Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD. Jeremiah 8:7
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. Zechariah 7:9
In mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.” Isaiah 16:5
1 Corinthians 3:13-14 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
The Day of the Lord (span of time and testing of Christ; the Word of God, The Day) will reveal each one’s work by fire. Though each one will experience the testing “fire” of this Day, it will turn out very differently depending on what type of “work” each one has engaged in.
The Work
What is the work? It’s what you have built your faith on and trust in. It’s what you’ve established your hope in. We all have faith, it’s a matter of what or whom it’s in. Our actions and decisions show what we truly trust.
The enduring work is establishing a life built on faith on the everlasting God of truth and love. Only God is life and eternal. If our lives are built upon Him and His truths, they will endure. John 6:28-29
The work that doesn’t endure is our faith in anything else of this world; worldly wisdom, our resources, our personal ability and strength, idols of our own making, elements of this physical existence, religious rituals, whatever we are trusting in other than the One true God. Ezekiel 14:4
The “fires” or trials used to test each one’s trust are many and varied. They can take on just about any form. They are what challenge our faith, test the sources of our trust, and push us to the edge of ourselves exposing the truth of our hearts and minds. As the trials come to us to test our faith, our responses will show who or what we honestly trust in, it will reveal the type of work we’ve been engaged in during our lives.
Enduring Work
For those who have cultivated a trust in God and whose work endures, though the fires of testing may look daunting, they will be as a small flickering flame, with no power and easily extinguished.
Their stories will resemble that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in Daniel 3. They have built up a faith in God through their life experiences and knowledge. Thus when it comes to the ultimate test, they are able to stand strong and refuse to bow down and serve (look to anything for deliverance but God) any god but the God. Thus the fire will have no power in their lives. They know their God and their actions show their trust in His power.
Daniel 3:27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
These are those who will endure and receive the rewards of those who diligently seek God. Hebrews 11:6. Those who deeply trust God will continue to trust in the midst of the greatest challenges of their faith and will come out unscathed. Though the fires seem to be at their door, God goes before them and completely protects them. These will be kept from experiencing the Great Tribulation in their lives, for the fire has no power. Rev 3:10
How are they able to stand in the midst of the fire? Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, they have a life of seeking, knowing and cultivating trust in God and are able to stand at the greatest challenges. These were the ones buying the gold refined by fire from Christ. They are His disciples learning His truths directly from Him, and those truths refine their corrupted spirits to be vessels of light to hold the Spirit of God. Rev 3:18
1 Corinthians 13:14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward
Perishing Work
For those who trust in themselves and other idols and whose works are burned, the fires will be daunting. The fire of testing of the Day of the Lord will cause great grief as what they’ve trusted in comes to nothing. Fear will grip them as what they’ve relied on is threatened and consumed. These are the ones who experience the great tribulation. However, though all the elements that led them from the truth will be burned and they will suffer loss, they will be saved through the fire.
1 Corinthians 3:15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Unlike the ones who bought gold refined from Christ, these did not. They bought their treasures from what isn’t truly life but death, this world’s wisdom and its lies and deception. Rev 13:17 Thus when their faith is tested it reveals their work – building up trust in entities other than God. They lived by their own will, followed what they deemed was good, and didn’t FIRST seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33
What will your work reveal in the Day of the Lord? What is your hope in … truly?
Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Psalm 146:5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
I did an audio recording on this topic that goes into greater detail, I strongly suggest listening if you get an opportunity, The Journey of a Believer.
There are many misconceptions about the journey and/or life of a believer, someone who truly wants to be united to God in truth in spirit. From my understanding, there are three significant phases of a believer’s journey to moving into unity with God as we were created to live.
This journey isn’t embracing a religion, which is following man-made doctrines about who God is and what He desires. This journey is drawing near to God in truth as He is and as we are; it’s cultivating a real relationship with Him.
Phase 1: The Awakening
At some point God stirs our souls to what He did for us in Christ that brought reconciliation to Him. In Christ’s physical sacrifice and resurrection, God revealed His forgiveness of all the things we’ve done, do and will do that are contrary to Him (sin). His forgiveness had nothing to do with us earning it and everything to do with His love for us.
This awareness brings excitement and often blessings into our lives as we taste of the forgiveness, mercy, provision, and love of God. Our eyes are opened to the path of life as we are now able to be united to God, but true unity hasn’t happened yet.
