("The Unveiling" Series 3, Post 10)
4-18-23
If you have followed my journey at all then you know a little bit about me and you know probably one of my biggest weaknesses because God addresses it within almost every one of His words to us. It is struggle to have contentment. I get bored with life easily and as I wait on promises from God, I get restless. Part of the reason for that is because God has spoiled me. I love to travel and by His goodness was able to spend many of my younger years traveling around the world on mission trips and I long once again for adventures such as those.
So, I have been feeling weary again of waiting, waiting on the promises of God, praying that He would bring me encouragement and reassurance yet again to their validity. A lot of my weariness stems mostly from how hard this year has been for my family. It has been filled with what seems like mostly valleys and I long for a season on the mountaintop. I long for fulfillment, change, revival, and newness.
On top of this already difficult year, I ended up having to call 911 for my 5-year-old daughter this last week, eventually taking her to the hospital in an ambulance. Although she is okay now, praise the Lord, by far that was the scariest moment of my life. For, in the moment, I didn’t know if she was going to live or die, or somehow be forever physically changed. After it was all over, I knew instantly what God wanted me to learn from the experience, to not take life and all its moments for granted, especially our loved ones.
I try really hard not to take my child for granted, along with my spouse, but despite my efforts, life takes over sometimes and I give into the mundane routine of life, and while I do yet one more load of laundry and pick up one more dirty dish, I find myself wishing for more, wanting change like I mentioned. I find myself constantly thinking about all the ways my life could be better – more time, money, a new home, a vacation, etc., and living within the fulfillment of God’s promise to me the way I see it. (Ug!)
The day after my daughter’s incident, I shared with my husband once again what I could take from my experience with our daughter, that “You just never know when your last moment with someone will be. It is so important not to take them for granted.” Then, literally while that statement was still on my lips, I ended up getting a text message telling me that the spouse of someone I knew went suddenly to the hospital and was in the ICU. Two hours later I received another text message telling me that this person had passed away. It really can that fast and at any moment.
In church on Sunday, God spoke. He said:
Rejoice Susan. You have every reason to rejoice. You have My love, My favor, My promises, and above all MY FAITHFULNESS. And I WILL be Faithful to you, My daughter. Just because it has been a while, according to you, that I offered encouragement, DOESN’T negate the fact that I HAVE over and over and OVER again. Therefore, REJOICE for you have ALL you need. You just have to believe and give over time to Me . . . My timing is MY timing and it is perfect. Live My daughter. With every breath live. Don’t take your days for granted for life is a journey not a just a destination. Enjoy the journey and remember that I have a reason for it all. See the dandelions and remember. Weeds or adventure Susan, the choice is yours. . .
My people, don’t let Satan distort your beliefs and promises, especially due to timing. He will always, ALWAYS, cause you to think that fulfillment will happen sooner than planned. He does this because he knows the human heart, how restless people are and eager for fulfillment because you were not made for this world. Don’t give into his lies for when you do all that you will experience is the disappointment, he longs to cause you. For when this disappointment comes so does strife, apathy, and the lack of belief that robs you of your joy and purpose. But My people, My timing is perfect. I am coming back exactly when planned therefore lay down your preconceived notions and Satan’s lies and simply get to work. It isn’t time to lay your true purpose down because of the ways of the world, the darkness, and Satan’s lie that I am coming back soon because of it. My people, I am coming soon, not because of the world’s darkness, but because of your light. For you are My Stars. You are My light. Shine Stars shine. Shine the light of Jesus Christ for the world to see. What I am awaiting is My people hard at work in the field - unified, collectively testifying for the dark world to see. Get to work My Bride. No matter what you see or hear, get to work. Don’t be distracted from engaging in the greatest work in history. I created you for a time such as this, to be used to bring in the great harvest. Let’s fill those wedding tables for the great wedding feast. As My Bride, get to work. The planning belongs to you, as well as, Me. Christ didn’t focus on the when He was coming back for a reason. Instead, He only focused on the what, what you should be doing while you wait. Oh, how My people hate to wait BUT oh what joy it will be for you the moment you see the power of waiting. The waiting is the point, for within the waiting the true work is done.
