During the pastor’s sermon this past Sunday, he stamped the
word CHOSEN on some of us that sat towards the front and center. I saw him
coming, and turned my arm over because I’ve been seriously considering getting
a tattoo on the inside of my forearm. This vision comes to me as I worship my
Lord Jesus and Father God, raising my right hand up, proclaiming in my spirit, “I
AM YOURS!” I have seen it with my spiritual eyes as being MARKED by Him, as one
of His sheep. So, by the end of service,
I look down and see that the word CHOSEN is stamped TWICE on my arm. The
unexpected one on the outside and the one I put my arm out for on the inside.
To no avail, Andy and I tried to figure out how it could have happened the way,
at the angle and in the time that it did with no one around me. I showed the
pastor and he couldn’t remember. By the time we got home and took pictures of
both, I realized that the “S” and “N” of the unexpected “CHOSEN” stamp were
backwards, a mirror image, as if the stamp on my inner arm had “bled through”
to the other side. I was certain this was a MIRACLE and decided without hesitation
to have the tattoos done.
As I got off the phone with the only people I told, Andy
finally figured out how the second stamp happened: The pastor must have had the
word CHOSEN stamped on his left palm, upside down (Andy remembered seeing black
on it) and he must have grabbed my arm to stamp it, making his CHOSEN imprint
on the outside of my arm. It made perfect sense and although disappointed that
is wasn’t the MIRACLE I had accepted and celebrated it to be, I quickly decided
“GOOD, NO CRAZY TATTOOS TODAY!” I did try to call and emailed the pastor to ask
if indeed he had that stamp on his palm, but knew he probably wouldn’t be
around until the next day.
Well, I went to the store a little deflated and kept noticing
that the unexpected stamp of CHOSEN had not changed a bit but the one on my
inner arm was expanding. I knew that soon enough, both would be GONE, washed
away forever. On the ride home, I decided to take a LEAP OF FAITH and GO and
get these tattoos. The sermon was about walking by FAITH and not by sight. It
was about how He uses the weak to confound the strong and the foolish to
confound the wise. I felt so strongly that this was a test of faith and that my
faith would deepen exponentially if I went ahead and got the tattoos AFTER the
logical explanation of how it got there was revealed. To get these specific
tattoos had NOTHING to do with how I felt about getting the same word CHOSEN
tattooed on me TWICE! LOL, but REALLY (I had a much smaller, more beautiful ,
easily hidden one in mind IF I ever would have gotten the courage to have the
tattoo done that I keep “seeing” every time I worship).
God continued to give me confirmations and reminders. That
morning I watched a testimony of a sister in Christ broken free of the bondage
of religion. She said how she used to only wear long skirts, long sleeves, long
hair and no makeup, then she was “WRECKED” by Jesus and realized “He is not
concerned with all of that, He only wants ALL of my heart.” When we got to the tattoo
parlor, the artist said they took credit AND his next client cancelled, so he
could see me in 20 minutes! During my time in the chair, I shared my growing
testimony with him and he shared his with me. A child raised in a home of legalism
that he rebelled against and through a devastating addiction is on his road to
seeking The Higher Truth and releasing his control into God’s Hands. THERE’S A
MIRACLE.
After I got the tattoos, I was also reminded by a friend
that MIRACLES don’t produce lasting FAITH, but FAITH produces MIRACLES (she spoke
of how in the book of Mark of The Bible, the disciples’ faith did not grow by
watching Jesus feed thousands with only a few loaves of bread or by seeing Him
walk on water to their boat later the same day. She described how only one of
them actually stepped out of the boat in FAITH and was able to walk on water
toward Jesus until his faith wavered!!
I have to say, EVERY time I look down at my tattoos, I am
FILLED with JOY and PEACE. I am reminded of a myriad of lessons that I received
through only a few hours of obedience. I
remember how I felt when I witnessed the miracle of a perfectly round uterus
following the second surgery to remove a significant septum. I also remember
the first night I encountered Jesus. That I finally got to the point where it
didn’t matter if I was drugged or what. What mattered is that Jesus came and
washed me clean. He gave me a NEW heart and a NEW heart’s desire… to know His
Heart. When I see my tattoos, I’m reminded that I was not given a spirit of
fear or doubt, but of Power, Love and a Sound Mind. Amen.
