D -- DEEPEN
Welcome back my fellow readers to this 6-week blog post on what a SENDER means to me. This week is about the letter D for Deepen.
Webster says the word deepen means: to become deeper or more profound.
One thing I can attest to is that prayer takes things deeper. While walking through my season of grief, I would see people and they would mention that they had been praying for me, sometimes even in the middle of night. I was humbled and could only say thank you. I would tell them that I had been sleeping at night and I was proof that their prayers were working. I continued to received multiple texts for months after the tragedy that people were up at night praying for me and my family. It was their joy to do so. They didn’t know what else to do but to pray.
Another example of what deepen means to me came during the love month of February in 2018. People gave my family 28 gifts—one per day—that met us on every level. With the overabundance of gifts, it broke the poverty of my spirit. What is a poverty spirit? This is my interpretation. It is when you feel you have to hold on to the little you have. You don’t have faith in what God has for you. You only trust and have faith in what you can do on your own, what you can produce, your works. I found this to be a limited posture. But, when I opened up my hands and said to God, “What I have is Yours, use me for Your glory,” something broke within me. This passage helped me understand His position and what mine was supposed to be:
“Every animal of field and forest belongs to me, the Creator. I know every movement of the birds in the sky, and every animal of the field is in my thoughts. The entire world and everything it contains is mine.
“If I were hungry, do you think I would tell you? For all that I have created, the fullness of the earth, is mine. Am I fed by your sacrifices? Of course not!
“Listen to me, O my people! Listen well, for I am your God! I am bringing you to trial and here are my charges. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, which you continually bring to my altar. Do I need your young bull or goats from your fields as if I were hungry?
"Why don’t you bring me the sacrifices I desire? Bring me your true and sincere thanks, and show your gratitude by keeping your promises to me, the Most High. Honor me by trusting in me in your day of trouble. Cry aloud to me, and I will be there to rescue you.”
Psalms 50:7-15 TPT
All along, even when I was drowning in grief, people stepped outside of their individual worlds and saw my deeper needs…things that not even I could see.
It’s humbling to know that the Holy Spirit would put me on someone else’s heart. And their obedience to follow through on my behalf meant the world to me.
When people saw my deeper needs, it helped me to see how critical it is to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s call to help others in their suffering…how imperative it is to heal the Body of Christ whenever part of it is wounded.
Everyone is going through something. That’s why we need one another. Senders help others know that you are on that person’s heart and mind and in their prayers. It means everything.
Think about someone in your life who is suffering right now. Maybe you need to take the first step in helping them. Or maybe you need to take the next step in helping them. Maybe you need to dare to see their deeper needs. Maybe you need to take the next step into the messiness of someone’s pain and suffering, just as Christ did for us on the cross.
If you don’t know where to start, read the scripture above that says “bring your true and sincere thanks, and show your gratitude by keeping your promises”. Senders follow through with word and action. Senders are action men and women, praying to the Holy Spirit asking Him, “How can I help?” You might get a thought just to pray. That is the best line of defense to help someone in need.
So, what does deepen mean to me? To keep going. To keep trying. To keep connecting. To keep praying. To keep asking questions to those around you. To keep praising. To keep giving Him glory in the tough moments and the amazing moments. No matter the day, He deserves the highest praise!!!
And finally, you have the power to bring your cheer and smile from ear to ear wherever you go!! So, go be the light!! Shine bright!! Because YOU are out of sight!! And, you are the Father’s Turkish delight!!
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