My family has had a *wonderful* time during this Feast of Tabernacles :D It has been VERY busy... but, yet, it has been an atmosphere of excitement and awe!! We have cooked and eaten in our sukkah almost every night, we have sang around our campfire and looked at the stars, and our boys have slept in the sukkah several nights :) My husband and boys spent about 5 hours constructing it... so we've definitely gotten use out of it!! :D This has been the best Sukkot for us yet!! :D
But allow me to share with you our *miracle*...
Recently, it has become even MORE important to us than ever that we be able to observe the Sabbath (according to the cycle of the moon) and to observe the Feast Days of YHWH-- FREELY, WITHOUT the HINDERANCE of James' job preventing it. But, we didn't really know HOW to be able to DO it. We've been praying and praying for a very long time that James would somehow be able to work from home or get some type of a job that would allow him to do that-- but it hadn't happened, and we weren't sure WHAT to do. Although we both realize that we are living in the time of Israel's dispersion, we were still very troubled about our circumstance... feeling "disobedient"-- even though in our heart it was our GREATEST DESIRE to BE OBEDIENT.... so... WHAT TO DO???
Well... we'd BEEN praying (as I said :) ) And then I read an article about "how we
are [basically] SLAVES in our country, culture, generation (to our government
and the "authorities of the land)" in comparison to when the Israelites were
SLAVES in Egypt under Pharaoh. I already knew of that concept and "thought" (James
has even "taught" that typology when he was a pastor). But thinking about it
THIS time and reading THAT perspective was ("somehow") DIFFERENT. It's like I
REALLY "got it", ya know? Well, it also made the point of Israel could NOT
"deliver themselves"-- ONLY YHWH could deliver them. As long as Israel was in
that bondage to Pharaoh, they HAD to DO what PHARAOH REQUIRED them to do-- OR
DIE. The ONLY thing they could do was CRY OUT to YHWH... and, so it is, with US.
As long as we are in bondage to our government and the system our society
operates in, we HAVE to DO what "they say"-- "OR DIE" (or get our kids taken
away, etc.) We HAVE to "WORK" to have an income to live/survive... so we HAVE to
work WHEN THEY SAY, for as long as THEY say (etc.) NO MATTER WHEN the Sabbath is
or WHEN the feast days are... we are under THEIR rule, and THEY DON'T CARE about
YHWH or HIS way. EVERY part of our life is RULED by "this society" and our
government. We do WHAT THEY say, and ONLY what THEY say-- WHEN THEY say, HOW
THEY say, IF THEY say, for as LONG as THEY say.... PERIOD. And we can NOT
deliver ourselves. ONLY YHWH can deliver us-- *IF* He chooses to do so, WHEN HE
chooses to do so. OUR part is to cry out to Him-- and *perhaps* He will deliver
us. If not, then we will wait for the time He restores Israel and His covenant.
So... I felt like I gained a BETTER understanding and had more of a peace about
NOT being able to observe the Sabbath and feast days to the extent we felt like
we should and desired to... that YHWH KNOWS our circumstances AND OUR HEART, and
is WELL AWARE of our situation-- so we DO our BEST... AND CRY OUT to Him. IF HE
chooses, He WILL deliver us. If not, we CONTINUE to DO our BEST-- and KEEP
"making bricks and building Pharaoh's pyramids" until YHWH RESTORES ISRAEL and His
covenant and DELIVERS THEM/US. KNOWING that He KNOWS we are NOT in WILLFUL
disobedience... we are in BONDAGE, CRYING OUT to HIM for our DELIVERANCE. <3
So... I felt like I needed to talk to James about all of that. After I did,
he began to see and feel the same thing I did concerning our situation. We felt
like we had a different perspective, and so we began praying and crying out "in
a different way" for YHWH to deliver us-- knowing that He MAY NOT, but having
the intent that we would continue to DO the BEST we could-- either way. So
during the 10 days between the feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement when
we were looking at our lives, our hearts, our family, and our relationships--
and repenting, etc. James began to REALLY cry out about all of this (with a
different understanding of things)... and YHWH DELIVERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
James received a job opportunity to work from *home* :D He told them about his "belief" of following the Torah, and needing the Sabbath day ("lunar" Sabbath day) OFF and the Feast Days OFF... and he would work on THEIR holidays (as long as they didn't fall on the Sabbath or Feast Days of YHWH)... and they were 100% *FINE* with that!!!! *WOW* YHWH delivered us so quickly and so awesomely!!!! :D They even allowed him to give his present employer a two week notice! :D SO... when James talked to his present boss about this opportunity, his boss WAS HAPPY FOR HIM and WANTED him to TAKE it!!! And even assured him that he ALWAYS had a job waiting for him IF it didn't work out. UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!
So... James DID have to work through the Feast of Tabernacles :( But it was his *LAST* week!! And now he is *FREE* :D We are TRULY so VERY VERY THANKFUL!!!! His deliverance has come! PRAISE unto YAH!!!! :D