Terry Casales - March 23, 2020
When you are being launched into the unknown, it can feel really scary because you are not sure how it is all going to turn out. Everything you have endured this past season has been in preparation for this mission. In the case of a space launch, a lot of time, expense, effort and preparation was invested by many people for the common goal to ensure these astronauts are successful in their mission. Think about the astronauts in the space shuttle on the launching pad waiting for the rockets to be ignited that will launch them into space. At this moment, they’re in their space suits, securely strapped into their seats, knowing this is the point of no return — no backing out now! As much as they have been training for this mission, I imagine that, when the time actually comes, their human side can feel extremely nervous and scared. It would be all too easy for their minds to automatically travel to the worst case scenarios in those minutes right before launch.
I believe what keeps the astronauts expectant and confident is the knowledge that others have successfully ventured out before them. They already recognize that this mission is much bigger than they are. To them the wonder of what they will discover in this new adventure is well worth the risk because of the immeasurable rewards available to them.
God understands these feelings of anxiety and excitement that can come upon us all at once, right before we step into something new. He is the God of all comfort.
Right before Joshua and the people of God were about to go into the promised land, along with feelings of expectation and excitement about the new place they were entering into, no doubt feelings of anxiety and fear of the unknown presented themselves.
Just as the Lord had words of encouragement for Joshua and His people, the Lord will always have words of encouragement for us before we move into the new He has called us to. It is right before we are to enter into the unknown that God reminds us of His promises and that He is with us:
6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall [a]divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may [b]prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[c] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:6-9 (NKJV)
-------------
Those of us who have walked in the wilderness for a long time have endured many trials, and, even traumatic events during that season. It is in the moments as we cross over, that we need God to heal us from those traumas and cycles from the enemy that have kept us stuck, running in a hamster wheel, seemingly not going anywhere.
In the wilderness we become so accustomed to living in “survival” and “battle” mode, that, when the promise becomes manifest, we are not ready to deal with the giants in the land! It is tempting to go back into the “familiar,” instead of pushing through the remaining walls. We go into the new place battle weary and we do not feel like we have the strength to fight one more thing.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. - Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)
-------------
If we allow ourselves to live out of the place of barrenness and defeat, without the work of healing in our souls, we are unable to accept and to believe that we will receive what God has promised, despite the fact that we are now standing in that promised land.
It is easy for our spiritual lenses to become cloudy because we are unable to see our way ahead. It feels like we are swinging our swords in the dark. There needs to be a cleansing and deliverance of the mind and the heart from everything that has been a hindrance to us — which may go back years and, even decades!
However there is good news! It is in the wilderness season that God has given us the opportunity to seek Him in the secret place and in His Word so that we can discover and receive revelation of who we really are in Christ. This is the place we can begin to hear the voice of God and where our minds can be renewed so that we can walk out of our true identity in Christ. Everything begins and ends with our deep, intimate relationship with God — that is the place of rest, preparation, healing and birthing. If it was necessary for Jesus to walk in the wilderness before He was commissioned and able to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is also necessary for us to do the same as followers of Jesus because as Jesus was on the earth, so are we in Him:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. - Acts 10:38 (NKJV)
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. - 1 John 4:17 (NKJV)
-------------
I believe that we are in a time that God is doing a reset from the worldly mindsets which have kept us in bondage of demonic cycles our whole lives. God wants us to be delivered for such as time as this so that we can live in freedom and help set others free to enter into all that God has created them to be! It is crucial that we enter into the promised land whole — free from the baggage of the past — and with the revelation of who we really are in Christ. It is in knowing who we are and Whose we are — and the authority that goes with it — that we are then equipped to carry the weight of what He is calling us to operate in.
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. - Luke 9:1 (NKJV)
-------------
The old wineskin we have been carrying our entire lives must finally be removed to make room for the new wineskin — the knowledge of the reality of who we were created to be, as God’s sons and daughters and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Only then can we live out of that reality, walking in our God-given commission to know God and to make Him known, to manifest His Kingdom on earth and to occupy until Christ’s return.
God is calling you to go to where you have never been before as the dreamer and the pioneer that He created you to be to advance His Kingdom! Just like an astronaut is venturing into a new frontier, so are you entering into the frontier of promise! Take the glory of God — the very atmosphere of the Kingdom of God with you into the new land! You are not alone in this new mission because God is with you! You have everything that you need!
Godspeed!
————————