Just as I was with Moses, I will be with Elisa
A promise is a serious thing. When I make a promise, which I try NOT to do (in fact, a biblical/Godly perspective of a “promise” is an “oath” is very clear that God doesn’t want us making promises and swearing to this or that all willy-nilly, because there is always that chance that you might have to break that promise or oath), you can bet I will run through fire if I have to in order to keep that promise. And I am just an extremely flawed and highly exhausted human, I’m no deity. However, God did make me this (and other promises) so I wanted to explore here what some of those promises are, why they are actually relevant to me right now, and why I am so confident that these promises will be kept. I KNOW that the bible is God-Breathed, and I have had some pretty intimate conversations with My Lord over the years. To be that “intimate”, you have to KNOW the Word. Because the Word is God. This is all explained in the New Testament in the Gospel of John – a really good first book to read if you are already from a Christian background and want to start digging into the Bible. Sorry, I digress. I just can’t emphasize enough how everyone should read the Old and New Testaments of the bible. But that is definitely a hard sell on anyone these days. I just happen to have been gifted with this insatiable yearning for the Word, so I’m blessed to have wanted to read it so much that I know it pretty well. The more I am around the Word, the more I feel a connectedness with God that is totally more real than at least half of my “relationships” with other humans. Knowing God (only possible through His Son, sorry mom and other Jewish readers – this is something God told me so who am I to argue with Him?) is the greatest gift anyone can accept.
Back some time ago, when I spent most of my days studying and thinking about and reading about God and all of His friends and enemies, I was privileged to get to know His character as a Promise-Keeper (that is actually kind of funny when I say it out loud but it is the best way I can describe my personal experience with Him). Then, I had the opportunity to experience the promises of God for me, personally, which is really encouraging. However, since most people would consider this all completely wacky, I don’t often volunteer things like “God says I’m undefeatable” or whatever amazing thing that He has promised me, personally, through His Word. Sometimes I get a little incredulous myself. I mean, what if these really are just books written by men? Then those promises are meaningless – they are just words. But since I have had this privilege to have God tell me this stuff directly, I would be insane if I didn’t listen to Him when He speaks to me. You might think I’m insane thinking that God and I have hung out together, but that’s fine. You decide: Am I a liar, a loon or Lord-inspired? You have to pick one. To be sure that I don’t get all personal and creative, I do use the Bible (NIV Study Bible) as my guide as I approach God’s throne of Grace to keep things all managed and not too subjective. God almost always has something for me when I am reading the bible or having fellowship with other believers in the Lordship of Yeshua, the Christ Unfortunately, and with some really good excuses, I haven’t been in the Word as much as someone who is as needy as I am should be. Instead of staying with some study or getting all hooked up with some Godly folks on a regular basis, I have just found myself too busy or tired or blahblahblah to read and fellowship with discipline and focus. This is how the Devil/enemy has been able to grab me sometimes. You know – like really – why would God be talking to me personally and why would He be involved in the Cafferky’s life when there are so many others more worthy, and frankly maybe He isn’t really that involved, because it is taking so long and all seems so un-doable. And since we can’t see that mortgage payment for next July right now or because we can’t build a bathroom for Nick right now, that maybe that is just life hitting us over the head with a brick telling us that we no longer belong in Great Falls and we should just realize it and act accordingly. However, I refuse to see it that way, which is definitely not the fiscally conservative view that is most appreciated around here.] Instead, I remember that God promised ME: Elisa Cafferky a couple of things. He made these things clear to me. Some were conditional. Some weren’t. If anyone is interested, I can give you the list. I have never even sat down and thought about it. I just KNOW some things and I live in great confidence of them. With that, this is what I know that is relevant to my family’s needs/hopes/desires:
- If I honor my mother and father (which I totally do), then I will live long in the land that God has promised me. (That is the 5th Commandment) Did God promise me
Great Falls? I don’t know, but I will say this: With several people as my witnesses, I have wanted to live in Great Falls since high school when I first discovered this area when Lianne’s parents built their new house off Walker Road. I just knew I needed to be there one day.. If it is God’s will, then He will make it absolutely possible. - God allowed/enabled Moses/Aaron to do amazing things at a moment’s notice, with little planning or caucusing ahead of time. This gives me confidence that, even though maybe our spreadsheets aren’t working out right now, that doesn’t mean that God cannot give us a skill or an opportunity or whatever to make it possible for us to buy more time here. Just as our lives were all changed in a moment when Nick broke his neck last year, our lives could all change in a moment with a fabulous new job or a winning lottery ticket, or however God chooses to enable us at the exact time we will need it. Who knows? Maybe some of that Sawteeth/Fortify/Tacit/Bowstreet stock will all of a sudden become hugely valuable. ANYTHING can happen. I will worry that we will need so much more than we did before so that Nick can have a comfortable place to be at “home” and all of the resources he can get to be comfortable when he works and goes to college, God willing. I’m still smart and aggressive, and I’m obviously motivated – at the very least the Lord will help me help myself.
