It might feel like we're locked in the tomb, but SUDDENLY is coming!

Early this week, as I asked the Lord what He wanted to show me, there were two plants in my garden that particularly caught my attention. The first were some of my azaleas. Although at first glance, they didn’t appear to have any blooms on them, on closer inspection I realised they were covered in tiny buds that will SUDDENLY burst forth. I felt the Lord saying that in the place where we see nothing happening there will be a SUDDEN shift.

The second plants were the daffodils, and the word trumpet. The centre part of the daffodil is known as the “trumpet”. It felt to me that the TRUMPET is being sounded. As I reflected on what that was like, I found the following reasons for the trumpet to be blown on the “One for Israel” website:

· Time to pack up camp and move on, when the Israelites were traveling in the desert

· Time to gather the people and call an assembly

· To mark a sacrifice on a feast day

· A warning of war or danger

· To praise

· To declare a procession or feast

· Proclaiming a king

· Assembling the troops for battle

· To be used in battle

· To declare victory

It doesn’t take much to see how this relates to the season we are in. It is time to move into a new place; time to gather in unity (even if it is only virtual!); we are in a battle, but we can still praise and proclaim Jesus as King. He has already won the victory!

A number of people have suggested that right now we are in a “selah” moment, a time to pause, to stop. This morning I read of a picture Kaylie Singh had “…of a dark room and a person trying to force the door behind him to stay open…because he wouldn’t be able to see anything…there was a time of waiting…in the dark before the new door would be opened to him.”.

As I pondered this, I was reminded of how the disciples must have felt when Jesus was crucified and laid in the grave. The despair and hopelessness, the sense of loss of all the dreams and desires they had for the past three years with Him. There was no going back, but equally there seemed no way forward. And in that, I had a sense of us, joining Jesus in that tomb. Many of us have been seeking a way out of this "dark room" we find ourselves in. We are looking for any crack or crevice where light might enter, that might indicate an escape route. The door we came in - the desire to go back the way we came, back to "normal" - is enormously attractive, but even that is firmly shut to us.

Reflecting on the tomb, it is the place of laying down all our striving, all our desires and even our fears, and there is a sense we have no other choice but to wait on Him, to wait for Him to show us the way forward. However, at the same time, it fills me with excitement, because when the tomb opens, I see that the darkness will SUDDENLY be flooded with glorious light; there will be a SUDDEN bursting forth and the TRUMPET blast calling us into victory and the new season with our King!

The antidote to your weariness

In historical battles, armies met face to face. The aim was to drive into and through the enemy lines. In particularly fierce battles, as an army pushed through, soldiers could often find themselves alone on the other side, in enemy territory. A rallying call would then be issued by the standard bearer, to call the soldiers to fall back and regroup, so that they could fight together again. The standard or ensign bearer held the banner or flag aloft, which was there to remind them who they belonged to, who they fought for and why. As long as that banner was still held up, they were not overrun, they were not defeated.

Often, as they pushed out, the cry was:

“For King and Country!”

Sunday night, I was at a gathering of local Christians where we were asked if anyone was feeling weary. Without hesitation, nearly every adult there raised their hand.

In my interactions elsewhere, I am aware that this is not a unique scenario. Many of us are weary, feeling isolated and like we are alone in enemy territory. Sometimes we wonder if the battle will ever end and whether we still have it in us to fight another day.

So I want to issue a rallying call.

I am raising the banner of Christ high and calling us back to refocus and remember.

At this time of weariness and even some hopelessness, I call us back to look again to King Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith; to look to His glory and majesty and be reminded that the victory is already won through His death and resurrection.

I call us back to remember and be reminded of the way in which we have experienced the Kingdom break through in the past, so that we can hold on to the hope that it will again; that victory in this battle is close at hand – we are coming to the final push! Just as we are feeling pushed to - or even past - our limit, we need to dig deep and hold on. We need to regroup and reconnect with like-minded friends, who will also help us keep our focus on our King.

Victory is coming!

On Sunday night, as we prayed into this weariness I was reminded of Ephesians 6. In this allusion to the battle there is a point where we are called, when we have done all else, simply to stand. Sometimes that is all we can do.

“…after you have done everything,…stand”

Recently, God has repeatedly reminded me of the importance of this in a number of scenarios. Sometimes that is all He is asking us to do. Sometimes, rather than all the other things we believe we might be doing in our ministry or life in general, what we are actually doing is simply standing in a space, and through that very act of obedience we are holding ground that otherwise the enemy would have overrun. Raise your banner high! Hold your ground!

And even as we stand there, HIS banner over us is His love, which keeps us and protects us.

Keep standing firm – He is coming!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Heb 12:1-3