This past year has taken more out of us than we may realize.
Many of us are emotionally drained, spiritually depleted and running on fumes. Pandemic fatigue is a real thing. And it is starting to take its toll, eon all of us.
Yet, I can sense God has something better in mind. He wants to transition us from the season of survival we experienced in 2020 into a season of overflow. His timing is so perfect! If you are anything like me right now, I don’t feel I have much left, let alone enough to overflow!
But see, how amazing God is? As we see this word lived out and our lives begin to overflow with all his goodness and grace and life and joy…we will know it’s him. It will be obvious to us and to others that this is a tangible expression of God with us, in us and through us. This is not something we are able to force or fake; no, not now. Not after the year we’ve had.
Friends, I hope you can grab hold of this word. I believe it has the power to transform what we are experiencing now in the natural. This promise of overflow is not just a pretty picture or an encouraging word. It is a prophetic strategy he is sharing to not only give us what we need to endure the season, but to experience the fullness of life found only in Jesus.
In the past, you have managed to carry the load on your own. You have been able to keep the balls in the air, but this past year, they came crashing down around you. This has been so uncomfortable for you, disheartening at times. But it is not without a purpose. My purpose. I want you to understand that “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” I want you to see this so that our union and intimacy might be greater through your dependence on me. I know how deeply you long for what I can give you, how desperate the need; because I created you to long for me, to need me, to live in me.
This is a new season alright; a new season of being filled to the full and overflowing! But not with the busyness of life or the other things that have filled you in the past. This is a year for being filled with me and living out of the overflow. Hear me, child, in this overflow you will find what you need for your family. You will have all you need to love and support them in this difficult season. But like the oxygen mask on a plane, you must be filled first. You must breathe in my presence, my grace, my love, first. Only as you receive all you need from me can you even begin to be what others need from you.
Yes, in the past, you have been able to maintain in your own strength. Or you have come to rely on other supports and other outlets to help you cope with the demands of life. At times, you have used means of escape to release the growing internal pressure. I understand. Yet, this past year, many of those supports have fallen away or proved to be faulty means of support. And you find yourself struggling, drifting, maybe sinking. I see you, my child. I see your heart, I see your hurt and I hear your cries.
Please understand my heart when I tell you, you are right where I want you.
You are positioned perfectly for a new season of increased intimacy, dependence and fulfillment in me! At the moment, you may not be able to see this for the blessing it is. Again, I understand. Yet, your desire to know me better, to have a real experience and understanding of who I am have led to this place. This moment in time, this longing and sense of losing your footing is the answer to your heart’s cry.
You must choose to believe. The question is not whether I am present, or able or willing. The question is “Will you trust me?” As the supports and rhythms of your life have drastically changed, will you believe that I alone am enough for you?
What an opportunity this is, my child. For you. For us. It has seemed 2020 was a year you won’t forget due to a pandemic, quarantine, life standing still. But, I know, this is the part you will remember. You will look back and see the year you learned to live in intimate union with me.
See this as a gift, child. The answer to your prayers for yourself, your family, your children! Have you not wept over your desire that your children would grow to love me? To know me personally? This is where those seeds are planted. This is a beginning of a new way of life for you; a new model of faith that has the potential to transform your own life and impact your family, relationships and future.
Grab hold of the season. Don’t miss this moment. Begin to see every struggle, news story, crisis, or outbreak as a reminder that your life is in me. That you are actually seated in heavenly places regardless of what you see, hear or feel. That you have an escape, an outlet, that actually meets your needs and brings the life, strength and hope you desperately need.
As you come to me to meet your needs and depend on me to sustain you, my life will begin to overflow in you. You will experience not just enough to maintain your sanity; but you will be filled to the full, until you overflow with love, peace, life, strength and yes, even joy! Joy that makes people question if you even realize what’s happening in the world. Joy that spills over onto your children and those around you. Joy that brings sweetness, satisfaction and pleasure even on the darkest days.
I am not oblivious to the pressure you are facing and feeling. I am not unfeeling or uncaring. Quite the opposite. It is my love and compassion that is speaking to you right now. Others may not be bold enough or strong enough to tell you the truth. But child, I always will. Only as you shift your focus and dependence onto me will you have the strength and stamina to endure this season on the earth. There is no other way. Not that leads to life.
In this season, even your physical strength may be challenged. But I am still enough. I am able to give you supernatural rest and restoration. I am able to overwhelm you with peace that passes understanding and love that never fails. You will experience these things in tangible ways, ways you have not experienced before. This. This is the blessing of the season and the promise of overflow I am offering you. It is yours to believe and receive.