Seasons

Just about a year ago I made the decision to truly follow Christ.  When I mean by 'truly' is....I stepped out on faith, I believed that God was going to sustain me in my journey and that I couldn't do it without him.  Everything I had, I was giving to him.  My first journal entry read, "Last night, the spirit of the Lord fell upon Major and I as we sang during worship (Holy, Holy, Is the Lord God Almighty).  In the midst of sickness, I took Major with me to church and sat him with me in service.  AS we sang during worship, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to lay my hand upon Major.  I was obedient and as I did, I felt God's presence and something lifted off  him and I and tears streamed down my face." I was expecting God to immediately just sprinkle all these new earth-shattering plans for my life on me.  But instead, I spent the next 6 months just reading and allowing God to show me new revelations through scripture.  I would read verses that my parents had read to me as a child and they would illuminate off the page with a new light. The day came when I started to walk in my purpose and I was getting more involved in my church and with outreach.  My heart was so full.  God was starting to lay on my heart that he had new things for me and I was excited!   And then, the world was struck by this new unforeseen crisis and we were all in quarantine...social distancing. Like many, I was just upset.  But slowly God started to work on my heart to help me see the work he was going to do on me during this time I was hidden away.  It has been like peeling back onion layers as he has revealed things that I need to work on to be more like Him.  And ultimately, he showed me compassion for those that were impacted by this crisis in a larger way other than just having to be isolated for a time. I love how in Galations, Paul talks about how God chose us from birth to be his.  But then Paul kept it a secret for some time it says, and I wonder if maybe during that time he was getting to know the God who saved him.  It talks about Jesus going away and "hiding" several times in the bible to perhaps "refuel". When this season comes to an end, I believe we are going to enter a season with believers who have spent dedicated time away with their personal savior creating a fresh perspective on the vision for their lives.  We will have pulled together during a time of crisis and risen up in representative of the One who sustains us! God is doing a new thing! Galatians 1:15-18 The Passion Translation (TPT) 15 But then God called me by his grace; and in love, he chose me from my birth to be his. 16 God’s grace unveiled his Son in me so that I would proclaim him to the non-Jewish people of the world. After I had this encounter I kept it a secret for some time, sharing it with no one. 17 And I chose not to run to Jerusalem to try to impress those who had become apostles before me. Instead, I went away into the Arabian Desert for a season until I returned to Damascus, where I had first encountered Jesus. 18 I remained there for three years until I eventually went up to Jerusalem and met the apostle Peter and stayed with him for a couple of weeks so I could get to know him better.