"I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem, until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation, like a flaming torch." (Isaiah 62:1)
I confess the past year has seen me traverse much, but the reason for thanksgiving is that I didn’t do it alone, but rather hand-in-hand with Jesus.
The constancy and consistency of the Lord has been so astonishing to me and I am so very thankful that He has brought me out wiser, softer and stronger than I was before.
And somewhere I suspect that the fact that you are reading this is evidence of the same too, beloved.
So today on Thanksgiving đŚ, I want to encourage you to find the golden threads that are running through your own miracle story. Make the highlight reel of your year in your journal, voice notes or whilst talking-it-out with Him.
Take time to slow down and enjoy seeing the faithfulness of God in your own life. It hasn’t been easy for any of us, but God makes all things possible.
Celebrate the times when He sustained you, delivered you, healed you, encouraged you, matured you. Take to heart that you are never alone, and the same God who brought you this far is the same God who will take you further still.
My prayer is that as we sow seeds of thanks & praise unto the Lord this day, He will multiply and enlarge our harvest of righteousness – inside and out.
So let us lift our hearts & hands in thanks to the One who has seen us through, goes before, stands beside and pointing the way forward, gently whispers –
With the advent of social media, I have noticed that comparison seems to be quite a game of the enemy to rob us not only of our joy, but also of our power.
We look at the look of one another’s lives, and seem to believe the lie that everyone has it better off than us. They are more talented, more gifted, more resourced, more qualified. Therefore, God can use them.
Nothing could be further from the Truth.
For Scripture tells us that who God calls, God qualifies. It is His responsibility to give us everything we need to fulfill our destiny – the right opportunities, connections and resources. And He is not only responsible, He is Faithful.
So what’s the issue?
I think it has to do with us having the right heart.
Broken vessels
God isn’t necessarily looking for the most skilled or qualified people to use for His glory. He can and does use all, but just because we feel that we don’t have all our ducks in a row, God can’t use us – is a lie.
For the Truth is that God works with broken vessels so that whatever is done in them, through them and around them testifies to the power of God at work in their lives, and therefore, brings Him all the glory.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
(2 Corinthians 4:7)
So what I am learing is that our power is not in our gift mix or our skill set. It is in fact, in the anointing of the Spirit of God on our lives.
For it is the anointing that breaks the yoke.
It is NOT our gifting or talent that breaks the yoke. It is NOT the size of our platform or the number of our followers that breaks the yoke. It is NOT the processing or the packaging of our resources that breaks the yoke.
Those things are of value, but only with the right perspective. For without the anointing of the Spirit of God, even those things would be void of power.
For the Truth is that it is only and only the ANOINTING of the Spirit of God that can break the yokes off of peoples’ lives and set the captives free. For wherever the Spiritof the Living God is, there is liberty.
(2 Corinthians 3:17)
There is therefore, no need for us to compare or contrast ourselves with others. No need to want what others have and in so doing, not only devalue ourselves, what our Father is able to do with our lives, but also dilute the anointing on our lives – the potency and the power of that which is being cultivated on the inside of us.
Comparison and presenting the counterfeit have always been a snare of the enemy to distract us from the Truth of our real worth, value and mission.
TRUTH: We are of matchless worth.
The Great Deception
Creating a counterfeit version of ourselves, when God is mad about us just the way we are can perhaps be best described as The Great Deception. It started way back in the Garden of Eden, and it still carries on.
Allow me to recount the events. The enemy of our souls found a way to deceive Eve into eating the forbidden fruit because she really did not have a sound enough revelation of who she was as an image bearer of God, in the first place. Tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit, the enemy’s dialogue with Eve is something I strongly encourage you to take note of.
“‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'”
(Genesis 3:4, emphasis added)
Notice what he says.
He tries to convince Eve to eat the forbidden fruit so that her eyes would be opened and she would become like God.
But wait a minute.
Didn’t she know that she was made in the image of God and therefore, was already like God?
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:27)
There was no need for Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in order to become like God because as His image bearer in the earth, she already was.
She had nothing to prove to anyone.
She was free.
God had designed her to be free, but she chose to relinquish that freedom by attaching the affections of her heart to the inferior.
The Great Deception – is what I call it.
The Good News
But the Good News for us is that we can learn from this so that we do not have to fall prey to his schemes and tactics.
Will he try to tempt us, deceive us and distract us into things like comparison and performance?
Absolutely.
Do we have authority over him though? Can we choose better?
Absolutely.
Friends, I am learning that God cannot bless a pretend version of who we are, but only the authentic, the original, the masterpiece of His design and make.
That is something He can work with, something He can anoint, something He can endorse, something He can sanctify, something He can wield for His glory.
This is where I believe God desires a right heart – one where the posture of the heart is surrendered before the Lord and the affections of the heart are anchored in the Lord.
We are not talking here of perfection or performance, but rather of the power and beauty of an authentic, submitted and intimate connection with the Father. We are talking of what God can and will do with a life that is whole-heartedly yielded to His will. He is not looking for our perfection, but rather for our availability.
He is longing for us to come to Him just the way we are and trust Him with our broken pieces. He invites us to move past the point of our pain and dare to believe Him to do what only He can do.