Once we understand what it means for God’s love to be poured out upon us in such a way, our response is to draw near to Him in truth. Thus, we diligently seek unity with the One who showed us such a great love. Unity means surrendering to God’s sovereignty, acting in line with His will, abiding in His love and it flowing outward, and gaining His Spirit as a guarantee we are His. If we aren’t seeking Him, which will take us to the next phase, we haven’t grasped the point of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection — an opportunity for true unity with God. John 1:12
Many never get past this stage because of false doctrines about the purpose and meaning of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. For example, they believe it was a free pass to heaven or only a resolution of their sins so they don’t have to carry quilt, when it’s THE doorway to a deep and real relationship with God. But for those who do understand, they move on to phase two.
Phase 2: Discipleship under Christ and the Refining Fire
This phase begins when we truly start seeking God, which means we are devoted to getting to know God as He is through His Word and the instruction of the Holy Spirit. In other words, we become disciples of Christ, the Word of God. Matthew 28:19 We read and meditate on His words, and seek to be taught by God Himself, not another person. For the deep truths of God to become ours, we have to be taught by God. He teaches us in a way that it becomes our truth and changes us. Others can only point toward the truth, they can’t write it on our hearts. Therefore, this tutelage under Christ is an individual endeavor.
When we are first awakened, we’ve become aware of the path of life, but we are still consumed with lies, false images, pains, anger, bitterness, pride, and our self-will. This second phase entails the truth revealing, purging, and replacing all the corruption, so His Spirit can move in … phase 3.
Commitment to abide in the Word on a regular basis and to seek God with all our heart, soul and mind are essential to move through this phase.
The second aspect of this phase, which goes hand in hand with being a disciple of Christ, is the refining fire. As gold is purged of its impurities by fire, so are we. Our fire consists of challenges and trials. James 1:2-4 These put pressures on us to reveal our impurities, to move us ask, seek and dig deep into God and His truth. The fires expose the impurities and purge them, IF we cling to the Truth of God throughout the process and seek His counsel and instruction.
Essentially, the part being purged is our self-will (i.e. flesh, dying to self). It’s the part of us that governs all that goes against God’s will; whether good or bad in our eyes. During this stage lies and deception are purged from our beliefs about God, us, others, and this world and truth is instated. It’s the purging and rebuilding of our souls that prepares us to be God’s temple, phase three.
One note about the refining fire and the tools used – because of the sin of Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3, they both fell under a curse. Adam was cursed in his work and Eve in marriage and childbearing/rearing. Because in Christ we are forgiven, this curse is lifted. These areas, which were once cursed, are now used as tools to refine us. God uses many things in our lives to teach and refine us, but the main and consistent tools seem to be these areas for men and women. Therefore, don’t run from the challenges in these areas. Seek the lessons and grow through them. God is making all things new in His time and His way.
This stage can be long and difficult because of all those things we need purging of: deception, pride, resentments, pains, anger, and our self-will, which loves to be in control. These are what manifest our hardships, block unity with God and keep us from being who He created us to be. All needs to be removed and replaced with truth, peace, trust in God, and love. The purging, humility and refinement isn’t easy. Yet through it all, God is right there. We need to trust Him and His work, and not what we see.
Many don’t make it through this phase … this is why many are called (phase 1) and yet few are chosen (for phase 3). Matthew 22:14 It’s difficult. Some complain and blame which keeps them blind to God’s work and moving forward. Others turn back to their ways and the wisdom of the world (the things God is purging), by not clinging to the Word.
As we are refined, we become new creations because we’ve been purified and sanctified. We can over spiritualize this process, but it’s a very real journey that we embark upon, full of real trials and challenges serving a higher purpose if we allow them – God building His temple. If we continue with God, we come out renewed with a framework of truth and God’s love and those change everything. As new creations sanctified by God Himself, we are able to hold the Spirit of God. Before He was with us … how He is a part of us. We are a new wineskin, able to hold new wine. This is phase three. 2 Corinthians 5:17
During this phase, God makes His home in us. John 14:23 We are always learning and growing, but we come to a point when God’s spirit moves in. Needless to say, it’s a significant transition in our lives. The old things pass away; lies, fears, and afflictions. We want only to walk in obedience because of a love for God and truth. We seek to serve God’s will in every way. We live His truth, not just speak it. A pure love for others flows through us. Our prayers are mighty as His truth abides in us. We are powerful vessels to be used by God as our will is submitted to Him.
This is the place we want to be. We can’t jump here as many doctrines profess. It’s a journey, because the relationship is real and based on truth.
