At the beginning of each new year I love to get God’s vision for the year ahead. In learning how to discern God’s voice and letting Him speak to me (He loves to speak to us!), one of the ways He does this for me is through writing/journalling. This yearly vision idea was inspired by an author and speaker named Lisa Bevere. As I began to take the pen and allow His Spirit to speak, I will share a sneak peek of what He shared. “Juliana, there is a new way of doing things. In order to walk in the new ways; you will need to do things differently than you have in the years gone by.” Sometimes there is a perceived safety in the familiar and the known and yet God is always calling us deeper with Himself, which means new ways of doing life, changing the way you think about situations, about yourself, and about who God is.
At this time we were struggling with our finances. We had moved away from my parents after living there for 2 years while my husband got his immigration paperwork processed. Now we were out on our own, in a new ‘land’ that God had called us to and still feeling the lack of our finances not being what we needed them to be, not just what we ‘wanted’ them to be.
In the book Anything by Jennie Allen she says, “God is an anchor in the midst of the difficult chaos of this world. The chaos will be resolved. It will.” (Allen, pg. 58) It was so hard to believe that things could change for the better, and yet my eyes needed to shift from our account balance to the God of all the resources that I needed. You see, despite our many prayers, our tears, our desire to see Him change this for us; God had not rescued us, in what our eyes could see from our financial place of lack. But boy oh, boy was He using it to become the REAL, present and active God in our lives. We couldn’t fix our situation and the temptation was there nipping at our heels to believe the lie, that God wasn’t going to come through for us, and that we had done something wrong.
I asked God to speak into this situation and this is what He shared. “You need eyes of faith to see that which is not yet fully seen. Believe, trust, and hope in ME…I am faithful to My Word. You can take Me at My word. You and Michael will not miss what I have in store for you. It won’t be long. Your tears, your fears, your bills, your debts, your hopes and dreams have not been forgotten.”
I don’t know about you but sometimes as much as I know that I’m not forgotten; my circumstances can do a pretty good job at screaming at me that this is it, God has moved on to a much easier problem to solve, and I am simply too much. Nothing could be further from the Truth.
The Lord went on to say, “I AM is here. I AM is rescuing you! You need only stand and watch Me unfold My glory and My provision for you. I’m the God who delights in doing the impossible. Let Me blow you away with My provision for your needs and your wants. Things are changing. Blessings are just around the bend for you. It won’t be long. It won’t be long. I see all of the debts and none of it surprises Me. I AM will wipe the slate clean. Walk day by day as I unfold Myself to you and Michael.”
The circumstances we were in were threatening me to believe lies about who God is. His promises to us. His faithfulness and His goodness. Yet, the Truth of it is that He not only knew our circumstances; He was right in the midst of it with us! Many times we need our eyes to be opened to all that He is doing in us in the process while we wait. While we wait on answers to our prayers our perspective also needs to change. In Luke 12:29-32 the Message version says, “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.” This is His heart for us. It is from His reality, His provisions, His initiative where I want to draw my strength and my life!
I don’t know what you may be facing today, but Jesus can be in the midst with you. I say, “can be”, because He waits for you to invite Him in. You are safe when you entrust yourself to Him. You are safe when you hand over whatever it is you are holding on to. You are safe when you run to Him. I encourage you to ask Him, is there anything I am holding on to? Is there any person, situation, or thing that I need to release into God’s hands? Perhaps God is showing that you are running to fix your situation. Are you ready to run to Him and let Him give you His perspective? He will show you because He wants nothing in the way from intimacy with you! That is His heart. That is His great love!
I love this quote from Anything when Jennie Allen says, “To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch Him come through. He starts to get real when you live like that.” (Allen, pg. 9) God will be real to you and if you long for that, you will see Him become the Mighty, Warrior God that He IS.