There is power in authenticity.
Whatever is authentic, will be anointed.
For when we embrace our authenticity and dare vulnerability, power is released through our lives because it carries the sound of freedom. And the Gospel says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and he whom the Son sets free?
Is Free indeed.
Unlocking our authenticity is unlocking our anointing as there is power in our freedom.
And the Good News is that we have permission to embrace it.
Funnily juxtaposed with the sunny disposition of this design is the mysterious revelation that accompanies it at a time that I candidly confess, was anything but sunny.
If anything at all, it has been fiery.
A fiery trial, some would say.
Going through something like this is not something I would opt for, but when the enemy does wage war, I gang up with Jesus.
Because He wins every battle he ever wages.
So at the very onset of this trial, I prayed to the Lord, friends; and asked Him to not only get me through the string of the impossible situations that seemingly stood like giants before me that came up overnight, but also bring me out with greater spiritual fruit than I had when I went in.
It’s literally how the Lord makes the devil pay.
So I decided to cash in on this Truth.
Today I write to you as a child of God with concrete evidence in her hands that God is Good, God does Good and God works all things together for our good and His great glory.
As He has safely brought me through this trial, friends; I have had to understand the difference between what I felt and what I knew to be Truth at another level.
I will explain as we go on.
With a high value for the revelation-light of Truth, friends; I love it when the Lord makes a wonderful invitation for us to seek Him throughout the pages of Scripture, and one of my most deeply personal favorite verses is thus,
“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.”
(Daniel 2:22)
So when everything came up under siege overnight, I mentally scanned the Truth thatthe Lord had already deposited in my spirit.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
(Romans 8:28)
If this is true and it is, so the only valid question to ask was,
If this is what the enemy has done, Lord; then how do You want to redefine this narrative according to Your Promise of Romans 8:28?
How will You work all this together for my good and Your glory?
I heard the Lord say,
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.â
(Matthew 19:26)
Each time that I doubted the Lord during my trek through this trial, the Holy Spirit would gently remind me of this Truth from Matthew 19:26.
I tried to remember the memorial stones that the Lord enabled me to pick up especially this year. Calling to mind testimonies of the Lord’s faithfulness is a sure fire way to stir up faith at a time when little else is needed.
As I would do this along with confessing the Promises of the Lord over my life, I found myself in battle. On the one hand, I knew God was Faithful. He saw me through then, He will see me through now.
But it was also at this precise juncture that the enemy tried to intimidate me with the size of the giant in front of me. I have slain giants before with the Lord, but this one?
I suddenly wasn’t too sure.
On a particularly anxious day, I stumbled over a podcast from Christine Caine. She said something that I felt was straight from the heart of God. I made a note of it. The next day, the message from the Lord’s heart again caught my attention as Christine shared precisely the same thought on her Insta page.
Let me paste it below for you.
It struck home.
I felt bolts of lightning go off in my head as I realised the Truth that it was never the size of the giant in my life that determined my destiny. Rather, it was the size of my God that did.
The God in me. The God through me. The God around me.
With new found faith, I found the courage to believe again. Putting my hands in the hands of Jesus, I decided to let Him walk me through this and teach me everything that was on His heart for me.
After all, this giant may be too big for me. But it was nothing compared to the bigness of my God.
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
(Exodus 14:14)
Because it is the Lord who fights for me, I need only to be still…
What does that mean?
I believe that what the Lord was and still is saying through this is that because it is Him who fights for me, I have no need to be anxious about anything. The enemy is already defeated in Jesus’ Name, and the irrevocable victory of the Cross is already my portion in Christ. Therefore, the outcomes of my life situations and circumstances are already secure in the hands of my God.
But what about the process?
This is where friends, I believe we really get to meet Jesus face-to-face. The Lord is a God of process. As surely as He kept affirming me that He would bring about my complete deliverance and vindication, He also lovingly exhorted me to commit my way to Him so thatit could align with His right way forward.
So, in response to this perfectly wise Father, I released my process to Him.
And I learnt much.
So much more than before, friends.
With more insights in my spirit, more humility in my heart and more dependency on the Lord; I had many more arrows in my quiver.
Allow me to repeat myself.
This is how Jesus makes the devil pay.
Jesus started to emphatically teach me that though His Promise of victory will see to it that I come out on the other side stronger than I was when I went in, it does not mean that my feelings will magically line up.
More often than not, they don’t.
Though my spirit knows the Truth, my soul is often having a fit.
So what do I do?
I learn to demarcate between spirit and soul.
Between what I know to be the Truth based on what God is saying v/s the feelings that I am currently having which are based on the facts of my temporal circumstances.
As believers in Christ, we are given authority by the Lord to challenge the facts of our current circumstances by declaring the Truth of what God is saying.
Therefore, it naturally follows that the temporary state of my temporal circumstances is just that – temporal. It is now in fact, subject to change according to the eternal, everlasting Truth of God’s Word that will not only come to pass, but will endure forever.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
(2 Corinthians 4:18)
So what I am getting at is this:
When we are willing to acknowledge our opinions and feelings for what they really are – just feelings and opinions – and readily exchange them with the Truth of what God says, then it is a sign that our soul is coming into alignment with God and is thus, being saved.
