“From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. 7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’ Isaiah 48:6-7
I can truly say "I didn't know." I didn't see this coming. Life had lots of twists and turns to get me here. The path I planned to take just kind of disappeared in the fog of despair as I wallowed in self-pity after each broken dream. But, I have found that all things do work for good if we love God and we are called to His purpose.
Nevertheless, the road to God's purpose is often filled with obstacles that may not be meant to stop us, but rather to redirect us. How often do we believe that we are in God's will, yet, nothing seems to go right? Well, our gaffes can be our greatest gifts. It just depends on how we receive it as it is true that our mess can definitely morph into an amazing message of hope for many.
The suddenlies of God catch us off guard and then we are in a "new thing". It may be way out of our comfort zone and quite a stretch. So, What now?From now on, our lives will never be the same. God is creating something new in our lives. This may be painful process, but it is not without purpose. We are moving into a new position and getting a different perspective. We can never say that we knew this was going to happen. Actually, this was never in our plans, but God had His way.
Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, “The LORD declares,” when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. Ezekiel 13:6
This verse is pertaining to false prophets, but I recognize it is extremely profound just reading it by itself. How often do we see things the way we want to see it, creating a false vision? Have we ever looked into the future conjuring up a life that we want, then manipulate our present to make what we "foresee" be what you want it to be? That's nothing less than creating and living a lie. But, we don't only create false visions and live a lie, we try to make ourselves feel better by saying that it is "of the Lord." And since "it is of the Lord," then we expect all that our visions will be fulfilled and our lies will be made true.
Our unrealistic expectations, gives way to living in a manner that is not pleasing to God. We put our expectations on others and believe that they should be what we want them to be. But really, they aren't. Some folks may want to please us and they will try to be what we want them to be, however it can be quite difficult to keep up the facade and at some point the facade comes down and both parties are hurt. One is angry because he or she feels that the person has changed for the worse. While the other, breaks under the pressure of being what he or she wasn't meant to be.
Manipulations, lies and unfair expectations lead only to trouble. The fact is we are all broken and we somehow want to feel more together through love and acceptance. Furthermore, we desire the other person to show us love and acceptance through our own lens, which is often shaped by our experiences. This is unreasonable as each person has their own experiences that have given them a different perspective on life.
So, what do you expect? It's time to have a reality check. No one can fit all our expectations. We need to give them a break and we need to give ourselves a break. We miss out on the uniqueness and beauty of others when we try to make them fit into our mold. Let's just let people be who they were meant to be and support them to be the best person they were created to be. Step back and see them for who they really are. Sometimes we may not like this realistic look, but then that's when we need to take a good look at ourselves. We may not like the person we are either. The things we hate in others are often what is wrong with us. Once we know the truth about ourselves then bring it to God. He will enlighten us and show us the way.
According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20-21
We often talk about living for Christ. But, are we ready to die for Christ? Are we ready to die to self? Too frequently we say this is the way we are and we can't change. However, if we say that we can't change, as Christians we are denying the power of the Holy Spirit. We are in essence stating that our flesh is more powerful than the precious blood of the Lamb.
We are to put ourselves on the altar, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God. This requires death. Something has to die for life to occur. A seed dies in the earth and is buried away for new life to spurt that is abundant and fresh.
Trying to cheat death to self, we remain egotistical and can never fully accomplish our God given purpose. Sometimes it is our humiliation which humbles us after it helps to kill our flesh. Our shame is a necessary part of living for Christ and it enables us to better encourage others in their Christian walk as we remember that Jesus too suffered the "shame of the cross." He did this so that we could have life more abundantly.
It is not just about us, God is thinking about how much we can accomplish when he helps to murder our flesh and annihilate our ego. This is all a part of dying for Christ, so that the world will have much to gain.
I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. Song of Songs 5:6
Why did the Lover leave? The Beloved was sleeping and was too lazy to get up at the knock of her Lover. All the Beloved did was to think about herself. She didn't want to put her robe back on again and she didn't want to soil her washed feet.
