Scripture: "Let God arise and His enemies be scattered." (Psalm 68:1)
Dear Family,
May the grace, presence and peace of the Holy Spirit be with you always. I am en route home from being invited into a sacred space. I had the privilege of accompanying a dear friend as she was asked by the Lord to lay down everything she's known about battling, in the natural and in the Spirit, and step into a different strategy. His. Have you noticed that God can ask some seemingly ridiculous or scary things? Things that make NO sense in the natural and don't look like there's any way possible that they'll have a good outcome.
I am brought over and over to some Old Testament friends who must have either scratched their heads or quaked in their boots when God told warriors to put down their weapons, walk into the enemy camp and just sing a song. (Jehosaphat) Or how about Gideon? God said, "Gideon, if you're scared just walk down into the enemy camp tonight. And if you want, you can bring your armor bearer." Gideon must've thought--armor bearer??? How about my army??? But then God had already whittled his army down from 32,000 to 300 so the odds were outrageously NOT in His favor anyway! But that little enemy camp visit was in fact just what the doctor ordered. As Gideon snuck into the enemy camp that night, he overheard the guards on duty discussing a dream. One guard interpreted it as God giving favor to Gideon in this battle. Our little Gideon was so blown away he had the courage to do the next crazy thing God asked. "Ok Gideon, here's your big moment.
Give everyone a pitcher and a torch. (Really, God?) Have your (measly) 300 men go down in the middle of the night and surround the (ENORMOUS) enemy army. When you give the order, everyone's going to scream, 'For God and for Gideon!' Then break your pitchers and hold up your torches and let's have some fun! " Ok maybe He didn't say the last part, but have you ever noticed that when God says, "Don't be afraid," it's because there's something in front of you that's terrifying?!
People of God, we are in an incredibly important time as Christians. It's time to get extremely serious about fine tuning our listening skills. We MUST learn to recognize His voice, know His Word, sense His movements, discern His strategy and test the spirits. There is a war going on. Ephesians 6 describes the battle and the enemy, powers and principalities of darkness. Make no mistake, people are not our enemies. But the powers of darkness have been unleashed in an unprecedented way and we, the Lord's army, must learn to listen, hear Him, and obey, even when it seems to go against everything that makes sense in the natural.
This sacred space I was invited into this week had every mark of a battle. As with any battle, the generals study, strategize and plot their strategy. There was no shortage of calling in the generals and gleaning from their wisdom, expertise and ability to execute the plan. There was a time for all of that. Each step was prayed through, so when God switched direction midstream, we recognized His hand. At a certain time, the Lord said REST. CEASE. WORSHIP. One might be tempted to say, "but God!" Don't bother. Remember who you're talking to! And the most wonderful thing is, when it's a word from God, a peace that doesn't make any sense descends on you and wraps you up in the exquisite arms of God.
So, my precious, mighty, warrior friend gave over her battle plans to the God of angel armies. And while she slept, every wall that had been erected fell down. BOOM. THIS is our God. He promises to be faithful. He's given us His word. He is not a person that He could lie. AND, there is NO wall, no enemy, no army, in fact NOTHING that could stand against Him. Ps 68:1 says, "Let God arise and His enemies scatter!" They do scatter, but we have to do it His way. And if He gives a command, we have to obey quickly.
What battle are you in right now? What's your impossible? Strengthen yourself in the Word. You might try googling, "Scriptures when God asked crazy things." If that doesn't yield what you want, read about Gideon, Jehosaphat and Joshua for starters. Scripture is full of stories and testimonies that will build our faith and encourage our belief. The word "testimony" in Hebrew means "do it again." And that's what we want. We want the Lord to do it again. Give us, in our day, testimonies like Joshua and Gideon and Jehosaphat, Lord. And His question to us is this: "will you believe like they did?" Will you? Will I? They didn't begin as heroes of the faith. They let it be done unto them. It may take a lifetime, but this IS the main thing.
Hebrew's 12:1 says we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on from the grandstand of heaven. Engage their prayers, lock arms with your fellow believers, and let's run our race faithfully to the end. The road has some treacherous twists and turns and some glorious views and victories. Stay the course. Our goal is heaven. So, whether in death or in life, let it be known that we belong to Him.
All glory and honor to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let's keep each other in prayer.
With love,
Anne
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