Sandie Freed: "Travailing is Required From Us in This Season"

From the desk of Steve Shultz:

Sandie Freed is a great teacher. She is equipped to give the Body great understanding where God is leading us...and she shares very practical steps for us to take in getting there.

Travail is an important function and is part of our breakthrough as Sandie shares so well:

Travail is required from us in this season. We are birthing our future. We are birthing revival. We are birthing a measure of His divine presence that will reveal His glory at a new level.

Let this word by Sandie help you to "travail" and see the breakthrough you've been waiting for!

To receive more words like this in YOUR inbox, subscribe FREE to the Elijah List at this link http://elijahlist.com/subscribe.

I heard the Lord say, "My people are at a place of crossing over, but it is also a time of great travail. You must do two important things in this season: cross over into the breakthrough and expect your travail to press you past the narrow place."

At first I thought, "Well, are we crossing over or are we at the narrow place?" Dear Believer, it is both. The way the Lord showed me is that it is all connected. We must be determined and completely focused on cycling out of old patterns and mindsets and cross over into our Promised Land. The Lord has already defeated the giants in our land, but we must go in and possess! (Photo via publicdomainpictures.net)

The Narrow Place

At each place where we are transitioning, there is a narrow place. This will always make advancing forward extremely difficult.

I have a Native American heritage. Allow me to explain a bit. My great-grandfather was a prominent Creek tribal leader and my grandmother would tell me stories about her childhood adventures. I would sit intensely at her feet, hanging onto every word she shared about living in the "wilderness and her Native American childhood."

I was a captive audience as she shared how she would climb trees with her brothers and wait for the wild mustangs to storm by and then attempt to jump from the tree and ride them! She said that one time she actually landed well and was able to hang on and ride for about fifty yards! Those were her "fun" times. But also, living in the wilderness area, had its dangers.

One such danger was her description of canoing with her dad after a long spring rainy season. They ventured on a trip down river to visit some relatives but on the way back much of the bank had crumbled (due to the rain storms) and had narrowed the waters. Great-grandpa was alerted and grandma knew he was concerned. Then ahead, he spotted two of his enemies...waiting for his return at that narrow place! He speedily grabbed his bow and arrow along with his rifle...preparing for an attack!

He prayed aloud asking for God to protect them (he was a strong Christian), and then signaled for grandma to lay flat in the canoe. Well, then, I was told that great-grandpa stood up and scared them off with his confident war cry and they left! (Thank the Lord!) But oh! That narrow place!

A narrow place can be an extremely dangerous place because it is difficult to navigate through it. Many times the enemy will attempt to oppose us at those narrow places, and the way to breakthrough in victory and advance into destiny and future is to begin to give a war cry (a victory shout for us Believers!), and also to learn the importance of travail. (Photo via Wikipedia)

Hezekiah in a Narrow Place

In Scripture, there is a good example of someone who learned how to press through in the narrow place. In Isaiah chapter 36, Hezekiah is being threatened by the king of Assyria and his field commander. The harassment, lies and threats from the king of Assyria were so intense that Hezekiah tore his clothes, wore sackcloth and went into the temple. He then sent this word to the prophet Isaiah:

"...This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth." Isaiah 37:3

Interestingly, the word "trouble" in this passage translates as "narrow." Hezekiah was in a very narrow place! Why? Because his enemy was attempting to invade his territory and take him and everyone else captive, if not destroy them! Keep in mind that the King of Assyria was having his field commander speak lies concerning God's ability to protect them and also lied concerning Hezekiah's ability to lead them into victory.

Dear one, has the enemy been lying to you also? Has the enemy been declaring that God will not protect you? Maybe the words from your enemy sound similar to what was spoken to the Jews and sound like this:

• You keep declaring that you are strong in the Lord, but you're really weak! Do you believe that just because you declare that you are strong in Him that you really are?
• You testify that you are depending on the Lord. Do you really believe that He cares about your circumstances?
• Why don't you just agree with me? You know that God doesn't hear your prayers. Just quit praying! Nothing good will come from your senseless prayers.

