Y'all - I know it’s been a minute but MAN have I got something to share. This has been building for a little, but exploded in my heart today! Ima be very transparent in this post lol - H.O.T. (Humble. Open. Transparent.) So I didn't realize, fully, until today that I have been in a wilderness season. Just disappointment after disappointment, things going wrong left and right and just tryna navigate lol. So, yesterday, I was praying and I heard the Lord say something to me about the direction for my life. To be honest, I questioned it because well... I hadn't been connected to Him the few weeks prior. Basically He said to me in my doubt "You don't have to prove your worth in order to hear my voice. My children hear my voice, if they are listening. You are listening, so you don't have to prove yourself to trust that I am and will speak to you" He's not gonna give us the silent treatment or go ghost, because we messed up. Talk about toxic thinking being broken by that! Cmon!!! He reminded me of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years - even tho they were actin wild, God was still speaking to Moses and still led them by a could by day and fire by night. So, I did what anyone would (should) do and started reading through the story of the wilderness. I got to Exodus 13:17-18 and something exploded! Now, this was before they wandered in the desert for 40 years - it is actually when they were leaving Egypt, they were leaving their slavery. It says "17 When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle". The Lord showed me three things. The first being, sometimes the "long route" is to protect you from something that will steal your purpose & get you off course. The second being, the "long route" will prepare you for what you weren't ready for yet, but you WILL face. The third being, the "long route" gives you experience with the Lord and builds your faith up in Him.
The Israelites were just freed from their slavery, that lasted hundreds of years and were on their way to the promised land. Since their slavery was so recent, they hadn't had time to unlearn the ways of slavery, they didn't have time to build themselves back up and so when they were traveling the Lord knew that they needed to avoid a specific situation because they would revert back to what they had just come from. They needed time to be built up, they needed time to establish themselves, they needed to receive instruction from the Lord and get to know Him as their provider. When I had just moved to Tulsa, there were some things that I wanted, that I knew the Lord had called me to, heck they were the whole reason I moved here. But since I was just coming out of my bondage, there were things I needed to be built up in first. There were some experiences with the Lord and instructions from the Lord that I needed to have before He could allow me to face the things He called me too. So, what did He do? He took me the "long route" and in that route I got to see the power of God at work in my life. Just like the Israelites did, when He parted the Red Sea. Without having gone the long way, and just having arrived in the promised land, I more than likely would have not had the foundation to last while there. I would have started relying on myself vs relying on God. But now, I have experience with God. We've gone through some stuff together - so now when I get to the Promised Land, i'm not scared of the giants that are there, because He has already led me through things, given me victory, and showed me who He is.
I can't lie to you, going the "long route" had moments where I questioned the Lord and honestly what the heck I was doing in life and wondered if I should just go back to my "Egypt". But, the task for us as believers and disciples of Jesus is to stay committed and bought in with the Lord even in those questions, even in those frustrations. The Lord is faithful and He is sovereign, but, it can be tricky to keep that in the forefront of our thinking when it looks as tho the promise of God isn't coming to pass. That's the test that prepares us to face what is coming ahead. Staying faithful despite, is what prepares us to be able to walk into our promised land with confidence, not only in what God has said to us, but in WHO He is. Are you facing something that doesn't look like what you thought it would? Are you starting to doubt the promise of God because of what life looks like around you? Well, I am here to encourage you today that as long as we are partnered with Him the plan for our lives WILL come to pass. Isaiah 14:27 says "The Lord of Heaven's armies has spoken - who can change His plans?" and Philippians 1:6 says "for I am certain that the God who began the good work in you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ returns". So when you feel yourself start to doubt, remind yourself of the one who IS faithful and good. The one who cannot lie. So, if He said it, it WILL be.
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