Note 10 – Part 1 (Navigation forward or backward at bottom of screen; Links to previous notes in series at end of part 5)
Discover Your Place in the Secret Place
Note 9 talked, in part, about how God needs us! He needs us to recognize our worth and value to Him and our significance to His end-times plan. He also needs us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to seek Him diligently, and to truly know Him and His Word. These are all important parts of helping us discover the unique place and purpose for which we were created, and for helping us fulfill our roles as His Body, SALT, Light, and PILLARS.
A few months ago He said, “NOW is the time to pray.” While I believe that referred to the urgent need for intercession right now over all that’s going on in the nation(s), I also believe He was indicating that we’re in a critical season for His people to seek Him and find our purpose, place, and the next steps to fulfilling our life assignments. In November, I posted about how the Lord had been emphasizing the brevity of life several months earlier and the necessity, therefore, of being focused on fulfilling our assignments. He had been showing us that this was not only a message He was giving us personally, but that many others in the body were receiving the same word, leading us to believe He’s indicating that the remaining time is brief for all of us collectively (post from November). Recently, these kinds of words have been precisely confirmed again.
We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. John 9:4 NLT
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Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest. Matthew 9:37-38 AMP
Those who have been in the process of preparation and have stood before the Lord saying, “Here am I; send me,” may now find ourselves on the receiving end of that prayer, among those He is thrusting out into the harvest. Some of us may already know the BIG PICTURE of what He’s called us to accomplish, but have no idea how to fill in the details to get from here to there. Others may not even know what the
overall picture is. But no matter where we are in the discovery process of His purpose and plan for our lives, He longs to reveal the answers we need. As we draw close to Him, He promises to draw close to us. Through our intimate relationship with Him, He can unveil His divine destiny for our lives, imparting His vision and His plan for fulfilling it. As we continually seek Him, He can give us staggering prophetic promises, life-altering instructions, confirmations that we’re on the right track, course corrections when we’re off track, power to persevere, strength to overcome, adjustments to our character necessary to advance, admonition to stay somewhere we want to leave, prodding to leave somewhere we want to stay, a long term mission, a short term strategy, a divine instruction for a giant leap of faith, or a gentle nudge for a nearly imperceptible step. But whatever He needs to reveal to us along the way, we don’t want to miss it! His people needlessly perish for lack of knowledge while ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him, awaiting our discovery (Hosea 4:6, Colossians 2:2-3). He has given us the astounding gift of direct access into His Presence. He has every answer we need! He IS every answer we need!
Thank God He did not leave us as spiritual orphans to fend for ourselves or figure things out on our own. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to be with us and in us, to teach us His ways and His will, to guide us into all Truth, to remind us of everything He’s spoken, to counsel us, instruct us, coach, train, and mentor us. He wants to give us wise and discerning hearts which do not make decisions/judgments based on our natural senses, but according to what He reveals by His Spirit.
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant [experientially] known to them. Psalm 25:12-14
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I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8
He wants to help us successfully navigate around every trap and snare of the enemy and enable us to reach our destination as quickly and safely as possible. He wants to reveal the proper time and procedure for every matter (His will, plan, and timing – the What, When, and How – we don’t necessarily get to know the WHY). He even wants to tell us about the future and show us what to do.
And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! O people who dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide Himself any more, but your eyes will constantly behold your Teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:18-21
He desires to give us the FULL RICHES of COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING! He wants to enlighten the eyes of our hearts
– to KNOW HIM (and who we are IN HIM),
– to know the hope of our calling,
– the glorious riches of our incalculable, limitless inheritance that is in us (through Him),
– and His incomparably great POWER for us who believe.
He wants to open our spiritual eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to perceive, believe, and receive, and our minds to understand all that He’s speaking to us. He wants to manifest Himself to us, teach us everything we need to know, and make all things clear (Psalm 25:12-14; 32:8, Eccles 8:5-6, I Kings 3:7-13, I Chronicles 12:32, Isaiah 11:1-4, Luke 24:45, John 4:25-26; 14-16, Ephesians 1:16-20, Philippians 3:15-16, Colossians 2:2-3, etc.). When He has made such astounding provision for us to know Him and His will for our lives in such intimate detail, we should not settle for living beneath it.
Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:3
Our part is to seek Him with all our hearts. He calls us to earnestly and diligently (not casually) seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
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My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair–every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:1-10
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For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
His sheep, those who belong to Him, can come to know Him and His voice well enough to discern it from every other. This degree of familiarity and intimacy is not automatic, but is cultivated through spending time together with Him (through His Word and Spirit). He promises His sheep will come to the place of being able to discern and flee from the voice of the enemy, but to recognize and follow Him (John 8:47; John 10).
Oh this is good! While editing this note (4/5), a notification from Paula White popped up that said,
“You cannot follow God until you first hear God! Let your spiritual ears be open to hear Him. Let your heart be patient to wait on Him!”
Waiting on Him does not imply passivity, but patient and persistent pursuit. It’s an active posture of seeking while waiting in confident expectation for Him to pour out His wisdom and make things clear as He’s promised to do (James 1:5). Many times as we seek, God gives bits and pieces. He does this, in part, to continue to draw us into deeper dimensions of seeking. We can imagine this process like putting
a puzzle together. Because we understand the process, we do not get upset or frustrated that one piece does not reveal the entire picture, or that even multiple pieces put together are still only revealing the picture in part. We realize that each piece will only contain partial revelation of the whole, and that as we keep seeking and putting those pieces together we will eventually see the entire picture clearly. Unfortunately, those who do not understand this process may get frustrated that often their questions seem to lead to more questions instead of clear answers right away, and may give up thinking they can’t hear God or that the process is too complicated/confusing. God hides the treasures of His revelations for us, to be discovered as we continue digging and pressing in to Him. Our perseverance in pursuit reveals how much we want to uncover His will and plan (our priorities, our hunger/passion/desire for Him and His will, etc.).
(Here are a couple of short status updates from 2011 along these lines that the Lord’s bringing back to mind):
Feb 15, 2011 – Don’t force the pieces of the puzzle
If you force pieces of the puzzle into place, other pieces will not fit.
If you leave pieces of the puzzle out, the picture will be incomplete.
“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” (Prov 19:2) LORD, teach us the RIGHT questions to ask, and help us RECEIVE the answers YOU give!
Feb 16, 2011 – If the answers aren’t clear
If the answers you need aren’t evident right away, keep seeking until they are crystal clear. God’s drawing you into deeper intimacy. You might just be after answers, but He’s after relationship.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13
to be continued… (see part 2 here)
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