Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
The opening lines of “A Tale of Two Cities” are some of the most famous in English literature, in fact, in all literature. The author is Charles Dickens.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
Dickens may have had more prophetic perspective than we thought. If we have ever lived in a time when these words were truer I was either not alive or slept through it. I do not know if you noticed in the midst of all the economic, political and international shaking, we have been experiencing a major transition in the spiritual climate in the church in our nation. What had so much life and promise on it a couple of years ago seems to be on life support and does not seem very promising to some of us right now. Let’s be real, there are a lot of disheartened believers out there right now. I hope you are not one of them, but if you are I want to offer some encouragement and insight on how to not lose heart in these times.
From a personal perspective I am very blessed in my spiritual life. I have tapped into a vein of relationship and revelation with the Lord that I thought was reserved for only the very spiritually privileged. It has been a dream come true for me. I think I am really becoming a friend of God after all the years of wandering in a spiritual wilderness. Having said that, I have also experienced some very difficult setbacks in some of the visions and dreams that God has given me. In particular I have been real disheartened over the delay in seeing The Father’s House become more of a reality. Even more than the deferred dreams, I have suffered the loss of some relationships and tragic deaths of people I have loved in the past couple of years. It has been one of the most heart breaking and mysterious times I have every experienced.
In some ways it is the worst of times, there is no denying that, but God is revealing the truth called “Walking in the Spirit.” He is revealing that to be “Spiritually minded is life and peace”(Rom. 8:6). In Charles Dickens’ words it is living in the best of times, the age of wisdom, the epoch of belief, the season of light, the spring of hope and like you are already living in heaven.
Paul gave us the key to the great secret of not losing heart in the worst of times, in the midst of a season of foolishness, incredulity, darkness, despair and loss – “seeing the invisible”(2 Cor. 4:16-18). A few years ago I heard Bill Johnson say, “To stay in a move of God you focus on what God is doing not on what He is not doing.” That is setting your mind on things above not on things of this earth (Col. 3:2). It works because it is the truth. God will show you what He is doing if you really want to see it.
This is really not “A Tale of Two Cities” but “A Tale of Two Trees”. If you and I as believers live from the tree of knowledge of good and evil then we are not much different than everyone else in the world. We are going to be beaten down like everyone else. We are to live from the tree of life. Jesus did not judge by the sight of His eyes nor decide by the hearing of His ears (Is. 11:3). He did not make up His mind apart from the Father’s wisdom and guidance. Our natural minds make great servants but terrible masters. We either live from our minds or by the Spirit. There is no third option.
If you want to see the invisible you are going to have to bend. Too many of us are walking around spiritually blind and deaf because of a strong mindset. If you want the mind of Christ you have to surrender your opinions, judgments, critical attitudes, accusations and strong beliefs and He will give you His mind.
Many Blessings, BW