Today, during a pastors’ prayer meeting, one of the pastors said to me, “Linda, I believe that you are feeling upset because of the IRS audit you are facing and God wants you to know that he isn’t upset with you and that your mistakes have been forgiven.”

This man had no idea that I had been agonizing about the mistakes I had made over a two-year period on my returns.  While my husband was dying during that time, it seems unbelievable that I made so many mistakes.

Hearing this, I couldn’t help it.  I started to cry.  As a couple of the men gathered around me to pray, I felt the Lord lift a heavy “something” from my heart.  I was surprised because I couldn’t believe that it felt almost as though a physical weight had been taken from my shoulders.

Often God allows me to go through hard times to purify me and strengthen me.  Over the past weeks, I’ve felt the Lord’s hand on me; but it has not meant a release from the concerns and worries that I was carrying.

This morning in my email, I received a daily message from a businessman–turned Bible teacher.  He wrote about Hosea 2:15.  The context is Judea’s returning to the Lord.  The Lord says, “There I will give her back her vineyards, and I will make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope.”  I felt that familiar stirring as the Holy Spirit made this verse real to my situation.

Later that afternoon as I left the prayer meeting, I knew the Lord had spoken to me twice.  First, early this morning and later through these godly men.  I am praying that God will work a new integrity in all the areas of my life.