My people hated the journey through the desert, the waiting for the promised land. They moaned, complained, and went astray, but never forget that it was the desert, their waiting, that I used to prepare them for the promise, for the promised land. My people you are in the desert but instead of give into their same ways, rise above. Realize that I gave you their journey and testimony to help you now, to learn from their mistakes, as well as, triumphs. I WILL GET YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND. What will you do with the desert? Choose to use it wisely. Choose to shine. Choose to get to work. Choose to throw off idols. Choose to believe I will provide. Choose to believe that I am for you, faithful, and have a purpose for it all. Don’t take the desert for granted. Let Me say that again - DON’T TAKE THE DESERT FOR GRANTED. For the desert is life. The desert is life’s journey. Within it are hills and valleys but all has purpose and ALL is meant to ready you, and intern others, for the TRUE promised land - the Kingdom of God. Don’t think that only the Israelites reached the promised land. No, they brought nation upon nation with them. Their journey, and testimony, gained followers, and so WILL yours. People are watching My people like never before. “How will God’s people respond to the darkness of this world?” This is what they are asking themselves even if they don’t know it. THEREFORE, arise oh sleeper. Arise and shine. Arise My Stars and testify. Testify to the light of Jesus Christ within the journey, within the desert. FOR I AM HERE. I AM FOR YOU. I AM ready to turn your messes into a message and your trials and tests into a testimony. Surrender to My will, My timing, this GREAT season, this awakening, and rejoice. Amen and amen.
The same is true for you Susan. Use your time, your desert waiting wisely. I know what I am doing.
God was referencing a message yet again called “A Matter of Perspective.” That message all started when after I was discouraged by seeing all of the dandelions in my backyard as weeds my daughter said, “Yay! A whole field of them.” I saw weeds and she saw fun and adventure. It was all a matter of perspective. God brought forth a great prophetic word through that message that I encourage you to go back and read/watch. Here yet again is a small portion of it:
It is all about My glory, shining for Me, existing to glorify Me. Glorify Me Susan, in all you do, whether out in the world or alone in your home. No matter where you are and what you are doing, shine, shine bright. I know this doesn’t always make sense to My people but in Heaven all will be revealed, all mysteries exposed. My people will then see clearly that all their time had purpose and was all meant to glorify Me. I know it is hard amongst the mundane activities of life, especially as a mother, to see that what you do has value and is meant to glorify Me but I am a good God, the Creator of all time and the Definer of purpose and value. If I say something has purpose, it does. If I claim something has worth, even time alone doing everyday life, then it does. Someday all will see that everyone and everything and every minute is and was put into motion to glorify Me. This is how life is redeemed. Think your life doesn’t have purpose or value? Don’t believe the lie, for everything you do will count for eternity whether you were excited about the task or not. It is all about perspective. The great adventure I have promised you is a matter of perspective. It is redefining expectations. You can either see a yard of dandelions as weeds and as something to bring you down, or see it as a source of joy, adventure, and as a gift. Bored - this word has plagued My people, especially mothers, for far too long. I did not create you to be bored, so if you feel bored with your life it is time for a paradigm shift, for a new perspective in order to see existence through My eyes. Life is meant to be an adventure, but mostly a training ground for life eternal. My people, know that I can and will use everything to perfect you and empower you onward for eternity. Open your eyes to life in My Spirit. Let Him reveal your true purpose and how I created you to delight in everything, in every season for time is short and I proclaim this day, getting even shorter, therefore don’t waste it. Know deep within your heart everything you do, and I mean EVERYTHING, has a purpose. Embrace this truth My people and as you do, I promise you will not be disappointed. I am not a God who disappoints. Disappointment often is a sign of self-defined expectations, expectations that did not originate with Me. Ask Me My people to purify your desires, expectations, for I long to give you the desires of your heart but what this truly means is that I am the One to instill a desire within you and since I am a faithful God, I will truly fulfill this desire.
What then came strongly to my mind was something God once said to me. Thankfully I have a reservoir of faith (a recorded testimony) that I could tap into to find His statement. Here is something God said to me last October:
Believe Susan. We need to work on your belief. You are a victim of time. TIME what a foe you are. Susan, rise above. Rise above the lie . . . Thrive Susan. In ALL you do thrive. Life is short therefore how will you use your time? Don’t leave room for regret Susan.
