Monday, August 5, 2013

SEASON OF OVERWHELM




We are currently in a season from the Lord of “overwhelm”.  We are “out there” so far in the deep that we only have two choices at this point:  sink or swim.  Just as the Spirit of the Lord led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, so we too are being tested to see where our hearts are strong and what we still need to surrender to the Lord.  Jesus, of course, passed every test, even though He was weak with hunger and tempted with things which directly impacted His heart.  As He passed each test He was taken to higher levels of temptation.  How did He pass these tests?  He slew His enemy and passed each level of testing with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  (Matt. 4).


The Lord sets before us two choices:  life or death, blessing or curses, Deut. 30:19.  He will not overrule our freedom to choose, nor will He force His will, overriding ours.  We make thousands of decisions each day.  For those choices to impact our life correctly, we need to make the right ones, which God clearly says will bring us blessings and life.  To choose independently of the one who is Life and who brings blessings, would be foolish as it would bring curses and death, of which can come in many forms, not just physical death. This sounds so harsh except the reality of this spiritual law is this:  we have a Father who loves us more than we fathom, who is motivated by this indescribable love, and leads us to do those things which will open us up to the blessings He holds in His heart to bestow upon us. But it's still our choice to decide which one we will operate.  We truly don't get that there are only two choices; it's one or the other of which we are operating. 



So how does that amazing love equate to putting us into a season of overwhelm???  Being presented with the two choices stated above, we are now at a time we must choose which way we are going to go.  We must decide on purpose to either:  be overwhelmed with stress, worry, anxiety, fear, dread, rush-rush-hurry-hurry mentality; which all creates frustration and a negative attitude; or be overwhelmed with His goodness for our lives by letting go of all the fear-based things from the list above and press into getting to know Him and His nature of goodness for us.  How do we do that?  Just as Jesus overcame in the wilderness with the Word, we too will overcome this season of overwhelm with getting to know the Word, Jesus, (John 1:1). 



We tend to want to spend time with God and His Word, but we just are too busy to actually do it.  Once you decide you are going to take the plunge and take time from your busy schedule to make space for God and you, I can predict some things will probably occur with your effort to do this: 



1.  You will have to seek the Lord about what is the best time for you in your life circumstances to spend that time with God.

2.  You will be challenged to keep that time with God. 

3.  If you are able to keep it, you will have a hard time focusing or feeling like you are in His presence. 

4.  You will succeed in the above if you are determined that NO MATTER WHAT, you won’t give up but will keep pressing in. 

5.  As you keep pressing, you will begin to catch the wave of His Spirit, learning more of Him each day, learning how to flow with Him in His will for your life; where and how He leads you. 

6. As you flow with His Spirit, the Kingdom of God will manifest in your life which is:  righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Romans 14:17. 

7.  As the fruit of the Kingdom manifests in your life, you will learn how to cast cares upon God along with all of the fear those burdens bring which try to overwhelm you.

8.  You will then be overwhelmed with His goodness of: peace, joy, open doors, closed doors, provision, miracles, divine connections, timing, wisdom, abundant life, and the pressures of this life will not succeed in stealing your joy and peace.  Even if the storms are enormous and you may have uneasiness because of them, you can still know deep in your gut that your Father has His hand on you.  You will know He is guiding you, helping you navigate the storms to come out on the other side with even more than you would have had, had the storms not occurred.  He works ALL things out TOGETHER for our good because we love Him and are called according to His purpose, (Rom. 8:28).




Looking at our peace lily this morning I realized that it finally bloomed after changing my watering habits.  Instead of just maybe once a week, I water a bit everyday now.  It hasn't bloomed in a very long time.  Now it has five blooms; 5=the number of grace!



God drove home His point with a dream I had last week which has been a reoccurring dream for years.  The specifics change but not the overall message each time I have these dreams.  Interpretation is in ( )’s.  I was in college, (higher learning opportunities in the Lord) and trying to find my dorm room, (the place or season where we are “living” right now.)  I found my room and it was large.  Usually the rooms in the previous dreams are small and cluttered.  (This room being large symbolizes more opportunity in this particular season.)  The room was entirely the color of red from the painted ceilings and walls to the carpeted floors and furniture.  The walls had murals of people who seemed happy but it still felt very overwhelming to be around so much red.  It made me feel completely over-stimulated and anxious and I knew I had to change that immediately to something more soothing and calm.  (Nuff said)  Immediately after that decision to obtain a peaceful living environment, I found myself with a man who I knew very well, intimately, who seemed like my husband yet also comrade, friend, etc., (Jesus.)  There was a dance contest that a group of us in the college were getting ready to go participate in and everyone needed time to practice.  My partner and I just started flowing in our dance routine.  I didn’t even need to know what He was going to do next, I could just follow him, (trusting the Lord and letting Him lead us step by step.)  At one point, however, I did attempt to lead which threw us off and out of step.  Discerning what happened, I immediately exclaimed, “Oh dear, I just tried to lead.”  I got right back in line with him as the lead, which caused us to glide and flow effortlessly together all over the dorm.  It was a fun and magnificent dance to which others watching were in awe.  (When we try to lead, it will throw things off in our life and we need to be quick to repent, calling out what we did and immediately turn away from it.  This puts us right back in line with His perfect will for us and our life will flow in peace and joy again.)  It was time for the contest and somehow I got separated from my partner.  This is also a recurrent part of dreams in the past whereby at this point I usually am panicking and not able to find him.  I feel stress, loss, and fear that I won’t find him and will miss out on what I am supposed to be doing/receiving.  However, this time I chose to react differently than all the times in the past.  I chose to believe that we would meet up on the stage as we both knew where to go.  I chose to decide that if something went differently than what I thought, then that was ok.  He now has me in a place where I trust Him and that all will go according to His plan since I am yielded to Him anyway.



If we look at our plans and what we actually get accomplished of those plans, we will feel a sense of loss and like we are always fighting time.  We will bear fruit of worry, anxiety, fear, dread, frustration and foreboding.  If we surrender our lives/day to the Lord and look at what He is ordering for our day and our steps, we will sense a feeling of gratitude for how He is using us and accomplishing His purposes for our lives.  We will bear fruit of peace and joy.  We will know which decision we made by the fruit we bear.  If we have cast the care, we will be able to say to the care, “I don’t care,” and to the circumstances, “Oh well…this is how God wants it or it would have turned out differently.”



Just today, I had much on my plate of VERY IMPORTANT things I HAD TO ACCOMPLISH by a certain deadline…when the Lord interrupted MY plans and told me to write this blog.  I must consider and choose to believe all our times are in His hands, all in due time, He is sovereign and goes before us ordering our steps, it’s ok for us to plan but the end result is in His hands.



After finishing this blog my husband informed me that he awoke from a dream this morning.  I didn’t tell him what this blog was about or even that I was writing it.  In his dream he was with a large group of people.  He found himself with all of them in a vast, dark basement that was open at the top as if the foundation had just been poured.  The walls were high, creating a deep foundation.  Everyone was following him and he felt fear that he led them to an empty hole.  The Lord spoke over him in his dream, “Just tell them to be at peace.” 



We can feel like we have dug ourselves into deep pits of problems, but God is saying in the midst of it all, let peace be your strong foundation of which He is building something wonderful!



Out of the mouth of two or three witness every fact is confirmed: Peace, be still and know that I am God, Psalm 46:10.



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