The Lord showed me a vision a long time ago… I was walking down a path and passed a tree stump and had a vague feeling that I had been there before. I couldn’t remember so I shrugged my shoulders and continued down the path, passing others and seeing their faces. I came to the tree stump again and stopped… trying to remember where I had seen it before. I still couldn’t remember so I shrugged my shoulders and continued down the path again. A third time, I came back to the tree stump and said, “Now I know I’ve been here before.” At that precise moment I looked up to see other people that had been on the path with me, going on up to higher ground and I shrugged my shoulders and continued back down the path once again.
A mentor named Sharmaine once said to me, “There is a temperament, a character, a compassion, a long suffering and many other traits of God that have to be downloaded within you to sustain you in what God is calling you to do ultimately.”
This download is accomplished through testing and trials that the Father permits, or in some cases He orchestrates in order to prepare us for the purpose He has planned for us.
The reason the Lord sent me that vision is because I was not learning the lessons He was trying to teach me. The tree stump represents the end of the trial, that I kept coming to and not getting the understanding that the trial should’ve taught. So as others leveled up through the same trial, I would go back through it again.
Proverbs 15:31 (NKJV) The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise.
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
Recently, two dogs moved in next door to us, one to our immediate left and one to our immediate right. Long story short, they LOVE to bark, both of them, very loudly. I prayed and prayed that the Lord would rebuke the devil for putting these dogs here to torment me. I even spoke with one of the owners. Nothing! Finally, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “I put the dogs there! I am trying to teach you endurance. Where I’m taking you, you will experience many loud barkers. You need the stamina and endurance to face it.” What an aha moment that was. Now when the dogs go on a barking frenzy, I just start thanking Jesus. Winston Churchill said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” I am learning to just keep going despite the noise. Some days I put on loud music to block them out, but I keep going.
The apostle Paul said, “We are God’s workmanship (handiwork, masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus for good works. God is saying, “I am trying to work on you, but you are like that lump of clay that the potter cannot get to act right.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NLT) The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as He told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the LORD gave Jeremiah this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
One day I happened to see the NIV version of Jer. 29:11 which records the Lord saying, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." When I saw those words "not to harm you" I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared at it for a long, long time. Why did I think my God meant to harm me? It was like someone had slapped me upside my head or something. Another aha moment.
James 1:2-4 (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
I heard someone say in a song, "Don't question God, just accept what He allows, you're better off anyways."
Voice of the Dove, Dee Richardson