Saturday, February 09, 2008

Your Turn Around is Just Ahead

It's late Saturday morning and I am propped up in bed, with the lap top, Harry lying next to me, and Bill downstairs doing that dreaded work of filing and sorting of all the bills and paperwork that I have not dealt with for weeks. (Now that's just one of the many reasons why I appreciate that man so much!)Alex is still asleep and Abby just woke up.

I am contemplating so many things right now. And since it's a Saturday and my back is telling me not to go zooming into the day, I am authorizing for myself a time to write, think, pray, ponder. Bill and I already had our early morning chat together. It felt like a summit meeting. We are endeavoring to not return to any strongholds of the past, any faulty thinking or incorrect conclusions.

One of the things I shared with the women on Thursday night was that while there are many myths and lies about having to maintain an image, Paul tells us in Corinthians that "we are not unaware of the devil's schemes." That's right, we are not supposed to be in the dark about what he tries to do to prompt us to return to darkness and defeat.

Once you articulate some of the myths that we often believe, then its time to assess where these lies might be carried out in your own life. You don't have to do this with a wagging, scolding finger pointed at yourself, but rather with a sense of relief over having detected where you are going wrong.

Recently I have been pondering an interesting phrase-"turned the captivity". God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, Scripture tells us. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dreamed" it tells us in Psalm 126. I'm convinced that when we've been in a desert season for a long time, for whatever reasons, that we might not detect that its our time to come out of captivity and come into a season of refreshing, a season of harvest after years of no reaping but yet, continual sowing.

When God turns our captivity, He restores what the locusts have eaten. When God "turned" Job's captivity, He restored Job's fortune and family life. It says God restored it when Job prayed for his friends (who were,in my mind, lousy friends, starting out right by staying with him and then adding to his pain with their projections of why he incurred wave upon wave of tragedy).

When God turned it around for Job, it implies that it happened the moment he prayed, yet the manifestation of the turnaround took some time. So here's the predicament: when we've been purposing to walk in faith, watching over our heart and our mindset, there can come a time where we've left the bondage of the past but we haven't yet seen the manifestation of what we've contended for, what we've believed for in the face of opposing, supposed evidence.

When Job obeyed God because he believed God, and he interceded for his friends, Job might have enthusiastically declared, "Now watch what God is going to do in my life. He's going to turn it all around!". And if he did say something like that, and his friends stayed around to watch, how long did it take to see this turn around? How long did it take for Job's captivity to turn into fertile fields, thousands of animals grazing on hills, children running around in laughter, his health restored, his gold and silver replenished? Did God do it in a night? In a year? In a decade? I don't know. I just know God did it.

That tells me that you can't always tell when your turn around is taking place. It might be so slow of a thing that you're tempted to think you're still captive of your past. The enemy of your soul might show up and taunt you with "You really think God is going to get you out of your prison of pain? You really think He'll do all that He says?!?"

This is one of those times where we don't need to play nice. We just need to tell the enemy where he can go. And then we need to fix our eyes on what God says is ahead- our release, our right to run on the path of His Word. Because we are NOT unaware of the enemy's schemes, and we are not going back to bondage of any kind when there's something bountifully better that He says we can have.

Take a moment and even if you can't see the fertile fields ahead, can you at least detect the smell of new grass sprouting? Can you feel the mist of beginning rain? The rest of the bounty is not that far away.


9 comments:

Amy Wyatt said...

Wow, this was a powerful and encouraging post. We are already more than conquerors of whatever the enemy throws at us, but sometimes we forget that. Faith is knowing that God has already done what He said he would do, we just might not see it yet. Thanks for thought provoking post.

Kim S in SC said...

Thanks for this today Lauren.
Praying your back will continue to heal!

God's girl said...

Amen sister!
Much love,
Angela
-I have been pondering these very things and the great privledge to be chosen by God to endure these seasons. He will not let us stay the same. He is good all the time. For me it is learning to trust Him despite my feelings!
Much love,
Angela

Anonymous said...

Wow!!
Great word of encouragement to press on toward the prize!
Lauren, I can smell the "new grass", see the fruit on the trees and hear the quiet streams. Thank you.
In 2005, my husband was told by the drs that he had a rare lymphoma. He had to have transfusions and a couple of times we "almost" lost him, but the Lord gave us His word through our pastor at the time -- Psalm 91. The pastor was going to read from another passage, but he said the Lord told him to go to Psalms. He read the whole passage and we knew then that that word was for us!
Well, my husband has not needed a transfusion since April 2007!! PTL! The Lord is healing him and he is growing his own blood! The drs are amazed!
The fall of 2005, our daughther(then 18) left home and decided that she did not want to follow the path that God had set before her. She was raised in the Word and she was a strong leader.
We can finally say that we are talking to her, but she is still on this side path and not the Lord's. I take great comfort and peace that the battle is the Lord's!
I said earlier that I can smell the "new grass". I can!
Thank you again, Lauren!
Miriam

Anonymous said...

Sorry my message was sooo long!

I wanted to give a witness to what you were saying.
: )
Miriam

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

Good to hear from you all!

Miriam- You don't have to apologize for a long post, ever. I love to hear your thoughts. What a testimony you have! (And I'll be lifting your daughter up in prayer.) We'll set our eyes on what God can do when we've done all we know to do. "And having done all, stand"- that's what we'll do. Standing on His promises.

Speaking Thru Me Ministries said...

wow - wonderful post - found you through one of my friend's blog - lisa. love your thoughts - thanks for sharing!

Leigh

Praise and Coffee said...

Great post! I love the blog, I'll be back!

Sue

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

Leigh and Sue-
Great to have you visit here at Faith Fuel!