Why Are You Here?

During an encounter that I had with a young person recently, I told them that things were difficult for them because there were some things that they would need to do that had never been done before. The analogy that I used to help this person understand what I was saying to them was that of a wilderness full of trees. I told this young person that they would be the first one to cut down the trees in that wilderness to create a smooth path for those coming behind them.

The same is true for many of us. There are large trees that we must cut down so that those coming behind us won’t have to fight as hard as we are fighting, and they will not stumble because we are destroying everything at the root that is attempting to block us. The task of doing this may seem difficult but the testimony is worth it.

You have to be able to identify the things that have hindered individuals in your lineage, know what the signs of those things are in your own life, and then eliminate it.

As I was going through my own flow of emotions, I thought about the Prophet Elijah. This man had a massive call on his life and was on the front lines battling the foolishness initiated by Ahab and Jezebel (the evil king and queen of Israel mentioned in 1 Kings 16-22).

Elijah was understandably afraid after Jezebel made threats against his life.The bigness of the trees that he was coming against seemed more powerful and stronger than what he could take on alone, but the faithfulness of God was present with Him every step of the way.

Our human flaw is that we attempt to tackle things that

God never called for us to tackle on our own.

Elijah remained faithful to his divine assignment despite his own emotions. Within his faithfulness with the presence of fear, Elijah willingly went into the desert to tell God that he wanted to die. So many people find themselves sharing the same emotions that Elijah did but the beauty of this moment in time is that God was present with Him.

In the midst of what you are going through, pay attention to where your struggles lead you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Elijah took 1 day's journey into a desert that God never called him to be in. He isolated himself and told no one where he was going. God saw Elijah, made sure that he was fed, led him out of the desert onto Mt. Horeb (the mountain of God), and asked him, “why are you here?”.

Many of us are like Elijah. We allow ourselves to willingly go into a dark place when life makes us feel like that is where we should be, but unlike Elijah, we fail to allow God to personally minister to us while we are there.

When you are sad, mad, discouraged, depleted, feel inadequate, like you don’t belong, or when you have any other feeling that takes you into a place of despair, allow yourself to hear God as He asks you, “why are you here?”. Answer Him honestly and know that He has a plan to lead you out of the desert and into a place of peace in Him.

Lord, intervene concerning my emotions. I pray for your presence in every area of my life, and I pray that you will fill the places in my heart that are empty. Lord, even the desert can be overwhelming, but I pray that you clothe me with the words that you spoke in Jeremiah 29:11. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Recommend Reading:

1 Kings 19

Jeremiah 29:11

Comments

The Private, Matters

“And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” ( Luke 1:1-20 NKJV). Zacharias’ prayer was not answered in the way that he thought that it would be. During his prayer time with the Lord, he asked God to allow him and his wife to have a baby, but years passed, and they got older. Zacharias’ went on with his life until his season changed, and it was time. Time for what you may ask; it was time for the blessing of the Lord over this man and wife to come to pass. The issue was that Zacharias had allowed this prayer to leave his heart, and unbelief took its place. Wha...

Why I won’t date

So many women define themselves by their relationship status. I used to be one of those women. It didn’t matter if that man cheated on me, lied to me, or insulted me; I was not going to leave him. I needed a relationship to make me feel beautiful and wanted, but at the same time I knew that the men that I was trying to make love me were not ordained for me. Women don’t consider that word, ORDAINED. It’s easy for a man to make us feel loved, wanted, less lonely and desired, but that man cannot make us feel full. That is what I need in my life, fullness. I understand that God is my husband and that my fairy tale love story has to begin with him before I bring a man into the mix. You see, marriage is a union. You become one with your husband. You live with him, you love him, you worship with him and you fight (spiritually) with him. The not so tricky thing about the before mentioned aspects of marriage is that all of those things have to begin in your singleness. I have a tendency...

You Are Not Alone: Wilderness Chronicles pt.2

“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (1 Kings:19;4 KJV). The wilderness is a different place to different people. Some people consider the wilderness to be a dry place full of nothing. Other people may consider the wilderness to be a situation. Whatever you consider your wilderness to be, know that you are not alone. The devil uses the wilderness to isolate you, but God uses the wilderness to teach you, advance you, equip you, and then eventually release you out (or back) into your purpose. God can also use the wilderness to refresh you. Elijah was an awesome man of God. He literally prayed down fire and he went against kings in the name of the Lord. Elijah was bold, but he was also human. On one particular occasion, Elijah went into the wilderness after an encounter he had wi...

