This morning I sat on the steps with my morning coffee admiring nature. I enjoy watching the birds and squirrels eat their breakfast. The sparrows caught my attention exclusively this morning. These tiny birds hopped around and found breakfast. From my vantage point atop the steps, it looked like they found nothing. Upon closer inspection, I saw tiny morsels of food and they drank from a crevice in the payment which collected water from a leaky hose; The water was cool because the crevice was under a car. So not only did they have enough breakfast but they had a cool drink on a hot day. To add more super to this natural event, I live in LA which doesn’t have an abundance of rain; yet the birds drink cool running water abundantly.
God didn’t give birds intellect like He gave us, yet they understand a principal we struggle to remember: 25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6: 25-26. This scripture was demonstrated before me and it strengthened my faith.
To be honest, I started watching the wildlife in the mornings because I’ve been conditioned to strive and not thrive; watching them I get to see faith in action. According to our brethren Google, to strive is to make great efforts to achieve or obtain something; to thrive is to prosper, flourish. The former is rooted in an individuals ability while the latter is contingent upon the environment the individual is in. These birds are thriving and were spoken into existence by God. Humans are God’s masterpiece. He created us with the dust of the ground, His breath, and formed us. Humankind is the only creation made in the image of God. He gave us dominion over the wildlife and the earth, Genesis 1. God’s original intention was for us to thrive like the birds do and it still is. He created a thriving environment BEFORE He created us. The Garden of Eden was ready before Adam and Eve were created. Only then did He place Adam and subsequently Eve there. He’s so loving and intentional toward us!
In summation, sin entering the earth in the Garden of Eden has flipped God’s original plan upside down and instead of a thriving environment, we experience the opposite. This reality can severely injure your faith in God and the willingness to follow Him. Tough circumstances can really make you scoff at the thought that God is benevolent. What we see is not entirely what Jesus said in John 10:10 NLT, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” The latter portion of this verse is what I experienced this morning. I realized in order to experience “a rich and satisfying life”, I must become intimate with God. Sincerely desire to learn His character, His ways, His heart, and His thoughts toward me. God is not a genie nor do we employ Him. He is all-knowing, present at all times yet everywhere, all-powerful, bottom-line, we cannot manipulate God. It is through intimacy and faith that you can perceive the rich and satisfying life independent of external variables. The safeguard answer to “why do we experience lack and hardship in the real world?” is, Romans 8:28 KJV “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The glory of God is that it does not matter what tangible environment His children/followers are in, He can still provide for them a rich and satisfying life. I used to be skeptical of this and say to myself, “I don’t want to be broke with peace I need money and then I’ll have peace”; I laugh at that statement now. When I woke up this morning I had $0.87 collectively in two of my accounts and I was excited for the day. I was sincerely thrilled to be in the land of the living with the Most High God on my side who has orchestrated my life. 11 months ago I was making six-figures as an RN. He didn’t design me to be an RN, although I was great at it. He instructed me to leave it behind because He wanted me to do what He created me for. Because I love Him, I obeyed. I lost everything I STRIVED to amass.
These past 11 months I’ve gotten to know the character, heart, and way of our Lord. He showed me firsthand that He doesn’t need money like I do. I had savings for 3 months and that ran out 8 months ago while I waited for the thing He created me to do to manifest. I’ve been evicted, car repossessed, credit score from hades, no doors opening for RN jobs locally, spent one night in the car and most recently should be living in my friend’s car…BUT GOD:o) His favor and His prophetic promises have overwhelmed me to tears; I received my very own experience with God. The landlord should’ve evicted us 6 weeks ago, but God gave us FAVOR. When we told the landlord about our situation, he responded with “Pay me when you can, I promise it’s fine.” It still shocks me that He kept a roof over my friend and my head with NO money! Drawing back to the bird example, from atop the steps, it looked as if the birds were eating nothing. When I looked closer, I saw tiny morsels of food they were eating and the water was plenteous in their small beaks. God told me during my quiet time one day, “I will restore you 100 fold”. I’ve watched and seen for myself that He is faithful to His word. He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). He has begun to restore me tangibly in small subtle increments that are growing in size with each occurrence. As I wrote this post, someone close to me received a sum of money they didn’t expect and sent it to my cashapp. The largest sum I’ve had in my possession in 6 months. I will go on and on in subsequent posts. It’s harvest time for me and I want to strengthen someone’s faith out there who is struggling to believe God. TD Jakes said it best in his book ‘Crushing’, grapes are only crushed once and then the wine is bottled to be enjoyed. Crushing seasons come only once and then God will pour you our for His enjoyment as others inquire about your path to refinement.
Pass the test y’all! Press into God, ask Him for wisdom, instructions, fast, pray, if you can pray in a heavenly language/tongues, do so as often as you can. I want all of us to win and uplift His high name with our lives. Like Jesus said, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Luke 8:16 ESV”
Thanks for reading this post! I love y’all & Jesus does too:o)
GirlPal 