I Spy...

A large part of living a prophetic lifestyle is being willing to step out and do something without knowing all of the reasons why you are being asked to do it. 

Generally speaking I'm not always very good at living my life in that way. I like to have a plan to follow. I am more than willing to do something a little bit spontaneous and crazy if I know how it's going to turn out and can understand the logic behind the actions. I like to be safe and I want to take safe, calculated risks. Unfortunately God does not necessarily operate within the same ideas of "safe" that I do. 

God calls us to walk in FAITH with the knowledge that the purposes of God are good and full of life even when we look in front of us and the valley is dark and full of death or the land is full of giants. We walk with Him in faith trusting that when we walk by his side he will keep us as safe as we need to be on our journey together. 

He calls us to be fearless, to be bold and to take hold of the promises that he gives to us long before we ever see them come to pass. That is not always an easy thing to do. When you read through the Bible you will see story after story of people with less than admirable beginnings witnessing the grace and power of God in huge ways. 

Yesterday morning Brian spoke about the spies that the Israelites sent into the promised land to scout things out before they decided whether or not to believe and obey God by going in as a nation to take the land. Instead of simply taking God at his word to enter the land by faith they thought it would be a good idea to double check and make sure that God wasn't leading them into a trap before going forward. As a nation they didn't act in faith and they didn't trust God. In fact the actions they took were down right insulting to the character of God and called into question his love for them. 

The error of the Israelites seems so clear to me as I sit warm in my kitchen with a cup of tea and my laptop writing this out for you but honestly I do the exact same thing all of the time. I send out my own "spies" to figure out what the land looks like. I ask a lot of questions, give minimal commitments or spend more time finding reasons not to do something than I do looking for ways to make things work all so that I know that I can back out at the last minute if I start to feel anxious or fearful. I effectively allow myself to forget the power, the authority and the love of the God I claim to serve and turn away from him too afraid of the battle to even try to claim the promises. 

Nothing about that is Biblical or right. God calls cowards to be warriors and possessors; he does not coddle the fearful or call them to hide from the battle. 

Psalm 144:1 proclaims: "...Praise the LORD, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle." 

It is a proclamation that is repeated in other places. In 2 Samuel 22:35 is says "He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze." 

Romans 8 echoes this refrain and brings it all together. In verse 28 we are reminded that God works for the GOOD of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. Verses 35-37 draw us to stand firm in our faith and yell our battle cries loudly: 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

I think that it's safe to say that if we decide to respond positively to this it will take a huge change of heart and a great deal of courage. 

 

So... How do we respond to this? What actions do we take?

I think a good place to start would be with Psalm 26:2

"Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind."

Will you join me?