A PODCAST (click here to listen) is available on the deeper meaning of fasting you often don’t hear discussed. You can also get it at Itunes. Search for Stirring the Deep under podcasts.
Overview: Fasting is an area that is greatly misunderstood and misused. When we understand the spiritual implications behind it, then it has tremendous power in our lives.
Here I discuss this act and the spiritual depth and meaning behind it. I hope this explains unanswered questions about it. Hint: it’s much more than not eating.
A PODCAST (click here to listen) is available on living in victory in our lives. You can also get it at itunes. Search for Stirring the Deep under podcasts.
Overview: Many of us are facing trials and challenges. It can be frustrating for a believer because you see the promises of God and then look at your life and wonder why the huge gap. Or perhaps you have learned that trials do refine your faith, but wondering when will they ever end. I hope to encourage you by sharing the deeper purpose and reason for many of those trials by giving a different perspective on the situation.
In this two part segment, I talk about two main reasons for why we experience what we do. In part one, I cover the first reason and part two I discuss the second reason and how to journey through them victoriously.
A PODCAST (click here to listen) covering the second part to living in victory is available. Also available through itunes.
Overview: In the previous show, I talked about one of the reasons we experience the trials we do as believers and how we can battle them and come out victoriously.
In this show, I cover another reason we face what we do and again, discuss how to come through it successfully as God intends. We’ve been given all we need in Christ, we need to know what we have, how to act on it, and act on it.
This post is written in more of an outline/bullet style. I wanted to document the journy as I’m discovering it . . .
We are born into this world at a certain place and time, and with a unique identity to fulfill purposes designed by our Creator, God. Those purposes can only be manifested through the union of us and God. Along with those purposes are corresponding desires that motivate us to fulfill those purposes – otherwise we would never move forward!
However, we are born separated from God, not in union. Therefore, we act from a place of our judgment and not His; a mindset represented by the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We think we can judge what is good and right for our lives, though we haven’t a clue.
In this place of separation, we don’t understand what a connection with God entails; the beauty, life, freedom and purpose because we’ve never experienced it.
Therefore, we pursue a life trying to fulfill our deepest desires based on our ill-judgment. Outside God’s wisdom, we make destructive choices. Death grows in us, because God is life and only by being connected to Him do we have life. In all our pursuits, we are left hungering and unsatisfied, because we will never achieve the fullness of our desires and purposes apart from God for it’s not how they are designed.
At a certain point, our spirits are awakened to a call to be united to God in truth and spirit. At the discovery and stepping onto the new path we are ecstatic for so many roads have been dead ends. Something within tells us this is the way to fulfilling our deepest hungers – freedom, deliverance, truth, love, purpose and abundance.
The discovery of this path is understanding God calls us to come into union with Him by being reconciled through Jesus Christ. We come to an awareness that reconciliation with Him is not only eternal life but also the only way to true life on earth. It’s exhilarating.
However, this union requires that we give God Lordship; sovereignty over our lives. This Lordship includes letting go of our judgments and thus how we’ve been operating and thinking since birth. It requires us to let go of all that we have trusted and instead trust Him, which proves to be very difficult. Those areas of trust, though wrong, were our hope for attaining our desires. We feel we are giving up our desires. We aren’t. God gave us those desires. We are giving up our way of obtaining them. John 12:25
It’s here that many stop. They can’t let go and give up their self-will. They feel they have to give up too much, when in reality it’s only by letting go that they received what they’ve always wanted. The path is narrow. There is only one way, God’s way. Matthew 7:14
Others think they can learn principles of this path, and then forge ahead. But this process doesn’t foster the unity with God that they were designed to flourish in. With their “new principles”, they remain in control continuing to work according to their own strength. They aren’t relying, trusting and growing in God’s power working in them.
Others continue to move forward following the small light (the Word) in front of them, not sure of the next step until it is made. It’s nerve racking, but they step into the unknown. Realizing God’s ways aren’t their ways. They’ve embraced the tools given to them – the Word of God and prayer. By abiding in the Word of God they learn who God is, who they are in Him, and the dynamics of their relationship. They start developing an intimate connection.
