I feel like I want to spend just a little bit of time talking about change. Just the other day I was walking down the sidewalk of a plaza when I looked over and saw a young woman with her toddler. She was busy loading groceries into the back of her SUV while her child sat in the cart.
As I looked I suddenly saw (in the spirit) leaves begin to fall all around her. I was confused as to what I was seeing so I asked to Lord to explain. He began to speak to me about seasons of change and how the woman was afraid of the changes happening in her life.
The scene weighed heavy on me for a while after. It’s a good word for all of us isn’t it? There aren’t many of us who enjoy change. We typically like to be comfortable and usually view changes as dangerous to whatever standard of life we’ve come to enjoy. Change can even be scary to someone in a terrible or dangerous situation. If it wasn’t there might not be as many people willing to stay in abusive relationships.
But the seasons of change I saw happening around the woman with the toddler reminded me of something else. I was just spending some time with the Lord earlier when He began to speak to me about the path He’s called His children to walk and how safe it is.
He spoke to me about how many of us think that the path He’s laid out for us is filled with potholes and traps, making it dangerous at times. Isn’t that how we can view trials? Like they exist dead set in the middle of the path God’s asking us to walk.
But God showed me that the path He’s laid out is safe. It’s free of things that destroy us. It’s lush and green and comforting. But don’t we all experience wounds no matter how well we walk the road. So what does safe mean? I don’t think it can mean that we will totally safe from pain and suffering. But doesn’t He promise that we can have peace in any circumstance? Isn’t He the God of all comfort? Isn’t He the source of hope? Our Provider? Our healer? Isn’t He our rock, our fortress and strong tower?
So (since He is all of those things) maybe ‘safety’ is less about specific trials, hurts and wounds but more about His ability to guard and protect our hearts as we journey through them. Isn’t the real battle for our hearts anyway?
The dangers and enticements are present but not on the road He’s laid out. They are the ditches. They are the loose gravel shoulders. Just as we have the opportunity to have our hearts protected by God through trials, we have the opportunity to be enticed by the voice of our adversary to step off of the path and into destruction.
Our adversary will shout out every reason not to trust God. He will tell us not to forgive. He’ll tell us to be afraid and tell us that we can only rely on ourselves. He’ll tell us that God doesn’t really love us and isn’t looking out for our families. He will tell us that we can’t be healed, that God won’t provide for us. He will do whatever he can to get us off that path. Because he knows what some of us don’t. That when we are walking on God’s path we are perfectly safe.
God loves us with a perfect love that is far greater than we can understand. He is for us and His desire is to lead us into all the treasures He's stored up for us. Walk the season of change with confidence in who He is in you and who you are in Him!
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
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Comments
Prayer request
by Anonymous
Dear Jesse,
You have become a real blessing to me when I read the blogs you post. Thank you so much for sharing! Jesse, would you please pray for me and my family?
Recently some of our cattle ate poisonous leaves and although I prayed and ask Father for their well being, as there is no cure for it, we lost eight cows. Some of them were pregnant. I trusted Father completely for this miracle and that there won’t be even one casualty. I know they were just animals, but still...
I now seriously doubt whether Father hears my prayers. My faith turned into unbelief and I feel so lost...so far from Him.
Jesse, please pray for my faith to be restored and strengthen in our Father and for us as a family that our lives may be acceptable and pleasing to Him and that He be glorified through us. Also for our ears to be open to hear His voice and to be led by His Holy Spirit.
Thank you.
Stay blessed in Him!
Sanet.
Sanet
by Jesse Birkey
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your cattle. I do pray in the name of Jesus for protection over everything that the Lord has brought into your life. For protection over the rest of the cattle. I command sickness and disease to leave and for healing to reign. I also speak restoration over you in Jesus name.
I think that you have found yourself in a situation many of us find ourselves in. What do we do with God and tragedy. It's easy to ignore this when things are good but very difficult in the face of tragedy. Is God good or isnt He? Does he cause sickness or not? Does He kill or not? Is He responsible for destruction or isn't He? This is a very deep issue, far beyond the scope of this thread. But I will say this.
I have come to the greatest peace when dealing with this issue after I truly accepted that Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3) and let the implications settle in my heart. That led me to the conlusion that if I want to understand the Father I need to understand Jesus. So I studied His life. How did He live, minister, relate to people? Did He cause sickness or heal it? Did He kill or raise from the dead? Did He condone violence or rebuke it? God is love and love looks like Jesus!
Jesus didn't hurt he healed. He didn't kill but brought life. Didn't destroy but caused a harvest. Didn't promote violence but peace. We must seek to understand the Father through the lens of Jesus no matter how many Old Testament questions arise.
The most important thing that I have come to understand at this point is that if tragedy strikes it's not by the hand of God. It's also not because God didn't want to protect. It's not because God isn't for you or on your side. It can't be because God is love. The reason is something else. When we can understand that our faith in His love won't be shaken. And we won't have unbelief because we will believe that He is doing everything He can do for us.
This is longer than I meant it to be but please get the book "Is God to Blame" by Greg Boyd.
Blessings,
Jesse
God is Good!
by Anonymous
Dear Jesse
Thank you so much for your prayers and words of truth and comfort. That’s exactly what i needed to hear – that our God is good and nothing will ever change that! Thanks again!
Blessings,
Sanet
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