Hey guys!! I hope you are having a great weekend!! Yesterday my friend Aimee and I went to a new restaurant here in Nashville called Nada. I typically dont write restaurant reviews but I wanted to mention it because the service and the food was incredible!! We picked a few side dishes to share (you MUST get the corn) and guac of course and the salsa. Everything was so good. We sat at the bar and Aimee had their version of a Moscow mule and thought it was so good too so if you drink (I dont typically) I would recommend it!! I wanted to share that because I love to eat and appreciate really good restaurants!! Anyway what I wanted to share is a message I heard while reading through Isaiah. I started reading through this book after I finished Ruth and I am really enjoying it!!

I had the Lord speak to me today telling me to share that He has a plan for rescuing and restoring you from whatever situation you’re going through. No matter if it seems like you will never be relieved from it He has a plan to rescue you. In Isaiah (Isaiah was a prophet which means he received instruction from God directly) 5 there is a part starting in v. 8 where Judah’s sins are denounced.

Isaiah 5:18-19 (NIV) 

Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
    and wickedness as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ to those who say, “Let God hurry;
    let him hasten his work
    so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One of Israel—
    let it approach, let it come into view,
    so we may know it.”

As I read this the Lord spoke to me saying , “Stop wishing me to hurry my divine plan for your life. Trust in my timing and my will for you and others around you. Each minute I have for your life is strategically planned out and you must use each minute yielded to the Holy Spirit so you can hear what I am trying to tell you.”

God uses each minute of our lives, whether its a minute of waiting or suffering or pain or happiness, to mold us to be who He wants us to be so we can carry out His plan for the kingdom. We must trust that in that minute no matter how we feel God is using it for good to mold us and eventually better us as a person. No matter what circumstance seems never ending or unbearable God is always working in you. Hes using that circumstance to mold you and shape you into a better version of yourself.

1 Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

He never gives us anything He hasn’t already equipped us to handle. God is not going to bring you to a situation that with His word and prayer and trust in Him you can’t handle. We cannot rush Him and wish to know the answer to our problems we must trust and have faith that in His time we will know the answer. He will deliver us from our circumstances at the exact right moment. He is using those minutes to prepare you for the victory. No season lasts forever so we must trust that He is working every second to bring us ready to that moment of deliverance.

In the time where God is molding us in these often what seems unbearable circumstances we will go through “the fire”. Its all His plan to reveal that He is in control. When we have submitted our lives to God He will come in and invade every part of our lives (sanctification). So what you think is an uncomfortable circumstance and is making you question Him thats when He is working in you the most, that is when you will see growth. 

Isaiah 6:11-13

“Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

So you might ask “For how long Lord am I to go through this (pain, suffering or trial)” and God will respond just like he did to Isaiah. Until you have abandoned your fleshly desires completely. Until everyone around you that isn’t meant to be in your life to fulfill your destiny, those who will only be in the way of you fulfilling my calling for your life, abandons you. Only maybe a tenth of your old self will remain. And even then I will remove the last tenth your desires of the flesh so you can carry out my plan for my kingdom. You will be renewed and changed into a completely different person. You will be only a seed when Im finished with you. A seed of new hope and new faith that will grow into a new you, a new child of God. 

Before you can live securely in His holy presence you must be cleansed “by fire” (punishment and destruction not literally but figuratively) and only then can we be rescued and restored. Until you are with nothing and even sometimes no one and can solely rely on God for fulfillment are you going to be restored and rescued. 

God has a wonderful plan for your life. He has designed you to be broken down and restored in His name to show you how much He loves you and how only in Him can we be fulfilled completely. If you are in a season of fire then trust me when I tell you God will deliver you a changed person in His time if you trust Him and surrender your life to Him. I hope this message encourages you!! xoxo -A