Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
There are times when we will experience spiritual renewal, fresh vision or receive a prophetic word about promotion or blessings and the next thing we know our life seems like it is coming unraveled. It is like we get the opposite of what was promised and many people lose their way in the wilderness that stands between them and their land of hope fulfilled.
Francis Frangipane called this part of our journey dismantling. Here is what he said about it.
“Here is what I have discovered: just before the Lord releases a new mantle or anointing upon an individual, He will often “dis-mantle” elements of that individual’s previous level of service. This dismantling will often feel like we are in a season of brokenness. But if we keep faith in God during the process, a new mantle will come. When it does, you will have greater conformity to Christ and thus greater power.”
King David knew a thing or two about being dismantled. One day he was out in the fields tending the family’s sheep and a message comes for him to return home right away because Samuel the Prophet was calling for him (1 Sam. 16).
I can only imagine what David must have been thinking as he hurried home. When he arrived, he was not disappointed. He was anointed as the next King of Israel. Life as David knew it was about to be turned upside down thanks to Samuel promoting him into years of adversity so he could actually become the king.
I believe we are in a season of promotion and upgrade. David is a powerful example of how to pray, perceive and position one’s self before the Lord during the transition from being dismantled into higher levels of His Presence, power, and purpose.
David prayed, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have enlarged me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1)
Recognize who God is to you. Christ is our righteousness (right relationship with God) (1 Cor. 1: 30). David had a revelation of God being his righteousness before God revealed Christ as our righteousness. He had a New Covenant heart in the Old Covenant era. He approached God on the basis of God being His righteousness, not because of his performance, right or wrong. That is why he could confidently say, “Hear me when I call.”
The point is not whether you acted right or wrong as you were being dismantled. If you are anything like me, you likely will have some days you didn’t behave very well. The point is we are in right relationship with the Father based on Christ performance. Trust in that, lean on that, appeal to God based on His performance.
David declared what God had done for him when distress (dismantling) came his way. Distress means “a tight spot.” Enlarged means “a spacious place.” If you think about it, this seems to be the order of life. In order to get to the wide-open spaces of grace, we must first pass through a tight place.
A mother’s labor pains push the baby from the confinement of the womb into the birth canal and the baby is delivered into life. A seed is simply a lone seed until it is planted in the ground. Time, temperature, and pressure eventually will force the seed from the depth of the earth into its destiny.
David placed his trust in the Lord but did not want to linger in the womb of distress any longer than necessary. So, he asked God for mercy. In the New Testament, Paul says that God is the “Father of mercies” and “God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:1-3). This is a revelation of who God is and what His heart is like. If you feel stuck, ask Him for the sure mercies of David (Isa. 55:3).
Many Blessings, BW