My soul says that this is how I am feeling _______________________________ .
But it is also willing to admit that these are just feelings, it is NOT Truth. Just because our feelings are real does not mean that they are right. They are after all, only feelings based on facts. But facts change because God moves in alignment with Truth, and eventually manifests it.
So even though I felt the giant was too big, I knew that it was no match for the bigness of my God. Even though I felt it was the end of everything, I knew that in the Kingdom, it was only a new beginning. Even though I felt abandoned and forsaken, I knew I was never alone for Jesus was with me every step of the way.
Feelings v/s Truth.
A divine demarcation.
So I am learning that the degree to which we are humble enough to admit that how we feel is not based on reality because reality is only determined by what our Holy God says,is the degree to which we will be able to trade them in for Truth and be healed, whole, saved, contented and at peace.
Coming out on the other side of the tunnel, I can attest to the fact that how we feel during a trial is often misleading. The only way through the valley of the shadow of death, is to hold on to the helm of His garment and fix our eyes on Jesus – the author and the perfector of our faith. As we humble ourselves under His mighty hand, He promises to take us by the hand and lead us forward, step-by-step, into His promise for our victory.
So as I draw to a close, friend; I will leave you in the Presence of the Lord with one question:
What mountain are you needing Him to move on your behalf today? How can you learn to partner with Him as He unfolds your triumph?
Let me lead you into a prayer to get started.
“Dear Lord Jesus,
I thank You that because of Your finished work on the Cross on my behalf, I am now a partaker of Your Victory, on earth as it is in Heaven. I thank You that in the power of Your Name, the enemy is defeated and I am now seated at Your right hand in heavenly places.
I thank You that You are the Sovereign Lord with whom nothing is impossible. So I ask, Lord that You would help me walk in Your promised victory for my life in the context of the challenges that are confronting me in this present day, time and season of my life.
I invite You to enlighten the eyes of my understanding by Your Spirit so that I can learn to partner effectively with You. Teach me to embrace the process of growth that You have for me through this phase. I trust that because You are fighting for me, I can surrender all my anxiety for Your Perfect Peace.
I also ask for Your help with my emotions and feelings in the process, Lord. As You hold the outcomes of my life securely in Your Faithful Hands, I declare that I will trust that despite what I feel, the Truth is that You have the power to do what You promise. Help my feelings to slowly line up with the Truth of that which You have spoken concerning me as Your Beloved Child and grace me to whole-heartedly receive it.
I thank You that You will not only see me through, Lord but make me better as a result of walking this out by faith in You. Honor and praise belong to You!
I’ve noticed one thing about pain. It compels us to misunderstand the nature and character of God.
Much like Eve.
Cut to the chase, here goes.
The Bible tells us that God told Eve she was free to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Why did He do that?
I believe that God was actually protecting her freedom and that of man, because we were perhaps never designed to know any evil. Yet, in the face of an inadequate understanding of God’s true nature, Eve sinned.
To me friends, it is not so much the sin that led her to partake of the forbidden fruit that matters, as much as it is what led her to.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, âDid God really say, âYou must not eat from any tree in the garden?'”
(Genesis 3:1)
For the crafty serpent to come in and sow doubt in Eve’s mind with irrelevant questions like, “Did God really say?” and have her succumb to the temptation of sin so easily, I do feel that somewhere Eve did not know the nature and character of her God well enough to begin with.
Neither did I.
But when you know better, you do better.
I am so glad, friends that we serve a God who forgives, redeems and makes all things new.
Jesus does not sit on the Throne with a stock of all our sin. He already dealt with that on the Cross.
He sits on the Throne and fights for us instead.
Our God is with us. He is for us. And He fights for us.
The Good News here is that He does not fight for victory, He fights from it.
Talking of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Word of God says:
“Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!”
(Colossians 2:15, TPT)
In short?
Having defeated and disarmed the powers of darkness, Jesus reigns.
And in Him, we do too.
With absolute victory over sin, sickness and death; we are called to co-reign with Christ.
So in the face of so much adversity, persecution and trauma; I am learning to be very intentional about reminding myself of some truths that though appear basic, are the very cornerstone of our faith.
And what I am realizing is that though in Christ, we do have victory over sin, sickness and death; we are not exempt from pain and suffering.
We are in the world, but not of it.
The world we live in friends, is lost and broken. So are the people that constitute it.
So when God called us to fight the good fight of faith, He made it abundantly clear that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the forces of darkness for which we have absolute triumph through Christ.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
(Ephesians 6:12)
Yes and Amen.
So it naturally follows that our enemy is not our parent, our sibling or our next door neighbour.
Our enemy is the devil, Satan. And the Good News is that he is defeated.
Yes.
The same crafty serpent that once deceived Eve and has continued in his attempts till date, is forever defeated.
How?
"By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony."
(Revelation 12:11)
But here is the catch.
The degree to which we seek to know the Lord is the degree to which we will be abe to walk conscious of this reality, on an everyday basis.
