The Purpose behind the Platform

I’m back! Whew! What an incredible few weeks I have had. I won’t go into details except to say that I have been busy and it has been amazing how one day has just rolled into the same day of the next week. One thing that has stood out for me in all this time however has been the formal release and launching of my books ‘Uniquely Woman’ and ‘Double Impact’. I tell you what sis, God showed up and showed out for me on that day, and He has begun to show me just why He did so. But then let me start at the beginning…

I had set the date for the book launch and then for some reason, went into a restless spiral and nervous spin immediately thereafter. Now those of you who know me know that I tend mostly to be calm person. I am not much given to nerves beyond the couple of minutes at most that it takes for me to come into my own on occasion. Once I set the launch date however, I simply lost it. The launch was on my mind every single second of the day. I would wake up at odd times of the night and several times in any one night, with my insides in knots and my heart beating at an incredible pace. Would it be a success? Would people come? What if only a few people showed up? What if nobody at all showed up? Would it be interesting or would people be bored stiff? What if it rained so heavily that people decided to stay in their offices? What if the traffic was so horrendous that people turned back? What is nobody launched the book? What if nobody bought a single copy? What if this… and what if that?

Did I hear you laugh sis? I don’t blame you. Save for the fact that I was the one who was right in the middle of this experience, I would have laughed myself. Except that it wasn’t funny. My fears – as unfounded as they turned out to be, were very real nonetheless. I took my concerns up to God in prayer daily, back again at night to ask Him to give His beloved daughter (me) sleep. One day, He finally spoke an assurance to me that he would ‘Showcase me for His glory’. He spoke ‘Glory unveiled, Purpose redefined’. Then He asked me to receive His peace. Well guess what sis? I received the gift of God’s peace, but yours truly didn’t unwrap the package and truly claim it as mine and so I continued to fret within myself. Ever been there?

As you know sis, eventually we all come to the end of ourselves and are forced to turn back to our Source. As the days rolled one into another, I had to go back to the assurances the Lord had given me and choose to anchor my faith right there, finally laying hold on the peace which He had long since freely given to me. I listened to the voice of truth within me that assured me that He already knew the end from the beginning, and He was more than able to bring to pass what He had spoken. Then came the gentle reminder that the ‘showcasing’ was for His glory, and His glory alone. Each time fear tried to come up again in my spirit over those last few days, I would very deliberately suppress it and declare that He Who had begun a good work in me is more than able to perfect it unto the very end. I reasoned that the date had been set anyway, so what would be would be; and that what would be, would be for God’s glory.

Then the day arrived!

I got to the hall and.…. nothing was ready. The chairs were just being covered; the frame for the stage backdrop was just being knocked together; the air-conditioning was not cooling. This was less than two hours to event start time. I was at a total loss and fretted quite a bit for the first hour thereafter. Eventually my sistas who also arrived shortly after I did, forced me to sit still while they took over trying to ensure everything was set before guests began to arrive. Even I knew that my nerves were near shot, so I obeyed. As I sat tense as could be in that little corner of the room, I sent a quiet but desperate plea for help to God. The answer was a single word ‘Peace’. Sis, I clung to that peace because it was all I knew to do at that time.

But here is the testimony sis, the book launch was spectacular - a resounding success. The attendance was remarkable – the terrible traffic situation that day regardless. The reviewers were absolutely brilliant. Book launches have a tendency to be boring, but this was very far from that. The audience was fully engaged and didn’t appear to want to leave well after the event was officially over – even with the air-conditioning still refusing to really kick-in full blast. Oh but God truly showcased me that day sis. He truly did! And because He had spoken it, and because it is the constant cry of my heart…through it all, I refused to lose sight of the fact that all the glory belonged and belongs to Him alone. I remember that as I stood at the podium to address the audience, the words ‘There is a purpose behind the platform’ dropped into my spirit and this is the meat of what I want to share with you today. I pray that this becomes a Rhema word for you today sis.

A couple of weeks before the book launch, it had ministered to my spirit that rather than make a long speech about something or the other at the launch, I should share one of my prior posts (‘Make it Happen’) with the audience. Much as I had some initial reservations about it being too long to read at a book launch I decided to go along with what I believed God wanted me to do. From that day and until today, I have received several call, texts and emails from people at the event who said that the post was a word in due season for them, and that they had shed tears as the Lord convicted them about certain assignments He had for them which they had abandoned and not carried through. For a couple of others, listening as I read led them to a reawakening and re-dedication of their lives back to God, and a recommitting to being obedient to His Word. In all this therefore, butterflies/nervousness/insecurities and all, I have – by choosing to simply trust my God, been able to minister faith, hope, purpose, determination and the love of God to a good number of His children. I see clearly that this was the real purpose behind the Lord putting me on that platform at the book launch the way He did. Nothing to do with me sis; rather more to do with you!   

I have been in a sort of daze ever since last Thursday, marveling at how well the launch went yes, but more so marveling at how the Lord has used something that gave me so much anxiety to reawaken relationships with Him, as well as the potentials for greatness in so many others that the distractions of this world have caused to be hidden. This must have been what fear was trying to hold down in me. This is what the enemy was trying to counter – that message to me of ‘Glory unveiled, Purpose redefined’. I thought those words were for me, and I guess in a sense they were; but I see that it was so far beyond me. It really was! It was all about the redefinition of purpose in the lives of some of those who attended as well as you reading this post now, and for all of whom God has a specific assignment. And it was certainly all about His glory – that which already is, and that which is surely to come.

Sis, I don’t know what it is that you may be having butterflies in your stomach about. I don’t know what may be giving rise to anxieties that are keeping you from making a move. In the name of Jesus, I rebuke whatever may be trying to keep you from destiny and purpose, and from taking the glory of God upon your life to the next level. If it’s scary enough, there is a superabundance of glory that is to be released. Receive His peace today sis. Open the gift box and truly receive it! Our God is more than able. Even the strongest and boldest of us have our weaknesses and that is actually great sis. If we could truly do it all ourselves, imagine how far we would eventually get from God! Thank God that we can boast in our weaknesses and our insecurities. This is the angle that God works best from.

What platform has the Lord made available to you sis? Please don’t shy away from it any longer. Don’t try to hide from the limelight. It’s not about you sis. The platform is for a greater purpose. One of the speakers at our recently concluded women’s conference (ARISE) kept speaking to the fact that your life is not just about you.  The platform is not about you sis. Don’t allow the enemy keep you from stepping up to the plate. I speak into your life today and declare that as you commit to laying aside your fears and insecurities and stepping up to the platform, that the Lord will help you fulfill the true purpose behind His every assignment for your life on that platform. I stand in agreement with you that your obedience will cause lives to be touched and impacted greatly for the Kingdom of God. I decree that because you choose to listen to the voice of God, you will not stray from the path and through you, God’s precious children will find and fulfill purpose, and the glory will go to your Father and Lord. The Lord will minister to you specially sis. He will help you as surely He helped and will continue to help me.

Be blessed sis …. For you surely are!