“How can it be still when the LORD has sent it on a mission?” Jeremiah 47:7
“Cursed are those who refuse to do the LORD’s work,” Jeremiah 48:10
I had to share these particular verses today because I feel their “pain”. As one who has been sent on a mission by the LORD, I know that it is VERY difficult to be still in regards toward that mission. It is extremely difficult for me NOT to write. And then you get to the second verse, and again I can totally relate to it! Although it is EXTREMELY hard for me to refuse the LORD, sadly it isn’t impossible. And yet at any point when I am refusing Him, I feel horrible about doing it. My conscience won’t let me rest. Honestly, because I know better. I know deep down what it is that the LORD is asking me to do; and I know that because He is the one asking then it MUST be the best choice for me and for everyone involved even if it doesn’t make sense in my head. And I get no relief, no rest, until I do the very thing that He is requesting of me. And then OH THE RELEASE that follows!!! The blissful release that comes from doing the very thing that you had been resisting all that time! Oh… it’s heaven!
My beloved friend, I don’t know what you’ve been resisting. But you do. Right now the Holy Spirit is convicting you of it. Let it go. Forgive that person you’re holding resentment towards. Tell that person that thing you’ve been meaning to tell them but were afraid of how they would react. Do that thing you’ve feared doing, take that plunge you’ve feared taking. Leap out off of that precipice from which you’ve been standing and staring into the unknown abyss just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Take that leap of faith that He’s been asking you to take. He IS faithful and He will lift you up on eagle’s wings and help you to fly rather than fall to your doom.
In our family we are VERY into the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings stories. (If you’re into fantastic adventure stories, these are for you! Not just the movies my friends, the books!) Anyway, in many of the most dramatic and pivotal parts of these stories, just when you think that the heroes are sunk, doomed to suffer a horrid fate. The eagles show up. They show up, and at some points, literally scoop the falling heroes out of the air, saving them from death by a feather. It’s always beautiful and usually I find myself taking a deep breath in those moments because I’ve been holding it, before it happened.
Have you been holding your breath waiting to see what will happen next? Have you been sitting with bated breath tense from the battle and feeling like you’re falling through thin air? Then get ready for a sudden stop! Not as you hit hard pavement, but the soft feathers of the Father’s wings as He flies beneath you and fully supports you like nothing else in this world ever could! He has called you to something. Something difficult, challenging, maybe it doesn’t even make sense in your head, but in your heart you know with a knowledge that passes all understanding that it’s right. If He has called you to it, then He will guide you through it. I know it’s terribly cliché, but it’s True. God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.
“Fear not Little One, My Beloved, for I love YOU!”
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD; He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.
If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer, I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation.” – Psalm 91
Tamar Knochel 