SCRIPTURE: But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God AND obey HIS Voice for the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will NOT forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them
- Deuteronomy 4:29-31
With the first week of our new year behind us many of us have stepped up our faith. We've been studying more. We are worrying less. We have done things we would not otherwise do. We even trust ourselves more. This is a great start to a new year of promise but again we must remember that this is the year of faith and increase through works. We must remember that the old mustard seed faith won't sustain us in this new season. Ok, so these are great reminders for things we already know and have heard before so now what?
Let me encourage you to not only increase your faith so that every area of your life increases but also so that you learn to incline your ears to the very mouth of God in the midst of it all. In other words, not only trusting Gods voice but being certain and assured that it is most certainly Gods voice that you hear.
About four, almost five years ago I was living the life. Excited about my new home, my children, my education, my new heart filled with love and while I was sleep I heard "I have a husband for you". I woke up almost frantic and crazed. Although I KNEW the voice, I still looked and shook the person lying beside me with whom I'd been in a relationship with for almost three and a half years. I was irritated as if that person was the one speaking; I guess I needed to be angry with someone. See, not only had God spoke this husband thing but He expected me to resolve my relationship and start a new one with Him. I was in awe, to say the least. Why you might ask? The answer is or at least it was simple. After all this time, I finally had someone who loved me, who listened to me and who respected me. To top it off, we had recently bought a home together. I was angry because I couldn't believe God would allow me to enter into this agreement for the house when He knew He had a husband for me.
God told me to let Him love me and heal me. He told me not only to come out of this relationship but to spend one year loving Him, letting Him love, hold and heal me. My relationship dissolved in less than two months from the time God called me out. It was not without hesitation, irritation, pain or second guessing that I trusted the voice of God but only with pieces of His promise. I did not release what He promised back into His care and control. In fact, I began to seek for myself, in other words I was testing Gods word "is this the husband, is this the husband, is this the husband". I questioned God, which is okay because it’s in questions that we acquire understanding but I questioned and did not trust! That's where the problem was -- in the lack of trust in God's word.
You know, even when God spoke to me in 2010 telling me to pray for a particular group of women, I was still disobedient, non-trusting and even selfish if I must be honest. Last year when God called me again to a place of partnered prayer, which began with only one young woman and me, later expanding to over hundreds of women and eventually men joining us throughout the year, I still questioned Gods call for me to lead this prayer initiative. My disobedience and inability to trust the one who created me sent me through unnecessary trauma. In fact, I've been just like the children of Israel many times in my life due to lack of trust in Gods authentic voice thus I spent unnecessary time wandering in the desert in circles hoping to get to Gods promise but not listening to His voice for guidance.
A journey that should have been short lasted forty years. (Numbers 32:13 KJV - And the Lords anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed).
And now, after all this time and especially over the last year I've learned to release...totally give God back the promise of a husband, I learned that if God leads the prayer than I don’t have to do anything but be the vessel. I learned to rest -- not worry, not seek, but be patient while in His (the Masters) loving arms all while trusting Him for relief -- in other words provision---knowing God will do and is more than able to perform that which He promised. No more wandering in the desert for me! I've had enough drought, I've been thirsty for way to long, I've had my fill of manna and now desire what God desires for me to eat, I've seen enough dirt, I've had way to many scorching days and far too many cold nights so whatever it is that the Lord has spoken it is so (2 Corinthians 1:20 KJV - For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us).
What really started this new journey of faith and trust in the authentic voice of God was Gods continued instructions which included the prayer call. After many days and nights of crying about my unworthiness and my fear of being persecuted or called a hypocrite the Lord woke me from sleep with the word Zephaniah. I repeated Zephaniah! Lord what is that? Is that even a book in the bible? I grabbed it and surely there it was!
So let me share this with you a summary regarding the book of Zephaniah:
Zephaniah talks about how repentance goes deeper than outward behavior. Zephaniah practiced the law of intuition. He intuitively knew that real change requires more than what the leader can legislate. He sought more than external reformation – he wanted internal transformation. The people didn’t need to turn over a new leaf; they needed a new life. So the prophet took a risk and acted. He began to call the Hebrews to look at their hearts, their motives, their desires, and their private lives. He meddled – touched a chord. He spoke to issues that needed to be addressed, issues that most leaders fear to bring up.
After reading that summary I could clearly see what God was saying to me. He said listen, I am calling you to a place of transparency, a place of compassion, a place where you think of your sisters and brothers more highly than you regard yourself, I am calling you to be accountable to share my word, I am calling you to obedience, I am calling you to a new place, I am calling you to be transformed.
See God does not need us to do things that we are used to doing just because it feels right or because we are afraid to do anything new but God wants to change our entire lives. He wants to replace our lives with the life He promised but how can He do it without us listening to His authentic voice?
You know you are listening to the authentic voice of God when:
1. You quiet all the other voices within to hear the Lord clearly and distinctively.
2. When your inhibitions about what you've heard begins to fade. In other words, when you are not afraid of the ridicule of man you will know its God’s authentic voice AND obey
3. When things around you don't change but your perspective of them does
4. When you recognize you are no longer wandering in darkness, dirt or things of the past
5. When you see His very word unfold before your eyes
Some trust in chariots, some in horses, some in men but I trust in the word of the Lord. Whose report will YOU believe? I don't bank on man I put all my stock in God, knowing in due season I reap those things which He promised if I faint not and do it by trusting the Authentic voice of God!
God bless! LISTEN well and know that I am praying for you!
