It was almost four years ago to the day when I was blindsided and gut-punched; the ground swept right out from under my feet. I was to make the most difficult decision of my life. Though, it is one I do not regret because it involved protecting one of my kiddos. Little did I know at the time, the Lord was actually delivering me from captivity! Risking fierce accusation and being misunderstood, I had two choices: I could either trust the Lord as I walked away from all I knew: position, folks I loved, my identity, what I understood as the call of God on my life, and all that was familiar to me; or I could remain in Egypt, enslaved and in captivity. I chose uncharted territory. I had decided that if I am going to go through something so devastating, I was going to make it worth my trouble. I decided to allow the Lord to do what He wants in my heart and in my life and not let the enemy win. Out of that came my last message to my church family of 29 years, who was unaware of what had transpired. I recently came across my notes from that message and was greatly encouraged by my younger self. It's my prayer that you are encouraged too!
When everything you know is shaken, will you trust God?
I believe there comes a time in every believer’s life where their world is shaken. If any of Jesus disciples were here with us today, they would be able to tell you what it felt like when the one they loved, the one they followed and left everything for, was crucified. I believe everyone that walks with Jesus will at some point go through a season where the dream feel's like it’s been crucified. It will seem as if it is dead. It is called the testing of your faith. Will you submit to the Lord through the process or will you quit? If you wait on Him and cling to Him with everything in you, you will come out lacking nothing. The trials are like a refiner’s fire. They will purify you but only if you will submit everything to Jesus. Don’t doubt, don’t analyze, don’t criticize, simply trust the master.
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The Passion Translation: My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.
I love this passage in the Message translation: Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
We are not to try to get out of hardships! Doesn’t that sound contradictory to all we know? There are times when the enemy attacks and we wage spiritual warfare with all we have. The enemy is a thief and he comes to steal, kill and destroy and though we are not to let him, I believe that there are seasons in our lives where all the spiritual warfare, intercession and laying on of hands, etc.… is not going to bring us to where we need to be because there is a process that we need to go through.
Jesus prayed to the Father right before the roman soldiers came for him. He asked that if were possible that the cup be taken from him but nevertheless, “Not my will, but your will be done.” Calvary was a process that He endured for your sake and mine even when He could have called all the angels of heaven to his aid. Galatians 2:20 tells us that we have been crucified with Christ. Will we pick up our cross? Will we allow Him to live through us? James chapter one tells us that the testing of our faith develops perseverance. The amplified version says “Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work so that you may be perfectly & fully developed lacking in nothing. Let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work…
Endurance for what? 2 Timothy 4:7 says: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. The Message says it like this: You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. When the race becomes so difficult that you don't know how you can possibly continue, will you believe all the way to the finish line?
Our walk with the Lord and becoming more like Him is a process. The dictionary definition of a process is this: a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that leads toward a particular result. Did you catch that? Gradual changes. As believers we sometimes want someone to lay hands on us, to prophesy over us, or even do deliverance ministry but we often forget that when it comes to being perfected, to putting that old man to death and becoming more and more like Jesus, there is no overnight success. There's a process that we must submit to. It may seem like we are in the dark and it may feel very negative, but God saw the complete picture even before you were born! He created that picture in the first place! He spoke it into being! He is the photographer, only He saw the photograph ahead of time. You find yourself in the dark room and yet, He is developing you! A film or negative looks like the opposite of what the final photo is to be. But that film (you) has to go through the process of being developed. There is no amount of spiritual warfare that is going to get you out of God’s dark room of processing. You can pray in tongues, fast, saturate yourself in worship, spend hours in the word, and all these things we should be doing, but they are not going to get you out of God’s process of developing and being perfected. What we can do is pray, “Create in me a clean heart, have your way, not my will by yours." and “I surrender." In fact, whenever you face trials or difficulties in your life, a good question to ask is “Lord what do you want to be for me in this?” And “What do you want to do in me through this?” Our heart posture is of utmost importance, more so than we realize. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23.
The most important thing to God is your relationship with Him. You are not to have anything else before Him and nothing else that would interfere with His process of perfecting you. During the process it is crucial that Christ is your foundation because there may be times when it's so hard and painful that you may even wonder how or if you will survive. You must not take your eyes of your beloved: Jesus. He's the author and finisher of your faith. The Lord showed me 4 different processes that we go through as believers. They are not meant to be a complete list, but simply what the Lord showed me in my own life and walk. I will cover them in subsequent blogs.
In the meantime, when you are going through difficulties and trials, don't discount the importance of allowing the Lord to do what He wills in your heart. And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. Romans 8:28 Amplified.
James 1:2-4. Message translation: “Don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
Until next time, Learning to Live Authentically!
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