Encouragement

Need a Counselor? Need a Friend?

by Claudia Barrington
06/22/22
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Need a Counselor? Need a Friend?

This is a true story.
What He is to me, He wants to be for you.

I’ve recorded thousands of miracles, signs and wonders over the course of my life in priceless journals.  Recorded for my posterity are all God's interventions in our lives and much heavenly revelation born out the study of His Word. It is a common thing for anyone who continually seeks the King of kings in His Word to have gems deposited into their lives on a daily basis.

My plan was and still is to publish and leave it all behind for my offspring. What I have recorded is my testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives. It is for His glory, and I hoped my offspring would be able to read it after I am gone. My kids are in their thirties and my grandchildren are ages 17 and 6. These records are my life’s work. I am getting older. Because I’ve had covid three times and been hospitalized twice in the past 6 months, I feel an urgency to publish what I've written.  It is my legacy of God's goodness.

Some days, I want to finish my earthly assignment as fast as possible and go home.  I’m proud of my kids and grandchildren in many ways, but I thought they would all be serving the Lord long ago.

“Lord, they should all be ministering Your Word to me by now! You promised me way back in 1995 that You would fill them with Your Spirit. I know You will do what You promised, but I don't want to watch the nonsense any more. Please help me to publish fast, so I can come home.”

 You know how it is when you’re recovering from illness. I thought I might not have time to finish. It felt like anxiety. “How long do I have, Lord?  I’ve treasured the journals because they are my testimony of what You have done and what You have said, Jesus!”  My heart was heavy and I prayed these whining prayers for a half hour when out of the blue, in my heart, He spoke.

 He said, “Store up your treasure in Heaven.”

 Aha!  I’d made an idol out of the gazillion journals. I'd turned His works into my works! Yes, the journals have been my treasure. I’ve guarded them so carefully through the years.  I even hid them at times to keep the wrong people from reading them. 

In the past I’d told my loved ones about what God had said or done, but no one seemed to hear.  I always envisioned all of us gathered around the Word of God, daily, worshiping Him together. I longed for that fellowship so much.  What power would have been available to all of us with a circuit of unity in Christ like that!  Power, power, wonder working power far beyond what I prayed on my own! 

I know that in Heaven there is no resistance or indifference to the Word of God.  Jesus IS the Word of God.  He is life!  God's entire family gathers around His Son, Jesus. ( Yeshua in Hebrew. )   I decided many years ago to record and publish the miracles and wonders so that if my family wanted to, they could find and read about them once I went home.  It is a fact that for each of us our time here will end.  The Bible says that our lives in the world are like a vapor.  Anyway, that was my plan.

 So...It's always encouraging to hear His voice no matter what He says. And His voice is more beautiful than any other voice.   I responded, “What do You mean, store it up in heaven, Lord?”

 And then I knew.  God is Spirit. His Kingdom is Spirit, and by committing it to Him I'd be storing it up in Heaven.  He could turn what I've written into Spirit and breathe it into my children. Into my grandchildren. Into all loved ones. Into my enemies.  If it’s His, He can do whatever He likes with it.  He is the King and His Kingdom rules over all, including my records of His works in our lives. I began to understand.  He's the Great I Am and infinitely wiser and stronger than I am. I also realized that much of what I’ve written is already stored up in heaven as prayers."

 Then He gave me a strategy. I am to publish some of it, as much as I have time for, and surrender all the rest of it to Him. Most of it only He and I know about, so He is the only safe place to store it.  I was overwhelmed by the load, but now I was overwhelmed by His peace. He is, after all, the Prince of Peace. 

 I felt the load lift off my shoulders.   He has shown Himself strong on my behalf through the years. Would He let me down now? Of course not.  So that was that. I was encouraged, hopeful, relieved, had a strategy and peace about all of it no matter what happened. But I had one more question.

 “Jesus, I was wondering, if I don’t get it all published,

how will you get the information to them?”
 
His eyes twinkled as He replied. 

“They will have to come through me to get it.”

Ha. Of course. We both laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Creator is an attentive, wonderful counselor who loves you and me. 

He wants to carry your load too, whatever it is. 

Give it to Him. 

Sit down with Him in His Word daily and ask Him questions. 

You are His priceless treasure. 

He only made one of you. 

He will answer you.

 “…and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

 “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)

 “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.”  (Psalms 37:5)

"There is a friend that sticks closer to you than a brother."  (Proverbs 18:24)