“My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

“My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Dreams & Visions, Pearls of Revelation

As I sat in Wednesday prayer this past week, the speaker was talking about how we all have trials and tribulations, how we all get weary in the midst of these seasons of hardship.  As is usual, the speaker began to reference Matthew 11:30,

“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

         

When I think of this verse, I immediately think back to the day that Jesus Christ took my burdens off my shoulders: depression, paranoia, anger, jealousy, exhaustion beyond words, deception about my identity, and bondage to a life not worth living.  His promise in this verse spoke to me.

I murmured, “You want to take this [my life] over, Jesus?  You can have it.  It’s not worth anything; in fact, everything I touch is a mess. You want ‘take the wheel’ – go ahead”…

“Cast all your burdens on Me, and receive the rest I have for you,” He said.

I took up His offer and was saved that day, and I have experienced first-hand over the past 6 years the beautiful rest and joy that emerges from knowing Him and surrendering to Him, even and especially in the midst of trial and tribulation.  When I am weary, I remind myself that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  As St. Augustine once said, “Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.”

And so back to this past Wednesday.  As I sat and listened to the speaker, the Lord made me smile as He imparted revelation to me about this verse.  Instead of a perspective of the yoke and burdens I carry, the perspective changed, and I saw Jesus sitting on His throne, seeing, hearing, knowing and interceding for all the sins and fears of the world (past, present, and future).

If you have ever seen the movie Bruce Almighty, perhaps you are familiar with the scene where all the prayer emails multiply faster than he can read the subject lines, or him hearing one pleading voice, then three, then a thousand.  I instantly thought, “Oh Lord, what a burden You carry for all of us…it’s never-ending.”

The Lord just smiled and said, “No.  My yoke [My submission to My task of unceasing intercession for the world] is easy, and My burden [the load of the world, past, present, and future] is light. My Love for you is never-ending.”

“How can that be??  I mean, how do You bear it all Lord?” I smiled and asked.

“I have already overcome all burdens; I am the Lord.  My greatest moment of ‘burden’ was carrying the cross to Golgotha, being separated from the Father, being the ultimate sacrifice, and even that was My heart’s delight, for the joy [you, and her, and him, and them, and the freedom I offer you all] set before Me. I receive the billions and billions and billions of requests for peace in the storm, forgiveness of sin, deliverance, and it is not a burden…My yoke is easy because I have already conquered the grave; I no longer carry the same load as the cross – it [the burden of the cross] is finished.  Those burdens of worry and fear and sin are ones you were never meant to carry. Let Me carry your burdens, Katherine. Keep your eyes focused on Me as I carry them for you.”

Lord, I thank You for Your self-control and Your strength to bear my burdens as well as those of the entire world.  Who else is worthy of praise but You!  Thank You for the reminder to lay all my burdens [worries, fears, sins] at Your throne, fix my eyes on You, and let You carry what only You were meant to carry. You are the Good, Good Shepherd that knows how to tend to His flock!

∼ ∼ ∼

Perhaps you read through my conversations with the Lord and think, “He didn’t really say that. He’s not involved with us at that level.  He doesn’t speak or interact with modern-day people. She’s crazy.  She makes these things up in her mind.”

To that, I can only think to reference St. Augustine once more: “Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”

 

 

 

Peter and Jesus on the water

Peter and Jesus on the water

Missionary, Pearls of Revelation

Peter asks to come out of the water!  Peter asks.  I was always under the impression that Jesus calls him out to the water, and then Peter responds.  (See what comes of reading the Word for yourself! See what comes when we slow down and meditate on the Word with the intention of feasting on it!)

“When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’  When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.” (Matthew 14: 26-32, NASB)

Oh, how I have felt like Peter in these past few months!  I have cast out my own fleece to the Lord, saying “Lord, if You want me to be a missionary…Lord, if You want me to be in disaster relief…Lord, if You want me to be full-time in Your service…Lord, if You want me, if You have chosen me…” – all questions that I imagine most missionaries have dealt with at some point.  And I realize, like Peter, I asked to step into my missionary ministry, as a fleece to know that He is with me, that He walks alongside me.  And so He said, “Come!”…and so I did, and I got out of my metaphorical boat, gained my footing, and proceeded to walk in that ministry.

“But, seeing the wind…”  Wait.  It’s not the chaos of the water or the battering of the waves that makes Peter lose his footing?  It’s not his ability to walk where the natural deems an impossibility?  No.  It’s the wind.  Could the wind represent what we hear the world whisper in our ear of what is logical, or what is possible, or what is healthy, or what is reasonable – the doubts that it casts our way when we choose the path to be set apart as Peter desired.