From the knowledge gained in diligently seeking God, trust blossoms. They begin to trust in God’s Word and work in their lives and not what they think is right. The transition is occurring from walking according to their will to God’s spirit. They are letting go a little at a time, and finding it is the secret to moving forward on the path of life. Matthew 6:33, Psalm 37:3-5
Their path takes them through a wilderness, where they are stripped of all that they trust so that their trust can only be fully in God. This stripping comes by trials where the objects of their trust are removed or challenged. Only when they put those idols of trust aside, can they be united to God; a union in which He is the sovereign voice. This journey in the wilderness can be long and hard because it’s difficult to break the trust in other entities. 1 Peter 5:10 1 Peter 1:6-7Philippians 4:19
In the wilderness, many, whose relationship is weak due to lack of truly knowing God thus in trusting Him, turn back to their old ways. The hardships and trials cause them to go back to what they trusted before.
For those who persist through the wilderness, when their spirit comes to a place of true surrender, then they are ready for the fullness of their purpose, desires and life to come. Their heart is in the right condition to receive what God has for them and to become who God intended them to be. It’s no longer about their works, but God working in and through them in a much greater power. A relationship is established between them and God, which none can separate. They are rightly related to God. God is first in their lives. His will prevails. His power flows freely. They enter into abundant life, as God has ordained for each one according to how they are created and the purposes they were created for. The fulfillment of their deepest desires start to bloom in and all around them.
Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Is it a road to Utopia? Not in the sense we might think. At times it doesn’t feel like it, especially through the wilderness, but yes it is. Only God can truly fulfill us, for He created us.
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Here is one more dream instructing me during these wilderness tests . . . I’ve written a lot about dreams lately as God has been using them to show me my heart among other truths I need to know. Where the other two dreams (Preparing for God’s Calling, Wilderness Tests – God’s Care) I shared revealed doubts and fears deep in my heart, this one was a bit different . . .
In my dream, my eyesight started to get blurry. No matter what I did my eyes wouldn’t clear up. My vision became so blurred that people and objects were shapeless blobs. Needless to say it made me anxious. At one point, I was holding my cousin’s new baby and almost dropped him as I stumbled over a chair. Fortunately my aunt was there to brace me. After bumbling around for awhile here and there, it was time to get dressed for some formal function/party I was attending that night. But my eyesight was so poor; I didn’t know how I was going to get ready (hair, makeup, all that stuff). Then a young blonde-hair woman said she would help me. The sweetness in her demeanor and in her voice gave me a peace in my spirit. I didn’t know her, but it didn’t matter. She was very willing to help me out. As we went back to the dressing room, I looked in the mirror and I saw that my hazel eyes had turned a crystal clear blue. There was still a haze covering them as they were still transforming but I stood amazed. A wave of encouragement came over me as I realized they were blurry because they were going through this change.
As I sought out the meaning of this dream the next day during my quiet time, this is what I felt it meant. It’s a reflection of what is happening in my life – a transformation within my soul as God tests, renews and prepares me. Eyes are the windows to the soul. A change in color from hazel to blue reflected God’s work in me through this time of testing. The blurriness inhibiting me from seeing clearly and moving about represented how I feel about my situation, the unknown and the uncertainty, which I’ve talked about in previous posts.
During this trial, as my trust is tested I feel at times like I’m bumbling around. But it’s this uncertainty that beckons me to trust and rest in God’s Truth because if not now then when? Is He my God or isn’t He? Though circumstances seem undefined or uncertain, there is hope because if I look (as I did in the mirror) I will see God is working in my soul and using the circumstances to mold my heart and spirit for His will and purposes. He is breaking my trust in other things, so that it will be in Him as it should be. As He works, He is filling me with His living waters in areas that need a refreshing.
I thought the blonde girl represented an angel helping me as I went through this time. I felt God say that all that is happening is under His watchful eye and care. He is taking care of my needs. He is with me every step. He is working it all out in the perfect way. That morning after my dream I got a deep sense that everything is happening as it should. I’m in my Maker’s hands and He is molding me according to His desire and will, which ultimately is what will most fulfill me as well. My part is to yield to that molding, trust Him and above all believe in His promises to me.
In this trial, my trust is breaking in other things and I know that is so it will be established more firmly on Him. When it’s in Him then crystal blue living waters can freely flow through my soul and circumstances. This dream was more of a look from God’s perspective, which is the perspective I need to focus on.
A friend shared this with me and I’m passing it along because I found it encouraging and a great description of what I feel many of us are facing in our circumstances.
Jehovah Jireh
Aletha Hinthorn
God gave Abraham a startling command. “Take your promised son and offer him in sacrifice!”
During his three days’ journey to the place of sacrifice, Abram came to the conviction that, if God required him to offer Isaac, He was also able to raise him up from the dead.
