Perfect Timing

Have you ever been trying to figure something out or do something but didn’t know how. But then you prayed about it and God answered right on time? The other night I was lying across my bed, halfway reading the Word because my mind was racing thinking about how to go about doing something God had been instructing me to do. In other words, I wasn’t focused…sorry, Lord! As I was lying there, I was suddenly urgently led to turn on my TV and look at Praise the Lord on TBN. Now, I haven’t watched the show in quite a long while so I really didn’t even have the mindset that it would even be on. But anyway, when I turned on the TV, lo and behold it was on and an interview was just starting with a man that had lived out the very thing that I was seeking direction about. Right after the interview went off, my sister in law sent me a text with a word that God had given her in prayer for me that essentially confirmed what I got out of the interview and answered my question. Why are you rambling on, Ebony? My point is this, God knows EXACTLY what you stand in need of and his timing is perfect. What we have to do is learn how to get out of the way!

There are so many things in this life that we want and want it quickly. It could be a baby or a spouse. It could be prosperity or a dream career. We can do all of the things that we think we need to do to get in position and it still doesn’t come. Sometimes the waiting can lead to impatience and frustration. Anybody been there? I know I have but God has been showing me lately that when I allow Him to do the planning and organizing, things happen. We sometimes forget that God is omnipresent and already knows our situation, our thoughts, and our desires. However, He also knows when we can handle the things that He wants to give us. Habakkuk grew quite impatient with God wanting the answers to His questions but in response, God gives us great insight into how His timing works. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Hab. 2:3 NKJV) Pretty clear right? Though God’s promised outcome for your life may not be coming at your pace or even how you pictured it, wait for it because it will come! 

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible next to Romans 8 is Galatians 6. While Romans 8 teaches us who we are in Christ, Galatians 6 is designed to keep us humble and gives us a way to self-examine ourselves so that we don’t think too highly of ourselves. Verse 9 in particular speaks to how we should conduct ourselves while we wait. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Due season is God’s timing, his perfect timing. It is that time when everything lines up to God’s will and timing. You are ready to receive whatever blessing He has for you and He is ready to give it to you. It also tells us that while we are waiting for God to move, we must keep pressing, keep living holy, and keep doing good. Don’t give up on what God has promised you because the timing seems off to you. For when God does it, it will be better than anything you could do or imagine.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time or know me personally, you know that I have a tendency to want to figure things out on my own.  (Refer to paragraph 1…lol!) But God continues to show me that if I just trust Him and let Him do what He’s going to do when He does it, everything will work out for my good. Have you ever had God tell you specifically that He will handle something but you insist on having that conversation or making that move that you haven’t been instructed to have and all of a sudden everything is messed up? That’s called getting in your own way. If God said “I’ve got this”, He is more than capable of handling it - your marriage, your career, your situation, etc. Let Him! Ecclesiastes 8:6 says “for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.” (NLT) As hard as it can be for some of us, let God run the show. Toby Mac has a song that says “If You wanna steal my show, I'll sit back and watch You go. If You got somethin' to say, go on and take it away. Need You to steal my show, can't wait to watch You go. So take it away…” In other words – Do what you do, God! Take over my life and run it as you see fit…in Your will and in Your timing.

I said ALL of that to say, “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Num. 23:19 NIV). He has a way and a timing that’s mighty sweet. Though we can’t predict when He might manifest one of His promises, you can rest assured that He will and it will be perfect.  “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Is. 40:31 NKJV)

Wait on Him, friends…He’s never late!

AMEN

Building a bridge...

One of my sorority sisters shared a great line that she taught her daughter as a way to stop her from overreacting to situations that aren’t that serious or to just move on from something. It’s a simple line and one that I, of course, taught my oldest. “Build a bridge and get over it!” It was a great line because it gave a visual for a process that we as adults tend to have a problem with…letting go. Whether it’s hurt or anger or bad relationships, we often find ourselves holding onto things that only serve to hurt us and not the person or situation that we think should be feeling the effects. As I pondered this, the Lord sent me to learn about the process for building a bridge. I discovered a series of steps that you would need to consider before building a bridge and it made it all plain for me. Immediately a question popped into my mind. Are you willing to go through the process so you can get to the other side?

Okay, God, we’re going in! The first step was determining the construction timeframe. Hmmmmm…you might be asking…why did this one have to be first? I’ve gotten quite comfortable with my pain and I’m not ready to let it go. I certainly don’t have a timeline. I can’t be rushed. Have you said any of this before? Maybe you have or you haven’t but the point is this. We often find ourselves tied to things from the past that keep us from fully moving into our next level. We hold onto those things until they become a part of who we are and how we function. I don’t think there’s necessarily a timeline to getting over the loss of a relationship or betrayal but there is a time to start the process. When God created the world, He had to  make a step to get things going. He surveyed the scene and said “Let there be light, and there was light.” (Gen.1:3 NKJV)  In order to heal, you have to take the first step of saying God, I need some light! Please help me to let this go….whatever “this” is. Then let Him go to work but remember that you have to consider the price.  A part of the construction planning process is looking at your budget. The process of letting go might just cost you some things-comfort, some tears, and some habits. Are you willing to pay the cost for freedom and peace of mind?

