1 Chronicles 17:1-4 “Look,” David said [to Nathan the prophet], “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!” Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.” But that same night God said to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.’”
There was a time while I lived in Brazil that I thought God was asking me to build a ministry there for survivors of sexual abuse. But in October, 2012, at a conference in southern Brazil, God said to me clearly, “You are not the one to build this ministry in Brazil. You have other battles to fight.”
The occasion was the launching of the new edition of my book Vítima, Sobrevivente, Vencedor (Victim, Survivor, Victor). Thus in my talk to the participants gathered from around Brazil, I told them I was offering this book as a resource, but they would be the ones to actually build and carry out this ministry. A large number of people came forward indicating they felt God was calling them to this work.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, my daughter Karis had a terrible accident resulting in wounds that prevented her attending her sister’s wedding in Brazil the next month. And another family member was experiencing a crisis which resulted in my cancelling my participation in another conference in northeast Brazil.
Yes. I had other battles to fight.
“You are not the one.” They can be hard words to hear. But I’m glad God spoke to me so clearly that I knew where he was deploying me. And that he showed me he was deploying others for the work in Brazil. Like David, my part was (and continues to be) supplying resources for those who, like Solomon, do the actual building.
This has been an interesting reflection for me during these weeks when I am trying to communicate what God did through Karis’s life, so that people can be encouraged through understanding him better. He is still active, always has been and always will be, in restoration and transformation. He still wants to pour out his grace on each one of us, in whatever ways we each need his healing touch. I pray this will be the experience of all who read Karis, All I See Is Grace just as much as for those who read Vítima, Sobrevivente, Vencedor. God is the source of healing. To him all praise.
Debra Kornfield 
Palavra maravilhosa! Muito obrigada por mim recordar, que eu não sou a única que pode realizar o que tem que ser realizado! Nos últimos meses, eu tenho estado com muitos problemas de saúde e sentindo muita dor, tem dia que é difícil até pôr os pés no chão! Mais alguns líderes e pastores tem me convidado a trazer uma palavra sobre missões em suas igrejas. E lá vou eu, mancando, sentido muita dor, e levando a palavra! Hoje mesmo voltando do consultório médico, sentia tanta dor nos pês e na coluna,que dava vontade de chorar na rua ao regresso. Quando chequei em casa minha filha, vendo meu desconforto, me trouxe uma bacia com agua e gelo , onde agradecida coloquei o meus pés dolorido, na agua cheia de gelo, para aliviar a dor, em quanto descansava meus pés peguei o celular para revisar as mensagens, la estava uma mensagem de uma irmã perguntando como estava minha agenda para 23\09!Que Deus me ajuda discernir e domar as decisões corretas!
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Amém, Marlene. Que Deus te dê discernimento. Abraços.
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Amem! Muito obrigada!
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But God said, “You are not the one to do that.” I usually am pushing toward trying to do more than I should. So it’s a real relief to know that God opens doors that no person can shut and shuts doors that no person can open. I’s a relief to not take closed doors as failures, but rather as God redirecting my time and energy in other directions. Thank You, Lord!
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