By Debora Galloway
Feb 5, 2021
God is about to do a new thing, and He wants to make sure none of us miss it! In preparation, God wants us to “be the Lighthouse” that lights the way not just for the lost but also for other believers who are having trouble pulling themselves into where they need to be in this season. I believe He wants us to understand how great our loss will be, if we stay where we are and do not make it into the new things He is birthing. This should motivate us into deep prayer and action. Below is a dream I had this past week, that highlights a few important areas so that we don’t miss the new thing!
Dream: I’m preparing for a trip, and I enter a hallway with a man who is also headed to the same place. We are wearing Covid-19 masks. My mask is black. We are both pulling suitcases and are on our way to an indoor loading area at the edge of a building. Just outside the indoor loading area are SUV’s waiting to pick us up and take us to where we are going. There is a small group of people gathered in various stages of loading up. I have a feeling I’m last in line, as they take the other man’s suitcase and shake it upside down so they can inspect the contents. What comes out is a hard container about the same size as the suitcase. His belongings stay intact inside the hard container, so they put it back in the suitcase, give it back to him and he goes outside to get his seat in the SUV. In the dream, I’m thinking to myself “ I’m afraid if they shake and inspect my bag, my belongings will go everywhere because I don’t have a hard container.” My Father was standing to my left while I was watching and having this thought. Then all the sudden my Father and everyone was gone, the SUV’s pulled away and I’m left alone standing by myself in the loading area. I called a friend on my cell phone and said “ They left without me! I can’t believe they just took off without me!” I’m very upset about it. It was like I got there just a hair too late and wasn’t fully prepared with a hard container. I didn’t know I needed a hard container. I was devasted.
Pray like your life depends on it!
In the dream, I think I represent people in the church who are lacking what’s needed to make it successfully into the next move of God. The black mask represents lack. Through the dream, God has allowed me to experience what it feels like to be that devasted person who misses it, so that I will pray more seriously and more ardently that we will all become prepared and not lacking. God has been calling me to a tears and travailing type of prayer. (Isaiah 21, John 11:32-44) Some of us, or maybe all of us to some degree, need to feel His pain that He feels toward those in the church who know better but have been complacent, or tainted by fear or unbelief, the backslidden, those hanging around the peripheral edges of the church, or those who are trying but struggling. He wants us to feel the pain of those who will be left behind, those who will miss the next move of God and outpouring of His Spirit. He also wants us to feel His pain of how much that breaks His heart that some of His own kids will miss it. When we have tears and travail in prayer, although it can be intense and uncomfortable for a time, God uses us it to help birth something new in the spirit so that it can be released in the natural. I believe He wants us to pray like our life depends on it, because some people’s lives do depend on it, and certainly our spiritual lives depend on it. He wants us to contend in prayer until we see the promises start to manifest. (I Kings 18:41-46) We need to heed the words of John The Baptist and “prepare the way for the Lord” through our prayer and however else He is showing us, as time and seasons will be shifting again soon. *A note about tears and travail, I’m just learning about this myself, but I think the goal is to allow God to take us there in desperate prayer filled with His heart, and then give the burden back to Him so we continue our day mostly with peace and joy. After all it does say in Romans 14:17 that “the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. “
There is always a mandate and responsibility on the church toward the lost who don’t know Christ, however; I believe in this season God is also putting his finger on His church. He is calling us to a greater level of trust, faith, endurance, repentance and humility so we can hear without the prejudice of our own human filters about the new things He wants to do in us and through us. If we can receive and facilitate what He wants to do, it will lead to a new and greater outpouring of His Spirit that will equip us to bring in the greatest harvest yet! There will be boldness required once we do hear His heart. We must be willing to make changes and move forward into the new thing He is birthing. It starts with us. Are we ready? It’s time to get really serious about prayer, searching our hearts, and asking God to change us into people who love what He loves, and hate what He hates, so that we can be effective in this next season. We need desperation in prayer for people to enter into the new thing. This will turn into tears and travail for some, but for all it should compel us into the action of helping others, so that our local church and in our individual spheres of influence, we all make it into the next move of God, and no one misses it!
Like the dream I had, there are many believers who are lacking and don’t have their bags packed right. Some of the things we need are:
A Fortified Spirit
A fortified spirit for the potentially hard or long road ahead. (hard container in the dream) Believers without endurance, perseverance and strength will fall apart when the road gets tough or long. Miriam-Webster says this about fortified: 1. Made stronger or more secure. 2. Improved or enhanced through the addition of one or more ingredients. Because I believe the black mask in the dream represents lack, I tend to think the latter is very important for us. Ask the Lord what you and those around you are lacking to be strong and prepared enough for the road ahead.
Preparation, Perseverance & Clear Vision
God recently brought to my attention the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Mathew 25, which I brought up in my first post in January. The foolish virgins also lacking something. They had what they needed in the moment, but not enough for the long haul, not enough for the unexpected delays. They were lacking the oil to be sustained over a longer than expected time period, so they could keep their light burning as long as required, so their lamps would enable them to “see” well.
A Fresh Outpouring of the Holy Spirit with Joy and Restoration
I believe, at least in part, in this season the lack of oil represents that we need more of the oil of the Holy Spirit. We need His fresh outpouring! Through the Holy Spirit God encounters us, fills us, heals us, and empowers us so we become utterly convinced of God’s love and goodness, as well as we receive His clear vision and direction for the road ahead with strength for the journey. We also need the oil of Joy which has been hard to maintain during this past difficult Covid season, which is why one of my previous posts addresses Joy and more will follow. We must learn to find our Joy in Christ and let His Joy become our strength like the Word tells us.
Spiritual Father’s and Mother’s Focus on Next Generation
More spiritual fathers and mothers take their place with the next generation. In the dream, I had the realization of what I was lacking when my Father was standing by my side. We need Fathers and Mothers of the Faith to rise up like never before and help the next generation into the next move of God. Everyone was getting in the SUV’s moving to the new place together. Spiritual fathers and mothers, please don’t keep or leave your spiritual sons and daughters in an old box that will become stagnant. Please follow Jesus into the new places He is leading and help your spiritual family get there. God is on the move! Follow Him and take the next generation with you!
Ready or not, God is on the move!
God is about to do a new thing! In His graciousness and love, He is sending us a message to be prepared so we don’t miss it! There are those who will miss it. Don’t let it be you! Don’t let it be your family or your church. Let’s seek the Lord in humility and repentance like never before so that our vision is clear. Let’s ask Him for a great outpouring! Strengthen those around you.. we all need it! Seek the Lord for the new thing!
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
I feel so strongly this is a key song for us in this season, so I just have to post it again. “Prepare the way, He’s coming through, ready or not our God’s on the move. We’re going to see Heaven on earth, Come Holy Spirit awaken your church!” (“Prepare the Way” Bethel Music, Revival’s in the Air Album)