Bursting into the Clean Air
I am sure that for many of us, several of our hopes and dreams have seemed to vanish down a dark rabbit hole. However, in this short period of time we have also found that many of our deepest spiritual desires have begun to be realized: relatives are reaching out to Christ, perplexing questions are being answered, persistent blockades are suddenly being removed.
The present times are a bit like that scene in the movie: The Hobbit, where the dwarves and Bilbo are staggering around in the dark, spider-infested wood, and “their burglar” (Bilbo) climbs up to the top of the trees to get his bearings. Suddenly he bursts through the treetops into fresh, clean air. Hundreds of small blue butterflies (revelation) are set into motion. All of us watching this action, took in a lung full of fresh air, right along with the hobbit. Also, along with the hobbit, we gained a clear view for miles and miles, even to the distant destination.
Many of us have seen that we have tried to heal “the world” by means of “the world.” But, like the hobbit, as we finally thrust our faces into the sunlight again, a wiser and more mature body of Christ has emerged.
We now see clearly the truth of the verse that says that we are to be “in” the world but not “of” the world. I think all of us were hoping for a different result. Truly, I feel we were hoping for a preview of our Lord’s millennial kingdom – when He will straighten out the ungodly kinks – when we will see justice and mercy kiss and we would live in a pre-millennial Eden to show everyone what heaven it could be living under the rule of Christ.
But instead, the doors were slammed shut, and we were left standing in the dark wondering what happened? We were puzzled, but almost immediately, numbers of these glorious, personal breakthroughs began to occur. We may not have understood immediately, but now we are seeing breakthrough after breakthrough and realize our Father is doing something quite different from what we thought.
We are, after all, His children, and He is going to tell us what is going on. He has said to our hearts again that, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
But let me say for the record, that I believe the prophets were right; Trump won. But they presumed on an America that is fast disappearing – an America that would honor that landslide victory – that would see and work to foil the ungodly plans, before they could damage our nation. But we didn’t see, and therefore we did not act.
Francis Schaeffer – the great Christian apologist, said – that either we will come to Christ and live in freedom guided by Him, or we will live under a small elite that will tighten the noose around our necks tighter and tighter to control us. This, mind you, he said in the 1980’s – forty years ago. We now are living his scholarly prediction, for by addressing only the minor, fleshly, problems that were before us (like the false impeachment trials), the enemy was, behind the scenes, eating the heart out of our nation. It was like a poisoned layer cake where layer after layer had been corrupted from the top down. Schaeffer felt, in this scenario that at particular times, civilization is unable to pull itself out of the mire.
As heartbroken as we all are, we need to get our priorities straight. We must remember, we are just visiting, and chosen to visit, at our Heavenly Father’s selection. All of us who are His children are like astronauts in training exercises on another planet. Our home is above. We are in training down here because down here there is resistance to us; therefore we mature more quickly – like the resistance from pumping iron. The resistance makes us gain muscle mass.
What does Daddy need from us in this season? The tests may become more severe – but after all, He began this training with the bestowing of gifts in the charismatic movement in the 1960’s. We have been tested with progressively more difficult tests for years.
Now it looks like we may be getting a few major “pop quizzes.”
Well, what are we made of? Hopefully, by now, we are made up of more of Jesus than of our flesh. But the quizzes will show us the true ratio. These are exciting times for those of us in Christ. All we need to do is love the Lord our God, live godly lives and follow our Daddy’s instructions. This sounds easier than it actually is. But, after all, we are supposed to allow Christ to “do” all through us. Our “pop quizzes” will show us just how much we have grown up into Christ. Lord, help us to pass these tests.
And in case we haven’t said it before: “Thank You, Daddy, for your training.”
We are not having our open prayer meetings at the moment.