Whoa! This might be a little too much but we’ll press on to the next step. How is the bridge going to be used? What’s the weight capacity? How many lanes of traffic or people will the bridge need to accommodate?  What do you mean, God?    All I’m doing is letting go of this hurt why do I have to worry about all this? Sometimes we get so caught up in the emotion and the why that we can’t see the purpose. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” (ESV)  Ebony, are you trying to tell me that there’s a reason why this happened to me? Do you remember when Satan went after Job? He didn’t just stumble across Job,  God gave Him permission and in the process said something really profound…”Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8 NKJV) How do you know that you aren’t being considered? Can you rule out that this hard place that you are in isn’t a set up for your next level? Job lost everything but his life and yet he trusted God and the process and what happened? He came out with more than he started with.  Sometimes we can’t see how something painful can be used to carry us to the next place but you have to keep building. Are you willing to go through some heavy things for breakthrough?

The final 3 steps all dealt with the site of the bridge, permits and the environmental issues that could affect the location. This is the crucial part. When you build a bridge you have to have permits. You have to know where your bridge will start and stop. You have to know what your bridge will span.  Often times, we don’t even know where or when the hurt took us over. We can’t pinpoint when it went from a little hurt to a full hindrance. But at some point, we allowed it to overtake us and we stopped moving.  Can you imagine what would happen if you got on that big bridge in Charleston, SC and it stopped midway and you couldn’t get off? Would you turn around and go back? Would you drive over the edge hoping something changes. A lot of us start working on letting go of things but we get halfway there and allow flesh to make us turn back or we pretend that we are healed when we haven’t really dealt with the root of the issue. We have to start building our bridge on the solid Rock that is Jesus Christ. If you start with Him, you can’t go wrong. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be rain or wind or even ice, but you have solidified your process in the only One that can give life.  He will deal with those permits that try and hinder. He will deal with the depth of the pain around you. He will see you through. Are you willing to keep building through the storms?

We are coming to the close of the first month of a new year. It’s still a fresh opportunity for healing, peace and love to lead off your 2013.  If you are still dealing with lingering hurts, anger, or sin, I challenge you to start building your bridge to the other side. We serve a merciful God that loved us so much that He didn’t want us to stay trapped on the wrong side of the bridge. Instead He sent Christ to give us a way out and a new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor. 5:17, ESV) We are going forward this year…forward into our next level and our destiny. We are building our bridges and we are getting over them!

Be blessed…

Is that a plank?!

If you know me or have read this blog for a while, you know that I have 2 daughters. They are 21 months apart and they love each other dearly. However, they also go at it…daily! It usually starts out with one of them telling the other what they should be doing or telling me or their dad what the other is doing wrong. In most cases, the one doing the telling just finished doing whatever they are telling about themselves. For instance, Sanai will say, “Kennedi just wrote all over the walls with crayon.” I go survey the scene and the crayon reaches higher than Kennedi can reach. Sanai is so focused on what Kennedi did that she fails to see herself and her part in the action. It’s so easy to see what everyone else is doing wrong, but it’s often tremendously hard to see yourself.  When God showed me that analogy, my eyes popped open! I got it! As we are moving into this new year and season, we have to see ourselves with conviction and clarity so that we don’t hinder our own walk and growth.

In both Matthew 7 and Luke 6, Jesus teaches about judging others and asks a very profound question. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:3 NIV)  He instructs us to remove the plank from our own eye so that we can see to help our brother or sister. It is so important not to judge for those reasons but I think we sometimes move too quickly past the self-examination process in that verse. It takes prayer, fasting and a willing spirit to look in yourself and see what you need to do to walk cleaner, taller, and better. I’m a witness! I believe God gave me Sanai and Kennedi so that I could see myself. Whenever I find myself getting upset with them for something, often I can trace it back to something I have said or done and I have to repent.  Are you seeing yourself clearly today?

Paul gives a great lesson on self-examination in 2 Corinthians 13. He is writing to the Church at Corinth for the third time and he wants them to get it! He says some key things in verses 5 -8 that really spoke to me. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?  And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.  Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.”  Did you see? He is reminding us that we have to be sure to look at ourselves and know that Christ is in us and if we get it wrong, work on it. It’s not for the benefit of others, but for us. He’s very clear in the next few verses that he is telling them that so that they are built up and not torn down. God wants us to be our very best! It’s like being a knight in shining armor and knowing how you are supposed to look but you allow your armor to get rusty and don’t acknowledge the rust or make any efforts to restore the shine.

Folks, besides God, you know yourself the best. Take a look at yourself and see what’s in need of an upgrade, and then ask God for direction. I challenge you to seek Him for clarity about who you are and your walk.  You don’t need an appointment and you don’t have to pay an hourly fee, He’s always available and He always has the answer.  We’re moving forward this year and the last thing we want to stop our momentum is ourselves.

