Launch Out Into the Deep

Writing a book is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Getting a University degree was no walk in the park, and other seasons of life were challenging and difficult, but nothing like the soul-searching that occurred when I felt the Spirit of the Lord urging me into the unknown territory of authorship. You’re not at all sure you have what He's asking for. To enter a vast territory where you are utterly vulnerable and not entirely motivated to accomplish the task at hand is daunting. Your beginnings are tentative…how to proceed? How will I know I'm succeeding…am I doing this correctly? There’s a million questions swimming around your head and rightly so…for you are in deep waters.

The incredible thing that happens is that once you jump into the River of God (ready or not) an energy and impetus far greater than your own captures and carries you. Coming into agreement with the will of God and your own destiny has catapulting power that never fails to amaze me. You really can feel it: ‘underneath are the everlasting arms’. What seemed like a mountain becomes quickly scale-able….with a great view at the top. Are there missteps and trials? Yes, but synergy between effort and timing soon begins to manifest. Helpers and experts can unexpectedly appear in the most unlikely places. Extraordinary opportunities, organic connections and esoteric information can come across our path in so effortless a manner we are ten steps down the road before it dawns on us: "I think that was a God-thing"!

The prophetic word that came for 2017 was that it was the year of Bezelel (Exodus 31:1-4). The Lord said it would be a year for craftsmanship and creativity at the master-class level. I have seen this come to fruition in so many ways. If you are a creative, artistic person (and even if you’re not!) this is the year to really push the boundaries regarding ideas, dreams, designs, partnerships and other large-scale projects. Done in His Spirit and timing, the Lord will back you, big-time. The last decade has been an extended period of incubation, testing and character refinement. Why? To prepare us for the massive undertakings He has in mind. You will see the patchwork collection of your talents and endeavors align themselves in the most wondrous pattern for the work that lies before you. Seasons of your life that seemed so random and singular will suddenly find their place in the tapestry of creativity being demanded. You will exalt when you realize that the Lord was really behind it, after all! Suddenly, everything becomes beautiful in its time. There’s no moment like it, as Moses and Bezelel experienced, when after painstaking, detailed, exacting labor, the tabernacle was complete….and the glory of the Lord came down and filled it. (Exodus 40:33-34)

What is the Holy Spirit stirring up in you? What creative urges are beginning to make themselves known? Listen for His voice, for it will surely lead you into new things, and He is going to say to you ‘Launch out into the deep, and cast your net’. The catch will stun even you.