So he bound Isaac with cords and laid him upon the altar. Just as Abraham raised his knife to kill his son, an authoritative voice from heaven said, “Do not lay a hand upon the boy.” Abraham looked and saw a ram caught by its horns.
As a result of these events, Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14). Jehovah Jireh is not a personal name of God, but rather, the name of a place where God appeared. Still, it is a name that we ascribe to God. The name means God sees to everything beforehand. We never have a need that is not already met.
The key to discovering God to be our Jehovah Jireh is to give up our Isaac, the thing that is dearest to us. It’s praying, “Lord, You know what I want, and You love me better than I love myself. I choose Your provision over my own.”
When we willingly give up our deepest desire, then, and only then, can we discover that God’s provisions are always better than we could imagine.
For instance, God’s provisions always look ahead much further than we can see. If we were allowed to design our blessings, we would ask for blessings prematurely or for blessings too small. God often withholds what we ask because He has higher plans for us that we can imagine.
He may lead us through what would seem to be unkind, unfair, and totally unnecessary paths. Suddenly He brings us to a turn in the road, where we’re allowed to see His beautiful plan and we glimpse a whole cluster of answered prayers. We then can see that the long and perhaps lonely way God led us was necessary so that He could provide far more blessings than we would have thought to pray for.
I praise You, Father, that all Your purposes toward us end in infinite and eternal love.
“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee” (Psalm 9:10 KJV).
Another characteristic of God I’ve been focusing on the past couple of weeks is faithfulness.
The promises in the Bible are mind blowing. Yet, for many those promises can seem distant. One reason is because we are too focused on our faithfulness, or better yet faithlessness, instead of God’s faithfulness. As I focused on this characteristic of God, it refreshed my soul more than I would have thought. I realized I really don’t focus on it enough.
God is faithful. He does what He says. He is true to His word. He is reliable and dependable. He will finish what He started. We can count on Him. God gave us His promises and He (not us) is the One to manifest them in our lives in the perfect way and perfect timing for each one of us. He will fulfill His words to us, because He is faithful and can’t deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
Seeking, Knowing, Trusting
God is faithful. So, what does He ask of us? The Word is replete with calls for us to seek, know and trust Him and His responses if we do.
Psalm 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
These three acts are all connected; one leading to the next. Seeking leads to knowing which produces trust. Seeking is about learning who God is and moving into a real relationship with Him based on His truth. It’s deepening our personal knowledge or “knowing” of God. It isn’t learning about Him through a third party, but one-on-one, intimate, personal. It’s walking through life’s experiences with Him, and deeply learning He is faithful, we can trust Him.
I’ve found that always going through a third party or middle man (pastor, writer, leader, teacher) dramatically slows down and inhibits the intimacy building process with God. We gain some understanding, true, but it’s drops in the bucket compared to going to Him one-on-one just us, Him and His Word. Jesus removed the middle man by becoming the middle man. We have to be very careful of depending or relying on a third part and their works (leading, teaching, words) because it feels comfortable. There is a place for others; it’s secondary to our relationship with God. Think of a marriage. We are God’s bride. In a marriage, do you always have someone there telling you who your spouse is? What kind of intimacy or lack of would that produce? Or do you go and experience and learn about your spouse yourself?
In an intimate relationship, deep knowledge grows and trust is the fruit. Without this type of a relationship it’s difficult to truly trust because we don’t really know God. We trust what we know. If you find your trust is lacking, focus on cultivating a real relationship with God for that is where true trust blossoms.
Trust in God’s Mercy
One of the key aspects of God’s instruction is that He asks us to trust in is His mercy. It’s one of the most important qualities we trust in. Especially because we often don’t trust Him in other areas like we should! The truth and mercy go hand in hand. Psalm 61:7 There is truth about who God is to us, who we are to Him, what He desires of us, and most of us struggle with completely trusting in these areas and others as we are inundated with lies and fears. Learning to let go and trust God is a lifetime journey. So above all we need to trust in His mercy, not that we live or trust perfectly. Confusing? Hope not.
Psalm 6:4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.
God is faithful. Faithful to have His grace and mercy abound toward us always, thus to fulfill His promises toward us. Especially in the midst of a trial, where our trust is being tested and being strengthened (real trust grows from our experiences not our pontificating), it’s important to keep our focus on what is right and true, like God’s faithfulness. During trials more than any other time our internal lies attack and weaken our trust in God and what He has taught us. We aren’t to give these lies a minute of our attention. When we focus our minds on who God is and not the lies, our current frustration, or the future outcome of what we think our circumstances will manifest, then we’re able to stand firm through the difficulties.