Pain and suffering always threaten to numb or dim our consciousness of the victory we have through Christ. So it becomes important that we learn to process it in a healthy way.
In a way that is worthy of us.
For our perspective during such times, is the difference between life and death.
We will either succumb to the despair and hopelessness that our enemy, Satan would love for us.
OR.
Or we can choose to run to Jesus. Run to Him for the healing we need in our souls and the perspective we need in our thought process.
Co-operating with the reality that God is trying to cultivate in us during such times friends, is key.
Are we trying to avenge ourselves, or are we letting Him avenge us?
Are we wasting precious emotional resources on harbouring bitterness and resentment, or are we learning to forgive, let go and trust God?
Are we walking in anxiety and dread, or in the fullness of the peace and power that the Lord died for us to receive?
The difference between the two sets of scenarious presented here is the difference between being a victim of our circumstances or rising above them as more than conquerors through Christ.
God often says to us,
Choose life.
Therefore, I choose to intentionally put Christ first. To surrender my will to be aligned with His and I find that the more I do so, the more I get to know the Lord.
Friends, as I am learning to do just what He says, I have found myself face-to-face with one beautiful yet startling reality,
“I may know Jesus fairly well, but I don’t know Him well enough.”
I really don’t.
I may know Him well enough to know that He is fully and completely worthy of my faith and trust, but I don’t know Him well enough to know just how much He does honour child-like trust and mustard-seed faith.
I may know Him well enough to know that He is perfect in love and perfect in wisdom, but I don’t know Him well enough to know the full extent of all that He really is, all that He is capable of doing and all that which He will do.
I may know Him well enough to know that He is my best friend and my glorious king, but I don’t know Him well enough to know His next move on my behalf.
I may know Him well enough to know that He will never leave me nor forsake me, but I don’t know Him well enough to know just how very faithful and relentless His pursuit of me, in reality, is.
I may know Him well enough to know that He is sovereign and has the final say in all matters that concern us, but I don’t know Him well enough to know just how He will bend the rules of the game as we journey on.
I may know Him well enough to know that He is good, He does good and He works all things together for good in conformity with the counsel of His will, but I don’t know Him well enough to know just how He will manifest this Romans 8:28 promise again in my life circumstances.
I know Him fairly well, friends. But I don’t know Him well enough.
Fairly well to know Him as a beloved father, a heavenly saviour and a dreadful champion of my cause; but not well enough to know just what that may mean in its entirety as my destiny unfolds.
But I take heart in what I do know.
For what I do know is that with each day that unfolds, I can seek to know Him more.
Filled with the awe and wonder of His majesty, His mercy and His might.
And somewhere I suspect that the same holds true for you too, my friend.
So together?
Let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.
As we cross the half-year mark this June of 2021, I consider it a privilege to share with you, dear friend, some really simple, inspiring and completely doable ways to help manifest inner healing and wholeness.
My own personal journey with Christ this year has had me experience some truly profound moments of emotional, spiritual and physical healing and wholeness in the aftermath of perhaps, one of the most unprecedented years in our generation, 2020.
In the midst of a world that is ever changing, I am so grateful for the anchoring and freedom we get to have in and through our relationship with an unchanging God.
It is only in the context of being able to openly process our deepest hurt and heart-ache that we are set free. Perfect Love casts out fear, dismantles lies and reveals Truth. And it is only the Truth that we know that sets us free.
So I have broken down 5 concrete ways for us to get ourselves into the safety and security of God’s Presence, which is truly and unquestionably, Heaven’s healing salve to our souls.
1. Playing praise music
In my experience friends, putting on some praise music that helps us connect to the Father heart of God is by far, the most effective conduit between Heaven and earth.
I find that whenever I am emotionally distressed or circumstantially confused, running into His Presence for some rest and perspective is essential. The world maybe in chaos today, but the Good News is that we don’t have to. We can choose to remain at peace and rest in the Lord.
Now, this does not mean that we don’t ‘feel’ the upheaval in our thoughts and emotions as a result of whatever it is that seems to be going on in our lives from time to time, but it does mean that we are not moved by it.
We remain anchored in Christ.
Personally, whenever confronted with a challenge that threatens to take my breath away, I run to Him. I don’t walk, I run.
I simply put on some praise music that I can easily get my hands on in the moment and allow the Lord to calm me down and lovingly minister to me. I like to pray and invite the Holy Spirit to come over my mind, my emotions, my heart, my body, my spirit and my soul and do what only He can do.
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
There often are times I confess when my heart is so full that I need to let it all out before the Lord. So my praise music has to (for some time!) go down in terms of volume a couple of notches, so that as the music continues to play, ushering in the anointing of His Presence, I have the opportunity to verbally and openly let Him know exactly how I am feeling.
I often say that for my feelings to not get in the way of my faith, I must be willing to acknowledge them and process them with the Lord. Not deny or bury. Not stifle or suffocate. Rather, bring it all out in the light. And it is through such relational dialogue in these times that I receive the healing that only His Love and Truth can bring.
Healing and wholeness in Christ are an opportunity for a most wonderful Divine exchange to manifest; Spirit, soul and body. For it is His Presence that gently rushes in and starts to breathe down the walls that threaten to block our communion with Him, and consequently our ability to receive from Him; whether it is truth-based perspective, loving correction or timely affirmation.
