Somewhere Within

Somewhere within the impenetrable prison of your present circumstance, and the hindrances that have kept you back… somewhere within, is a soul primed for breakthrough. In the low cage of adversity, of crushed status, and intentions gone amiss, you see through the fallen-tree bars of captivity that you’ve made it through the long journey. You’re at the other side of your wilderness, at the brink of release into a glory-filled horizon, where the Lord has called you to be.
 
One foot is on land, and one touches the promised waters of freedom. The start of a different scene than what you’ve known. So close you can taste it—you’re almost in it. Like a love note, the Spirit of the Lord sings, “Rest in me and watch… watch my hand move in your favor.”
 
You don’t know how it will occur, the upturning of the wasteland cage wherein you are. But you blink and a giant hand has lifted the front end of the coop, rolling it backward. As you stand up stronger, the bars are now behind you, blocking the hardships of the past. The Spirit of the Lord sings, “Fear not! I am with you. Take that step; your hand in mine. Step wide-open in liberty into the new waters I have prepared.”

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​“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,
because the LORD has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all who mourn,
to console the mourners in Zion--
to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

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UPDATE:
Today is July 12, 2023. It has been a very active time in the spirit. As I was driving out to the stables where I keep my horse, the Holy Spirit placed this blog post in my mind and on my heart. I was pondering it when I came to a pond I pass by in the country. Saw that a tree had fallen into the pond in such a way that only its root system was exposed. It looked very much like the photo above I’d used for the allegorical wasteland cage. Except for this one was rolled up, a cage upturned, if you will; released, freed. It reminded me of the hand of God at work. He reminded me that his promises are imminent.
 
There’s one more thing. Something else about the cage of roots in the pond today that stirred my heart.
 
Sitting on the top was a pure white heron. The Lord has used the heron often with me, particularly a white heron once, to speak to me during a spiritual shift. This time, when I slowed my driving, absorbing the symbolism, the heron slowly spread its mighty wings wide and then tucked them in gracefully as it looked at me. The peace and assurance of the Holy Spirit alighted.
 
The Creator orchestrated that heron just for me on that uprooted tree. I know. The Lord speaks in a multitude of ways. The more time you spend in his presence, the more you observe and understand his love language. This encounter, for me, was vast and magnificent. And that’s just like my God, who loves, and knows, and cares, and is mindful of us down to the itty-bitty and divinely timed details.

May you be blessed, encouraged, and delighted in his ways, his love language all around in your life!