[amazon template=thumbnail&chan=default&asin=B005C6FG0G]The last few days have been different for me. Not sure why. But as I 
have been putting together archives and older stories, testimonies and such I have been visited with a renewed sense of purpose. Let me be clear when I say I am not sure “what it is” entirely. Part of me feels like I have been relegated to a cave. With that left on the table…
I have cited the following story and teaching because I find myself back here every now and then. [amazon template=banner easy&chan=default&asin=B008TUE3WE]
Four lepers. Years ago my friend Jack Taylor shared from this passage 2 Kings 7. It is one of those teachings that never left my mind. “Can’t stay here. Can’t go back. Must go on. Got to tell somebody.” You need to read the story. Because the church clearly cannot be impregnated with the DNA of heaven and think it can go back or stay here. Impregnation connotes growth. Growth is a precursor to birth. And birth is a new creation. Your continued growth is because you were “born from above” and have to grow. Now the bigger question upon coming on such a collection of gems and treasures. (Like the lepers, their enemies had been scattered. You have authority as Jesus did over ALL the works of the devil. The devil is not strong but he is a liar. But you my friend are seated high above principality, rulers of darkness and all wickedness. It is time you TELL SOMEBODY.
Today I want to take a moment and talk about “you can’t stay here.” Sometimes when you are “up to your butt in alligators it is hard to remember that the purpose was to drain the swamp.” Too often we are going down the paths of life and interruption appears. It does not need to be the “elephant in the room” traumatic interruption, but sometimes it is just the “shoe string” broke. But depending on your focus and thought process it can stop you dead in your tracks.
Needless to say we have an enemy, but sometimes it is just life. Your car blowing up is not an attack if you never put oil in it. Regardless, you are stuck.
But I have found that often in our lives God changes His method of communication. He might take you from dreams to the word of God. Or from the word to listening for the still small voice. And that is hard. “Is anybody out there?!?!?!”
God never changes His purpose, but I suspect other things including His way of communication may occur. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing He may have to “force” us off the spot. In our “old language” we used to say that “comfortable” season was a mountaintop and now it is time for the “valley” experience. I do not believe moves on us to be uncomfortable but like having a child I think there is a dynamic of being in “one position” too long. Sometimes you may need to move. I am not saying once you were an evangelist and now you are not. But is it not possible God might want to hang out with you a little and allow for things to change or to shift? Now granted that is part of my experience and the experience of others but it may not need to be yours.
So where “can’t” you stay? How about you cannot remain a baby all your life? Or mine? How about the process of growing up is happening, “like it or not”? “Ready or not-here I come!” (Said all unborn children and the expression of God through you!) Perhaps you need to make a geographic? Perhaps the season of your job has met your needs but was but a step in the purposes of God.[amazon template=thumbnail&chan=default&asin=B005C6FG0G]
As a prophetic voice I see lots of words given and received. I also see that there are lots of “wow’s” while it is happening. But let me tell you when a word is “truth” it may mean your life is about to change. Joseph had a dream. He announced it. How many years did it take from the pit to the prison to the palace? How many coats (bearing identity) were lost in the process?
Everyone wants a great God word! I do. But in the process, you might not be able to go back. I am going to share the following story with you. Let me tell you what changed.
- God’s purpose was being fulfilled in my life.
- I learned new messages about “leaning to my own understanding”.
- My “comfortable” life was upset. (I am not saying God “did” this.)
- Where I was going was different than what I thought.
- I saw the fulfillment of many words.
- His language to me changed.
- I came to the place I could not “stay here”.
As “Nick at night” (Nicodemus) once asked “can a man return to his mother’s womb?” Sometimes you just can’t go back. You got to move on. That is what happened to Tina and I.
A Quandary
Like so many these days, I feel as my life is a quandary. Perplexing. I read the news. I look at the changing events across nations. I watch economies shift and slide. And in the midst of it, my natural self rebels at the changes I am forced to “go through.” Why? Because I am caught in the issues of the globe! I have watched my business change as other businesses have floundered and gone out of business. I wonder what is going on as so many do. But I trust God.
A few years ago, my wife and I were the owners of a home. Two bedrooms up and 3 converted rooms down. The home produced income. A radio station paid for a small portion for their transmitter. We thought we would be there forever. A smaller home, beautiful views.
My then, handicapped son (God has healed him from the traumatic brain injury and given him a great wife!) was living there, as were my daughter and her three children (A newborn baby was one) and my youngest daughter. Family…
And then the enemy sneaked in. A contractor had been hired to remove the underground oil tank(Required by our insurance and mortgagor.) With in twelve hours of pulling away, my lower level was flooded. Three months of doing all that I could while I waded (Yes, pun intended!) through paperwork for insurance companies, etc., while I was working 24/7 to keep the water from the $50,000 transmitter. (In retrospect, I should have let the water destroy it. Had I let it be ruined, insurance would have had to kick in.) Finally respite came in the form of winter, drying up the water source. During the winter my wife and I gutted the destroyed living area. (Over $60,000.) That spring we had installed an inside drainage system.) We thought we had it knocked. And while we worked out of pocket waiting for insurance companies to step up to the table and did what we could, one night as I lay in bed I could not breathe. Black mold. The story goes on and on. (You can read about it at this Facebook link if you are interested.) The upshot was we lived off site for the next three years.
We devoted a lot of time and energy to this property. We never received a dime of insurance and spent all our savings trying to recover. We are in a a financial crunch as the result of it. 4 years later we still own the property, are trying to negotiate a way through with the bank, and may or may not lose it.
Why share a story like that? Because God is still Lord over our lives. He has not changed, was not surprised nor worried. And neither should we be.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4: 4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Only last year many lost their homes and their properties in tropical storm Irene. did I have compassion? You bet!
I am reminded of the story of David on the run. 1 Samuel 21 tells us that upon inquiry, he finds the sword of Goliath, wrapped in an ephod. Two chapters later, we see David wrapped in the ephod, while all that is stolen is restored. Sometimes we need to be reminded of a previous victory to get over the hump, the quandary we are in to see the restoration. In David’s case it was the sword that slew Goliath.
My wife and I have had some down days, even some down weeks over our nearly 20 years of marriage.
- I did not see my youngest for three years, but as their mother was dying, they were restored to me.
- Not long after we were married, I was hit by a taxicab and put out of business. 6 weeks later the Lord healed me.
- We received a call one night that our son had been killed in an accident. Only two years ago we married him off to one of our lovely daughter-in-loves.
- My youngest grandson had been given up for adoption. 28 days later he was returned to my arms.
Like so many, I could list many, many more. But the Lord is faithful and worthy to be praised. That scripture from Philippians has been worth it’s weight in “gold” to me over the last 20 years.
Some of you have faced death and won. Tell someone! People need to know that the Lord is still Lord over our lives. No matter what.
