"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength”. Isaiah 30:15
Have you ever considered that it is out of the “secret place” with God that we hear Him more clearly and we then go fully empowered to lead others? Whether you’re leading your children, youth, small groups, teaching, pastoring, mentoring, coaching, or a business leader, God wants us to lead well. And it is out of that intentional time with Him where we receive heaven’s directives and strategies for the future.
The question for us is the same as it was for Israel during the time of Isaiah, “do we want to be strong in the Lord? If so, then we must be intentional to get to a place of quietness and confidence with God.
Being in the “secret place” with God is our greatest reward! Quietness helps “recalibrate” us from all the noise and clatter of the world around us. Busyness can be one way we prevent ourselves from really knowing God and being known. We can develop unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Busyness can be a distraction from encountering God because we’re afraid of what He will tell us or show us.
You and I are made in God’s likeness and image and when we intentionally “go into that place of quietness with God” we not only find Him, but really we find our true self. We come out of hiding and trust our good, good Father to lovingly embrace us and bring us closer to His heart and mind, and heal those places in our hearts that have been hidden.
Elijah in 1 Kings 18-19 was experiencing great accomplishments on Mt. Carmel against the false prophets, only to go into an unhealthy response to opposition. Elijah ran and hid in a cave, but ultimately, when God asked him what he was doing, this great prophet of God had to stop talking and focus on what Jehovah had to say. God’s words recalibrated Elijah.
God simply wanted Elijah to be honest about his feelings and his choices. Vulnerability with God helped him come into freedom from wrong thinking. When we are alone with God and stop talking, then we can hear God speak.
Our culture is all about “doing and accomplishing goals", but God wants us to exit the rat race and just BE with Him. God’s words of truth will bring us out of an unhealthy place. The Lord’s life-giving words will bring us into experiencing His glorious blessings, truth, and courage to partner with His plan and strategies to enlarge His kingdom on earth.
God had to help Elijah recognize his unhealthy and fearful response to Ahab and Jezebel in order to bring a shift to the nation. As the prophet heard the word of the Lord, he then did what was in the heart of God. He anointed Hazael as king over Syria and Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha to be the prophet in his place. Then each one went on to fulfill God’s destiny and plans for their lives.
Even if our attitude is wrong, like Elijah’s was, God, is still determined to encounter us and speak to us and expose our unhealthy beliefs, adjust our attitude, and renew our vision. He then gives us courage, guidance, and strategies to accomplish His plans and purposes. We then leave the “secret place” to intentionally engage in what God is empowering us to release to others to enlarge the kingdom of our God.
We pray and declare that you will be intentional to daily go into that “secret place” with God. We declare He is healing your unhealthy places and wrong beliefs through the power of His truth and love and empowers you to release others into their calling and destiny. We declare that quietness and confidence shall be your daily strength!
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