In 2006, Our View Had to Die
Recently, I was praying into this New Year, asking God what He had in store for us in 2007. I felt He said that this would be a year of "Dreams and Destinies coming forth."
In 2006, many of us prayed and prayed, decreed and decreed, believed and believed for what the Lord had laid on our hearts. And many of us were challenged when we didn't see the promises released the way we thought they would be. We didn't see what we thought we would see, the way we had figured it would happen, when we were expecting it.
But don't be discouraged. God didn't ignore us. He didn't forget us. He didn't turn away from us. He was simply preparing us to receive a greater revelation of who He is and how He is. He was preparing us to receive something even bigger and better.
2006 was a year of God allowing "our view" of what He was going to do--to die. Not the dreams and destinies that He has called us to believe for, but simply "our views" of how He would do it, and how it would look. All so that He can do something even bigger and better!
Often, when our plans for a promise don't come to pass, we think the promise has failed, too. Not so! We are merely being set up by God to see Him in even greater measure. God tells me all the time to expect Him to move in big ways, but He also reminds me not to expect "how" it will look. We often feel we know how God should do something, or when He should do it.
He wants to break us out of the boxes of what we think we know about Him, and remind us that He is an awesome and infinitely faceted God. Because deep down, He knows the true cry of our heart is not simply for His promises to come forth, but that we might KNOW Him in an even greater way as promises come forth!
He loves to surprise us! He loves to reveal His promises in ways that reveal a greater measure of who He is to us. And I believe that if we stay in faith, continue in prayer, and praise and honor God, knowing that "His ways are higher than our ways," 2007 will be the year when we hear the Lord say, "Dreams and Destinies come forth!" And they will come forth in ways that will show us new aspects of our incredible God that will have us praising Him and loving Him as never before!
A Teaching from Lazarus
"Jesus loved Martha and Mary so much, that He did not respond to their prayer the way they thought He would."
In John 11, we hear the story of Lazarus and his resurrection. Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, are dear friends of Jesus. He has visited with them on several occasions. Martha has cooked for Jesus. Mary has sat at His feet adoring Him, anointing Him with oil, and wiping His feet with her tears and hair. This is a family that passionately loves the Lord. And they know that He loves them. As a matter of fact, when Lazarus becomes ill, the word they send to Jesus is, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." (John 11:3)
This family not only loved the Lord, they knew the Lord. They knew He was the Messiah. They knew He was God. And they knew that when they needed help, He would be there. So when Lazarus got sick, Martha and Mary did what we all do--they prayed. They sent word to the Lord. And because they knew Jesus loved them, and they knew Jesus was the Healer, and they knew Jesus was good, and that He was God, Martha and Mary expected He would show up and help.
God wants us to expect Him to move. He rewards that faith. But often His ways or His timing, at first, don't make sense to our way of thinking!
Now Jesus did love this family. Just like He loves you and me--perfectly, everlastingly, and passionately. John 11:5 spells it right out, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus." He loved them so much, that when He got the word asking for help with their problem (when He heard their prayer), He didn't come right away (John 11:6). Huh? That doesn't make any sense. Not to us, or to Martha and Mary. But it made perfect sense to God.
Jesus loved Martha and Mary so much, that He did not respond to their prayer the way they thought He would, nor at the time which made sense to them. Jesus loved them so much, that He actually waited for Lazarus to pass away from his illness. He knew this would be hard for Martha and Mary (not to mention Lazarus!). He knew this was not the way they thought things would play out. Jesus' intention was to bring them into a greater revelation of how and who He was.
See, God sometimes allows us to go through a difficult time--a time where we feel He has not heard us, or He has not answered us, or the promise we were believing for has died, so that He can show up in a way we never imagined, and reveal a greater measure of who He is to us and for us!
Martha and Mary knew Jesus was the answer to their problem. They knew He could help. They knew He was the promise. But because He didn't move in the way "they thought" He should and when He should, they were confused, they were angry, and they were hurt. They were surrounded by people consoling them (John 11:19). Many people were likely telling Martha and Mary that they had just believed too big of God, that they needed to be more realistic, and that the time of God moving in power was over. Thank goodness they didn't listen!
Pour Out Your Heart Like Martha and Mary
When you are: wrestling with discouragement, struggling with God not showing up how you think He should, confused, hurt, or even angry with God, don't listen to the well-intentioned comforters who will tell you to lower your expectations, or that God no longer moves in power or healing or miracles. Do what Martha did in John 11:20, go and meet with Jesus!
Get in front of Him and pour out your heart! Tell Him how you feel. Tell Him you don't understand. Tell Him you're confused. Tell Him you're angry. Tell Him your heart is broken. Even tell Him you think you know what He is supposed to do and how He is supposed to do it (this is what Martha does in John 11:22, and 24, when she tells the Lord "I know" this and "I know" that).
During those times when the Lord has not answered your prayers the way you thought He would, don't turn from Him, but turn to Him. Both Martha and Mary go to Jesus with their hurt and confusion (John 11:20, 29). And we should too.
When Mary falls at Jesus' feet (a place she has been before), pouring out her heart and sharing her pain and confusion (John 11:32), the Lord isn't offended. God doesn't turn away from us when we are struggling, even when we are struggling with Him. Just the opposite. He encourages us to boldly come before Him during our times of need (Hebrews 4:16). This deeply moves God (John 11:33, 11:35).
I believe that when Martha and Mary were before God and saw how deeply moved He was over everything they had been through, something in them was deeply moved. Something in them remembered that Jesus was the God who loves them, the God who adores them, and the God who only wants the best for them. When they realized that God had not hardened His heart toward them, the hard heart of their own confusion was removed.
We see this prophetically at the tomb of Lazarus when Jesus says, "Remove the stone!" (John 11:39). The stone is what seals up the tomb; it is a sign of coming into agreement with death, and it represents when we give up on the promises of God and allow our hearts to harden.
The Promise is Not Dead
"We will not only see the promise come forth, we will see a greater revelation of Jesus!"
Jesus stands before the tomb, the place of death, knowing that the only thing that has truly passed away is how Martha and Mary used to see Him. The promise wasn't dead. And I believe He was excited because He knew that Martha and Mary were about to find out that He was an even bigger, better, and more faithful God than they had even imagined!
Jesus turns to Mary and says, "Did I not say that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). Jesus then declares that He knows God always hears our prayers (John 11:41), and then being confident in this, He cries out, "Lazarus, come forth!" (John 11:43). And Lazarus came forth, revealing a greater measure of who Jesus was, and a fuller realization of all things being possible.
Now, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus not only know Him as friend, Lord, Messiah, God, and Healer, they know Him as "the Champion over death and every work of the enemy." And because God did it "His way" instead of their way, they had a greater revelation of who He was, and so did their town! Revival broke out, and many came to know that Jesus was Lord (John 11:45). Praise God!
Don't look back on what DIDN'T happen last year the way you thought it would. Look toward Jesus and praise Him that His ways are higher than our ways. Pour your heart out to Him. Believe that He hears every one of our prayers, and that if we simply stand in that belief, we will see the glory of God. And that just like Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, we will not only see the promise come forth, we will see a greater revelation of Jesus! Who knows, it may even trigger revival in your town like it did in Martha and Mary's!
So stand in faith. Refuse any discouragement. Believe God to show up in surprising ways that reveal more of who He is to you than you have ever known before. Be excited that God is doing it "His perfect way," and that He is doing exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that you could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
And in 2007, may those things that you felt died in 2006, be resurrected in even bigger and better ways to the glory of God. May this be the year you hear Him speak over you, "Dreams and Destiny come forth!"
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