WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? IT’S TIME FOR THE INCREASE!
We may have entered the season of autumn, but the Lord says, “No longer will you be as an automaton. No longer just going through the motions, waiting for the escape, or fearing that it may be too late.” (Too old or the world too far gone into evil). For I hear the Lord saying, “Now is the time to move out of the gate, advance my Kingdom and make the paths straight. For there is a harvest in your field; follow My leading and you will bring forth the yield.”
Recently the Lord has taken me to two separate and seemingly disparate places in scripture – 1 Kings 19:9, 13 and Habakkuk 1:5 and 2:14.
ELIJAH’S KINGDOM ADVANCEMENTS
1 Kings chapters 17-18 are full of great Kingdom advancement through the prophet Elijah:
· He boldly goes before a very wicked King – Ahab and prophecies a three-year drought, which follows.
· He is led out by God to the brook Cherith and fed by ravens.
· He was then sent to Zarephath to a widow woman and prophesied that the little food she had would continue until the drought was over, which happened.
· The widow’s son died and Elijah raised him from the dead.
· He brings forth a showdown between the 450 prophets of Baal and God, then destroys the 450.
· He goes to Ahab to tell him he hears the sound of abundance of rain, which comes, then supernaturally outruns Ahab’s chariot.
IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL GOD SAYS SO;
Chapter 19 of 1 Kings brings a turning of the story. Ahab tells his wife Jezebel what happened to her prophets and she sent a messenger to Elijah threatening to do the same to him. Elijah went at once to the wilderness and asked God to take his life. He was done! A threat from Jezebel, after all that God had powerfully done through him!
An angel came and ministered to him with food and water; he ate and slept. This repeated, with the angel exhorting him with the message to arise because the journey would be great. A new assignment! I believe he went 40 days on that meat of the word of the Lord!
Hear this! It’s not over; Jezebel (or any other enemy) can’t win when God has another assignment. In fact, if you are under attack, good news – the enemy knows you are about to do some mighty Kingdom works. Advance - if God sends you, He will equip you, provide for you and protect you!
After 40 days Elijah went to Mt. Horeb, the Mount of God, and hid in a cave. God came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah responds in a negative discourse about all that he has been through in his jealousy for God and the state of God’s people, and now he is the only one left. The Lord brought wind, earthquake and fire, but His presence was not in those. He revealed His presence to Elijah in a still, small voice.
"Be still, and know that I [am] God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psa 46:10 NKJV)
Some time ago, I heard it by the Spirit this way: “Be still and you will know I AM!” We sometimes have to still ourselves to be aware that He is with us now!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? THERE ARE NEW ASSIGNMENTS IN STORE!
God asks again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He gives the same response as before. God answers with new assignments and a needed reality check for Elijah – there were 7,000 more who never bowed before Baal!
You are not alone! God is with you, as are millions more throughout the nations of the earth who are about the Father’s business; the multitude of witnesses who have gone before us who are cheering you on, and Jesus is always with you and has given you authority and power! (Matt. 28:18-20).
Raise up your thoughts to great expectation of God’s goodness and set your face to go forward. God will bring others alongside you to further the mission. He is waiting for your right response – belief in His faithfulness, goodness and covenantal promises, and your willingness!
God was ready to bring a multiplication to Elijah. He sent him forth to 1) anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 2) anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. 3) And Elisha as prophet in Elijah’s place because after that he would be translated directly to heaven!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE… DID YOU FORGET WHO YOU ARE AND WHOSE YOU ARE?
The question is not referring to a physical place – God knew Elijah was in a cave, and He knew Adam and Eve were in the garden. He knows right where you are, always! The question is intended for self-examination! The prodigal son awakened to the reality of where he was in relation to his rightful place with his father.
What are you doing here in this state of being - spiritually, mentally or emotionally? Anything less than faith, love, joy, peace, etc. is not entering into the reality of the glory within!
