I recently celebrated my birthday and, as I often do, I asked Holy Spirit for a word for this new year. As He always does, I got one! Over these last few months, I have been applying to jobs and trying to find a new pathway. It has been a challenging journey of trying, not succeeding, standing up and dusting myself off to try again.
God says "Rise up into your identity". This is the time to be who He has made me to be, not who I believe I should be. Rising up is not standing up, dusting myself off and persevering through trials. In fact, that has been my "identity" for many years. I persevere. I wait patiently. I hope and don't give up. I have faith that doesn't waver (even though it does, at times). But now my identity needs to be in who God has made me to be.
Courage to rise up can take many forms. For you, it may be the need to persevere or to be resilient in the face of challenge. For you, it could be the strength to speak up when it is easier to stay silent (I deal with that one regularly). For me, it is courage to wear a Mantle of Freedom and to be released into the fullness of who I am without apology.
I used to allow others to speak into my identity and form how I felt about myself. That changed when my husband entered my life because he started to show me the golden aspects of who I was. He loved me unconditionally. Now that constant love has gone in one sense, but God's constant love is still here. I know that can be a "Sunday School answer" which sounds right but doesn't translate into real experience. This is the moment to stop and ask God to make His constant love a Real Thing that you can feel in the most essential part of your being. Don't wait and think about it. Do it right now!
Hebrews 12:2 continues to be a life verse for me. Throw off everything that hinders, sin that entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us. But don't forget that Jesus did that for the joy ahead of him. That is what I want to focus on too. Joy is not (often) in duty. Don't read that wrong! Duty and responsibility are still important and must be part of an adult's life. But joy comes from the Lord and brings strength.
So why this photo? A friend tells me that finding feathers is sometimes an indicator of a holy presence. I found this huge white feather outside my door on a day when everything seemed a struggle. Those days are the ones that we most need to know the Lord is here and is watching over us. Psalm 91 says he will cover you with his feathers. Isaiah 40 famously says we will rise up on wings like eagles when we wait upon the Lord.
Let that be your goal, your song and your mantle today.
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