Celebrate

What is it that you are wrestling with?

Uncertainty, incapacity, inability, pressure, anxiety, passion, purpose, pain, dreams and visions…

In the midst of it all, here is my answer… Celebrate.

Just celebrate my goodness, expect my faithfulness, anticipate my blessing, prepare for the harvest.

I wrestle with the mud, the mire, the expectation, the anticipation, the planning, the pressure. You told me to plan, yet the byproduct is so much pressure. I cannot contain it. I stand between the shore and the wave as it breaks over me.

Who put you back in the mud, the mire? How have you lost your footing?

Your focus is on the how, and the how come, the “what is to come”.

Adjust your focus on the One who is here.

For I have not abandoned you.

For when the waters subside, you shall REAP an abundant harvest.

Isaiah 32:20 Happy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters when the river overflows its banks; for the seed will sink into the mud and when the waters subside, the plant will spring up; you will find it after many days and reap an abundant harvest, you who safely send forth the ox and the donkey to range freely.

You wipe the mud from your eyes, you wash the mud from your hands, you look up and see before you a huge forest….

You pause and wonder how could this be?

Yet now you cannot see what is on the other side of the trees, you cannot see the forest for the trees.

You peek through the leaves to find the hidden treasure, the ripe for eating fruit.

In a moment excited to taste the fruit, in another moment overwhelmed by the expanse of the harvest.

You build the ark, expectant for the flood, yet wondering whether it shall come?

You have invested much, and act like you have nothing to lose. Yet in your heart you ponder the loss, the fear of failure, for you know what it is like to lose everything.

You stand on the point of decision, of indecision, on the brink.

To invest more, to expect more, to celebrate more, to receive more, to celebrate my goodness, to believe for and experience my blessing, or…

To withdraw, to retreat, to hold back, to retain, to maintain, to dig in, to baton down the hatches, to bury yourself, to restrain yourself, to hold yourself captive, to endure, to struggle, to bind yourself up, to retreat into the darkness.

The real question is….

Not “how will I do this?”

But “can you trust me to be faithful to my promise?”

You stress with the detail of how you will manage it, yet know it can be managed.

The real question is do you believe that I will provide.

For the dream is tied to your belief, the dream is fulfilled when you trust me to bless you.

Am I not trust worthy?

For I have spoken much about what I am doing, what I have promised, yet what will you hold on to?

“Hold on, don’t let go, just take one step closer”

Hold on to me, take my hand, smile, rejoice, burst forth with celebration, breakthrough with celebration.

I know you are not into this “name it and claim it” gospel, for you do not consider me a vending machine.

Yet what are you into?

I believe that you love me so much, for I know your touch, I feel your embrace, I have experienced your delight. I know what it is to be loved, despite my shortcomings, I have felt the touch of my beloved.

Is it not my delight to give good gifts to those in whom I delight?

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all that gives light, in the shining of Whom there can be no variation rising or setting or shadow cast by His turning as in an eclipse.

For you struggle to accept my gift, for you struggle with your worthiness, you struggle with your shortcomings.

Take up your position. For I have chosen you to be King.

For does the king live like a pauper? Does the king wonder about how he will provide for his family?

No he is expectant, he is confident, he is exuberant, he is expansive.

You think if you can only analyse all the possibilities, you will find greater comfort and more certainty. Yet this is not true, for your path has only led you to distress and discomfort and frustration.

For this is not about your ability to discern, this is about your faith.

Have you not seen, have you not heard, have you not been paying attention?

This is not about you getting comfortable and secure in my provision, this is about you getting comfortable with my promise, accepting that what I have said will come to pass.

It is time to get on board, it is time to commit to this new era, to believe me for more, to get used to more, to be drenched in my overflow and yet ask for more.

For you cup shall overflow, is overflowing, shall become a fountain of blessing for many generations to come.

Focus not on what you can do, just walk with me, take another step.

For you know when your beloved speaks of the orchard, what this is evidence of, for you know how the story ends, foretold long ago.

Expect restoration, abundant restoration, ancient ruins to be rebuilt, fountains in the desert, unexpected blessings.

Rejoice and be glad for the joy of the Lord shall be your strength.

Isaiah 55:8-13 “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them. “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines— Monuments to me, to God, living and lasting evidence of God.”