Hebrews 10:23 New International Version (NIV)
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
A lot of times I find that the Lord will speak to me through a reoccurring theme.
This week is no exception, as the Lord has really been speaking to me about faithfulness -- in particular, His faithfulness to me. And as He's been doing it, He has been challenging me to take a hold of promises He has made specifically to me and my family.
See that's hard. Right?
It's hard to take a good, really, better than good promise from the Lord, and cling to it. Because what if it doesn't happen? What if He doesn't follow through? What if it makes you look silly? What if it breaks your heart to cling to the very thing you've been promised? There are so many 'what if's!'
And as the Lord has been speaking to me about faithfulness this week, a special memory popped up on my FB timeline. God had already laid the foundation of what this memory would speak to me.
The memory that surfaced was this picture of me and Jason at my seminary school
graduation. Even more significant than the graduation cap and gown, was that very large, Ava, baby bump. Why does that matter? Because it was all a dream that God birthed into my Spirit.
From 2012-2015 I mentally allowed the devil to steal my future of being a momma. Silly, I know. But the Lord is a redeemer and in May of 2015, the Lord showed me in a vision that Jason and I would be living on a farm and that we would have a little girl. In January of 2016, Jason and I were talking about our future. Little did he know that just days before that conversation, the Lord had spoken to me, and dropped it in my Spirit that I would be pregnant in November of 2016. Now I get it. We were not married at that time. But I knew we would be, and I knew I would be pregnant in November, because that's what God promised me.
And so as we were having the marriage talk in January of 2016, Jason looked at me and said "I don't want you to be pregnant while you're in grad school." Y'all. I remember it so clearly. Mainly because I laughed at him and said "too bad." Me answering him that way wasn't so much a bratty response. It was a confident, 'God's ways are higher than our ways,' response; A response that came from a place of trusting and knowing that God is faithful to His promises; A response that came from a place of believe that the things He speaks and has spoken will come to fruition; It was in-fact an unswervingly response; A "too bad" because I knew that God would be faithful to what He purposed, planned and promised, for and to me -- unswerving response.
So three months later were were engaged and planning a November wedding. And then I quickly remembered my promise, that I would be pregnant in November. So we got married in September. It was a blur. Really. And I was pregnant in November, while finishing up my last months of seminary school.
Unswerving faithfulness <-- The real-real, get in your junk thing, that God has been speaking to me about this week. He is unswerving in His faithfulness, but have I been unswerving in my belief? Have I been that same "too bad," believer in His faithfulness? Have I had the same boldness to believe His faithfulness and to cling to His promises in an unswerving manner?
No. Not really. I've swerved a little. You know, the "well maybe that wasn't your will, Lord," serving. Or the "maybe it's not the right time," swerving. Swerving all over the place with whatever excuses I want to use to take the easy way out from having to mentally stay in check with a tenacious unswerving faith.
But y'all, God is faithful. He is faithful to His promises. All of his promises are yes and amen.
2 Corinthians 1:20 New International Version (NIV)
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
If God has put a dream in your heart; If He has purposed you for a certain thing; If He has breathed a dream into your soul; He will see it through to completion.
Philippians 1:6 New International Version (NIV)
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Now I get it, sometimes we have ideas or dreams that are not from God. Those things don't always pan out. It's human. It's our job to test the dreams in our heart and to test them against the Word of God. How do we do that? We pray. We ask hard questions. Does the dream line up with the Bible? Or does it go against the Word of God? Is the dream pleasing to God? Does it have a Kingdom purpose?
They are all hard questions, I know. But God will not put a dream in your heart that is opposition to His word. He is not double-minded like that. The dreams He breaths into our soul do not contradict His Word.
And so this is how you know. If a dream; a purpose; a promise is truly from our Heavenly Father, it will line up with the Word of God; it will prosper; It will be birthed; It will come to fruition. Because God is faithful.
And so as He's been speaking to me this week about His faithfulness, I have been overcome with many emotions. They range from overwhelming gratefulness (when I see all of the promises He has personally fulfilled to date) to even disappointment (in realizing I've been swerving, on holding fast to His personal promises to me and my family).
And I know He is calling me back into a season where I stand confidently and unswervingly, on that which He has purposed, planned and promised to me and my family.
The way I laughed at Jason and said "too bad," is the way the Lord wants us to laugh at the world when everything tries to steal the dream, purpose and the plan He has for us. It's a confident, unswerving laugh; rooted on the foundation that His will, His purpose, His plan, and His promises, always prevail.
What has He purposed, planned and promised for and to you? If you've swerved from holding fast to that dream, dig down deep and respond with a tenacious, unswerving spirit of belief in Him, trusting that He will be faithful to His word.
He will be faithful. Hallelujah!
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