would He use someone else when every single morning and every moment throughout my entire day, He is who I am speaking and listening to?! So why would He choose to “use” someone else to be unkind or harsh? When He said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” I want you to consider and really ponder this truth since you, too, are His sweet bride!!
Coming back to the point of this message, which is, if each night (or when you’re concerned about anything), you snuggle up to your HH. So that even if there are storms raging all around you, even to the point when everyone else around you might become fearful, you can sleep cuddled safely in His arms, not even aware there IS a storm until you look out from your safety and notice the damage.
This is what He wants for His bride, right? So rather than run out into the storm, a storm that no one but HE can control, wait, and even sleep inside where it’s warm and dry, curled up next to Him. At some point, you can be sure, He will rebuke and silence the storm, a storm that once appeared so dangerous.
It’s again time to STOP now (or make a date later) to selah what you’ve learned, in other words, meditate on everything. AND be sure that you just don’t think about what you’ve learned, but you set up a date with your Husband to be alone with Him and ASK Him to share with you how this message applies to you and anything else you can ASK Him. Then sit quietly and listen to keep your love alive by living like this daily.
The Word of Their Testimonies
Even though this is not an "Opening Heaven" testimony, my Precious said this is where I should share my testimony, and why not encourage each of you to ask your Friend and Lover to remind you of all the many, many testimonies of how He rebuked the devourer so you didn't live in poverty and heaven showered down blessings? Now for my testimony.
Today, I woke up in my own bed after three days when I'd evacuated what was building in force to be the largest hurricane on record in the USA. Hurricanes are measured by categories 1-5. The strength and destruction had reached a level of 6, and it was heading directly towards us in southwest Florida. It was so strong and wide that it looked like it would take out the middle of the entire state. The good news is that I am not living on or near the coast. Nevertheless, the winds and storm surge can reach dozens of miles inland. The other interesting fact is that my son asked me to also move into this futuristic community where he'd lived for a year when both of us longed to and have been trusting Him to move us back to the Bible belt to live on a farm again—giving all my grandchildren the life my children experienced on the farm (see Macy's Barn Cat and Horses Hoped For).
Instead, we can hear Him laughing because this "smart" city, the famous model 15-Minute City, is entirely contrary to where we'd have chosen to live; in fact, we are the least likely to be living here. Yet, his family and I live wherever He says to go, so here we are. One thing it boasts (and this is not the good boasting like "boasting about your weaknesses") is withstanding hurricane flooding and winds. There are no power polls, everything is solar, and the cables are underground. In addition, it's built higher, so flooding (even though there are small lakes everything, and yes, most have alligators). Yet, at the time of the planning, did they know that these manufactured storms could get out of hand and reach the force of a Category 6? So understandably, because we are human, I was becoming concerned, and I hate how that feels, don't you? I cherish living as His bride, always at peace, always enjoying this endless honeymoon.
So I went outside on my balcony and just began talking to Him as I always do. And when I asked Him about the hurricane barreling our way, do you know what He said? "Enjoy." I said, "What? ENJOY!?! What do you mean? How can I possibly 'enjoy' a hurricane?" He said, "You are evacuating to be with your family, so enjoy all the time you will get to spend together." And guess what? That's exactly what we all did. We had so much fun.
We laughed almost nonstop and were amazed by how many people reached out, saying they were praying for us, which I also "enjoyed" connecting with! The hurricane continued heading straight for us, then I heard on the TV and everyone began announcing, "It's suddenly turned, and it's heading north"! Heading away from us!
The next announcement all the weather channels were saying was that the hurricane was weakening. It went down to "just" a Cat 5, then 4, and when it finally made landfall (at 8:30 PM, not 2 AM as it was predicted and what we began praying would happen), it made landfall at a Cat 3, at least 16 lost their lives (families losing loved ones), 340 were rescued, close to 3 million are without power two days after. Still, the devastation was far below the hurricane that had hit Florida just two weeks earlier—with the most damage and hundreds of lives that were lost in North Carolina). Rather than fear as it was coming, I remembered what He'd said, "Enjoy." And to keep me in perfect peace, He had me keep one of my daily promises open on my phone so I read it or recited it and remembered what He'd promised, which is #5 Never forget, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not approach, touch, harm, reach or come near to you.” P917
This was the promise He gave me when the pandemic first hit, and the apartment I was living in was being monitored (because rumor had it that the first coronavirus case had come into the USA at the international airport across the street, and I was living in international executive housing. Doesn't my Husband have such a sense of humor? I was able to escape, literally, in the middle of the night and drive south, living in paradise, as I hope you'll read in the advanced living lessons). At 10 PM, we all decided to go to bed, but that's when the hurricane winds began to whip through our community! The noise was often deafening, like a train passing over us!! And yet, after speaking to my Husband and Him speaking calming words to me, I'd keep falling back asleep! I imagined myself snuggled up with Him as I always do and slept like a baby. When I woke up at dawn, all was calm, with the only damage was a palm tree branch hanging in front of the window. And what was even more beautiful was when we all joined for morning coffee—everyone said, "Yes! The wind was so loud," but also, "Yes, I slept so well!!!"
