…and a hard place
Holy Spirit breathed new life as I wrote this morning, awakening me to the ‘valley of vision’.
In the onset of my hour of darkness, I had to learn to lie still…and feel His ‘stay’ upon me, until His Light – which only He can make manifest - would arise in me, and clear up things to me. Patiently, He waited for me to become exhausted amidst the clutter of self, while His perfect love championed my heart. As this internal posture of surrender grew to a place of rest, my heart became pliable in His hand. It is here, His passionate intentions took authority and set me above the condition of my painful trial. The familiar story of Jesus asleep in the boat while the storm grew to a rage around Him and those on board, took on new life form as I realized, I was the vessel giving Jesus His resting place amidst the voices of fear and doubt on board, and the enemy’s ploy to destroy me with the storm of my earthly circumstance.
By simply giving Jesus His resting place as the vessel of His presence I was created to be, He rose up and silenced everything. I didn’t lift a finger, or even speak a word. I simply encountered ‘the person of Jesus’ within my surrender, and let Father have His way as I laid down what I wanted Him to do, how I wanted Him to do it, and the time frame in which I wanted it done.
Faithful to His promises in the depths of my suffering, He reiterated just how high, how wide, how deep, how strong - His love really is. And more than my desire for an answer, or to be removed from it’s sting, I fell in love with the way He held me through the hard place. I was convinced, that nothing could separate me from the love of God (Romans 8:38).
Father had so many things to show me of Himself…things I’d hungered for, and had asked for…but was I willing for His answer to come in ‘His Way’?
Has the furnace of your affliction silenced your worship of Him?
Have you missed His miraculous because you needed it to come a certain way?
Has the hard place caused you to loose sight of God’s pleasure of you and so, you’ve become captivated by the trial?
At times, the honor of being His glory bearer may be amidst the fiery furnace of your earthly circumstance. But make no mistake, all the while - the rulers of this world, and those who threw you in there, will be looking in on you…stunned and stammering for what to say about the fourth one standing beside you - and how for some reason, you’ve not even been touched by the flame.
Encouraged by the life of Daniel, may our lives echo the highest praise from the night hours of the lion’s den, while living moment by moment in the miraculous of their mouths being shut.
Our joy in the suffering is not only that God has made a miraculous way out of our painful trial and we get what we want. It encompasses so much more! Our joy is full when our response to Him answers the cry of His heart, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me.”
May our love response back to Him draw every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…right in the face of our enemy. This is the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth. This is miraculous!
(Wait for Him here… until you know you have met with Him)