THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

One of the things Jesus did while He was here on earth was to pray constantly.  Was He praying for Himself?  No, He was praying for those around Him, He was praying for the Fathers will to happen and He was praising the Father.  This prayer from Jesus for us has never stopped.  He prays for us now as He did for those around Him back when he was physically on earth.

A few weeks ago through a word received Jesus was praying for wisdom for myself and some around me.  If we hear His voice and we seek Him then we can hear His intervention for us.  Through this hearing we see His love.

Over the last couple of weeks I am experiencing the Fathers wisdom around me and into my life constantly.

One of the things that He has been hammering home to me over the last few years is the need to be practical. He is giving me more wisdom on this during this time. I have been pushing into what he has for me to do whenever I can. As a result I can’t remember the amount of times He has said “Do you have the money for this?”.  My answer has been no.  Then He has said “Then you can’t do this at this time.”

Now this has been frustrating many times as I have heard His words over my life and I have had the prophecy so as far as I was concerned I am into doing it. However even though I have words in these areas it has not been His time or place.

This week He took it one step further and gave me the story of the Tortoise and the Hare.  We all know that story.  He said to me “who wins?”.  We all know that answer!  Then He said to me “so you need to be like the tortoise I want you to do things at a pace you can sustain as the Tortoise will win”.  I have pushed in so hard on many things for the last few years believing I was in the Lord’s will and that He would carry me (read message: presuming on His grace).

Now I believe His wisdom is really starting to sink in.  He said “your goalpost hasn’t moved, it is still there but the way we have to get to the goalpost is changing.”

He tells us in Isaiah 46: 9-10

Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying “My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.’

He knows the end from the beginning and it will stand.  However our “free will” will change the way we get somewhere.  If we act like a hare and not a tortoise then likely we are going a different way.  Believe me being the hare is more than likely going to have consequences and be a lot tougher.  We have an appointed time for things (Read message: Is this your appointed time).

 

I now share some of my learnings on being practical which can mean being like the tortoise.

All these examples were given to me in the last ten days.

 

Galatians 2:11

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;

12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

 

So even after the resurrection with all that Peter had seen and that he knew he was moving in, also knowing what he had to complete, he was still a man who didn’t get it right all the time and he also had to live in this world.

We wait for the fire, the movement, the anointing and appointing and maybe we think then all will just be perfect and the issues around us and our faults will all be gone.

No this is not correct we may be better equipped to handle them but we still live in the world.

This is why God is so practical and forcing us to sort out our rubbish now. He is teaching us to be practical and real. He doesn’t apply the magical wand (although He could) because He knows that won’t fix us. The issues he is highlighting in us have to be acknowledged and dealt with.  In a number of cases we know we have these issues and in other cases we don’t realise we have issues and he will highlight them to us.

Because as we see here Peter still had basic issues in him post Resurrection and Holy Spirit.

This is basic practical stuff that must be dealt with in us.  And it doesn’t happen overnight and that is why taking the pace of a tortoise sometimes is critical for us to make the change and then hold the ground.

Moses – 40 years

Joseph – 14 years

And numerous others.  I am sure it felt like a tortoise pace for these guys but God knew what he was doing and He didn’t move the goalpost but he wanted to know that when he used these men and when he uses us the goal will be scored.

In being practical He has told me again and again I have to have plan a and plan b.  Why because He is practical and He expects us to be. He once said to me “I have plan a-z”. Why because free will moves the way we get somewhere.  And it is not just our free will but the free will of those around us that impact us.  He will not step in and stop someone’s free will so that your path is easier. He may allow pressure on them to get change but they still have the final choice. This is our God who loves us and respects all of us. We are His creation saved and unsaved. The goalposts haven’t moved but the way we get there has.  This is why it is vital we listen, take our time if necessary and obey what he is giving us as he knows the easiest way for us to get there. If someone else has made a free will decision that means we have to go a different way to get there remember He has plan a-z.

 

This week he took me to His word to give me a practical lesson on wealth.

2 Kings 12:4-16

4 And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the LORD—each man’s census money, each man’s assessment money —and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the LORD,

5 “let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”

6 Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.

7 So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”

8 And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.

9 ¶ Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the LORD; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the LORD.

10 So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

11 Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the LORD,

12 and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the LORD, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.

13 However there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the LORD.

14 But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the LORD with it.

15 Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.

16 The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD. It belonged to the priests.

 

Jehoash is used here to give a very practical lesson on wealth.  What he showed me

1) Money is not to be used for ourselves. The priests took the money for years and didn’t repair the temple. They got into the practise of using money for themselves. Our needs are covered (like the sparrow) but money is for the Fathers business. In this case repairing the temple.

2) The scribe and the priest account for the money. There is accountability.

3) Money is to be given into the hands of those who do the work. They pay the workers.

4) They did not made silver basins or articles of gold or silver for the Lord. The money was used for practical work to get things done. The Lord had these already from someone’s earlier work don’t duplicate.

He doesn’t want us wasting it on big fancy buildings or flash stuff, it is about being practical.

5) They didn’t require account from the men whose hands it was given to pay the workers.

These need to be men who can be trusted. In the future these are the men He will need.

 

He then straight away takes me to Psalm 99:7

He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.

 

This was a practical lesson for me (I always need those) and it doesn’t mean this is for you. But I will listen and be practical about what He is showing me. When He shows you practical stuff take it on board.

He wants to help us with wisdom and this comes with time.

 

Our own strength

Another morning this week He shows me

2 Chronicles 16:7

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.”

 

Ouch how many times have we stopped blessings on us and around us because we did it on our own? We stepped in at our pace and not the Lords.  I have often had a word and rushed off to make it happen.  He often gives us a word so we have something to stand on in the tough times but it doesn’t mean the word will happen now.  But the process to get to the completion of the word is important for us to handle the word and this can mean going at the pace of a tortoise.  Be prepared for that and embrace the learning.

What have we stopped or delayed in blessings because we went off at the pace of a hare and not a tortoise!

The hare didn’t get the win and he was not on good ground as an individual.  Let us be on solid ground, on Him.

As I typed this note on Asa earlier in the week it is on my heart to cry out for his grace and mercy where we have caused blessings and delays to happen in our life due to being the hare. It is my heart to appeal to the Lord as Jacob appealed.

Lord bring me back in line with your will and your plans.  Keep me practical and on pace.

 

Consequences of being a hare

 2 Chronicles 16:9

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

 

War was the consequence of Asa’s actions.  There are consequences to our actions and our sin.  The Father gives us free will and our actions have results.  But He also gives us wisdom and practical knowledge so we can grow and learn quickly and not repeat the errors.

 

This morning the Lord gives me

2 Corinthians 4:18

while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight

 

We have wisdom and practicality and we work like the tortoise using this knowledge, but we walk in faith not looking at those things that we would see as negative in this process like our age, the years passing by or the trials along the way.  We look at the unseen the goalpost that has been achieved already in the spirit realm and we move in a faith knowing this is done.

 

Isaiah 14:24

The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:

 

My Fathers word is His word in my life and in yours!