Finally, I'd like to leave you with one of the many beautiful memories I made with my granddaughter that I want to share and encourage you with. When the news was still saying how bad we'd be hit, my granddaughter snuggled under my arm and asked, "Mimi, why are you so calm? Why aren't you afraid?" "Well," I said, "the first reason is that this is man-made; it was designed to try to destroy us. Do you know why that's good? Because God says, 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper.' The other reason is that I can look back over my very long life and remember the many times the Lord brought me through disasters like catastrophic earthquakes and when my house burnt down, collapsing the ceiling over my bedroom. The time when a tornado was chasing us, floods that reached our door but stopped. (Stories I've told her and my other grandchildren) And, of course, the main reason is because we're not afraid of dying because it means we'll finally be with Him in heaven."
Unleashing the TRUTH
Leave your Sleeping in the Storms comment below—your testimony may just be selected and included when we publish Living Lesson Book 1.
This is what I needed today, especially because it has the promise my Beloved gave me for this year: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare [the health, happiness, and good fortunes of a person] and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope.’
So goooooooooood!! How the Lord protected all of you and Florida!! Thank you for sharing how being with Him changes everything!! How in the middle of the storm He speaks to us, gives peace and the memories of His miracles!! Love the way your generation are watching your faith and peace in action!! Praise our Beloved always!!
He is our peace, He is in control!
I absolutely love this. I want to love this even more! I know that He wants this for us too! Draw near to Me and I will draw near to You!! what a beautiful and sure promise of that doesn’t make you swoon !! 🥰🥰🥰
As we are facing a very serious flooding in the south of Brazil, as I was reading this living lesson, He led me to imagine that it should be impossible to sleep, but we can always know that He is still there with us and that we can call upon Him, telling how we need His help!
It was so beautiful, when I was reminded that the Brazilian ladies that are facing all this calamity, are aso in the midst of a marriage crises, so He asked me to write to them and also make a blog post with their names, so we can all be together, even being far from each other!
While writing this comment, one of the ladies answered my message, telling me she is ok, even though it’s still raining, so I could encourage her that we are all in the same boat saying: “Lord, save us!
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…”I432
https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/ISA.43.2
Here where l live its hot and sunny for most of the year so when we experience any type of bad or rainy weather l love and enjoy it so much!! Because l know that within a day or 2 it will clear up and be hot and sunny again! I love cold weather because it gives me the opportunity to wear my warm clothes. Its the same with storms we experience in life, when we going thru them we need to snuggle in with our Husband, hide under his wings while He takes care of us and makes sure we come to no harm while the storms rages. Then the sun comes out and shines brightly just like the joy in our hearts and the praise when He comes thru for us 🙌
One of the very 1st scriptures l learned when l gave my heart to the Lord was that HE wanted to prosper me and not to harm me and that HE wanted to give me a hope & a future. This scripture meant so much to me, it started healing me from the hurts of having grown up in a family with divorced parents. I grew up with so much hurt and pain and financial difficulties that it meant so much to know that God did not want to hurt me but that He wanted to give me a hope and a future 🙏 l had no hopes for my future but it gave me hope to know that HE wanted to give me a hope and a future ❤️
He has been faithful to His word 🙌
Beautiful testimony. The Lord rises in the middle of the storm and calms the waters and we can sleep peacefully. It really is a Biblical testimony, what they lived, and how He made Himself present. I loved that phrase, not to be afraid of death because it is our encounter with Our Beloved..
Thank you for sharing precious Erin, I am so grateful that you slept through the Hurricane. While you were in the storm my Darling gave me this promise: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” I54:10 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2054%3A10&version=NIV
I will never forget when a storm started in my life with my marriage and how it kept me out of sleep with a whole ripple effect because the less I slept, the worse my depression got. I didn’t think that I would ever just sleep normal.
Looking back in my life, so much has changed and no the storms didn’t stop and some are more severe than others, but now I sleep in the midst of any storms, because I am safe and peaceful in His arms. “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” P4:8 https://biblehub.com/psalms/4-8.htm
My Darling also reminded me now of the storm that was here in South Africa in September 2023 – I was so tired because of the house searching and asking my Darling that I just please rest in His arms. “When you lie down, you will not be afraid, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” P3:24 The next morning I got a phone call to ask if we are ok, because of the storm that took place and my response was: “Oh there wasn’t a storm where I live”. But when I went outside, I saw that the neighbor’s tree had fallen on their wall and blocked the way, but it didn’t even touch my wall. So there was a storm, but I slept sweetly in the arms of my Darling unaware of any storm.
Beautiful testimony our beloved is our keeper we must only trust in Him and rest in Him❤️❤️
Hermoso testimonio nuestro amado es nuestro guardador solo debemos confiar en Él y descansar en él ❤️❤️
Today I really needed to reread this lesson, and I thank my Beloved for Erin’s beautiful testimony. The Lord rises in the midst of the storm and calms the waters and we can sleep in peace, this is truly incredible!!!
Well, due to some situations that I am going through, I know that it was my Beloved who guided me to this lesson today, because as said in this lesson, I learned to rest in the storm, knowing that only He is capable of calming it. I believe that when we place ourselves completely in dependence on our Beloved, He casts out all the fear that surrounds us in certain situations.
Taking myself as an example, I am still going through a valley that used to cause me panic, but as time went by and I sought intimacy with my Heavenly Husband daily, and spent quality time with Him, I learned, and what was a great mountain became just a wall, which in the time of my Beloved will be torn down!
Today I can truly say that there is nothing that our Lord cannot intervene and reverse in our favor, if it is His will.
We know that He loves to fulfill our desires, especially if they are aligned with the plans He has for each of us!
Because as He Himself tells us:
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, for the future we desire.”