Grace to your mountain

The morning had started simply enough on that Thursday last week. Somewhere in the interval between my quiet time and morning workout however, I was suddenly assailed with very intense thoughts of death and my dying. I was set to make a trip later that day and so you can imagine that I didn't need to have those sorts of thoughts filling my mind on that morning. I pushed them aside much as I could, but it was such a strong assault that I then took it up in prayer. As I prayed, God reminded me of some things that He had very clearly spoken and confirmed to me as relate to His direction, purpose and assignments for my life. He reminded me that He is not a God of idle words, and that as He had spoken those things to me they would surely come to pass. He reminded me that He alone has the power of life and death, and that the length of my days is in His hands alone. Standing in that one spot I felt an overflow of His peace and I laughed aloud at the devil as he was once again put to shame and exposed for the liar that he truly is.

I was at work a couple of hours later when I got a text message from one of my sistas asking ‘Did you hear about the plane crash? Where are you?’ I responded to say I was fine and that my flight was slated for much later in the day. I then went online to check what had happened. There it was! Another plane crash and several other lives lost. Immediately I said to my husband, ‘I am not going on this trip’. I said the same to a couple of my sistas who called to verify that I was nowhere near the airport. I am sure you can relate with my reaction. We had a major crash last year in which I lost people I grew up with, people I knew well. My decision also seemed like common sense in view of where I had been earlier that morning. My mind tried to tell me that the reason I had those thoughts of death that morning was that if I boarded that plane later that day, it would also crash.

Yes sis, fear came back masked as common sense and reason. There had been one air incident/near–miss or the other too many this year. A couple of well-respected men of God had prophesied air crashes this year. On and on the negative thoughts donned on the garb of reason and played on my mind and emotions. Eventually I had the sense to go into prayer and God simply reminded me of His assurances earlier that morning. He also reminded me of something my husband says so often – that on the day the Lord has appointed for a person to die, if he/she was slated to die by drowning and knowing this chose not to go swimming; he/she would drown drinking a glass of water. I smiled as I thought about this and as once again a peace flooded over me, off I went to the airport. I probably don’t need to tell you that the flights to and fro were remarkably smooth. As I walked back into my home the next evening, it struck me just how easily I would have missed out on a key assignment I had to deliver on if I had allowed myself hold that fear – no matter how ''commonsensical'' it seemed at the time based on the physical, above the things God had spoken to me.

And fear is no joke is it sis? It can be quite crippling and has nothing really to do with rationality. Fear is like an octopus that has metal hooks on each of its suckers – once it hooks on it sinks deep and hangs tight. Fear is the one thing that literally makes the smallest of situations look like the most insurmountable of mountains. As we look at what appears to be before us, we are paralyzed and unable to move, run in the very opposite direction, or at best make some feeble attempt at moving. On that day my fear was about getting on a flight, but you and I know that fear presents in different ways, different situations, and on different realms – physical/ emotional/ spiritual/ financial/ psychological, etc. There is only one thing that shakes off fear – and that is trust in the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. The challenge is that a lot of the time we cooperate more with fear than with the Holy Spirit Who is desperately trying to renew our minds, and we then allow fear to literally build mountains out of our molehills.

The morning after I returned from that trip, the Lord spoke something to me through Zechariah 4. First, He showed me in verse 7 that whereas fear makes mountains out of molehills, He is in the business of making molehills out of mountains and that as we cry ‘Grace’ to those mountains before us, He will also bring forth out of them the very foundation stones that we need for the new levels that He is has purposed to take us to. I turned this over in my mind for a while and then I got it. God is grace! God gives grace! Verses 3 & 6 of Zech 4 let us know that a ceaseless supply of grace – by the power of the Holy Spirit is available to s,; and this is where the battle is won - not in our might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord and the grace that He continuously releases unto us. God confirmed to me in verse 9, that when He has spoken something to us and we obediently and diligently move and begin to lay the foundation thereof, He will keep us to finish the assignment. This fulfillment is however hinged on a clear understanding of the grace that is upon our lives, and our boldly speaking this same grace to the various mountains that try to pose as obstacles to our fulfilling our God-given assignments. Remember that our victory is through faith, by grace! 

Speaking grace is an expression of utmost confidence in the God that we serve for Whom nothing is impossible. I really want you to get this into your spirit sis, and so these are my questions for you today:

     ·    What has the Lord spoken to you that you have been too afraid to move on?

     ·     What dream has He put in your heart, the size of which has near paralyzed you in fear?

     ·     What are those mountains that you see that are blocking your walking in your assignment?

    ·    What is your mountain speaking to you sis? ---  I’m too young! I’m too old! I’m too fat! I’m too tall! I’m too short! I don’t have enough money! I don’t know the right people! People will laugh! It’s never been done before! It’s impossible! What if I fail? I don’t know where to start! I will probably make a mess of it! This kind of success doesn't come from/to someone like me! What sis? What?

What is your mountain speaking to you? Can I tell you today that it doesn't matter anymore? God is asking today that you shut down the voice of your mountain and flip things around by the power of the Holy Spirit. Open your mouth and speak ‘Grace’ to your mountain sis. Laugh at your mountain and declare it to be the molehill that God says it is. Don’t pretend your mountain is not there, no; for indeed sometimes it is very evidently there for the eye to see and we need to be real about this. But God is asking that you look at your mountain with the eyes of the Spirit today and not with your physical eyes. God is asking today if you can make a choice to stay in faith and to trust His immutable and irrefutable Word. He is asking you to truly trust His Word that every mountain you face will be made a plain – level ground on which you can walk comfortably into the place of purpose and fulfillment. Can you see it sis? Can you choose today to cooperate with God in faith rather than cooperating with the enemy in fear?

Choose faith today sis! Choose to believe God! In this place of faith, ask the Lord to release grace unto you sis. Ask Him for grace to see the answer, to know the next step, and for grace to re-establish a full confidence in your God Who speaks and it is done. Give your fears to God again sis. Don’t deny them. This is not the message. Indeed you need to identify very clearly what your particular fear(s) is(are) regarding anything God has called you to do. And when you have put a name to that fear, ask it to bow to the Name that is above every other name. Speak ‘Grace’ to your mountain sis. You will amazed at the awesomeness that grace has in store for those of God’s children who choose to walk in it. I’m looking forward to hearing your testimonies as you walk by grace into destiny sis. The Lord will help you sis. He will help me.

Be blessed sis…..for you surely are!