YES, BUT DID YOU DIE YET?

During one of the toughest times in my business, one of the most faith STRETCHING times, a time when it was not only day by day ‘manna from heaven’ relevant to receive provision FOR that day, but also debts and payments and MUSTS were looming what felt like endlessly –

God sent me to read the book of Mark. I heard ‘Mark, Chapter 6’.

It’s funny to me that no matter how many times I’ve heard from God, which is too many to count over my lifetime, and which has been MOST times in my life when I was truly in turmoil, I still have that part of my mind which thinks ‘hmm, we’ll see’. Like … oh okay, I’ll go to Mark Chapter 6 and then there will be just the Word of God, nothing for ME! lol. There is no ‘just the Word of God’. But you get what I mean.

Even these days, and I hear daily from God, I STILL question at times! The walk of growing faith is one which is never done.

Nonetheless, of course over to Mark 6 I went, and I started to read. Wondering if todays Spirit-led insight would be obvious, or more elusive and require me to sit with it and wait on it. (Sometimes those reveals are more fun!)

Within moments I realised that this one was VERY obvious. I don’t know how well you know your Bible, but I hadn’t realised til I got there that in Mark Chapter 6 Jesus tells the story of the boy with the loaves and the fishes.

A crowd of around 5000 had come to see Jesus, and at the end of the day the disciples realised they needed to be sent away to find food, as there was no food handy, and not a single food truck had shown up for this shindig.

Jesus however was not inclined to send the crowd away, as He still had things to say. (I like his style). Instead what He said was – “you give them something to eat”. The disciples thought He meant go buy food, but instead Jesus instructed them to see who in the crowd had some food. Which turned out to be one boy, who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. See, this is why I always bring snacks for everyone when out for the day! It’s astonishing to me how many people travel unprepared.

Anyway …

Jesus commands everyone to sit in groups, in ranks of fifties and hundreds. 5000 people! He then takes the loaves and fish, looks to HEAVEN, blesses the food and breaks it, and then gives it to the disciples to hand out.

EVERYBODY eats and is full. And 12 baskets of fragmented leftovers are collected. 12 baskets!

Now firstly, let this story be a reminder to you that if the Spirit of God tells you to go read something you GO READ IT. Second … you can and should also ASK for that instruction. I had asked God to show me what to read that day. Thirdly … inherent in all of this is an EXPECTATION THAT GOD WILL PROVIDE AND ANSWER.

I expected God to direct my Bible reading, and He did. In fact had I not heard a direct book and chapter, I would have known that wherever I took myself would have been where God wanted me to go!

My expectation around HOW God would deliver was not specific, but my expectation THAT He would deliver was, and is, finite.

See I guess something you have to know about me is that I expect God will always provide, and always answer me. Don’t get me wrong, there are frequently times I have wished that provision would be faster and grander, or that the answer would come more in a ‘makes Katrina comfortable’ format, but nonetheless it DOES ALWAYS COME.

I expect God provides.
I expect He WILL come through.
I expect that He IS who He says He is, and is faithful to perform what He promises, which IS provision for all in Him. Amongst other things!

I just believe God is not going to let me be cast all the way down in any area of my life (Psalms 37), and I also believe however that He absolutely will allow me to be held UNCOMFORTABLY close to the fire at times in order to grow me.

So in this period of not knowing how I was possibly going to stay head above water for another week and sometimes day … this period which had gone on for months and in some ways years, and seemed to be only getting WORSE …

I chose to believe that God is who He says He is.

Him sending me to that section of His Word was REASSURANCE, but it wasn’t NEW INFORMATION. Thank you Father that you care enough about us to comfort and reassure us when we need it and when we seek it!

I don’t read something like that, or receive anything from God, and think it’s for nothing. I took that SERIOUSLY. God was telling me He was going to multiply the little I had. I chose to BELIEVE Him.

In a practical sense this meant STOP TRYING TO MAKE WHAT IS THERE BE MORE THAN WHAT IT IS. GOD will provide, and He will multiply. The little that I have, God will use it. He will turn it supernaturally to more.

Do you think that this kind of belief system could be helpful for you?

Do you sense God is speaking to you right now even, as you read this?

Do you know that when you are challenged God is wanting you to turn to Him and LEARN A DEEPER FAITH through this circumstance?

We have to remember that it is not what we SEE, it is what God SAID. And oftentimes we have to be TIPPING RIGHT OVER THE EDGE before things change. Sometimes we stay on that edge for years! In fact, I’d argue that a life in faith IS a life on the edge, by definition.

It’s not faith if you know exactly what’s going on and what’s coming, it’s predictability in a dry 2D life. And it’s not the path you walk to your destiny, although sure – you can accept Christ and then sit down and wait to go to heaven.

I don’t think that’s what He designed you for.

Do you?

I said at the start that this was one of the toughest period of my business, but if I’m honest with you?

It was one of the best. The actual tough periods, the truly relentlessly hard ones, are where I sat myself in a safe little bubble and refused to look further. I quickly began to LANGUISH, because it is not who I am.

Some of us were designed for a life on the edge. No, that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be not knowing how to pay for things (for example). But yes it does mean there is always SOMETHING in which you are receiving the opportunity for your faith to grow.

And maybe,

you could just be GRATEFUL for that,

and be on your way.

Because really, no matter what is going on …

DID YOU DIE THOUGH?

No?

Then keep going.

One foot forward on water at a time.

Now don’t forget –

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat