So we’ve been going through a pandemic; COVID-19 for those of you reading this at a later date. Fear has been running rampant, some are saying we’re in the tribulation, others are saying the rapture will take place this year, and still others are saying we’re on the verge of a great revival and there will be a great influx of people entering into the Kingdom of God. Schools have been shut down, businesses have been negatively impacted, mask ordinances have been imposed upon the public, Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA have been on the move, riots have ensued, various police stations have been defunded, and even a coin shortage was recently announced. It has been pure pandemonium; a real chaotic mess!

In the midst of all this turbulence I hear the Lord say, “Rise up!” I think to myself, “Ok. It’s time for the church to arise and address all that is going on. We need to fight this thing, but how? What is my part to play in all of this? The next day I hear, “Sit back and observe. Watch what is unfolding and do not engage.” Now I’m slightly confused, “Do not engage? But I thought you just said we need to rise up? Which one is it Lord?” A couple of days later, in the middle of our worship service at church, I hear, “Remember. Remember me.”

God never contradicts Himself and He is not the author of confusion, so I figured everything I heard Him say must fit together somehow. I began to examine each command, and started asking the Lord how they fit together.

Let’s start with “sit back and observe.” I believe what God was trying to convey was that I was to sit back and rest in Him. Though the world is raging all around us, it’s a season to sit back, rest, and draw nearer to the Lord. As I draw nearer to Him, and quiet myself before Him, I am able to see more clearly what is really going on. I silenced the voices on Social Media and refused to read the many (MANY!) articles shared by concerned individuals. I stopped listening to the many prophets who all have something to say. Why did I do this? I did this so I could hear for myself what the Lord has to say about everything that is going on. Jesus is the only one I want influencing the way I think, so I sought the Lord (and continue to do so), and I began to watch.

Entering into the chaotic mess that is going on in this world, and trying to make sense of it all, without taking time to sit back and enter into the rest of God is like entering into the midst of an ongoing war, fully exposed, and vulnerable not only to attack, but there’s a possibility of being carried away to fight on a side you have no place fighting on. During my observation time, I’ve noticed many Christians picking up the weapons of the enemy (such as complaining) and using them to try and fight the battle. They’ve been carried away.

By placing myself in a position of rest, by sitting at the feet of Jesus, I can gain insight as to what is going on, what the root cause is, and whether or not I am to engage in battle.  I can strengthen myself in Him, and then I can “rise up” and deal appropriately, making perfectly calculated moves using the strategies of Heaven. I’m still seated, fully at rest in Him, but I can rise up in the knowledge of who He has created me to be. I can rise up in my thinking. I can also rise up knowing fully what He requires of me in this season. When I rise up, I have the advantage.

Rising up in the Lord gives us a perspective that many don’t have.  Our thinking is higher, it is clearer, and we are able to see farther. We are able to see beyond what is happening, enabling us to target in prayer things others can’t see. It also enables us to remain calm when others are frantic and in a state of panic. We can speak and pray from a position of authority and rest instead of from a place of fear and dread. It’s from this position I can be sure my prayers have been answered, the words I have spoken have created, and the things I have created with my voice are from the heart of God and do not contribute to the mess that is, but cleans up the mess and clears the way for the King of Glory to enter in.

I am to be the solution, not part of the problem.

A large part of remaining in a position of rest while simultaneously rising up is not only remembering who you are in Christ (identity is of great importance), but remembering who He is. Who is this King of glory? He is strong and mighty in battle (Psalm 24:8). He saw this day from before the beginning of time and made every adjustment, and every provision, we’d ever need. He fights our battles for us; we need only be still. Stillness is not weakness, nor the inability to act on the matter at hand, but it’s wisdom. “Be still and know that I am God,” (Psalm 46:10)! “I am the one who delivered you from the prowler, from the pestilence, from all the evil that roams this earth. I will not fail you. I will not let you down,” says the Lord.

Never forget – your strength does not lie within yourself, but within the Lord. Everything I do in my own strength will come to nothing, but if I move at rest within the Lord, if I move with His Spirit, I will accomplish great and lasting things; things that will change current events and rewrite history. History does not have to continue repeating itself; it can stop with you and with me. The future looks bright – can you see it?