Little and Little part 1
I spend a lot of time talking about the Finished Work. And appropriately so, I think. Because it's uber important that we stop waiting for a move of God and we start getting a revelation of Jesus. The Finished Work of the cross WAS the move of God that humanity was kind of unknowingly waiting for. But that was 2,000 years ago. We don't need God to move. We need to understand what happened WHEN He moved. We don't need God to do anything or give us anything. Because He already did everything and gave us everything! This everlasting life-long journey is not about getting. It's about understanding what we've got. Receiving and enjoying (by releasing) the gift we've already been given. Which is where the title of this Rant series comes into play. I mentioned this idea a few days ago and want to pick up on it. When Jesus was talking about being built on the rock so that your house would stand when the rain and the wind comes... He wasn't necessarily (or only) talking about a strom in a negative sense. The rain is healing rain. And the wind is the Holy Spirit! Sometimes the things we struggle with the most are the "good" things in life. And I think that's because we are so used to the "bad" things. (I'm using quotation marks because at this point in our lives we need to stop judging things by good and evil, stop judging things by appearance, but it makes my point.) Sometimes we don't get what we want because we're not ready for it yet. That's a blessing, by the way. I mean, haven't we all heard stories about people winning the lottery and then, in very short order, ending up broke? Because they couldn't handle the sudden wealth. If you watch sports you see the same thing with KIDS who are suddenly rich and famous. They make a lot of mistakes because they aren't ready for what they've been given. My point: In this never-ending life-long journey we need to take things one step at a time. We need to learn to walk before we can run. We need to take baby steps. And that means we need to let ourselves make mistakes. We need to be able to try things. Do it wrong so that you can learn to do it right. Experience is the best teacher. So. Let me quote my key verse of Scripture for this Rant series. Genesis 23:29-30, "I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By litte and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land." See that? The work was finished. The Promised Land wasn't just promised. It was delivered. But at the same time, it was something for the people to grow into. Too much too soon is a receipe for disaster. But little by little we can learn and grow. We don't want to get TOO comfortable--a rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out, and nothing amazing ever came out of a comfort zone--but we want to have a handle on one thing before we add on to it. And, again, we're not adding anything NEW. We have it all. We're just adding what we HAVE to what we're experiencing. But we'll look at that too. Maybe tomorrow. My thought for today is: Baby steps. One thing at a time. Breathe. Relax. Be still, and know that He is God. Know that God is love. You're ok. It'll come. It'll flow. When you stop trying to force it. When you just LET it. By little and little.