God’s faithfulness abounds toward us. Deeply knowing this truth brings peace among the storms in life, (as the rainbow breaks through the storm clouds). It isn’t a wishful thinking, but a very real reality. God wants to show Himself to us in powerful and real ways. In the midst of trials when we have reached our end is where His work becomes most apparent because we know what is done is not of us or anything else.
If you’ve been following my posts, Wilderness Tests – God’s Care, Perspective Adjustments, then you know I’ve been going through what I call wilderness tests. (Wilderness because I feel like I’m out there in the wide open with nothing to cling to but God – and yet He is everything what I’m I worried about? And tests because I feel my trust is being tested at very deep levels within me.)
God often uses my dreams to reveal the depths of my heart, and I’m getting some deep insight during this trial. My dreams cause me to face what I’m really feeling, because my rational brain knows better. They have been exposing the depth of what I really think and feel so that it can be addressed with the Truth. They can be like an interpretive drama of what is happening in my emotions.
Here is another one . . .
A friend was putting together a Bible class for children. I asked if she could use my help. She asked me to prepare some pages (on graph paper) with certain phrases written on them. The phrases were to be written in different colored markers. Some of the phrases were to be taken out of certain books. Sounds easy enough. There were other women helping out with the same task. As I started out I had all my supplies but not the markers. Once I got the markers, then all the sudden the graph paper was missing. Once I got the graph paper, then the books were missing. I couldn’t get it all together to get the task done. The other women seemed to have no problem getting it all together. They kept handing my friend completed pages, when I hadn’t written one phrase. Why was I having such a problem? I couldn’t figure it out. What’s wrong with me? Time started to run out and the children started showing up as the class was about to begin, and I hadn’t prepared anything! My friend didn’t seem too worried about it, but I felt horrible that I hadn’t made any progress with such a simple task. Then I woke up.
As I asked about this dream the next morning, I felt it was related to my calling. My passion is to help others to cultivate a relationship with God that is deep, meaningful, passionate, and real. I felt God had given me the next steps for moving forward. All the elements seemed to be in place. I felt I knew what I needed to do, but yet it seemed to go nowhere. What seemed to be an easy task ended up not really ever taking off as I expected it to. Yet, others around me seem to be carrying on their callings with no problem. This dream showed me how deep down I feel about my circumstances. The elements seem to be there but there isn’t much movement forward from my point of view. Why? What is going on? In my rational brain I know that God is in control that He is preparing me and I need to relax and trust, but deep down I was feeling a bit “concern” about the whole thing as my dream revealed.
This is what God told me about this “concern” I was having. It isn’t about you “efforting” your way through. I know your heart, willingness, and passion, I put them in you to drive and focus you in your life. BUT I’m the One to lead, guide, prepare and equip you for what I call you to do. You question your ability and sometimes your path to accomplish what seems straight forward because you don’t see the “successes”. But you are right where I want you to be. Don’t give up on your passion because it isn’t happening in the way you thought. My ways are not your ways. The preparation of the person/leader is one of the most important parts to my callings. Too often people want to jump ahead. Resist that urge and trust me that I will guide you and lead you perfectly. The vision may be planted in your heart (however fuzzy), but it’s I who determine each step. You want to be there now, but I’m taking you along the perfect path at the perfect pace. Trust me. You are my workmanship. It’s not your work but mine. I will finish what I started. Trust me. Don’t you trust that I can guide you? Prepare you? Look at your past. My grace abounds toward you. You need to let go of your expectations of how it should be working out and trust me in this area. Just keep your eyes on Me – seeking my kingdom and my righteousness. This is all I ask of you.
As I was telling a friend, she said God has me “under construction” – I thought that was well said. We want to jump ahead to the doing, because that’s what we often put our identity in, though we shouldn’t. We need to be patient as God prepares our heart, mind and spirit.
We want to be at the finish line now. But the truth of the matter is we will always be a work in progress in this life. We will always need to be dependent upon God. Therefore, we need to learn to trust and let go of our expectations of how things should be happening and trust His perfect counsel. We don’t see the big picture as He does. He moves His children along at the perfect way at the perfect pace. God spoke to me about this area of my life a week ago as I wrote in Perspective Adjustments. I got it on one level, but this truth needs to go deeper until it’s truly mine and that is a process.
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Living Light 