IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE

This time a little over a year ago I was in a position where things were piling up around me and it was intense warfare in business and in health.

In absolutely desperation and at the end of myself I went to the Lord. The Lord asked me a question “have you done all you can?” My answer was yes, I was at the end of everything in terms of what I could do.  He then said, “This is correct.”

How many people at this moment are in a place where they can’t do anything?  They are in isolation, there jobs, businesses or lifestyle has just stopped, and you can’t do anything about it. You have done all you can.

The Lord then said to me a very personal message “you are going into the belly of the whale (like Jonah) and we will see where you get spat up.  When you are in the belly of the whale you are to do nothing as I will be doing it.  If you try and do something you will end up watching from the terraces.”

I have had many words of prophecy from the Lord and I have tried to bring those into being thinking I was about the Lords business.  The Lord wanted me to reach an end of myself.  A lot of things I had done were very much in obedience and the fruit of those is seen but also a lot of stuff was me doing it, and not Him doing it, as I tried to do things in my timeline.  There is a distinction here and a fine line to walk.

I understood that what the Lord was saying to me here was that if I kept going in my strength and not His strength then my health issues would worsen and it would mean I was going home early and I would be watching the outcome from the terraces in heaven. That was a shock and I knew this was serious for me.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

This message was also very difficult for me as I think when things are happening around you and to you there is a need for a number of us to try and do something about it and resolve it. It can be very difficult to let it go and let the Lord do it.

Letting go in this sense doesn’t mean not being practical and not going to work and doing the things around me.  But it is doing it in a way knowing that God is doing it not us.  There is a peace in this level of understanding that is needed in these times and that is where we are to be in the current world circumstances.

It is also in this place that we hold onto the words and promises that have been spoken over us.

The Lord has prepared us for this time, and we are ready but we need to know He does it.

Proverbs 21:31

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is from the Lord.

During the last year the Lord has taken two of my larger businesses and sold them. These businesses were 75% of my time and my focus. When the first one of these happened nine months ago it was a shock to me as I had an identity in this.  I had to hold onto the fact that I was in the belly of the whale and I wasn’t to do anything as God was doing it.  This was a blessing for me in the end.  When the second business sold which has just happened, I was more willing to accept it.

I feel that He is now spitting me out of the belly of the whale, and because of the work God did while I was in the belly I am now in a wonderful place to do His business. I can now focus on the remaining businesses which were all the ones He created for me (from prophecy) and I have a totally different level of understanding of trusting in Him and knowing what it is to be at peace.

So, in this time where maybe you are feeling not in control let the Lord do the work in and around you that He wants to do. Really surrender to Him.

One of the points the Lord has really shown me in this last year is the idea of holding loosely.

We all know Jobs story in the bible. Job did things right but even then, what he had was Gods and God chooses what to do with it and He allows things to happen as in the case of Job where it was all taken away (and given back in double at the end). So, hold onto things loosely knowing who it belongs to and all that you have is for the Kingdom

I had to do this with my business and my health. I am still totally accountable for the stewardship (parable of the talents) of what I am given to look after and do, but I understand that it is His and I hold it loosely as a result. I could have a billion dollars to steward and work with, but I know now that He can shift that to someone else for a Kingdom purpose and I am Ok with that.  While I have it, I will do all I can using the talents and giftings He has given me, but I am surrendered to Him moving it whenever and wherever He wants for a Kingdom purpose.

Psalm 50:10

For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.

I feel when we truly reach this position, He can then trust us with more of His to steward for Him.

And in

Hebrews 11:13

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

We are here for a purpose, and what we are given here, we are to steward for the Kingdom purpose but we are only strangers and pilgrims here so we can learn to hold loosely what we have here.

 

Through this year I have been reminded of some key things.

There is black and white and there is light and darkness. This is very simple but we are in a spiritual battle all the time and don’t kid yourself that we are not (Matthew 11:12).  Jesus is the light and He shines through us when we walk as we are meant to.

That is the second reminder I have been given and that is to be righteous.  It is a battle so don’t set yourselves up by being unrighteous.  As the Lord owns all things then why am I anxious and why would I walk in darkness.  Abraham was a righteous man and he was counted as a friend of God. I am a friend.

The third reminder is that the price has been paid for us with Jesus’s blood.  So, I live in the house of repentance because when I repent the darkness can’t stick and the light shines as the blood has done the work.  Remember repentance is not just saying it but changing so the sin is there no more.  That is true repentance.  The woman at the well was told to go and sin no more in other words change her style of living.

The fourth reminder is that we walk in power.  As we carry the presence of the Lord more and more, we walk in power (1 Corinthians 4:20). James 4:8 Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you.

 

This is a time for me when I am in a new place that the Lord has allowed me to be spat out in. For me this is literally happening this week in His plan. He has a timing for you.

This is the time in the world where we can remember the reminders He has given us and be surrendered for His moves to happen in our lives.

He is in control and He tells me as I finish

“the season ahead for my children will be wonderous. Difficult and challenging at times but the blessings are there.  Do not lose hope but hold onto all that I have promised in my word and to you personally. I will deliver to those who are aligned and with me at this time.  The world changes but I do not.”