Take a few moments and read the lies and false accusations from the king of Assyria and his field commander spoken to the Israelites (Isa. 36:4-32). As you read, you will notice that the tactics of our enemy are still the same today – he is a liar and a false accuser! And, at every time of breakthrough and crossing over (narrow place), he attempts to rise up and resist us!

Believer, I have gone to great lengths to expose the lies of the enemy in my book, Silencing the Accuser: Eight Lies Satan Uses Against Christians. This book will empower you if you are experiencing a narrow place and are transitioning.

More on the Narrow Place

When Hezekiah said this is a place of "trouble" in Hebrew, it also meant "a place of great anxiety, distress, sorrow, and vexation." I have written much on vexation in my book, The Jezebel Yoke: Breaking Free From Bondage and Deception. Allow me to quote some of the symptoms I write about concerning vexation:

• Feeling like you're at the "end of your rope!"
• Inability to concentrate and confused.
• Feeling intense pressure.
• Feeling as if you are under some type of "witchcraft" assignment.
• Targeted by the enemy.
• Struggling with manipulation and control.
• Feeling oppressed.
• Feeling cramped (as if you are closed off from destiny), limited and cut-off.
• Feeling bound up and unable to break free.
• Loss of vision.
• Battling a death structure.
• Unable to get past your past.

If you are experiencing any of this, keep reading! The Lord wants you cross over, transition and to possess your Promised Land!

Travail

Finally, another word that is connected to the word (being) "troubled" is the word "travail." Travail is defined as a time of giving birth, delivering a child (promise!), being weary and distressed. When Hezekiah was under intense pressure, he was describing his narrow place. It was intense; it was stressful; it felt as if he were vexed and he was in travail! How is that? Well, he was travailing for breakthrough. It felt to him, as he described, that it was like being a mother who was attempting to deliver, but there was no strength left to do so! (Photo via publicdomainpictures.net)

I know many of us, as Believers, have been feeling the same way at times. Keep in mind that there are many seasons of crossing over and transitions in the Army of the Lord. Our destiny depends upon continual advancement! So, we will face seasons like this periodically. However, knowing where we are and gaining understanding will empower us to cross over and continue to move forward advancing the Kingdom of God.

Travail is required from us in this season. We are birthing our future. We are birthing revival. We are birthing a measure of His divine presence that will reveal His glory at a new level.

However, many of us are like Hezekiah. We have heard the shouts from the enemy and his lies have weakened us. It feels as if there is not enough strength to move on. But, this is what the Lord says to us today: He will not give us something to birth unless He intends to bring it forth! We cannot do this in our own strength, but in His strength and grace we can get the victory over the enemy!

Isaiah 66:8-11 Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

Believers, God is saying to you that, "When I placed the seed of destiny in you, I planned also that you would birth it. At the moment that I spoke it, the conception for completion occurred. There will be a completion of the vision...it is being purified with fire and released to places of perfection as the Holy Spirit leads. I have not abandoned you, I have not forsaken you, for you shall see your destiny fulfilled as you travail and bring forth the promise of My Words."

Believer, God is simply seeking a people to endure the process of perfection...the time of fullness WILL come!

Sandie Freed
Zion Ministries |Co-pastor, Lifegate Church, Hurst, Texas
Email: zionministries1@sbcglobal.net
Website: www.lifegatechurch.org

Dr. Sandie Freed co-labors with her husband, Mickey Freed, doing the work of the Lord as a ministry team. In addition, they are the founders of Zion Ministries Training Center in Bedford, Texas, and Lifegate Church International. Sandie has traveled nationally and internationally teaching dreams and visions seminars and on spiritual discernment. Her ability to adequately prophesy and discern spiritual strongholds over regions has released numerous breakthroughs for individuals and ministries. Sandie has authored Dream On, and eleven other books, most of which are in several different languages. Dr. Sandie and Apostle/Pastor Mickey are ordained with Christian International Ministries, serving on their Board of Governors. They have been married since 1973, and have one daughter, Kimberly.

To receive more words like this in YOUR inbox, subscribe FREE to the Elijah List at this link http://elijahlist.com/subscribe.

Silencing the Accuser: Eight Lies Satan Uses Against Christians by Sandie Freed $15.00 Book

The Jezebel Yoke: Breaking Free from Bondage and Deception by Sandie Freed $15.00 Book