Can I be vulnerable here for a minute? I am in a season of discouragement. I am not content with where I'm at, I can't seem to see the path the Lord has put before me to be able to move forward, I feel alone in my race, and I don't see the support of the people around me. That's what is going on in my flesh, HOWEVER, my spirit is saying "I'm not giving up, the Lord is faithful, I've seen Him do too much to forget it all, He's never going to leave me, and people will always fail me but this gives me the opportunity to really learn to love unconditionally."
I was chatting with my best friend the other night about where my heart, mind, and spirit are at. As I was processing through the conversation I reflected on the fact that this season always comes and goes, I'm guessing kind of like a thorn for me. There are seasons of ebb and there are seasons of flow. But one thing I am noticing in this season of ebbing is that, though it is difficult and frustrating, I KNOW it won't take me out. How do I know that? Why in past seasons of the same struggles did I not know that? What is different now? And the one word that sums it up is: testimony!
You see, the older I get the more God stories I have to look back on. The more I submit to Him, the more I die to self and let Him have all of me, the more testimonies I carry in my back pocket for seasons like this. When I look at all the miracles and works He has done in my life, and the lives of the people near to me, the more my faith is built; the more my faith is built, the more I am able to stand firm in His Word and my faith and trust can be sustained and grow exponentially.
There is a verse in Revelation (12:11) that talks about overcoming the enemy by the blood of the Lamb AND the word of their testimony. It really sheds light on what I'm saying here. First, we have Jesus' blood that has already given us the victory! Then, we have the testimony of the victory that blood gives us that helps us to overcome all over again. It's a cycle. It's a tool. It's freedom. It takes all the pressure off of us to perform or make breakthrough happen in our lives. Instead, we simply get to lean in to the Lord and remember all the things He's done for us. Gosh, that's amazing!
But He doesn't stop there, Revelation (19:10) makes this statement: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Wow. When we are releasing the testimony of who Jesus is and what He has done we are releasing the spirit of prophecy into the atmosphere. What does that even mean: the spirit of prophecy? Through reading commentaries and looking up the Greek of this verse I have found that... it means just what it says. Real deep description huh? The spirit (or essence) of prophecy is Jesus, it's the testimony of who Jesus is.
So what does this have to do with being in a season of discouragement? Well, thank you for asking... When we testify of the goodness of God, the faithfulness of who Jesus is, we prophecy to our circumstance the truth of the victory we ALREADY have.
When we know that Jesus is the testimony of the spirit of prophecy and we know that we overcome by Him and the word of that testimony, we can STAND in a strengthened faith and our trust is deepened. Thus, we do not become overcome by the natural circumstances taking place. Yes, we still go through life with ups and downs... but the more we persevere the more our downs are overcome by our ups because of the testimony of the faithfulness we encounter with the Lord. HE NEVER FAILS, and when we allow Him to never fail in our lives we walk in His testimony.
So the encouragement to myself, and to you: Look at your situation, your emotions, your hurting heart and declare: "You are overcome because..." and begin to call out some of the testimonies of Jesus in your life. See what happens! I bet your flesh begins to shrink back and your spirit begins to rise. And when you have allowed it to do a work in your life, then share it with someone else. Because the blood and testimony of Jesus can also bring them victory!
