Signs and Wonders

 ¹¹ The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ¹² “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
      and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
 ¹³ Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
      He is the one you should fear.
   He is the one who should make you tremble.
    ¹⁴ He will keep you safe.
   But to Israel and Judah
      he will be a stone that makes people stumble,
      a rock that makes them fall.
   And for the people of Jerusalem
      he will be a trap and a snare.
 ¹⁵ Many will stumble and fall,
      never to rise again.
      They will be snared and captured.”
 ¹⁶ Preserve the teaching of God;
      entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
 ¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord,
      who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.
      I will put my hope in him.
 ¹⁸ I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and (wonders) to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.
 ¹⁹ Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?
 ²⁰ Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. ²¹ They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven ²² and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness." -from Isaiah 8

ok--can we say new life verse (passage)?!?! Today I was thinking about how we are giving up this house to go live in one room again, five of us now, and soon to be six, and asking the Lord about our calling. He spoke to my heart, "You are called to be a sign and a wonder." I knew immediately that this means that we will have to have faith. And that He will provide for us in mighty ways! I was talking to my aunt in Germany today, and I know that she and my uncle think we are crazy to have another child in this situation. My former boss thinks we are crazy. Many people think we are crazy. They probably give us the "benefit of the doubt" and hope the baby was an accident. But it wasn't! It was a faith baby. God ALWAYS provides for those He sends. I know they are shaking their heads at us. But now I know something else: That God WILL prove His faithfulness in MIRACULOUS ways. The first mention of "signs and wonders" in the Bible is in Exodus 7:3 "But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt." It is specifically talking about mighty miracles.

Then I found Isaiah 8:18, which was speaking directly of my situation! That I and my CHILDREN whom God has given me will be a sign and a wonder! I was astounded, taken aback. So I ask those out there with families: When people look at your family, do they see a sign and a wonder? Do they think, "here is a family that reveals God's heart and God's glory" or do they think "Here is a family that exemplifies good planning?"

God has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does... When He brings us out of this land, when He provides (continues providing!) all we need and more, when He lifts us up, people will recognize us as having been with Jesus, and that is completely invigorating.