What's in a number?

I had just landed in Colorado Springs, CO awaiting my connection to Phoenix, AZ.  My ranger sister was moving parks the end of May, so I had decided to spend some hiking time and help her move.  En route, I received this text from my Aunt Phyllis.

We were to return September 23rd from Singapore?! Did the Lord speak this to my aunt? Did He give her a departure date, too?  I couldn't contain my curiosity nor wait another flight before finding out what this text meant...  as the flight was boarding in Colorado Springs, I gave my aunt a quick call.

"I couldn't wait... they're reboarding now so I have a few minutes... tell me more!"

"I was making my tea this morning and up from within me came, "Return September 23rd'" 

My aunt went on to share that she looked up this date and discovered this year, 2017, it was Shabbat Shuva in the Jewish calendar, falling between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur... which translated means, "Shabbat of Returning."  (Mind you, this was before all the false prophesies of Jesus' return were rampantly floating around)

WHAT?! 

"Ok, so do we have a departure date?" I asked.

"No, He gave me the return date... you get to ask Him for the departure date," my aunt replied.

Hah! No pressure...

Wouldn't you love it if the Lord would just give you all the plans? Yet, I suppose... where's the faith in that?

I landed in Phoenix, caught a shuttle up to the Grand Canyon and hiked rim-to-rim with my sister before helping her move on to her next ranger assignment in Rocky Mountain National Park.  While hiking through the canyon, the Lord was ministering to me of how He alone is our fountain of life (Psalm 36:9) ...all my fountains are in Him (Psalm 87:7)...  He brings streams to the dry grounds (Isaiah 44:3) ... leads me beside still waters (Psalm 23: 2)... whose water quenches our thirst and becomes a spring welling up on the inside to eternal life (John 4:14)!

With every stream, brook, creek, river, waterfall, and fountain we passed by from the north rim to the south rim, I petitioned for a renewal of His cleansing and living water; the water that springs and wells up to eternal life inside me, bubbling out continuously.  I thirsted for these waters above any other... and it was hot and dry!

I can't tell you how refreshing those days were for this dry and weary soul.  There is something about getting out in the expanse of nature that connects me to the Father's heart in ways sitting in a chair in my room just can't accomplish.  I'm truly blessed to have a sister whose job sets her in some of the most beautiful national parks in our country. 

After we conquered the canyon, we packed up and headed northeast for the mountains... Once my sister settled into her new apartment in the Rockies, I took advantage of the thawing landscape and set my feet to hiking (110+  miles in 2 weeks? No problem!)

I decided I needed to get serious about seeking the Lord for a departure date. With His living waters flowing on the inside, I set out on an adventure to Black Lake with the Good Shepherd of my soul. The terrain started out on solid ground, then wet ground, then snow... and more snow.  I put some crampons on my hiking shoes and trekked onward. 

My sister's words of caution to "turn around if it gets too treacherous" were a distant echo in my determination to make it to the top.  As I forged on, the trail got quieter and began to vanish beneath the snow.  All I had to follow was other hikers' muddy imprints that went perhaps days before me.  There were times when the "trail" split in two different directions or completely disappeared... that's when I began asking, "which way, Lord?"

I probably should have turned around at this point, but with Mandisa's "Overcomer" playing in my head ("Don't quit, don't give in, you're an overcomer!"), I sensed an adventure awaiting.  As I got further and further, my tenacious spirit rose within me.... I was too far to turn back!  I was fairly certain the snow-packed trail I stood upon was quickly thinning and it was highly probable I was directly over flowing waters... I could literally hear spring budding forth as the sound of ice was melting everywhere. 

That's when the thought came to me, "You're absolutely crazy... certifiably insane!...  and it takes a crazy person to blindly go to the ends of the world for Jesus, too." 

I knew this was truth. So, it was then I got real with Jesus...

"Ok, we're to return September 23rd from Singapore?... When do You want us to go there?"

"August 23rd."

Whoa, that was fast! So fast that I questioned if it wasn't my own thoughts and asked Him again, "Really? August 23rd? Was that You or me?"

"It was Me.  I have much for you to do."

Mind you, I'm having this conversation while literally scaling a mountainside.  I think at this point I was hiking alongside the powerful Ribbon Falls flowing downward, almost to the final ascent to Black Lake.  (I later discovered the actual trail is on the other side of the falls... blazing new trails for His glory, I guess... If I only knew how true that would be!)

 

Needless to say, I made it to Black Lake and back down the mountain in one piece... I can't say so much for one of my sister's spare hiking poles. At one point, as I was going back down with the midday sun blaring, my foot slipped along a steep hillside and the pole sunk through the snow.  My body literally dangled alongside with one arm grasping the stuck pole.  The pole bent holding my weight but I'm glad my stubbornness wore off on that pole because it saved me from falling perhaps 30 feet into rapids! (No, I don't have a picture of this...)

That's when psalm 37:23-24 sounded in my ears, "The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand."

Why am I sharing all this? Because even in my hiking, the Lord was ministering to me of what was to come.  Between trying to stay alive and pondering God's mysterious words for Singapore, He was demonstrating to me that because I delight in His way, He will establish my steps, I will not be cast headlong, but my LORD and Savior, HE will uphold my hand!

I gleaned so much revelation from the Lord while wandering in nature... Much for us to do?  A whole month? In Singapore and maybe even Hong Kong? What on earth are we going to be doing? I later discovered the Lord had spoken to my aunt similar words in His instruction to her, "I have much for you to share."

He clearly was aligning us with His will and setting our hearts and minds in one accord. This Asian adventure was turning out to be a collaboration of sorts, all led by our Good Shepherd of Psalm 23... 

Hey!  August 23rd... September 23rd... Psalm 23... Huh!

What is it about this number 23? 

I was reminded of Jeremiah 23 of God's promise to remove the bad shepherds in the land and His powerful assurance in verse 29 saying, "Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?"  I knew the fire of His words were being kindled in my spirit and ready to be released in prayer in Singapore. 

The number 23 didn't end there... oooh, no... it was the number of our gate in Phoenix on our way out to our connecting flight from San Antonio to San Francisco.  As if that weren't enough, I bent down to tie my shoes August 23rd and saw this...

FOR REAL! How had I never noticed this before?!

23 was everywhere.  The rooftop floor of our main hotel in Singapore where the Lord had us pray and declare His words over the city? The 23rd floor.   

It was even written in faint blue on the sidewalk along Orchard Blvd where I walked... 

For our last couple nights in Singapore, my aunt and I splurged out of our own pockets and booked a room at Marina Bay Sands... For kicks, two weeks before we went there, I asked the Lord if we could stay on level 23... and just guess which floor we were given?!

I love when the Lord answers even the smallest of requests!

Well, now you know how we were led to Singapore, which dates we were to depart and return, and a tiny hint of what we were sent there to do... the next installment should reveal it all!

What's a good story without a little suspense?  I was left hanging- physically on a mountain slope and spiritually as the trip approached.... I promise, it won't hurt you either!