Tending to our souls in the midst of chaos by running to the only One who has the eternal treasures of peace, love, hope and truth to offer us in the midst of any ongoing whirlwind is the very heart of healing, health and wholeness.
So friend,
What song can you play today to invite the loving presence of God?
2. Spending time in the Word
Jesus said,
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
The Word of God to me is a doorway into His Presence. It is encountering the Truth of who God says He is, who He says I am as His covenant child, and the hope that He has for my life that allows me discern the lies that I have believed and trade them for the truth that sets me free.
Friends, it is in allowing the Lord to use His Word to personally as well as prophetically speak to us that creates both, healing and hope. Healing – as He addresses the issues of our Identity in Him, and Hope – as He reveals the strategy of Heaven for our lives.
Personally, I have prioritized my relationship with Christ through His living and active Word, over anything else. I have started learning to let Him lead my time through the Bible, both Old and New Testament. I pray for healing, renewal, revelation and nourishment to come forth.
The fruits have been sweet, friends and the rewards have been rich.
I find the Psalms of David particularly helpful. Written in a beautifully poetic manner, they effortlessly give language to the emotions I experience as I navigate my way through life. Though any translation of the Bible can do, I find the inspiration that streams through The Passion Translation by Dr. Brian Simmons quite remarkable.
David was chosen by God as a humble shepherd boy from Bethlehem, anointed to be king over Israel and then exalted to the prestigious position after a rather long, drawn out waiting and preparation period in between which I feel, encapsulates the heart of our own unique journey with the Lord too.
David’s life and reign reveal that he was blatantly rejected by his brothers, ruthlessly pursued by Saul, openly challenged by his own son but eventually prevailed through it all because of his abiding love for God and the trust that love inspires.
So often, we can also feel much like David. Betrayed, rejected, lost, confused, abandoned, persecuted and overwhelmed. But the Psalms always remind me that when I do, I am in good company.
Friend, where can you camp out with Jesus through His Word today?
3. Keeping a journal
In my healing journey thus far, I have found keeping a journal by my side an extremely potent tool. It allows me to co-operate with the work of the Holy Spirit at any given point of time, and to openly process hidden areas of pain with the Lord.
I realised this year friends, that most of our wounds in life date back to our childhood years.Brokenness through rejection/abuse of any sort in those early, tender years can seriously damage the lens through which we view the world. But as believers in Christ, we can take heart because we have the privilege of being able to invite the Holy Spirit into those areas so that He can shine His glorious light.
Gospel preacher and evangelist, Christine Caine often says,
“Whatever is not revealed, cannot be healed.”
I agree it can be difficult, but we can do hard things for the glory of God. We can do the hard and holy work of forgiveness. We can pray for the beautiful Holy Spirit of God to soften and tenderise the ground of our hearts, so that when we are ready to process some marred areas of our lives with the Lord, we can tap into deeper levels of freedom and health.
How can you put pen to paper today and write out your most honest and vulnerable thoughts to God, even if all you have is one line?
4. Communing in nature
During times when I find myself in the midst of an emotional tailspin, I like to take time to myself and just go out. Mostly for a short walk outdoors – to fill my lungs with fresh air and dig my feet into the earth below, and when I’m ready, to also commune with the Lord through nature.
The beauty and marvel of creation does something to the human soul. It gets our hearts in sync with the majestic brilliance of the Creator of it all, our Father in Heaven.
Whether we are met with a dazzling array of stars in the nightsky, or the splendour of golden rays streaming through a cloudless morning, or a simple landscape of green trees and pink flowers; it all points to Him – the author and the finisher of our faith.
I have experienced God calm me through my time in nature – through the chirping of the birds, and the warmth of the moist soil below. He touches my heart through it all and points me straight back Home. I can finally, inhale and exhale. Fully and freely, friends.
Experienced author and prolific speaker, Lysa Terkeurst recently shared from her own healing journey, and said something quite simple yet profound. She suggested that at those times we feel a trauma trigger, we need to invest in some soul care – take four ounces of water and give about 20 mins for our ‘amygdala’ (the part of our brains where trauma is stored) to calm down. She also encourages us to step out and look at the sky, to remind ourselves that the same God who kept the stars in place today has my life in the palm of His hands. He remains in control, and so I can let go and trust that He has my back.
How can you take time with Jesus in nature today and allow the gaze of your heart to shift back onto Him?
5. Reading a relevant resource
I honestly love reading the testimonies of people who have gone before me. People who have had some incredible brokenness in their past, but in and through a relationship with Christ, God intervened and made all things new.
My two favorite women of God in this regard are Joyce Meyer and Christine Caine. It is so encouraging for me to know that though they both are powerhouse Bible teachers and Christians evangelists, they didn’t really have a good start in life. Yet God saved them, healed them, transformed them, used them. And the same God is both, willing and able to do it for you and for me, for He is no respector of persons.
The Bible says,
“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10)
What He does for one, He will do for anyone who comes to Him in humility and trust.
