Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth…"
God still speaks
Have you ever heard God speak, and there was no shadow of a doubt that it was Him speaking clearly and effectively? Immediately when you detected His voice, it gave you the reassurance that God was watching, listening, and guiding you. I used to think there was a magical formula for hearing God’s voice. I figured there would be an audible voice, unlike a voice I had heard speaking before that would stir no doubt that I had heard from God. As I grew closer to knowing Him in my quiet time, I learned that none of these things were so. I have never heard God’s voice audibly. Yet, when He speaks, it is an undeniable impression He leaves on my heart that aligns with His Word. A still inner voice. Sometimes while reading, it’s through the words that seem to stand out on the page. Other times it is through the voices of people confirming what He has told me in our alone time. And as some of you have described, it’s in the natural instinctive strides of nature.
Ah Ha! And there was the problem. Did you read that too? "He asked for more than I had the intentions to give."
Run that by me one mo’ gin.
Sometimes when God speaks, I will be honest, especially when it seems to be something a bit more extreme; I will and have on yesterday questioned if I even heard the Lord. For a brief time, as I went back and forth quietly with myself, I began to insist on why that could not have been Him. With that same half-smile as pictured and the point of question front and center, “Say what? Run that by me one mo’ gin. Am I tripping? Why did I think that?” I asked. “I’m trying to make money, not throw away money! How does this align with the vision?” You know, all of a sudden, the communication channels appeared to have a connection issue. I became a perfect reenactment of the universal “Test Man” character, Paul Marcarelli, in the Verizon commercial saying, “Can you hear me now?” Indeed, I thought He couldn’t have heard me correctly in my prayers to request this from me. There I was trying to verify the quality of the connection because, in God’s attempt to prepare me for my next, He asked for more than I had the intentions to give.
For a split second, I almost missed the opportunity to meet God’s divine appointment. In my moment of “dark,” I thought my rise would be in my finances, but God was calling forth my rise in my obedience. Whew! I heard the reminders that I am the solution to the problem. God was giving me the anointing to make the change. Many women do noble things, but I surpass, outperform, outclass them all. My productivity level had nothing to do with my skills and abilities to perform, but everything to do with my obedience. That is where my elevation would arise from, my willingness to give from my need. My husband preached it like this “Whatever you are in need of, you ought to give.”
Confirmation
As a content creator, with twenty-five 2020 planners still on hand, I interpreted my “dark” as the end of the year. Who buys planners at the end of the year? I told myself I would just cut the price and push them out to my current followers while offering a discount for the 2021 planners. I figured God would oblige and meet me in my desires. But God confirmed what He’d told me through my mother-in-law, “Have you thought about giving them away, she asked. Maybe it’s not about the planners or the price.” As she reminisced about an occurrence in her life, she said without prior knowledge of the instructions given to me, “That’s where the problem lies, when we try to figure out how He is going to do something. When you give, you already set yourself up for a blessing, although the way you are looking for a blessing, it may not come like that. He’s preparing us for our next. Sometimes it’s about your obedience and your ability to give willingly.”
I thank God for this opportunity to be a blessing to 25 of my sisters! I gave 25 planners away for free to whoever sought to plan her week or even the remainder of her year because I wanted to help be that push. My prayer is that they all are blessed in ways I can’t imagine.
Rise Sis, Rise.
