As I have watched the storms which have come across the south lately I sense something deeper is happening. In my spirit I sense a greater storm coming. As I watch the natural disasters all over the world I sense that greater storms are coming. In America we watch our economy struggle and we wonder if a greater economic storm is on the horizon.
Joseph sensed that troubled times were coming although there were years of abundance. With the wisdom God gifted him with, he led the people to store up reserves during the times of abundance. Nations came to him during these times of great famine. His own family was constrained to come to Egypt during these troubled times. The Lord even prepared a place for them in the land of Egypt called Goshen. Years later it was a protected place of blessing in the midst of multiple plagues that came upon the nation in the days of Moses.
During childhood days I remember a neighbor who prepared a special building because of her fear of storms. It was partially underground and well protected from the wind. This was a refuge for her and her family. I also remember that there was always information available about what to do in case of a nuclear bombing. We were encouraged to have a place suitable for such a happening. I have friends that are preparing food, water, and other needed items in case there is an economic breakdown. I refuse to live in fear but in wisdom I have started storing some canned food and water. Is storm protection necessary? I think so.
When we add together the wisdom of practical preparation and the supernatural provision of God we are of all men most blessed. This is good stewardship. I love how the Lord gives us wisdom for practical preparation and then adds His supernatural blessings. It is very fulfilling. But this can only happen as we position ourselves in the place He is calling us to be. These are serious times and they call for our careful alignment with the ways of God. It is not about how much noise we are making but it is about being in simple obedience with His plans and purposes in our lives. A wheel out of balance will still roll. It will make some noise going down the road but it has to eventually be fixed. Are we allowing God to fix us?
When the Israelites made their journey to Egypt, during the days of famine, they were unaware that God had prepared a special place for them to live. They thought they were just making a food trip. They did not know that their past was about to bless them. They had sold their brother into slavery several years earlier but now this brother was the keeper of the storehouses. What they had meant for evil the Lord was about to turn around for good. This brother (Joseph) invited them to stay in the land of Egypt for the remainder of the famine. They ended up staying 400 years. Because they were shepherds and the Egyptians were cattlemen, they needed to be separated. The land of Goshen was a separated land given to the Israelites. It was a fruitful land and the people multiplied until the Egyptians feared their growth and began to put them into bondage.
When the 400 years had expired, God was ready to move His people out of Egypt. Egypt didn’t want to let them leave. As the plagues came upon the land to force the hand of Pharaoh to let them go, something supernatural was happening in Goshen. Hail was falling all over Egypt but not in Goshen. Swarms of flies were filling the land but not in Goshen. The Lord said that He would set apart the land of Goshen and that there would be no flies where His people lived. This would be the evidence that the Lord was in the midst of the land (see Exodus 8:22). The Israelites were living in the midst of the storm but they were protected.
We are about to see the evidence of the Lord in our midst unlike anything we have ever seen. It is sad that it often takes a dark storm for us to see the greatest works of God. A diamond always looks so beautiful against the darkness of a black velvet cloth. It sparkles in its majesty. Many will marvel as they see the hand of God provide for His people. They will stand in greater awe as the people of God give to the multitudes who failed to bring any food with them (see Matthew 14). We are distributors taking our food from the hand of the Lord and giving to the multitudes. We are the middle-man visited by friends at midnight who need bread. Although we may not have much bread we have a friend (Jesus) that we can call upon so we can give to those who are in need (see the parable of the friend that comes at midnight Luke 11:5).
Our responsibility for these times is to be in alignment with God. We need to be rightly positioned. Stubbornness is fatal in these times. We need to move when we sense He is leading us to do so. We need to prepare even simple things, when we sense His leading. Some will need to stay where they are while others will have to take the most challenging steps of faith. Some will be called to stay in places that seem dead. They will remain in these dry places to be an inspiration of faith. Meanwhile, others will need to join with strong believers to usher in the supernatural manifested glory into our cities. Remember the positioning is of utmost importance. Increased time of seeking God and knowing His heart will supply us with the wisdom that will help us to know which one to do. These are the times to know what the Father is doing and to hear what He is saying. Failure to do so can be harmful or fatal.
Since I don’t consider myself normal, I will admit I often enjoy storms. While at the ocean I love to watch the storms come in while standing on the safety of a balcony. I feel an excitement as the thunder rolls in the distance. I don’t like for the lightning to get very close. That is a little outside of my comfort zone. So, you might say, I like a nice storm. The storms that are coming will be hard ones so it is my desire to be in the prepared place of the Lord. I also want to help others find their right place. For many it will be safe and secure places. Like the manager who ushered about a hundred people into a safe place during a recent storm, and helped save their lives, we will be used of God to do just that. Others will have to stand in unsafe places. Remember God is good, but not always safe. Sometimes He puts us out there in the fire. Sometimes it requires our life.
One of my favorite memories of a storm was in the spring of 1993. There were many firsts for me that day. I had never been on a big airplane before. I had never been outside the United States. Traveling over Greenland that night, on our way into Europe, we came into some major storms. The airplane was bouncing up and down it seemed. I knew this trip was in the plans of God and I was rightly positioned in Him. I simply adjusted my seat back and turned on my tape player (it was the 90’s) and listened to Ray Boltz sing “The Anchor Holds”. I had never felt more secure in my life.
There is a coming storm. As we sense it in the natural, we sense it in our spirit. We need to make sure we are in the right place doing the right things. We need to make sure we are hearing what the Father is saying to us. These times demand a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Times are changing. What grace used to allow now calls us to change (see Acts 17:30). The eleventh hour looks different. Traditions can become powerless. The way we always did it may not work anymore. Pride in our stubbornness can be fatal. As the mighty eagle waits on the rock high in the mountains watching the approaching storm may we stand on our rock, Christ Jesus. With the first gust of wind the eagle screams and takes flight. May our obedience send a scream into hell itself as this generation takes flight into the storm of all storms.
Thank you for sharing this holy word of wisdom of yours that a storm is coming. I agree. I can see the signs.
ReplyDelete