In the first quarter of 2021, I had the Holy Spirit lead me into reading, “Unashamed” by Christine Caine, twice. Each time I read portions of it, the Lord would encounter me in a fresh, new way; peeling back the layers of shame each time and introducing me to new found freedom.
I highly recommend reading a resource from someone whose faith and voice you respect, dear friend, to minister to you and inspire you to take those necessary steps towards healing and wholeness.
Some pertinent resources that come to my mind are –
⢠“Unashamed” by Christine Caine (for freedom from the baggage of shame)
⢠“Woman evolve” by Sarah Jakes Roberts (for moving past the shackles of fear and forward into the fullness of our Identity and calling)
⢠“Seeing beautiful again” by Lysa Terkeurst (50 devotionals to help find redemption in every part of our story)
⢠“Reflecting God” by Liz Wright (for a profound awakening to the truth of our Identity in Christ)
⢠“Healing the soul of a woman” by Joyce Meyer (for nuggets of wisdom on how to process our healing journey from a woman who has found a new life in Christ past the trauma of sexual abuse)
Which one will you want to pick for yourself?
6. Speaking to a trusted friend
I have a high value in life for wise, Godly counsel, and people who are able to bring the wisdom of Heaven into my life, in and through the Love of God, are invariably a treasure house and a grace-gift to me.
As important as it is for me to receive wise counsel from time to time, it is also important that I am able to have a safe place in my healing journey with a trusted friend who is willing to lend me a listening ear, without any threat of judgement or condemnation; but rather is instrumental in creating an environment where Love can manifest.
There is healing when we are heard and understood by someone we can trust. They don’t need to hold the answers to our problems, they only need to be a safe place for us as we process the pain of our traumatic pasts. For there is healing in safety.
Sometimes friends, the most loving thing someone can do is to just be with us in the presence of pain.
There is power in vulnerability. Pride will have us masquerade and pretend that it’s not really a big deal. But the truth is that our hearts matter. Especially when they are broken.
To help tend to our pain, a trusted friend or a Christian counselor/therapist, can prove to be invaluable. My own journey testifies.
So friend, as you were reading, did God bring someone in your spirit that you would like to reach out to? If not, would you be willing to pray and ask God to bring a trusted, wise friend/counselor in your life?
7. Soaking
I was first introduced to the power of soaking in 2019 through the prophetic ministry of Graham Cooke. I have never been the same since.
Soaking for me is a wonderful way to enjoy a slice of Heaven on earth. Our world, particularly in this present day, time and season; is full of chaos and stress. So how can we, as a people called to remain at peace and rest, do so?
One of the strategies that holds the key to this dilemma is, in my experience, soaking. Simply put, it is an audio where the Word of God is presented and released over our lives in a powerful way. Usually, the audio will have gentle strains of instrumental music playing in the background. It’s purpose is to reveal the truth of God’s Heart towards us and the anointing of the Holy Spirit thus released, serves to heal our hearts,calm our emotions, refresh our spirits, renew our minds and restore our bodies. It truly is a time of self-care and nourishment, a time to receive abundantly so that we can truly give.
Some soaking resources that I can safely recommend are –
⢠Soaking by Graham Cooke (easily available on YouTube or his website, brilliantperspectives.com)
⢠“Reflecting God” by Liz Wright ( a soaking album on YouTube)
⢠“Abide Meditation” (beautiful, Biblical bedtime stories as well as promises of God spoken and prayed over the listener, available on YouTube to help soak in the presence of God before sleep)
⢠“Soakstream” (a channel on YouTube with Scriptures released against the backdrop of amazing ocean sounds or soothing instrumental music)
⢠“Instrumental soaking music” by Eric Gilmour easily available on YouTube
How do you want to soak in His Presence today, friend?
I hope you will ponder the questions I have left you with and let yourself linger in His Presence a bit. Should it be just one way that you pick from the seven that I have listed, I want you to know you are doing well. Wherever you are on the roadmap of your journey, it’s exactly where you need to be.
For the goal is to connect to His Presence and remain connected, friend. It is His Presence which heals, redeems and resets. He is Jehovah Rapha – the Lord, our healer. May you find His loving arms to be a safe refuge and an oasis of bliss that truly nothing can compare to.
Would you allow me to lead you in prayer, friend as we use these precious moments to draw to a gentle close? Just say with me,
“Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for the gift of abundant life that Jesus died for me to receive. He was broken so I could be made whole, and by His stripes, I am healed. So I ask Father, for this beautiful divine exchange to be made fully manifest in my life – Spirit, soul and body. I entrust the healing of my heart and the restoration of my life completely into your care. I invite your radiant Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me in this process, and help me to see you make everything beautiful again. From the inside-out. In the matchless Name of Jesus, Amen.”
âHe changes times and seasons, he deposes kings and raises up others.â (Daniel 2:21)
Lysa Terkeurst often says that we do not serve a do-nothing God.
I couldnât agree more.
Our God is always working for us. He is active, he is not passive. He sees us and He knows us by name. He cares for us and suffers with us. He is moved by the feeling of our infirmity.
