Moving on

It’s the last day of January. Can you imagine this? I mean… already? Where did the time go? Seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago we were giving each other Hi-Fives and hugs to usher the New Year in. Many of us were just getting used to writing 2015 on our docs/cheques and now we also have to deal with changing the 1 to 2 as we write our dates. Hmmm! I feel like I might as well go ahead and wish you a ‘Merry Christmas’ this morning sis, because with a certainty we will be in Christmas mode sooner than we realize. Feel I’m stretching it a bit sis? Well, maybe but not really. At least not for me! As I look at the reality of my having to be away for half of February, 10 days in March, two weeks in June, three weeks in August, a week in October and ten days in November… well all I can say is, Christmas isn't as far for me as it ought to be. That said, I give all glory to God Who has created the opportunities and responsibilities that require me to be away so much in this year; Who provides the resources I need to be alive to my responsibilities and assignments; Who grants and will continue to grant me safe passage; Who preserves my family in my absence; and Who grants me the good health and sustained mental agility that I need to be successful through this all.

Set to begin my quiet time this morning, I had a sudden overwhelming surge of emotions as I wrote the date in my journal. It was so strong that I sat back a bit to reflect on why this would be so. I realized that I felt a weight of sadness on one hand, and a weight of relief on the other. Why? Well as I thought about the answer for myself, I understood that indeed I had every reason to feel sad. You see, January has been quite a trying month for me, particularly emotionally, and though I kinda ‘got my groove back’ in the last week, I am in that sense very glad the month is over. I was sad because it felt like such a waste of time to have spent the beginning of the year embroiled in things that ultimately appeared to have added no value to anyone; to have wasted precious time wallowing in the midst of an emotional roller-coaster, zeroing in on myself and on the challenges rather than keeping my focus on God… and understandably then losing my peace. Yes sis, I forgot to practice what I know and preach...for a while I surely did, and this morning was a sad reminder of the fact that God had told me clearly at the beginning of this year to plug in to Him like never before, so that I would not be overtaken by the distractions the enemy would try to send my way.

At this point I would have happily organized a week long pity-party for myself sis, but the Holy Spirit was having none of that and He very quickly asked me to analyze the sense of relief I had, which was clearly different from the sadness. The devil is so cunning isn't he? This is exactly what I wrote about in my last post of 2014 and he was trying to steal that from me. Thank You Lord, for once again disappointing the devices of the crafty! 

So where was I? Yes, as I reflected, I realized that my relief was borne out of the fact that all things above said and done, January was an excellent month for me. In January, both my boys flew safely back to Canada and are progressing well in their school; I started to write again more consistently; I started and completed a particular fast (a difficult achievement for more reasons than one); I reestablished consistently with my quiet and prayer times; I went on an excellent training which situations around me almost deterred me from; I started exercising again consistently; and I lost 3kg (6lbs)… woo hoooo! Even on the business side of things, there were a whole new set of challenges in January, but we have survived and thrived and also ended up signing a major agreement which we had been prospecting for way too long to mention now. Yes sis, it has been a busy month, it has been a challenging month… but in the midst of every challenge, there have been significant victories and my relief is that by the grace and mercies of God, I have made it through with my perspectives in the right place. Thank you Lord!

This brings me to what I believe is the core message I have for you today sis. Life is passing us by, at least on this side of eternity. We do not have all the time in the word to sit and to dwell on anything that does not move us forward into Kingdom position and purpose. You and I know that life comes with a myriad of challenges. Hey, many of us are right in the middle of more than one challenge or the other today, weighty ones too. This is our reality. Life is not a bed of roses as the cliché goes, and how apt that cliché is. One thing that is clear though, is that those who will truly win on this side of the divide are those who are in Christ; but more importantly, it is those who are in Christ and who allow truly Him overtake their thinking and perspectives, their choices and actions; those who are intentional about seeing His hand of blessing and grace upon their lives NO MATTER WHAT!

I believe it is important for us to stay close to the Lord and be assured that even when life pushes at us, somewhere deep down inside we are able to keep Christ as our anchor - this being the one way we will not be swept away with the tide; this being the only way we will be able to look up after the storm has passed and see that even in the midst of it, He was our stay. I believe it is important that we are able to spend time in personal reflection and ask the Lord, as I am doing now, what He would have me do with the learning’s I took from the challenges I faced in January. Yes, my flesh may think time was wasted, but my spirit knows better that out of the challenges I faced… even where I didn’t handle them as well as I should or could have, I built some physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual muscles for my next levels. My prayer now is that the Lord will help me discern where those muscles were developed so that as I move on into the rest of the year, I will be able to flex them when and where needed – for myself, or for someone else that the Lord will position along my path for this very reason.

So sis, if like me you have had a tough start to the year… chin up! And if you haven’t, take the learning anyway for you will need it somewhere along the line as the year progresses. Realize that God does not intend for us to dwell continuously around one mountain. We must and will eventually move on, and when we do we must adopt the right perspective about the mountain. We must see it as a growth phase, and we must be able to see the blessing even for the time we contended with the mountain. We must realize that ultimately, the sum total of our experiences is for the benefit of our future, and for the lives and futures of others known or as yet unknown. We cannot fulfill God’s mandate on our lives to be a blessing if we are not fully equipped sis. And nobody promised that the equipping would be easy.

So here I am on the 31^st day of January 2015 able to say to you that I am stronger at the end of the month because of my weaknesses in the course of the month, and because of He Whose strength was magnified in my place of weakness. When I called, He answered and when I fully submitted, He resolved everything and gave me His peace. When I reminded myself that I was a daughter of the King, He smiled and embraced me even tighter. When I finally let go, He reminded me that He had always been in control. He reminded me that He had called me to be a gatekeeper and that meant that I would have to be discerning about which battles were worth fighting. Yes, He chastised me, but He also showed me the bottle… the bottle in which He had lovingly collected the tears of my trials, and He reminded me of His word concerning my tears…and as He reminded me, I smiled. Then He asked me to enter fully back into His rest and to move on, trusting that as always He would work all things out for my good because I love Him and because I am called after His name. Without hesitation, I ran into His embrace sis. No better place to be, that’s for sure! I’m back fully into His rest, a big smile on my face and in my heart, fully expectant for the next months of my due season year.

Sis, hear the Lord speak those same words to you today. Examine your heart, your situation and circumstances, and purpose to leave it all to Him and move on. Somehow I can’t say much more than this. Leave it to Jesus and move on sis! Move on in love, move on in forgiveness; move on regardless of the frustrations, the hurts and the disappointments. Move on in absolute trust that God is on the throne and He has got you fully covered. You will never look back and not be able to see that He was with you through it all sis. Know this and believe this with all your heart!

For once, I am not sure what I have said or not said today, but I sense in my spirit that this has ministered to you exactly the way the Lord purposed it to. My prayer is that He will help you to know and discern that which He has purposed for you to know and discern sis. And as always that He will help you, as He is surely helping me.

Be blessed sis…. for you surely are!