“But, seeing the wind…” (NASB, NIV, ESV) – and varying translations add to this image:

  • “But, when he saw the strength of the wind…” – Berean bible study
  • “But, when he saw the wind boisterous…” – KJV
  • “And, when he saw the wind was violent…” – Aramaic Bible in plain English

Peter’s eyes focused on Jesus when he first got out of the boat because he “came toward Jesus”.  What happened? Peter’s gaze changed; his nautical bearings shifted so to speak.  He now focused on the force of the wind, wind that he thought would certainly knock him off balance…and so it did.  If Peter had only kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, surely he would not have been knocked down and battered by the waves himself.

Like Peter, I have lost my bearings at times throughout the process of transitioning to full-time ministry.  At times, my gaze is so fixed on Jesus, feeling secure even in the midst of chaos; at times, my gaze is distracted or dulled (lukewarm), and down I go.  Thankfully, Jesus’ loving hand is so quick to reach out, and His loving discipline reminds me of why I went down.  I hear Him saying, “Anchor your eyes on me, Katherine.  All things are possible with Me.  I will lead you to incredible places and experiences you dare not dream of yet.”

  • Again, and again, and each day until You come back Lord, I re-anchor myself in Your presence and declare that winds and waves cannot shake Your kingdom, Lord – that nothing robs me of the love, joy, and peace of God in my heart.  If I’m feeling unstable in my place, thank You Lord for helping me to surf and navigate the place where You have me.
The Shaking of the Storm

The Shaking of the Storm

Dreams & Visions, Pearls of Revelation

Last spring, the Lord woke me up at 4am, and I felt prompted to peek out the window.  There was a storm with lightning and thunder, and sideways rain, and wild, furious wind that was whipping the trees around like a wet bouquet of parsley – the agaves were unmoved, but the crepe myrtles were bending almost to the ground.  I heard the Lord point out that I was safe amidst the storm (not even in it), that He woke me to witness His power and might and ability to bring such a shaking, that some plants do not move during the winds and others bend, but do not break…and then I went to sleep after an hour of watching the scene outside.

No one else had woken during the storm, and there was not a single branch or a single blossom out of place the next morning.  I shared with Daniel, the director of ADRN, and he told me to pray in the vision that God had allowed me to witness – that I, like the crepe myrtles would be so deeply rooted and flexible so as to bend under the force of the winds but not break, and not a single part of my being would be lost or shaken loose.  I was deeply rooted in Him, though I pray that one day I am like the agave, barely shaken at all.

In hindsight, I can see how the Lord spent 2016, planting roots in me…firmly…so they would not be uprooted or damaged.  

Little did I know that I too had been planting, and earlier this year, the Lord and I looked together at my solo garden, the one I had not asked His permission or counsel to plant.  Before me were three plants, all in varying states of health.  The Lord pointed to the first one and said, “Do you see this one?  It looks healthy on the surface, but its roots are rotted out.  Do you see this second one?  You didn’t need to plant this one at all.  Do you see this last one?  It’s a good plant, but you have planted it without care and it grows sideways.”  He proceeded to pull them all out, rake the dirt, and smiled again. “I will plant a new garden for you, and My garden will provide everything you need.”

Since then, the Lord has held true to His word and has replanted in me what I tried to plant myself…because I wanted it, or thought I needed it, or hurried to set it in place.  When we hear the words “spring up a well”, it’s not that we are creating the well ourselves, but rather that we are asking for the Lord to provide what we cannot of our own flesh…lack of power…lack of wisdom.

In my desire to surrender all to my Lord, each “treasure” or “effort” that is sacrificed shoots out another root that has the sole purpose of reaching toward Him, toward the Living Water.  My root system comprises of my multiple arms reaching out to Him for my multiple needs and wants.

Lord, You are the Great Provider!  Give me the grace to let You tend the garden of my heart and put in place what You know will bless me and prosper me, according to Your plans for me!  Strengthen and expand my root system, that I may always reach for You.

“…His banner over me is Love.”

“…His banner over me is Love.”

Pearls of Revelation

Recently, I’ve been reading Song of Songs, with a deeper understanding about how this reflects the progressive maturing of our faith as we become more and more in love with Jesus, knowing Him as a safe Savior.*  In Song of Songs 2:4, “He has brought me to His banquet hall, and His banner over me is love.”  This verse gives me such a visual of His love for me – He brings me to a place of safety and honor, He nourishes me on the finest of blessings, He declares His love with His banner, and He covers me with the same.  A few days later, a friend I haven’t seen in awhile gave me a Hebrew worship cd of a Jewish singer, Ruth Fazal, and in the first song she sings “Digli alayikh ahava” – “My banner over you is love.  How the Lord loves to confirm His truths over us…like the banner, the Word is love.

I invite everyone to submit a verse the Lord is speaking to them and any revelation you would like to share. I find an absolute joy when others share what God is revealing to them and witnessing how that Word is part of their overall journey with the Lord.

  • * from Mike Bickle – The Song of Songs Notes