Raleigh was a bitter place

The year was 2004, and we had hoped to be living in Albuquerque by that time. We found ourselves living in Raleigh, NC.

In 2003 our lives were turned upside down. We had received many prophetic words that we would be moving to Albuquerque. We had applied for a transfer, and it looked like we had it. Then, a loophole prevented the transfer. It was so disappointing.

A few months later I was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. This time we did get the transfer, but not to Albuquerque. We moved to Raleigh, NC so that I could be treated at Duke University Hospital.

When you are expecting the LORD to do what He has spoken and it does not happen something happens inside your heart. You wonder in the quietness of your soul, “Did I really hear the voice of the LORD?” You may not even voice the question out loud, but its there. You begin to turn your ear away from the voice you know as the LORD’s because you don’t want to miss it again.

Exodus 15:22-25
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

An excerpt from my journal during this time:
My purposes are being played out in your life. Raleigh will ever be a picture of your humanness, of your inadequacies. Impurities come forth during the refining process. Don’t lose hope during this time of refining; pure gold is coming to you.

I said earlier that we had received many prophetic words about Albuquerque. They weren’t just concerning the geographical move. Several of them were about gold coming to us. I knew that this did not refer to prosperity coming to us, but a refining process.
I am certain that the LORD is very interested in perfecting our faith.

I will never forget the day in Raleigh that I relinquished my rights. I laid them down, and accepted what the LORD had dealt to me. I received much peace that day. I was healed of my doubts and bitterness. I released my desires for living in Albuquerque. Trusting that the Good Shepherd had led us to that place for a season.

Exodus 15:25-26
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you.”
This is an interesting passage of scripture. I think we can glean much from this test the LORD himself put the Israelites through.

We trust the LORD as he leads our families. We at times are led in difficult paths, bitter paths. We do not give up, and we continue to trust that our loving Father is leading us. I think that piece of wood that Moses threw into Marah was representative of the cross. When Jesus enters our lives he definitely brings the water of life to us.

I Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

I did partake of Living Water that day in Raleigh, as I surrendered my rights. I was not disappointed. I was healed completely from that potentially deadly cancer. I grew so much in my trust and faith in the LORD.

I am now living in Albuquerque.