The effects associated with natural disasters can range from inconvenience to loss of life. We might lose power for a few days, but although inconvenient we can readily recover from it. (It was probably time to clean out the refrigerator anyway.) But when we think of long term displacement, loss of a home or employment, or physical injury, the bar is suddenly raised to heights far above a mere inconvenience. People are still trying to recover in the gulf coast from Hurricane Katrina.
We have also become quite good at responding to natural disasters. Relief agencies around the world can now mobilize within hours and begin the process of water and food distribution, emergency housing, cleanup, and the long process of helping people put their lives back together. These agencies stand ready to respond because of the preparation that has gone on before a disaster hits. It’s this idea of preparation that I want to touch on tonight. Not preparation for a natural disaster, but preparation for a supernatural disaster.
Being prepared for what’s coming
I was awakened one morning a couple of weeks ago with the voice of God within my spirit saying, “Supernatural disaster.” For the next several days I pondered what that phrase might mean for Jan and I and those we pastor. A shepherd’s heart is turned toward the sheep of his flock in a degree that is sometimes hard to articulate. It’s more than a natural concern for their safety. It’s a supernatural concern for their physical, emotional, and spiritual condition. It is the True Shepherd’s own burden for His people that He places on pastors, to direct them in their relationships with those whom they care for. So my burden has been directed to speak into you about being prepared for what’s coming.
I’m sure you are already asking yourself, “What’s coming? What’s this supernatural disaster he keeps talking about? What does it look like?” I wish it were that easy. I feel a bit like the Apostle John, John the Revelator, in that I see it but it’s sure hard to describe. All I can do is try my best to relate to you what the Lord is showing me.
Two nights after I was awakened with the ominous words “supernatural disaster”, I was given a glimpse of the effects that might come with such an occurrence. I was sitting in my living room thinking about nothing in particular when I felt a shift in my emotions. Over the next hour, I felt fear, despair and hopelessness to the point that I almost found it hard to breath. It was a suffocating heaviness that shook me to the depths of my being. I was in a hole and there was no light to be found. Christian mystics, particularly St. John of the Cross, experienced such darkness sometimes for extended periods of time. In fact, St. John called it The Dark Night of the Soul. I was very glad that exactly an hour later, the pain lifted as quickly as it had come.
As I asked God about my experience, He let me know that what I felt was the despair that was coming for some people as a flood of His glory is about to break forth in the Columbia Gorge. It will be an awesome move of God. For some, joy unspeakable. For others a time of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The glory of God will bring a separation. Preparedness of our hearts will be the key to how we receive and react to such an invasion of Divine Presence in our land.
The Lord further developed my thoughts along these lines of preparedness with a scripture I’ve not been able to get away from for the last year or so. It keeps popping up to the top of my consciousness.
Eph 5:15-17
(15) See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
(16) Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
(17) Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
I’ve taught and preached on this scripture repeatedly and now know why the Lord has impressed me with it. We must walk very carefully in these coming days, preparing ourselves to buy this time with wholehearted abandonment. We must know individually and collectively, as the body of Christ, what the will of the Lord is for us now, in this hour of opportunity. We must take care of business in our own hearts first, so that we are ready and prepared to reach out to those who are caught in darkness. The fields will be ripe for harvest. Their despair will cause them to seek the light. We must be prepared.
How do we Prepare?
How do we prepare ourselves? Earlier verses in Ephesians 5 give us some sound advise as we purpose to get our own house in order so we can be a blessing to others.
Eph 5:1-2
(1) Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
(2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
We must follow God as dear children. Jesus said He did only what He saw the Father doing. It worked for Him and it will certainly work for us. And walk in love. Not just any love, but the sacrificial love Jesus exhibited for us. The fruit of the Spirit will naturally ripen on a tree planted in this love. The same sweet aroma that pleased the Father in Jesus will please the Father in us, as we walk with Him in love.
How do we prepare for the harvest that is coming on the heels of this Supernatural Disaster? Effective relief agencies respond to natural disasters first of all with supplies they have on hand. This means having an inventory of what’s available to work with. Some focus on food and water, others work on needs of housing. There are particular ministries in the body of Christ that have expertise in certain arenas of ministry. Some are called out as counselors to a particular need in people, say abuse issues. Others may have a ministry to people with addictions, or family and marriage concerns. To some in the body God has given the specific gift of healing, or deliverance, or discernment, or intercession. Get to know who these ‘specialists’ are. Use the resources God has placed among His people.
Although there are special ministries in the body, God’s love is the catalyst for all ministry within the body. God’s love is like water; it’s essential for life. Even if you have not been developed in a particular ministry yet, we should all be prepared to give God’s love in whatever capacity we can. Every joint supplies something unique. As we take down the man made walls between us, recognize the gifting and calling that we and those around us walk in, we will be effective in our response to God’s coming supernatural disaster.
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