The Beloved Church is asleep as her Lover Jesus knocks at the door of her heart. The Church is too comfortable to get up and move towards Jesus' call. She doesn't want to rise up from her soporific state. The Church refuses to put on the robe of righteousness, yet proudly wraps herself in self-righteousness. Feeling clean, she doesn't want to mix with the "unclean" and walk a path that may get her feet dirty. However, the path Jesus walked was lined with sinners who needed his healing touch. The Church too is called to walk the path of her Lover.
Any disciple who follows Jesus will get dirty feet. But, being in Jesus means the disciple is clean, no matter what mess those feet trod through.
It is time for the Church to stop worrying about dirty feet as she arises from her lethargy. She must open the door to her first Love without hesitating or else it may be too late. It is time for the Beloved to love as the Lover and forget about herself to seek the lost and hurting.
Unfortunately, when people look at the Church they are asking, "Where has all the love gone?"
The time has come for the Church to wake up, get up and open up the door for her Lover. She has locked out not only the Lover, but also those who need to be loved.
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:2-7
This is pretty tough. Having joy when facing difficult situations can be quite challenging. However, the passage never said these circumstances make us happy. Being happy and having "pure joy" are two different things.
Joy does not come from external happenings, whether good or bad, but comes from the Lord no matter what is taking place.
Do not grieve, for thejoyoftheLord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
We know that when we face these trials we are getting stronger and stronger in the Lord and that in itself should give us "pure joy".
Lately, I have been trying to encourage myself, just like David. But, it hasn't been working. I feel more like the Israelites in the desert who were going no where fast because they were murmuring and complaining. Life may not be getting better. Problems seem to be heating up and going forward may not seem to be the best prospect. We see that this promised land of milk and honey is occupied by some fierce looking giants who make us fearful.
We run to man to try and figure out the giant problem, but man has no answers, no matter how astute he is. His wisdom cannot match that of God's, yet we keep going back to him and keep hitting into that brick wall. God knows how to break down that wall, but it just doesn't make sense to us. We want to get through the wall, however God defies human wisdom and tells us to walk around it and then make a shout. How odd? Surely, those watching us will think we are fools. Instead, we return to man for a better answer and needless to say the wall stays up and seems to get thicker and higher.
We cannot believe God. His wisdom makes no sense. We forget that His ways are not our ways, resulting in us wavering and doubting. We want to enter the promised land, but we listen to man rather than God.
The Lord knows about the giants. He also knows that He is going to use those giants to build our faith, but we need to persevere. We can't give up. Our ideas to get out of our mess don't always work and some are just temporary fixes. The giants are there to build us, not kills us. God is our refuge and our fortress. When we rest in His shadow, He guards us from the heat of the problem. No doubt, the problem is still there, but with God for us, who or what can be against us?
The problem is not the problem itself, but how we react to the problem. Do we believe man or God? And do we have "pure joy" in spite of it all?
I really want to be control and so it scares me to just back off to let God and let God. However, I know this would be my best stance. For so long I have lived on my might and my power, even though I know it is wrong. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)
Easier said than done? Maybe not. Moving in the Spirit of God is supposed to be easy and simple, if we recognize that God's grace is enough. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
We have to stop feeling that we have to do things our way and in our strength, but instead we should let God take over. It can be quite difficult backing off of situations that we want to get worked out quickly. Yet, our quick fixes and trying to work things out in our own strength usually leaves us in a quagmire. If only we would rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7 (NASB)
Where does our hope come from? If it comes from anything or anyone besides God, then we will always be in a quandary.
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. Psalms 62:5 (NIV)
Our hope should be in God. We should find rest in Him, as we let go of all we have - everything of our own making. God wants to build us up in Him, but first we have to break away from all we have built without Him. We must give up everything.
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 (NIV)
We like to think of this verse as referring more to material possessions, but it is so much more than that. It is our pride, our self-pity, even our desires. Yes, I know -Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NIV) But if we examine this verse closely, we will discover that the word "delight" means "pliable". We can only be pliable in God's hands if we rest in Him. If we don't rest, we will break and then we cannot be molded by Him into an image which will reflect His heart and His desires.
So, it is time to trust God by placing ourselves in His hands and hoping in Him alone. And, when we do this and back off from our own strength and plans, then we will recognize His grace is more than enough.
