25 Days of Advent: Forged for our Hope – Day 12

It was late into the morning and the risen sun radiated through the dirty windowpane. I ushered my husband into the family room and asked him to read scripture with me and pray over our day. I felt a nudging from the Spirit of God to lay our burdens before the cross and wait to hear heaven’s reply.

There is a time for silence from heaven; there is a time for the voice of heaven to speak. Like His Word tells us, there is a time for everything… under heaven.

He obliged to my ushering though all he desired in the moment was a cup of coffee. We read, we talked, and we prayed. And then Christ spoke and revealed to our hearts why the burden- the wall of sorts- was placed before us by the hands of heaven Himself. When the Holy Spirit speaks to one’s heart, there is a great peace that comes from hearing His voice.

We must remember that Christ did not come to read us the rule book. He came to give us life in abundance. But let us remember the words of wisdom penned in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

If the Messiah came to give us a life of abundance, then surely He knows how the plan goes. Though there may be much in life that we can accomplish or achieve, not every opportunity is from God nor constructive to the greater plan for our life. In my own experience, my plans and The Lord’s plans do not always line up. We may be reading the same book, but we’re on completely different pages.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses spoke of a prophet coming from the Israelites to the israelites- one of their own. This prophet was a promise that God would send another to minister to His people. Moses encouraged the Israelites to pay attention and listen to this prophet when he came:

Deuteronomy 18:15, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

The book of Acts, also known as the Acts of the Apostles, is the history and founding of the Christian church. Here the promise prophesied by Moses was fulfilled with the Apostles declaring that the Messiah, Jesus, was the very prophet the people were seeking and so desperately needed:

Act 3:20-22, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

We are forged for our hope when we can submit unto the truth that if the Messiah came to give life in abundance, then surely He knows how the plans go. It would be wise for us to listen and follow in the direction of the One God sent, not relying upon our own ideas for we are not privy to the blueprints. Christ, in His wisdom, allows different situations and circumstances to arise in life so that we may seek His direction in the forging so that we may be spared from ruin. We cannot see all that lies before us and, in our humanity, often miss the warning signs of the things that could destroy us.

Father, you have appointed your Son to be my rock and guide in life. May I seek Him and His direction in all I do so that I am strong enough to withstand the pressures of this world. In Jesus name, amen.

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