RELEASED FROM THE WORKS OF MY MOUTH

Loretta called me a few weeks ago at 8am and told me that she had a ticket for me to go to Israel with a group of prayer warriors. I was shocked and excited at the opportunity, but I was unable to accept it.  This is because I made a vow to God and to the world that I would not go to Israel without my husband.  My thinking when I made the vow was that I don't want our lives in worship and service to God to be divisive, and because it is my desire to go with him.  

I went into my prayer closet and spoke to God about it, seeking His counsel, searching my heart, and reading the Word.  Often when I ask the Lord to show me where in His Word I might find an answer to my concerns, He gently prompts me to just take up my daily reading.  That day I was reading Jeremiah 44.  I expected there might be something in there about going to Israel.  

Instead, I found a rebuke.   In that chapter Jeremiah is sending a message from the Lord to the Jews living in exile, warning the men regarding their wives who are worshipping other gods.  In verse 25 he refers to the bad vows they made with their mouths.  He says, "You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!"  They were unwilling to repent of their vows, and thus suffered God's anger.

From this I understood that I had made a bad vow, a vow that took me out of God's will.  God wanted me to be free from vows, so that I can do His will, not my own.  I repented of all vows, asked my husband to release me also from the vow, and obtained his blessing to go to Israel.

The Lord made me ready to go to Israel that day, and freed me from the works of my mouth, but I was not to go to Israel.  Loretta later discovered that it was impossible to change the ticket over at such short notice.  In the end, she went to Israel, and has her own remarkable stories about her trip, and the time in advance of the trip.

My story is about how my Father in heaven brought me closer to readiness to do His will instead of my own.  And I stayed in my pajamas for my journey.