As you can see, my battles always circle back around. History repeats itself a lot in my life and I often am amazed that God doesn’t get annoyed with me and move past me, having to reteach and resay the same things over and over and over. Oh, how hard-hearted I can be. For, He has addressed living and timing in my life for years, not just this last October. In fact, a huge portion of my second book addresses this issue of living and timing, and how Satan uses the timing factor against us. But even before that I lived it. My first book, “Bridegroom in the Clouds: The Promise” is my testimony of God promising to return my bridegroom to me and confirming it by writing his name in the clouds. This testimony started when I separated from my boyfriend Joe. At that time, I entered the desert, where I didn’t know then, but God was thwarting my lover, my idol and had purposely placed me in the desert in order to deal with this idol and to bring me back to my first Love. While in the desert God did show up for me, causing me to fall in love with Him through all of those manifestations I alluded to earlier. He ended up eventually giving me a specific promise, saying, “Susan, you and Joe will be together.” It was a long journey to truly believe that promise, especially once Satan came on the scene. He couldn’t take away God’s promise, but he could distort it, and distort it he did through timing. Several times he convinced me that God’s promise was going to happen sooner than God intended and every time I gave into the enemy’s lie, I got discouraged, depressed, and wanted to relinquish God’s promise altogether. Mostly, it caused me to be rather useless for God. For, consumed with self and my own agenda, and living under Satan’s deception, I was not a good vessel for the Lord to work through.
My story represents the season that we all find ourselves in right now, this desert waiting season of life. Just like in my story, we all have been given a promise that our Bridegroom will return to us someday on the clouds. But also like in my story, even though Satan cannot take away this promise, he can and is truly using the timing factor against us, causing us to believe that it will happen sooner than expected. I know this is hard to understand but I can attest to how this method works. Mostly, it causes you to desperately be consumed with the when and not the what, like God said. When will fulfillment come? How will fulfillment come? Etc. The darkness and chaos of the world has caused us to want the fulfillment so badly that it has caused us to stop working, stop living, and simply look up at the sky with our mouths hung open. We are right where Satan wants us, like useless statues, discontented with anything else in life – life, life’s journey, the waiting, the desert, all that God created for us to go through and endure in order to ready us and prepare us for the fulfillment of His promise to us, the Kingdom of God. This desert waiting season is actually where the true work lies. No wonder Satan wants us to skip it, to feel like we can just transport ourselves to the promised land sooner. He wants us to skip the true work in the desert (life worth testifying about) because he knows this true work will overcome him. For when we live and thrive and shine and testify, we will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimonies (Rev. 12:11). THIS is how the final battle will be won. This is the great harvest. No wonder he wants us to be instead useless statues!
Satan is clever my friends for it isn’t wrong to be excited for our Bridegroom to return, or for the fulfillment of any of God’s promises to us, but the difference is that this excitement should motivate us to get to work in belief, not just cause us to stand still in our inward consumption of self and in our efforts to prove this false timing. We have so much work to do, and as I am finding out, much of this work just might be everyday living and mundane tasks that somehow, at the same time, God has promised to use to redeem us, to transform us, to cause us to testify, to bring glory to Himself, and to prepare us and OTHERS for the Promised Land. Don’t believe the lie. The desert is useful. The desert has value. The desert IS what stands in the way of us and the Promised Land. It is where the true work lies. So, let’s trust God to show up for us here, to meet us in this desert called life. And most importantly, let’s let His assured promises to us motivate us to thrive, shine, and TESTIFY! For, people are watching, waiting to see how we will use our time within this dark, desert season. For, just as my testimony represents, as God was faithful to return my bridegroom to me at the end of my desert journey, allowing me to finally marry Joe, He will be faithful to us all. See you at the wedding feast!
P.S. Last night my husband and I played outside with our daughter. I made her jewelry out of dandelion stems like I used to do as a child. Her and I then began to blow the seeds into the air. Instead of say what we wished for as we did, we said out loud what we prayed for.
Hold your loved ones a little tighter and longer today. Purposely make special moments. It may look to your neighbors like you are spreading weeds but deep down you will know that it is instead a truly great adventure worth testifying about.