The routine goes as follows: I turn off the alarm on my sunrise clock between 4:15 and 4:20 on workdays. In actuality, my alarm is set for 4:40 AM but has never had the privilege of rousing me from slumber. My internal clock never misses. Still, I continue to set it as a precautionary measure.
These are commuter hours…but I don’t commute. I commune. Intentionally awaking two hours early for a job that is less than 10 minutes away gives me time and space to soak in God’s presence. I’ve found no better way to start my day.
This morning, though, the Lord began speaking before my eyes had a chance to open.
WHAT I SAW
After a series of car-related inconveniences and malfunctions while traveling to attend a worship event in Paducah, Kentucky (of all places), I arrived home to find my bedroom wall leaking. What??
Water pockets were forming behind an oil painting of a heart, which was plastered to the wall. One by one, the bubbles bulged and burst under and around the painting, causing water to run down the wall.
I called the office to notify maintenance. As I was explaining what was happening in real time, it occurred to me that this was the wall facing the parking lot. THE OUTER WALL. All the plumbing is on the opposite side of my unit. This makes no natural sense.
I look to the left to see the sun shining through my blinds; the water is still running to my right. It’s a bright, sunny-shiny day with not a drop of rain in sight.
That’s when I woke up.
WHAT GOD SPOKE
It’s time for breakthrough. Believe what I reveal more than you believe what you see and feel.
So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim. (2 Samuel 5:20)
HOW IT CONTINUED
My morning continued with praying for a friend and her family while in the shower. (The shower, no matter where I may be, has been my sanctuary for nearly 20 years.) I heard the Lord say, “Before praying for increase, decrease what needs to be decreased and release what needs to be released to avoid cross-contamination.”
I don’t believe this word is solely for my friend and her family or just for me. I believe it’s a time-sensitive prompting for the Body of Christ.
We want the rush.
We are thirsty for the pour.
We are petitioning heaven for BREAKTHROUGH.
But before we stretch out in preparation for expansion, reduction and elimination must occur. And the time is NOW.
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. (Isaiah 54:2-3)
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Seek the Lord about how He wants to flood your life in unimaginable ways and places.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the weights and sins that are contaminating your time, attention, finances, faith, and desires.
What needs to be reduced and what must be released?
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1)
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am [Yahweh] your God. (Leviticus 20:7)
Sincerely,
LaToya NaShae
Wow….this really speaks to me. I was recently meditating on Hebrews 12. On one hand what I need to release is obvious, but just as the water was dripping in an unexpected place I will be asking God to help me see what’s not obvious.