A WARRIOR’S SWORD

~The Seasons of Promise For everything there is a time and a season. You may be desolate, alone and wandering in a drought devastated wilderness. You’re spiritually dry and thirsty. You’re feeling deprived and dehydrated. Everything has dried up. The grass has withered and the flowers have faded. You may be set in a place that is unfamiliar to you. What do you do? No one knows you. Even your family is not adept in knowing who you are or what you’re going through. What do you do? Your prayers seem to be hitting the ceiling and not piercing through. God, where are you? Hold on, I tell you. Stay focused on the promise! Listen for the still whisper. Do you hear it? Listen closer! Whenever there is a move of God, it’s preceded by a sound. Though you may feel you are alone in your walk, you absolutely are not. Just because you’re in a dry place, you’re never alone. Keep your eyes and ears open. Even when your marriage is dried up. When your bank account is all dried up. When your relationships are all dried up. When your career is all dried up…there is a sound. When you’re parched and spiritually dehydrated, keep listening for the sound. I say to you as Elijah told Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink… you’re going to need strength for this journey. Get ready for the shift! Something is about to happen and you need to be prepared!!! You need nourishment. You need stamina and endurance. Although the drought is almost over there are still some things you must do. You’ve got to persevere so, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the abundance of rain.’” Your season is about to shift! Things are about to change. Get ready for the rain! Elijah sent his servant to go back and look for the rain seven times. In the meantime, he told Ahab, to get ready. Some of us would have given up on the first or second time. But in his persistency, on the seventh time, there was a teeny tiny sign. Nevertheless it was a sign that the drought was about to end. Don’t get discouraged when it doesn’t look like what you think it should. Get ready! Don’t be dissuaded. Get prepared! Keep looking for the sign. Keep hold of the promise. Don’t miss the move of God looking for what you think the answer should be. Don’t miss out on what God has for you because you’re looking for the next great thing. And like Sarah and Abraham, don’t take matters into your own hands by trying to manifest the promise on your own; or try to end the drought to relieve your thirst. You see, if you do it on your own, you may only have enough water to quench your thirst. But God wants to send you an abundance of rain. He wants to bless you abundantly. Your parched, thirsty and spiritually dehydrated situation was perfectly planned by the Master Planner. The spiritual drought that you’re going through was specifically designed with you in mind. Life hits us with various circumstances. Without the twist and turns of life we can’t grow. There will be times when we have to endure adversity and hardships. It’s all a process in this thing we call life. And no, they are not always caused by the enemy; sometimes they are by design from the choices we’ve made. Stop blaming the enemy for everything. That gives him too much power. But sometimes God has to allow certain things to happen in order for Him to reach us and thrust us into our full potential. Think of it this way. When a seed is planted, it has to go through a process. When a seed is planted out of season, its growth is stifled; it withers and dies. It’s in the beginning of the process that the seed must go through its worst season. It’s covered with dirt! It’s pressed down, left in the dark; and all you know is, it’s in there somewhere. If you keep poking at it, prodding it or if you pluck it up too soon, its growth is hindered. Its potential to blossom into a full-grown tree has been cut short. If you never experience that place which is uncomfortable, lonely, and dark, how can you expect growth? Yes, there will be moments when you are invisible. God purposely placed you behind The Rock as He prepares you for the next level. There is a time and place for every season of your life. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 jogs our memory that there is a time and season for everything in life. There is a time when we are happy and we celebrate. There is a time when we are sad and we mourn. There is a time to laugh, a time to speak, a time to dance, and a time to weep. There is a rhythmic reverberation in the cycle of our life. A beautiful sound that ebbs and flows only in God’s timing. God has made everything beautiful in its time. This rhythm in its proper timing brings about God’s purpose for you and in you. That’s a beautiful thing. There’s a time for every purpose [activity] under heaven. You don’t have to go around trying to make things happen. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. If you’re in a season of drought, embrace it. It’s important to understand there’s something God wants you to learn in this season. The impetus during this phase is to know that while you’re in this moment of stillness, while you’re in this place of dryness, God is working; God is moving and He is growing you. Don’t worry about the dirt that’s being heaped upon you, just bloom where he’s planted you. In God’s timing and in the right season, He will complete what he has purposed for you. In your season of drought focus on Him. In every season of life, seek purpose in Him. For every new season, there’s a new lesson.