Between a Rock and a Hard Place
I was talking with someone recently about a situation they had found themselves in, which appeared to be that dreaded place we call "between a rock and a hard place." Every place they looked appeared to be a dead end or a way that blocked them from going forward or going backward. As I talked with them, the Lord began to speak.
First, I was reminded of Job, when his life's condition was out of his hands. His former wealth could not save him, his health had failed him, his friends had betrayed him, and yet he declared these words: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth" (Job 19:25).
Some of you may have found yourselves in positions where you are in great need of the Lord's help. Everywhere you look, there appears to be blockages that are keeping you from moving forward, and going backward is not an option. You may feel as though you are not qualified for success or for what you need to remove the obstacles, but this is what the Lord said to me:
I Am Your Way Maker!
"You are qualified to receive the favor of the Lord because you have put your faith in Me. Once again, turn all of your dependency upon Me alone. I am separating My children from every false dependency and hope. Your strengths, your giftings, and your ability to make your own way will not provide the way forward.
"Do not trust in worldly qualifications or natural resources, and do not fear your lack of qualifications or lack of resources. My favor will make a way for you, and when I do, no one will doubt that I am the God of your breakthrough.
"Turn your eyes fully upon Me and put your trust (hope) in Me alone. I will make your barren places alive with fruitfulness. You must know that the name 'Way Maker' is more than just a song to be sung, for I will show you that I AM your Way Maker!"
My Grace Is Sufficient for You
Then I heard this verse: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9–10) (Photo via Unsplash)
Man's boasting is being silenced, and Christ's power will be made known in ways that we could never have imagined. Grace and favor will be your sufficiency. As you humbly acknowledge your weakness, this will be the very place where the power of Christ will come to rest. The barren places will become the womb of miracles. The impossibilities will become the landing strip for awe and wonder. And the desolate lands will drip with new wine.
The Wrestle of "Strivings"
Shake off every hope that is not the hope of Christ in you! Shake off despair, let go of striving in your own strength, and push through the crowd of your own hopeless thoughts so that you can grab hold of the very hem of His garments—then see what happens.
His plumb line of rest has fallen and He is saying, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience" (Hebrews 4:11). He is saying, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalms 46:10).
We must push through the place of putting confidence in our own strengths and abilities (or in anything that is not Christ), then we will enter a spiritual rest that heals our souls and heals His Church.
This wrestle of "strivings" (striving to enter His rest and letting go of striving out of human strength) will cause your soul to truly enter the rest of the Lord. You will witness and come to KNOW that He is God, and He will show Himself as the God of your life and the God that rules in justice and mercy over the nations.
His power, grace, and favor are coming upon the weak and barren places. He alone will be exalted in all of the earth!
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Kathi Pelton
Inscribe Ministries
Email:Â jkpelton@sbcglobal.net
Website:Â www.inscribeministries.com
Jeffrey and Kathi Pelton live in Portland, Oregon. Jeffrey is a writer, teacher and book editor. Kathi is an author and prophetic voice to the Church. They walk with nations and individuals to see God's original intent fulfilled. Their ministry, Inscribe Ministries, was founded upon the verse from Habakkuk 2:2 that says, "Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.'"
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