Unstoppable – Part 1: Transparency in the Battle

I am a firm believer in transparency. That means when I have a trial, I take it before the Lord to ask if I’m supposed to share it. There’s always a season to do that because how we conduct ourselves in the midst of a trial helps others to be strengthened and grab ahold of their own triumph in the midst.

Sharing My Heart

My youngest son, Robert, was diagnosed with autism years ago and it’s been a rugged walking out of his healing and deliverance. Amazingly, the Lord told me in an audible voice, when I first knew I was pregnant, that, “This one will be a preacher.” This truth has helped us wage good warfare because this is God’s plan for him.

Recently, we were hit with a serious battle in the school system. So much so, that the professionals were seriously concerned about his anger issues lashing out with violence and then worried about schizophrenia and a suicide watch. There was even shocking demonic overlay (however you interpret that) – wow!

“OK, so who gets to be Lord?”

THIS was NOT what the Lord is saying.

But God – don’t you know God gets to have the last word…?!

We went to vigorous prayer and prophetic decree in agreement with a few believing believers. We stepped up our coaching of Robert in his authority against the enemy and taking thoughts captive.

Praise God, he has been doing so much better. Thank you to all of you who prayed!

He flipped back into his loving pure heart. He came to me with $17 and said he wanted to donate to have the Bible translated into African dialects for African children. And then he said, “Look mom, I’m a preacher – I’m preaching the gospel!” Hallelujah – right?!

It always pays to believe God to do His awesome, beautiful, masterful thing in the midst of ugly exalting itself against the true knowledge of God.

Making Your Trials Work for You

And what about you? YOU have bad reports, health concerns, relational fallout, ugly messing with you… What is the Lord saying?

Let’s let Him as the Word speak. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, 17-18 (KJV) says:

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

So yes, we have earthen vessels that are subject to issues, but HIS glory is so present that the excellence of His power (NOT ours) is/will be displayed.

The Good News

Listen, if it was up to us – our power, our faith, our righteousness – we would be in deep doo-doo (the stinky stuff and the toiling stuff)! The Good News is, it is ALL about Him, HIS finished work and us manifesting ourselves as sons and daughters because of that! We were born to triumph in the midst!!

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 does not candy coat the trials, but the reality of the death of Christ (V. 10) on the cross broadcasts something amazing! It broadcasts the death of our old man (fallen way of being, Rom. 6:6) and the death of fallen creation and all that was lost. The resurrection rejoices in the re-birth of ourselves as new creations and the re-birth of fallen creation that is unveiled as the sons and daughters manifest. (Rom. 8:17-23) This is a finished work being walked out in the seen realm and it is not up for grabs because it is already masterfully finished!

In that, we can count our afflictions as light (V. 17) – everything is done by His grace. And we can embrace the reality that those afflictions are subject to change in the here and now because that is where the change is needed!

Crazy Glory

And what is at stake? Oh wow! The horrid thing trying to eat your lunch — right in the middle of this — there is a working of a more exceeding and weighty glory that swamps out whatever is coming against you (V. 17)!

God is Love and Love never fails!! (1 John 4:8, 1 Cor. 13:4)

How does this work? Let’s look at verse 18:

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Where are we looking? What are we reminding ourselves of? What truth are we making the lies bow to?

Bringing Heaven to Earth

We can always pull on the grace of God to choose to look at the unseen. In this place, we connect with masterful sweeping Truth (Jesus is the Person of Truth) that subordinates the things that contradict the fallen natural realm. The ugly seen realm is subject to change. The beautiful unseen realm is eternal and accessed through our union with Christ and His faith (He’s not freaked out). And the unseen realm is destined to overtake and transform the seen realm! This is you as one with Christ.

This is you, smack dab in the middle of Love that never fails! (1 Cor. 3:4)

I’ll pick up more of this in my next blog. In the meantime, stay happy, stay triumphant in the midst, and stay “Tooned”.

Standing with you!!