"...Samuel called to Saul on the roof 'get ready' and I will send you on your way." (1 Samuel 9: 26 NIV)
July marked the end of the dreary, rainy, trapped-inside-the-house days. Living here in New England our summers are short and frankly, by the end of June, I felt cheated! But alas, as sure as June turned into July, summer finally appeared. The long-awaited days of sun, heat and humidity were welcomed like a long-lost friend.
Each day the sun kissed my cheek I felt beckoned to play outside and reacquaint myself with God's beauty. It's those sun-kissed days that God feels especially close. It's as though He inspires, teaches, speaks through his creation directly to my soul. Whether it be a lesson in abiding taught by a patient, fluttering monarch perched on the blossom next to my lawn chair or understanding his divine plan of sowing and reaping by tending to my vegetable garden, I know God is speaking.
Sometimes God is more direct. The Sunday before I was to attend the She Speaks writer's conference I attended church without my husband, Peter. As the worship service ended and the pastor was introducing his sermon he said God had given him a lot of words for people during his prayer time that morning. Luckily, I had already opened my journal and was ready to write. I mean, if God had spoken I wanted to record everything he said! Then, the pastor looked directly at me and said, "Dawn. I don't know where Pete is but the Lord spoke to me in the prayer room about you guys and somebody else got these words that I think are applicable...'Get ready and position yourselves.'" I not only wrote those words down, I promptly texted them to my husband!
In the three weeks that have followed those words have continually rung in our ears. "Get ready...position yourselves." For what, Lord? My new book? A new opportunity? Spiritual warfare? A good hunt for Pete? What? What could God possibly have in store for us?
Then, today God lead me to read 1 Samuel 9 & 10 that tells the story of Samuel anointing Saul to be Israel's first king. Samuel instructs Saul to "get ready" to be sent. Getting ready isn't passive. It's active. You're making preparations, getting things together, doing the necessary things in order to go.
Once Saul is ready, Samuel gets him alone, anoints his head with oil and prophesies over him. Samuel explains that Saul will come to the land of Gibeah where he will meet some prophets. The Holy Spirit will empower him and he will prophesy as well. But, most importantly he "will be changed into a different person." Then, Saul was to position himself in the land of Gilgal and "wait" seven days until Samuel meets up with him. Together they will worship God and Saul will receive further instructions.
I'm not exactly sure what God is preparing us for. I'm not sure if we're getting ready for the right task. But, until that task is revealed, we are readying our hearts, submitting our plans, our desires, our passions before our God. We're allowing change in ourselves and with each other. We are positioning ourselves before His throne and waiting for further instructions.
What is it that God may be readying your heart? Are you asking, what's next? Are you willing to get ready? Do you see the situation you're in as part of that readying process? Are you willing to let God change you? Are you positioning your heart to wait for further instructions?
July marked the end of the dreary, rainy, trapped-inside-the-house days. Living here in New England our summers are short and frankly, by the end of June, I felt cheated! But alas, as sure as June turned into July, summer finally appeared. The long-awaited days of sun, heat and humidity were welcomed like a long-lost friend.
Each day the sun kissed my cheek I felt beckoned to play outside and reacquaint myself with God's beauty. It's those sun-kissed days that God feels especially close. It's as though He inspires, teaches, speaks through his creation directly to my soul. Whether it be a lesson in abiding taught by a patient, fluttering monarch perched on the blossom next to my lawn chair or understanding his divine plan of sowing and reaping by tending to my vegetable garden, I know God is speaking.
Sometimes God is more direct. The Sunday before I was to attend the She Speaks writer's conference I attended church without my husband, Peter. As the worship service ended and the pastor was introducing his sermon he said God had given him a lot of words for people during his prayer time that morning. Luckily, I had already opened my journal and was ready to write. I mean, if God had spoken I wanted to record everything he said! Then, the pastor looked directly at me and said, "Dawn. I don't know where Pete is but the Lord spoke to me in the prayer room about you guys and somebody else got these words that I think are applicable...'Get ready and position yourselves.'" I not only wrote those words down, I promptly texted them to my husband!