What are you doing here in false identity, forgetting the calling of God on your life? I heard the Spirit of the Lord say, “Walk circumspectly, redeeming the time, for I know you and I have called you mine, not just for “good moments” but for all time!”
"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord [is]. Eph. 5:15-17
What are you doing here – in despondency, depression, hopelessness, vain imaginations, triggered, stuck? I heard the Spirit of the Lord say, “Have you forgotten I AM with you and I AM doing something! Remember how I saved you and delivered you, how with My help you overcame great trials. Remember how I showed up before, brought an open door; I am the God who goes before and I am the One who is more than enough for what is in store.”
What are you doing here? There are new assignments awaiting you - a Kingdom to advance, souls to be saved and lives transformed. Remove the cloak of mourning for the past and replace it with joy. Shake off the serpents of fear, depression and dread. I break the cloud of oppression from off your head; now get up out of the bed of despair, child of the Living God, you have no place there!
I pray going forward, you will hear the Holy Spirit saying to you, “What are you doing,” or “What are you doing here?” whenever He knows you need to awaken, to be aligned to His presence and to what He is doing in the midst!
IN THESE TIMES OF TROUBLE, YOU WILL PROSPER
We are in troubling times - wars, rumors of wars, uprisings here and abroad, evil abounding, earthquakes, floods, fires, etc., but there is a river of goodness available to the faithful!
"Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper." (Psa 1:1-3 NKJV)
A person without Christ or one who isn’t anchored in the hope of the gospel and what is the final outcome (He wins!) could be paralyzed in fear, be driven to fight, strive frantically to “prepare for the future” or run and hide, among other things. These are times to stay in faith! One word from Jezebel and Elijah ran, even after how powerfully God moved in his life. He had a human nature just like us. We have the benefit of the full counsel of God and a whole Book of testimony after testimony of God moving mightily on behalf of His people to encourage us to stay the course.
Remember that you are in the world but not of it (Jn. 8:23), and as you seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, all you need will be added to you (Matt. 6:33). Do not fear, do not hide; God is at work to bring all into line with His Kingdom purposes. Nothing can stop what He has ordained!
GOD IS DOING A WORK … IN THE MIDST – WILL YOU BELIEVE IT?
The Holy Spirit reminded me of this verse: ""Look among the nations and watch--Be utterly astounded! For [I will] work a work in your days [Which] you would not believe, though it were told [you]." (Hab 1:5 NKJV)
Astounded means in consternation – a sudden feeling of worry, shock, dismay, or confusion caused by an unexpected event. Astounded also means dumbfounded – I hear it as struck dumb in shock because you believed something not in line with God’s reality! The reality is always that God is doing a redemptive work in the midst, to bring about what He has determined beforehand!
In Habakkuk’s time, evil was abounding, but God was at work in the midst. God would bring deliverance after a time, but in the midst He instructed Habakkuk to write the vision and make it plan so that all who read it can run with it, (Hab. 2:2) and the beautiful instruction for all in the time it tarries, “…the just shall live by his faith,” (Hab. 2:4b) and the final result – “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14)
I heard the Spirit of the Lord say, “Do not be bound in consternation, for I have declared you a Holy nation; your fruitfulness I receive as a Holy oblation. Do not be fearful or dismayed and My glory you will see displayed.
IT’S TIME FOR THE INCREASE!
I decree a resurgence of faith is coming to you for the Lord is opening your eyes to reality of His glory in the midst!!! Even as Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened to the spiritual realm, I pray, “Lord, open their eyes to discern greatly by your Spirit and see Your glory in the midst of darkness.”
The time is now for you to advance the Kingdom of God right where you are! The Holy Spirit is hovering over you right now revealing the places of doubt and confusion, the chasing of illusion and forming a wrong conclusion. He is reviving the vision to complete the mission; breaking off indecision and sharpening you as a tool of great precision! It’s time for the increase!