Can You Praise the Lord in Prison?

“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening” (Acts 16:25 NLT). Paul and Silas were some bad boys! Can you imagine doing the right thing and being locked up because of it? These men had a freedom that the people they encountered needed to see because they were not bound although others could visibly see the chains that had been placed on them. They did not misrepresent Christ because of their circumstances and they did not try to give up serving Him because of the predicament that they had found themselves in. ~~~~~ Stop being mad at God because things do not go the way that you expect them to. ~~~~~ “ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Paul and Silas knew who their God was and they knew that He was going to come through for them no matter what their situation looked like. They knew enough about God...

Eat The Meat

I am not sure what age my parents took my bottle away, but I do know that I was old enough to understand that it was time for me to give it up. I remember wanting a pool, and my father told me that I could have the pool if I threw the bottle away. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I put the bottle in the trash and found it back on the counter a little while later. Perhaps my parents knew that I would not adjust well, or perhaps they didn’t want to find out what it would look like for me to go through that transition in that moment in time. To make a long story short, I continued to use that bottle after I threw it away, and I never got that pool that I wanted. Growing up never excited me, and I suffered for many years because of it. There were times that I thought that I was big enough to be ‘grown', but mistakes and the need of my mom pulled me right back down into reality. As I continued to get older, many intersections that I faced placed me in a...

Waiting for the Promise vs. Moving in Impatience

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? ” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him” ( Genesis 17: 17-19 NKJV). Isaac was desired, but Ismael was birthed out of impatience. If God told you that you were going to birth something beautiful, no matter what your season may look like, bank on the Lord’s promises. Your Ishmael does not have to be a man, your Ishmael can be an opportunity. Don’t walk into just any ole thing because you got tired of waiting on God. If God promised you something in 2016 and you didn’t see it in 2017, that does not mean that He forgot about what He promised you. Isaac had a set season and ...

The Importance of Knowing How to Pray

No matter what mental state you are in, where you are in life, or who you have around you, prayer will always be the heartbeat of your survival. You need to know how to pray during both the mountain top experiences and the valley experiences. If no one ever taught me anything, I learned how to express myself to God through prayer. Prayer isn’t always about asking God for things, but you can actually sit with Him and tell Him how you feel. There have been moments in my life where I felt like the Lord was the only one that I could talk to about what was going on in my life. You have to get into a place where you begin to communicate with God as you would with anyone else. There are times when I speak out loud to God because I know that He is around me. God’s presence is peace, it changes the atmosphere, and it will shift your entire mood. Once you’ve talked to the Father, you know that everything will be ok just because He is around you. I pray that for anyone that needs it. I p...

Walk on Water Faith

Becoming great takes faith. Peter did not become great in the twinkle of an eye. He had to go through things. This same man who stood up boldly to tell people about the Holy Spirit also once denied Jesus. We have to be so prayed up in Christ because we don’t always know what our flesh or our circumstances will cause us to do. The struggle to greatness gets real! David had to fight many battles not only in the world, but in the kingdom of God because he was called to greatness. David wrote many psalms documenting his trails and successes. He was a man after God’s own heart, but yet he was not perfect. We go through things that help sustain us in this life and we can’t remain discouraged by the hurts that the world throws at us. I admire the bravery of the apostles because I don’t know how well I would have done emotionally if whole systems were coming against me. These men were beat, lied on, and put in prison because of the Christ that they were representing. People will ...

Visionary: See It Before You See It

One of things that I ask God for in my prayer time is the ability to be able to hear Him. I want to hear God clearly when He speaks to me. I don’t want to drown out His voice which is easy for me to do because I have a tendency to be easily distracted. When God has shown us something, we cannot allow ourselves to get off task. We have to be able to listen to God and we have to be able to envision what He is saying to us. For the past few nights, the word see has been jumping out to me as I read my bible. Before God gave certain people instructions, He told them to see first. Sometimes the personal words that God has for me can be hard to believe because they are things that I don’t see in myself. Life can sometimes have a way of making us not believe the things that God is saying to us, but we have to be able to see His promises mentally before we actually see them tangibly. Despite what may be going on around you, all you need to do is see . Sometimes you have to see what...

JaNina B.

Search This Blog