There are times when the Lord speaks a promise. He reveals His heart and strategy by the power of His Spirit. We receive the Word at once with joy, but what we perhaps need to remind ourselves consistently of is the Truth that there is always a space of time between the revelation and the manifestation of the Word of the Lord.
âFor the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.â (Habakkuk 2:3)
The space of time between the revelation and the manifestation of the promise of the Lord is the waiting period. It is a time frame that though tests us and tries us in our walk of faith, is also the strategy of Heaven to refine us.
It is in the waiting that we get to know the Lord better as He works with us, affirms us, guides us, strengthens us and purifies us.
A child meets the Father, a student finds the Teacher, a servant gets to know the Master.
Intimacy is deepened as relationship develops. Our hearts are cleansed, our spiritual muscles grow stronger and it is here that we are prepared for whatever it is that the Lord has prepared for us.
So as I encourage myself with what I believe the Lord has spoken, I encourage you too, dear friend. May you take heart in knowing that our God is Faithful to keep His covenant with us. He may not come when we would like Him to come, but He is ALWAYS on time.
So as I close, I pray that no matter where you are in your journey right now, may the light and life of Christ find you and shine on you. May His peace blanket you and His love strengthen you. And in a world thatâs rife with tension and discord, may you take heart in knowing that God loves you and has good plans for your life.
After all, we walk by faith and not by sight, for He who promised is Faithful.
“Let us rebuild the wall that matters as we allow Him to breathe down those that don’t.”
Life is a glorious gift from God. It is an opportunity to love and be loved. It is a chance to make a difference. It is a school which teaches us lessons on a daily basis. It is also a battlefield where we encounter times and relationships that may leave us feeling a bit scarred, hurt, disappointed, disillusioned or disheartened. But that doesn’t have to surprise us when we know what Jesus said,
” In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV)
Setbacks, failures, betrayals have a propensity to leave our hearts a bit hardened. I believe that’s why Jesus declared, “take heart,” for HE has overcome the world, and because we are IN Him, we will too. But that does require an active, organic, dynamic, free flowing partnership between God and us. When a situation arises that threatens to take territory in our hearts where Jesus has already claimed ground for freedom, the first and the wisest thing to do is to run towards Him, and not away. As Christine Caine so wonderfully puts it,
“What is not revealed, cannot be healed.”
Hence, we run to the altar and allow Him to gain access to those areas that need His healing, redemptive touch. We allow Him to knead and massage those hardened parts of our hearts where we have been so hurt that we have allowed ourselves to lock out any possibility of light gaining entrance. However, as His Spirit begins to flow and make us whole again, we will begin to find the courage necessary to go out into our tiny part of the world again, and shine.
We shine with the brightness of The Love that we have had a fresh encounter with that has left our heart so changed that we no longer look out for ourselves, but for those around us that are still hurting, seeking and searching. Praying for them, believing for them and being there for them are all a part of a process so intricately designed that not only does it serve to enrich our experience of life, but even those that we are called to.
In order for us to do this however, I believe it is absolutely necessary to allow The Spirit of The Living God to work with us consistently, as He breathes down walls of anger, fear, anxiety, insecurity, shame, unforgiveness; and instead cultivates within us the capacity to receive love, grace, truth, mercy, forgiveness and freedom; in order that we may be cheerful conduits of the same to the world around and about us.
I firmly believe that the more healed, whole and restored we are, in and through our relationship with Christ, the greater the zeal, passion and fervor we will have to rebuild the walls of shattered relationships, dreams, hopes and aspirations. The story of Nehemiah comes to mind as he went about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Needless to say, they had severe opposition but their declaration in the faithfulness of God superseded all else, giving them the strength and tenacity needed to accomplish all that they had set out to do. The following passage of Scripture makes it abundantly clear,
“From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” (Nehemiah 4:16-18, NIV)
The weapons used in The Old Testament times were different from the ones we are called to use today. Our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual in nature. So as we strive to rebuild the walls of whatever it is in our lives that seems broken down and calls for attention, let us lay down the foundation that is the Mighty Name of Jesus . Let us rebuild as we lay brick- upon – brick of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The glue that holds it all together is found in the concrete of mutual acceptance, empathy and understanding. The structure is defined by The Word of God which is mighty in the pulling down of strongholds, and the outcome is something that gives all the Glory to God!
Rebuilding shattered ruins, whether it is in the context of our families, communities or our nation, is something Our God finds supreme delight in. Tracing back our own respective journeys, we will receive a sober reminder of how God took our hopeless situations and turned them around for our good and His Glory. Now that we are His extensions in the world, we get to do the same.
Rebuild. Restore. Revive.
Not alone, but in a thriving partnership with The God who doesn’t cause brokenness but is well able to weave a story of wholeness in and through a relationship with Him, a story that we will not keep to ourselves, but will extravagantly demonstrate the power of, not only with words, but in action and truth.
