An End and A Beginning

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness. Praise him for all he has done. Trial upon trial, refining, line upon line, precept upon precept. Through the fire, learning to put down the flesh, to walk in our own righteousness that we might stand in the evil day, the days of darkness that shall shortly be upon the earth. That we might minister to them who the Lord has put before us without fear, speaking his words boldly. As I went to bed Saturday night, the Lord was ministering to me of this time of trial coming to end, our joy coming in the morning and many other things that were very encouraging. That our time of waiting (to see His promises come to pass) would be over and he would shortly accomplish it. When I woke up the next morning immediately it was different and as the Lord began to speak I knew things had changed. The season was over, the time of intense trial, of refining, was at an end and a new season had taken its place. That fast? I thought. In the time it took me to fall asleep and wake again it had happened just like that. No longer was the Lord saying wait (as before, we still gotta wait on God), it was "Watch and see me accomplish my word (promises) before your very eyes." Judgment, prayers, callings, ministries, and many other things the Lord started to minister to me that now was the time and season for.
While at church the Lord confirmed it just as he always does. This is what the Lord spoke to me that day:

You who are humble, enter my rest. You who are weary, enter my rest. To them who have waited upon me, enter my rest. To them in trial and in fire, come out and enter my rest, enter in to the joy of your Lord, the fullness of your God. Your soul shall be glad and your heart rejoice. My peace shall flow unto you as a river. I say unto the North "Give up!" and to the South "Hold not back!". Bring my blessings to my chosen and my faithful. For they have waited upon me, they have been faithful. The fields clap at your coming, the sun and the moon rejoice at your sight. I am the Lord and I am faithful. I perform my very word before your eyes. Cast off, cast off the sorrow for joy comes in the morning. Break forth, break forth, let your heart sing for I have given you a new song.

And straightaway I heard in the Spirit: Blessed be the Lord oh my soul! You satisfy me in secret places, in the shadow of your wings, in your presence. My sorrow has turned to joy, my mourning to your very praise. My eyes do see your glory oh Lord. Sing, sing unto the Lord. We enter your rest, we rejoice in who you are. I have waited, I have endured. Rejoice not over me my enemy for the Lord raises his standard.

After such an intense period of waiting and refinement, it is almost strange to see it end but it did. An end to our trials, the beginning for those who didn't seek God. The start of the Lord fulfilling all he has promised, blessings for them that endured, darkness and tribulation for the earth.

Isaiah 40

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

13Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

21Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

With Love In Christ,

Austin