- God fed all of the freed Hebrews in the desert. Now, I can’t imagine it was that great being in the desert for 40 years, but God had His reasons for that, and I get it. My point is that, even when things seem really not going according to plan, God will provide. And He provides good stuff – tasty food, sweet water and opportunities for people to break bread and fellowship together. HOWEVER: this stuff is a day by day thing. You can’t store up what God gives you to sustain you. That was the deal with the manna. God told ME, ELISA, personally, that just as He was with Moses, He is with me.
So I’m not going to worry about how we are going to sustain our life. Mike and I rarely pray together, usually just saying Grace at mealtime. We do have a prayer that we often say together, though. All we ask of God is for Him to allow us to keep on keepin’ on in this great life that we have right now. To SUSTAIN/MAINTAIN this life that He has so graciously provided for us in Great Falls,
So What, you say? Well, it may not mean that much to you, but I know that God made sure that Moses had exactly what he needed at exactly the moment he needed it to get himself and God’s people to the land that was promised to them. I’m pretty confident that He can also use me to achieve some great things, to His Glory. From the moment of Moses’ birth all the way to his death just outside of the Promised Land, God consistently set things up so that Moses had what he needed to achieve every strategic and tactical goal that God willed for His people. I can give you a whole bunch of examples or point you to places if you want, but I can’t imagine anyone wants that kind of detail. I have done pretty deep study into the 5 Books of Moses plus I know Joshua and Judges pretty well - Special thanks to Ann Bushnell and all the old MBC Precepts ladies. I wonder if any one of them knows about my situation. I hope that they would be proud of my behavior and faith thus far. That’s the best benefit of having a bible study or some kind of formal fellowship with like-minded people: it’s a good “accountability” group. [Sidebar:: Joshua is my FAVORITE OT book and a character in that book is my very favorite woman in the whole bible. Who out there knows my favorite Matriarch?] The point I am trying to make here is this: God made me, Elisa Cafferky, a promise 7 years ago, and He takes His promises pretty seriously and I write them down. He told me, personally, that “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you..” This is Joshua 1:5, and God gave it to me. So, when I am faced with real challenges that seem impossible to overcome, I just remember God’s promise to me. And then I think about what God did, over a period of MANY years, to provide Moses with exactly what he needed at the exact time he needed it. This is all in the Five Books, which every good Jewish person has to at least have some access to. But I digress. You should look it up if you are interested. If you want me to elaborate and more than one person wants that, then I will. I’m no bible scholar and I have not been formally trained in this stuff – you can definitely do better than me for your tutor. But I just want to throw out there that I will engage on this stuff with anyone, anytime, provided it stays civil and I am still able to care for the family and ultimately get some high paying job that will allow me to stay in this house for one more year. One day at a time. Like manna from God, if it is His will for the Cafferky’s to be where we are, then it will happen.
I hope this wasn’t too rambling for you. I won’t say that any thing that I ever say is divine, but I am certainly bold enough to claim that these words are inspired by God, through the Holy Spirit that lives in me and in many who are surrounding me. As you can tell, I am feeling great pressure at this time, along with some other really uncomfortable feelings. I write this post more to remind myself of what I KNOW, so that I can be encouraged. I mean if I can’t encourage myself with the truth that I am trying to build my whole life and my family’s hope upon, how on earth can I even dare to try to live out the great proclamation, which is not merely a suggestion, from Jesus.
Again, if this stuff makes no sense to you and you want to make some sense of it, I can tell you where to find it in the bible. If you don’t care at all, just skip over it. As I said – I am being selfish and writing for myself right now. I probably would have written this all in the journal if I could write as fast as I think. It’s my blog, and I can bible thump if I want to. But I don’t want to chase anyone away either. Take what you need/want and leave the rest. The Caffs are off tomorrow for the weekend – road trip to
Thanks for listening and for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us, especially for safe travels and as little testosterone driven hostility as possible during the hours on the road. Also a special thanks to CherylH for a really timely awesome gift/reminder and encouragement, Also toJAL who I am certain will figure prominently in my life for years to come, and for all of you who have been so there for me and the Cafferky family during another crazy season in our incredible journey. It’s going to be a great weekend. And its all a LOT better than what we were doing exactly a year ago. Praise God!
Shalom