Friends, the wall that matters is the world around us. The wall that doesn’t is our flesh. Our tendency to want to protect ourselves and our fear of the unknown would top the list of the impediments that can come our way when we set out to do all that which is in accord with The Higher Purpose. Clearly, the success of our attempts at rebuilding all that calls for our attention rests on the other side of our personal freedom. The more we are willing to let go of what once was, the more we are able to fully adorn the new wine skins that God calls us to be, wine skins that have no place for fear, shame, insecurity , anxiety and negativity but instead, wine skins that are seeped in the oil of The Holy Spirit, which when released through our lives will undoubtedly help us build all that we see broken, shattered , in ruins until one day, we will look back with a sense of pride and holy confidence that comes only when we have dedicated ourselves to the mandate of being living sacrifices that make The Father’s Business their own.
I used to think I had it tough till He spoke, ever so gently,
“Everyone has their own fire to walk through.”
This truth has stilled me and sustained me each time I have felt tempted to wallow in self pity. It has stopped me in my tracks and pulled me by the bootstraps. It has ignited compassion for my fellow travellers and renewed my sense of Purpose. It has taught me, shaped me, corrected me, chastened me, graced me.
I believe there is a direct co-relation between the fire He has you walking through and the anointing it’s purposed to release on your life. Diamonds are forged in fire, and He calls you precious. He has good plans for you and a purpose so uniquely tailor made for you that itâs fulfilment mandates an authentic anointing. It is therefore, futile to compare our anointing with that of another. As surely as we are unique, I believe our anointing is as well. The Bible articulates it the best I know,
âWe do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.â
And we certainly donât want to be foolish. It would only be prudent therefore, to acknowledge the fact that before we ever covet anotherâs anointing, we must realise that we donât even know how much it may have cost them. Wouldnât we rather embrace our own unique adventure with God and watch Him use our anointing to break yokes off of not only our lives, but also that of those who are connected to us, and that too, not just in the day and age we find ourselves in, but generationally?
I bet we would want to.
So, let us cast aside the temptation to compare as that would only sabotage our own unique, God-given anointing and affect the extent to which we can impact the course of history. Let us instead be grateful for the fire that is refining us in a way beyond compare. It is destroying that which needs to die while simultaneously protecting and purging that which will bring us and birth us into the next dimension of our being and our calling.
So, the next time there is a rap on the door of your heart that beckons you to compare and contrast, simply remind yourself of this subtle yet powerful truth,
âEveryone has their own fire to walk through.â
âWe donât deny the pain. We simply
refuse to be defined by it.â
Pain comes without prejudice. It comes for
people of all races, regions,religions, nations and ethnicity. It comes in all
shapes and sizes. It comes when itâs most inconvenient. It comes when itâs most
unexpected. It comes and it knocks the wind out of our sails.
If youâre alive, you understand that pain is
an inevitable reality. The loss of a loved one, the demise of a dream, the
break up of a decade long relationship, having to be a single mom, discovering
youâre adopted after years of living out of another identity; pain is ruthless
and leaves no one untouched. Heartbreak that plagues us years after the
incident, grief that torments us long after the betrayal, anger that besets us
each time the memory comes to mind, unforgiveness that poisons us when we are
caught off guard; all of these only to surmise that pain is inevitable.
The only reasonable question then is how do
we deal with it?
A life of Faith is one which entails
suffering, which entails pain. But it is also one which equips us to process it
in ways that donât leave us feeling victimised but rather enriched and
empowered by the experience; wherein we donât deny the pain, we simply and
blatantly refuse to be defined by it.
Having researched world leaders from nearly
all walks of life as I wrote my first book, it was clear to me that anyone who
has risen to exceptional heights of success have had to endure more than a fair
share of pain, trauma, sickness and despair. It was not the set of
circumstances that determined their outcome. It was in the tenacity of their
spirit and the unflinching belief that something better was up ahead that gave
them the fortitude to not only withstand the vicissitudes of life, but to
steward them in such a way that the very thing that threatened to sabotage
their Destiny became the very catalyst to catapult them into the next dimension
of their being.
Take a moment, and see who comes to mind.
Whom do you admire and see greatness in who
has not had to endure pain, criticism, rejection or heartbreak?
You get the point.
The substratum of this piece of writing is
simply this. If we canât avoid pain, and we certainly shouldnât resist it, how
do we respond?
At this juncture, Maya Angelouâs timeless
words come to mind,
âI can be changed by what happens to me. But
I refuse to be reduced by it.â
Pain is never sent to break us, rather, itâs
purpose is to make us and mould us into vessels that are large enough to carry
the weight of whatever it is that God is calling us to.
The transformative power of pain is huge,
should we choose to tap into it.
Think about it.
If we werenât hurt, we wouldnât have learnt
to forgive.
If we werenât heartbroken, we wouldnât have
healed.
If we werenât abandoned, we wouldnât have
relied on His Presence.
If we werenât rejected, we wouldnât have
learnt to hold our own.
If we werenât crushed, we wouldnât be
anointed.
I donât know what life has had you walk
through, but I do know this. You are powerful, overcoming, strong, beautiful,
magnificent. You are in the process of becoming – an even better and more
glorious version of yourself than you can possibly imagine. It may seem
gruelling at times, but when you set your eyes on the prize; there is literally
NOTHING that can hold you back. Not even pain.
Together, I hope and pray that we would find
the beauty in the ashes, the strength in the scars and the wisdom in the
wounds. Pain may have found us, but guess what?
SoulandSubstance27 