New seasons

A few months ago, I had a vision. In the vision, I saw a huge torrential river, and because of the strength of its flow, its mighty rushing waters swept away an old bridge in seconds.

It was one of these visions which troubled me, for I felt a tinge of sadness seeing the old bridge get swept away. Was this a good vision, or a bad one? Since I saw it in a gathering of believers, I knew it was a spiritual vision, and God was saying something through it. But what was the correct interpretation?

Later on, I felt the Holy Spirit say to me this is what it is like for many believers in this season of re-positioning. God is moving many of us into a new season, and he is shifting many of us into new positions "suddenly". In many circles, this is often something to be rejoiced over! Yeah! A new season! And of course it ought to be, because if God is the one shifting us, then his ways are perfect! What is often not taught is that when the old is swept away, there will be sadness. And that is normal.

For the last decade, I was in the prayer team of my old church. It was a wonderful place, and it taught me so many things I know about prayer today. It was there that I learnt that God speaks to His children, got baptised in the Holy Spirit, learnt about inner healing, got schooled in spiritual warfare, built wonderful friendships and in general, felt like I was home.

In recent years, however, I also felt increasingly drawn to another church which was more active in the nations, a calling which resonated with my own. So here I was, conflicted, torn between the ministry which was family for a decade, and the newer church which in truth reflected the me in my new season. I dithered between the two, attending both, being at home in both, thinking all this while that God would be fine, since we are all the Body of Christ anyway.

Then in May last year, suddenly, out of the blue, I got kicked out of the prayer team. As far I knew, I had done nothing wrong...so I did not know what hit me. It was an expulsion, done summarily, overnight. That hurt real bad, because I thought I had friendships there. The swiftness of the action and the cutting off of ties against my very best wishes were a real body blow.

What it did was force me to call my new church home ... and I mended myself there. And God opened up one door after another for me in the new place, in ways that can only be called divine, so that I now get to do things in the nations that I would never have been able to otherwise. It was like He expanded my sphere of influence in line with my calling, but He had to kick my butt to make it happen, so wedded was I to old ties.

Last week, as I was worshipping in my new church, I felt so, so privileged to be a daughter of that house. I could only say thank you, Daddy, for closing the other door on me, so I get to be in the centre of your great blessing.

Oh my goodness, it hurt so bad at that time. But 18 months on, I have to say that I am among all people, most greatly blessed.

When the old bridge gets washed away by the torrential river, there will be sadness. Because we will yearn for the good things God has given us in the past. And we will want to hang on to them. But trust in the Lord!

In this season of re-positioning and shifting, some of the old things and the positions we used to occupy in life will be taken away, and I am witnessing among my circle of believer friends, that those 'losses' are coming real quick. In this season of acceleration, God is not waiting. And He is also not willing to wait for us to dither and be waffly ... He wants us where He wants us to be. NOW!

Even in the sadness of the loss of old things, rejoice that Daddy knows best. When enough time has passed, you will thank Him for whereever He is re-positioning you, because He is good, and His mercies endure forever.