In the three weeks that have followed those words have continually rung in our ears. "Get ready...position yourselves." For what, Lord? My new book? A new opportunity? Spiritual warfare? A good hunt for Pete? What? What could God possibly have in store for us?
Then, today God lead me to read 1 Samuel 9 & 10 that tells the story of Samuel anointing Saul to be Israel's first king. Samuel instructs Saul to "get ready" to be sent. Getting ready isn't passive. It's active. You're making preparations, getting things together, doing the necessary things in order to go.
Once Saul is ready, Samuel gets him alone, anoints his head with oil and prophesies over him. Samuel explains that Saul will come to the land of Gibeah where he will meet some prophets. The Holy Spirit will empower him and he will prophesy as well. But, most importantly he "will be changed into a different person." Then, Saul was to position himself in the land of Gilgal and "wait" seven days until Samuel meets up with him. Together they will worship God and Saul will receive further instructions.
I'm not exactly sure what God is preparing us for. I'm not sure if we're getting ready for the right task. But, until that task is revealed, we are readying our hearts, submitting our plans, our desires, our passions before our God. We're allowing change in ourselves and with each other. We are positioning ourselves before His throne and waiting for further instructions.
What is it that God may be readying your heart? Are you asking, what's next? Are you willing to get ready? Do you see the situation you're in as part of that readying process? Are you willing to let God change you? Are you positioning your heart to wait for further instructions?
You actually did more than you said you were. You got "in the zone" again.
ReplyDeleteHey you need to change your profile to say , "I am married to my best friend for 25 years"!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in! God is good when we empty ourselves to make room for him to work and inspire! My heart and my brain have been too full
the last few weeks. It felt good to be back in the place where God could work.
(I'll update my profile...thanks for pointing that out)!
Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your entries. Your writing is a joy to read, and your stories are interesting and engaging. Thanks for allowing us the opportunity to read your reflections and experiences. :-)
Thanks, Kim. I pray God continue to speak to your heart through my words.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteThis is Pastor Juan Lopez, and I'm the Founder of Tribal Praise Ministries (www.tribalpraiseministries.com). This morning in my devotional time I felt led to Google the phrase "Position Yourself in God" and came across your blog. I enjoyed reading your post, as it personally ministered to me. Here's my brief explanation.
Back in July of this year (the same time you received your word), our church was having a "Night of Worship" and the Word that the Lord gave me to teach from was in 2 Chronicles 20:1-25. While there is much revelation in that Scripture, the key part of that Scripture that the Lord kept ministering to me from was vs. 17 where it says, "Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you..."(NKJV).
When I get a word for a specific teaching, it is usually for that specific meeting for which I'm preparing. After that night of worship though, that word "Position yourself, stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord" has stayed with me all these months even to this day. I began to discern that Father wanted to teach me something very specific and much deeper in this Word. I sensed that as you said in your post, that Father was preparing me for something much bigger than anything I've ever done, and the key to receiving what God had in store was the consistent positioning of myself before Him.
Over these past months, Father has been ministering to me in ways that I could never have imagined, and I am continually being amazed at the encounters with Holy Spirit in my devotional times of prayer. Amazing things have been taking place! Yet, I believe there is so much more that God is going to release in 2010!
I felt led to share this word of encouragement with you; may God bless you with all that He has purposed in His heart to give you and your husband in this coming year of expansion!
Blessings,
Pastor Juan Lopez
Tribal Praise Ministries
www.tribalpraiseministries.com
Dear Pastor Juan,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen your comment until today, 8 months from your original posting. I can't say I am any closer to understanding God's words today than I was a year ago but I am thinking of David, whom God annointed king of Israel, yet didn't take the throne for many years.
The only new word my husband has received is, "warm up" like for the ball game. We both are eagerly awaiting the next step...taking baby steps as God opens doors in ministry as well as in our personal and business lives.
Thanks for the encouragement. I pray, you too, have been listening intently to the Lord's next word.
Dawn