GENTLE WHISPERS

Hey sis, I suspect you thought I was done with blogging, right? Well, can I confess that I had struggled so much with it that I occasionally wondered if it was a season of my life that was now over? I did, sis! Oh, but I did! That is until a recent conversation brought to the fore the fact that I was allowing my commitments to so many external things take priority over a sense of responsibility to myself. I ended that engagement with a keen sense of awareness that I needed to re-compartmentalize things in my life into two boxes, my negotiable's and non-negotiable's. I had to agree with myself afresh that anything that had to do with building ‘ME’ for me so that I can give full expression to God’s call upon my life MUST come first. Everything else would have to fit around this principle. I had clearly allowed the flurry of life overtake me somewhere along the line, but as of now I am determinedly finding my way right back to me. Can you relate, sis?

One of my fresh realizations was that the platform of UniquelyWoman is one of my non-negotiable's and a clear assignment from God upon my life which I cannot walk away from.  That said sis, I honestly struggled with putting action behind this realization. I mean, it's a busy time of year and there’s so much going on with most of us in this season, so I will admit I didn’t act immediately on this. But…. when the Lord is on your case? Boy, is He on your case, sis! It was barely a couple of days later that I had a meeting with a young lady who has allowed me be a combination of boss, mentor and a mother-figure in her life. We’d spent most of the afternoon talking about how she was doing in her life and business. Suddenly, she asked, ‘So how are you ma'am?’ I responded to say that I’ve been busy, dealing with my many responsibilities as best I know how, yada yada yada. She’d been smiling her sweet smile all through as I spoke, but once I was done she put on a serious face and asked, ‘And what about your blogging ma’am?’ Ah ha! I told you God knows how to get on your case right? I could almost hear the Holy Spirit chuckle, could almost see Him wag a finger and say to me ‘Girl, get back to your assignment NOW!’

Sis, this has been quite an intense year for me in so many ways. I almost can't quite wrap my head around the fact that we are in December already. The rapidity with which things have been happening has oftentimes left me breathless. I’ve seen new dimensions of life as I know it unfold. I came to the realization a few months ago that this is a year of transitions for me, and transitions are not seamless. Transitions come with their own stretching, difficulties, uncertainties, and their own elements of fear. Transitions come with their own new learning's, unlearning and relearning’s. They come with the need for streamlining, for expanded thinking, for new perspectives. Transitions come with new sets of dependencies and relational realignments, some of which can be painful. Transitions come with change, and change comes with trials… not to mention sometimes painful and costly errors.  

Sis, through all the transitions however, this year more than ever I have seen my relationship with God take on a different depth, meaning and intensity. All in all, this is what I am most grateful for in this year. This year I have been more grateful than ever for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for being able to walk with Him in heightened intimacy, for an increased sensitivity to His voice and to His leading,  for being increasingly able to trust His ordering of my steps; and for the conviction from Him that as long as I stay in alignment with what I believe He would have me do, then all things will continually work out for my good. Sis, this year more than ever before has made me realize that if you don't have a personal relationship with God, if you don't have Jesus Christ, if you don't have that intimacy with the Holy Spirit and if you are not in intense fellowship with Him, you really just can't have peace or live life as your best you.

This post is for me a walk in obedience, coming back fully to what God would have me do despite the storms, the transitions, the intensity. It is an expression of capacity, the word which God had given me as my anchor for 2018…and I have seen and experienced exactly why. Oh boy, what a year 2018 has been! Psalm 107:29 is one verse of scripture I came across early this year which has so helped me stay strong through the vagaries and vicissitudes of my 2018, sis.  It reads, ‘He hushes the storm to a calm and into a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still’. It is on my heart to speak to you about this. I believe God wants me to say to you that no matter the turbulence you have experienced in your life this year, He will hush every storm into a gentle whisper for you. If your year has been anything as turbulent and intense as mine has, God says ‘Peace’

Receive His peace in the middle of everything going on. There is truly nothing as beautiful, calming, reassuring as knowing that God is in the boat with you. There is nothing greater than the understanding and conviction that no matter how loud the waters get in the midst of the storm, the voice of the Lord is louder than the voice of many waters. Sis, all He needs to do is to speak a word… ‘Peace, be still’ and everything stills into a gentle whisper. Indeed, if like me you take time to do some reflecting about the year, you will be able to recall the many times He clearly took charge of the raging storms in your life!

I love the expression ‘Gentle Whisper’… even the sound of this is so reassuring to me. It is for me a statement that God’s got my back, that He’s mindful of me, that He upholds me with His everlasting arms of righteousness, that He maintains my lot. It speaks to me about the fact that He has me covered, that He causes lines to fall unto me in pleasant places, that He is my God Who is able to bring water out of a rock, my God Who is able to part the Red sea, my God Who is able to fill valleys and bring mountains low, my God Who makes a way when there seems to be no way, my God Who can kill and make alive, my God Who can build-up and who can tear down, my God Whose arms are not waxed short, my God for Whom nothing is impossible.

Sis, there are so many gentle whispers in my 2018 which are my markers for the many testimonies that I have seen God work in and through my life from January to date. Ah yes, this God has been so faithful sis. He has! Sis, can I remind you today that no matter how loud the storms have been, you need to be listening out in your spirit for the gentle whispers of heaven.  

Sis, as the year begins to wrap up can I encourage you to use the last few days of the year to do a spiritual reset? This is that period when everyone is goal setting and planning resolutions for the New Year. But sis, the Lord impresses it on my heart to say that those that will thrive in 2019 are those that choose to just transact by the leading of the Spirit. Can I tell you sis, that what will carry you through in 2019 is your sensitivity to the gentle whispers of the Lord? 2019 is going to be an excellent year for those who are walking closely with the Holy Spirit.

Sis, let me assure you that wherever you are in your relationship with God, this is as good a time as any to come back and ask Him to take you deeper. Press in and ask God to bring you to a renewed place of intimacy and fellowship with Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you a new dimension of Who He is. Ask Him to help you increase the sensitivity of your ears to His voice, to help you attune your spirit more finely with His Spirit. Pray to the Lord to draw you closer still in this last week of the year such that you don't go into a New Year 2019 the same old you. As you press in, ask the Holy Spirit to tweak your spiritual reflexes, infuse strength into your spiritual muscles, and show you how He would want to walk with you in 2019. Let this spiritual reset be one of your primary non-negotiable's, sis.

As you take this step, listen out for the Holy Spirit as He unfolds to you the things He would have you deliver on in 2019, and then ask Him to breathe over every storm the enemy plans to lift against you, hoping to derail your journey to fulfilling those assignments. Ask the Lord for the boldness to press forward, and for the grace to complete. Pray and ask God to give you the capacity to remain steadfast, trusting fully that by His help and your obedience you will deliver new levels of glory to Him. You and I are going to do great things for the Lord in 2019, sis. I speak over you and I declare that the Holy Spirit helps you, even as surely as He daily helps me.

Be blessed sis …….for you surely are!