For the last few days I've really felt my spirit fighting. Sometimes I would just have to stop whatever it was that I was doing to take a deep breath. I actually felt like I was out of breath and I just needed a minute to regroup. I now understand that my spirit was in heavy battle. Fighting against unclean thoughts, against fleshly desires, against doubt, against fear, against worry, and against unbelief. The other night I felt like just tapping out and giving up but my spirit wouldn't let me. That's when God whispered in my ear, "Trust me in the press." The press?? What did that mean? I took the time to think about it. When something is pressed, it means that pressure has been applied to it in order to flatten, shape, or smooth. I've always thought of the word press in a negative way like when my back has been pressed up against a wall. I thought of something being crushed under an intense force. God challenged me to abandon what I thought I knew about this word and adopt His meaning. This is why God tells us to not trust in what we think:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding;
In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3: 5-6
God insisted that I think of the word press in a positive way. God explained to me that He is pressing me in order to flatten out my faith in order to make it expand. God told me to let these situations, these problems, and these worries fall right on top of me AND TO NOT BE AFRAID. Now when I thought of my faith being flattened, I became concerned and a little confused. God pointed out to me that I was still using MY definition to understand HIS meaning of press. My definition included the word crush. Now crush doesn't mean the same thing as press even though both words involve intense pressure. When something is crushed it's broken into pieces and ultimately destroyed. In contrast when something is flattened it remains whole, the object is just in a different form. I'm learning that I have to let go and let God. I'm very familiar with this saying, I've said it to myself several times but saying it and living it are two completely different things. Letting go is easier said than done BUT God tells us to do just that:
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time, casting all of your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
I Peter 5: 6-7
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11: 28-30
In His word, God tells us to give all of our problems and worries to Him so that He can take care of them because He cares about us. In order to do that we must humble ourselves. Being humble means to set aside your own importance or what you think is important. Humbling yourself requires you to admit and accept that some matters are bigger than you and there is nothing you can do to bring about a particular outcome. Once you understand this, you will be able to submit yourself under God's authority and you will step out of the way because you know that God doesn't need your help in resolving your issues. Remember, some battles God will fight with you to win, but others will require you to just step out of the way completely so that God can fight and win the battle for you. Sometimes we find ourselves fighting out of our emotions and you cannot win this way. A tired soldier, a soldier who has been hurt badly, or a soldier who is not prepared cannot fight and God knows this which is why He needs us to trust Him to win on our behalf. God also instructs us to REST. In Matthew God talks about taking on His yoke. A yoke is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. Yokes are tightly fitted around an animals neck or horns so that the person guiding them can use only slight tugs from the attached straps to direct them without hurting them. When God tells us to take His yoke, He is saying that He wants to direct and guide us. God wants a tight grip on us so that we can feel the tug of His spirit when we begin to get off track. Making the choice to let God lead is not difficult, rather it's our stubbornness, our fears, and issues with being a control freak that makes the choice difficult.
When it all begins to fall, I encourage you to just let it all fall down. When I get home from school the first thing I do to get the weight off my back is drop my heavy backpack onto the floor; I don't think twice about it. All I think about is how good it will feel to get this heavy weight off of me and REST. I want us all to apply this way of thinking to our problems. When things get too heavy on your mind or on your heart...let it all fall, not to the ground but in God's hands. Don't worry about how you will make ends meet, don't worry about your children, don't worry about the state of your marriage, don't worry about the doctor's report, don't worry about how you did on that test at school, don't worry about your future spouse, don't worry about how long you will be in this trial...DON'T WORRY just let it all fall down. Humble yourself, submit to God, trust God and rest in His promises to take great care of you! The press is hard I know, but always remember that there is a reason for the press and it's to make you ready for the next level!
No comments:
Post a Comment