AHA!

This weekend at women's retreat, our speaker was talking to us about how Scripture relates to our lives. It was a wonderful reminder of how God is part of absolutely everything we say and do. I went to a very strict Bible college after going to a secular school for a year. I learned about the things our speaker spoke about, but I am at a totally different point in my life, so this weekend really spoke to me in a new way.

The following is part of one of the sessions that I really enjoyed.

Rhema: a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction.

Have you ever had an "AHA!" moment when reading your Bible?

I have read Jeremiah 29:11 so many times throughout my life. At the beginning of confirmation class in 8th grade, all of the students receive a black NAS study Bible to help guide them for the next two years. I have always loved my Bible. It has different colored highlighting which represents: Grace, Judgement, Holiness, and Sin. I rarely read other versions unless I am at church.

Jeremiah 29:11 from the NAS translation reads:

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'

On the way back to our house after dropping my parents off at the airport in March, God placed this verse on my heart. It was the morning we found out we could put in for orders to Minot. My husband applied, and we had to wait. About a week had passed, and his application read "CANCELLED."

We were so discouraged! My husband went ahead and put it in for it again, but this time applied a different way. Again, we waited.

The next morning, our daughter was running late for school. She always walks, but this morning I had to drive her. We like to listen to our local Christian station, KTSY. The morning show was on, and the DJ read Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11 from the Message translation reads:

"I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

The verse spoke to me in ways it never had before. It was my Rhema. I felt completely calm. Calmer and more at peace than I have in a long time. I waited patiently from that point on. I knew it was in God's hands.

Last week, we got our orders to Minot!

Do you have a Rhema story?