14 Apr Faith Arise

BY MICHELLE WALLACE

ART BY ILSE KLEYN

HERE’S THE TRUTH. I am torn! I know what I was made for, the thrill, the adventure. But it’s so much easier to live a complacent and comfortable life. I don’t think I’m alone in this, and I’m also sure I’m not alone in knowing it’s time to draw a line in the sand.

Recently, some friends invited me to join them in a small weekend retreat. The theme of the weekend would be “Faith Arise.” I love these girls and offered to have T-shirts made.

The girls call themselves SASSY, which stands for strong and submitted say yes! Strength and submission are not mutually exclusive. As these women know, they actually go hand in hand. Our strength is found in submission to an all-powerful God.

I asked one of the girls if she had a logo in mind. She described a woman on her knees in a posture of prayer, holding a sword. Immediately, I could see her. In my mind’s eye, the woman was wearing a linen gown. She was a warrior-bride; what I envision when I consider God’s reference to His people as the bride.

Later, I googled “warrior-bride-sword.” The image that popped up was just as I imagined! Even more! While she was a beautiful bride, she wasn’t wearing 5-inch stilettoes; her feet were fitted with army boots. This woman was going places, setting the captives free and taking back land from the enemy.

I immediately sent the image to my friend. She was as wowed as I was. That afternoon, I decided to find out who created the image and reach out to see about buying the copy. I went to the website and discovered the artist is a woman from Cape Town, South Africa. “How wild!” I thought. A team, including some of the women and their husbands from the SASSY group were presently in South Africa. Before I could email the artist, I was distracted and moved on to something else.

The next day I was tagged in a post on Facebook by one of my friends on the trip. Incredibly, the post was a picture of the bride. The very one I found! How could he have known?! My heart leapt at the goodness of God toward me. When I commented on the photo explaining the great irony of it all, my friend said he had visited the woman’s store and picked up gifts from there, including the picture of the warrior bride for me.

While I was googling and searching, partway across the world, God was sharing the same picture with my friend. How the heart of The Father can connect us, mere specks on a planet of seven billion people separated by oceans, will always overwhelm me!

Until we know who we are and have an understanding in to the depths we are loved, we really won’t stand. We’re too attached to our own skin! Greater love has no man than to lay his life down for his friends. We only get there by the love and grace of God! We only love because He first loved us!

This world is scary. It’s hard to even wrap our brain around the evil that’s taking place. And because of that, most people either bury their head in the sand or distract themselves with stuff of earth. But what if you knew God was there? That He was with you and on your side, ready to do battle. We were made for more. Deep down we were all created to love and be loved. A great part of that love involves rescue. When God rescues us, sets His love upon us, we should be so compelled, we turn around and do the same.

As my friend and I were praying for a group of people who are being tortured and persecuted for their faith, we remembered how, in an instant, God destroyed an entire army coming against Moses and His people. He is the same God, yesterday, today and forever! Nothing is too hard for Him. In fact, we’re told in 2 Corinthians 3 that the glory we’re supposed to be experiencing in the new covenant is far surpassing, exceedingly greater than what Moses experienced. And, even in that day, anyone who came over to God’s side was saved!

This is the goodness of God who says, “As surely as I live,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.’” God wants us to live, really live! There is no greater adventure than the adventure in Christ!

Do you know who you are? Do you understand the authority you possess over this present darkness? Like Moses, we experience true spiritual authority to the degree we’re abiding in The King. We must believe in progressive and immediate miracles. In believing, in taking steps of faith, we see. We believe and we see; we believe and we see more. It’s God’s good pleasure to outdo Himself in our life! The answer to the troubles in this world is to know and to love Him more.