Be blessed…AMEN

Fresh Oil

Sometimes it’s easy to fall stagnant or stale in your relationships. We get caught up in the grind so to speak. We are rushing around doing this or that and we find ourselves falling short in spending time with those we love and cherish. It can happen when you are going through different stages of life…get married and maybe you don’t spend as much time with your girlfriends; have children and maybe you don’t spend as much time with your spouse. It happens. Unfortunately, it can also happen in our relationship with God. We get so busy with the work that we move away from the worship. I believe that we are in a season of refreshing. God wants us to flourish in our lives and most importantly in our relationship with Him. Last week, God reminded us to get back to our first love and today He is leading us towards a fresh start…a fresh anointing.

I heard something on a devotional CD the other day that was so profound. The man said that we enter in with God’s permission and not by our performance. It hit me so hard because I think where we often go wrong is in trying so hard to DO what we think is necessary to go forward when we just have to ask. As we begin this new year, let’s seek that fresh anointing. Let’s ask God to stir up our gifts and refresh our relationship with Him. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” (NKJV) All that we need can be found in the kingdom. It’s time for a fresh start.

This is our opportunity for change. We have turned the page on 2012 and we have entered a new season. Paula White said it’s the season of NOW. Let’s make the decision to renew our relationship with God today. One of the first things you hear after having a baby is make sure you don’t forget about your relationship with your husband. Your time is consumed with that new little person and it is so easy to push him aside because you’re tired and overcome with this new love. But your marriage is the core relationship that brought that baby into the world. How much more do we have to prioritize God in our lives? More than ever we have to make Him number one because He is the core being of how you got to where you are. We cannot afford to wait anymore. It’s time to act now!

Let’s be like David in Psalm 92. He proclaimed God to be the most high, professed His love and faithfulness and reaped the benefits. “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil” (v. 10 NKJV) Horn is referring to his strength. How powerful to live in such a state of worship and love for God that He exalts your strength and anoints you with His fresh oil. That is our challenge…to look at our relationship with the Lord and seek His fresh anointing.

God, I ask that you pour out your fresh oil upon everyone reading this blog today. Give us a clean heart and a renewed mind that we might put you first. Help us to walk according to your Word and Your will and to acknowledge You in all of our ways. We want more of You, God! More love, more power, more peace! We desire to worship You in spirit and in truth and to come into a deeper level of communion with You! Thank You for loving us in spite of us. Forgive us for anything that would hinder us from going to the next level in You! Now, God, we receive this fresh anointing and promise to walk in it! In the precious name of Jesus…AMEN!

Be blessed…

Back to love

Remember how you felt when you first got saved? That feeling when you really connected with God and His presence became real for you? Or maybe when you first felt the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you remember the fire, the love, the commitment, the excitement? So often it seems that we move farther and farther away from those first feelings as we get further away from the beginning. This morning, I heard God say we need to get back to our first love and back to the basics.

You know there’s nothing like that honeymoon love. It’s pure and uncomplicated. The pressures and struggles of life haven’t invaded yet and all you feel is the bliss of being with your spouse. It’s similar with us and God. When we first get saved or rededicated, we are on fire - reading the Word all the time without prompting, spontaneous praise and worship, freedom! And then the first test comes and you get a little shaky or time starts passing and other things start to filter into your life. Your priorities start to shift and all of a sudden you look up and wonder how you got where you are. You wonder why you are so tired, why going to church irritates you instead of excites you, and why you have to force yourself to pray or read the Word. We have an opportunity at the start of this new year to go back to the beginning and refresh and recharge.

This morning in prayer, God sent me straight to Revelation. I said “God, do I really have to hit Revelation in the FIRST message of the year?!”  But, of course, it was right in line with what He said about back to the basics. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.” (Rev. 2: 2-5 NLT)  Oh my! That jumped right to the heart of things didn’t it? This is Jesus speaking and He’s telling us that He sees all the good stuff that we have done and the right living, etc. but where is our love and our fire that we had at the beginning? It clearly is disturbing to Him because he calls for repentance and gives a strong ultimatum! We have to go back, repent and recharge our love so that we can have a full experience in God.

You see the Word calls for us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Let’s be honest. If you look closely at your life now and how you conduct yourself, are you loving God with your whole being? If so, that’s awesome! But most of us can point to things that need a recharge. I’ll tell you that as I start my 2013, I have asked God to renew my fire and zeal for Him! I don’t want to be so focused on the work that I miss Him. I want to experience God like never before in 2013. In order to do that, I have to go back to my first love. What do you need to recharge? God is tired of halfway! We were created to worship Him. Do you think He envisioned the kind of halfway worship that we’ve been giving as a church? I don’t think so! Words like splendor of holiness, tremble, joyful noise, spirit and truth, don’t sound like halfway to me! He wants your best!  Let’s go back!

I encourage you to refresh your relationship with God today! Go back to the basics of spending time with Him, reading His Word, and talking to Him. You will surely find that there’s no love like your first love! May God grant you peace, love, and immeasurable favor in this new year.

God bless! AMEN…