Hurricane(s) and Faith
RISE UP WARRIOR! It’s a brand new week, which can only mean one thing… we have a brand new blog post!
Last week, God challenged my spirit with one question, “How many times do you complain about the very thing you prayed for?” If you just paused in your steps with a “mic drop” motion, join the party, friend!
A few days ago, my sisters and I started a sweet new tradition consisting of three magical words, an annual sister trip! Naturally, we wanted to kick off this new tradition at the happiest place on earth, so we picked the one and only, Disney World! Taking off in flight to the sound of Disney’s “Magic is calling”, nothing could dim the joyful light Jesus placed in our hearts to experience our first sister vacation!
Waltzing our way into our beautiful resort, up to Cinderella’s Castle, and right up to Sleepy Hollow for breakfast, we gathered in prayer, asking God to lift each little raindrop the clouds were holding onto the weekend we were in Orlando. With giggles, full bellies, and joyful hearts, we enjoyed the weekend the Lord had made, with not ONE droplet of rain falling upon the freshly manicured grounds of Disney World. Throughout our day, we noticed one thing, how HOT it was! With our little blue fan blowing fresh air as we waited in each whimsical line for a new ride, we found ourselves gulping water after water and to be frank, complaining about how hot it was. Sitting down for our next meal, the Lord quickened my spirit and told me one thing, “Rise Up Warrior, for you are complaining about the very thing you prayed for.” WOAH, talk about personal conviction, because this was so true. My sisters and I prayed that the Lord would lift the rain, and the moment He did, we lost sight of what we prayed for because our environment got uncomfortable! In that “mic-drop” motion of a moment, we took a moment to close our eyes and lift our hands in worship with grateful hearts. More than God lifting the rain, He called us as His daughters to RISE UP with awareness in how we respond to the things we pray for.
I want to encourage you with the same question this week, “How many times have you complained about the very thing you prayed for?”
While we needed up braving Hurricane Debby at our Disney World resort, God blessed our trip time and time again, with an overabundance of everything we could have needed. God also encouraged us to RISE UP as His beloved daughters with an important lesson. The things we pray for will require spiritual awareness, strength, endurance, and preparation for various “environments”. I don’t know what your "personal hurricane” looks like at the moment. I don’t know if it’s physical, spiritual, emotional, or completely unexpected, but I know one thing, there isn’t anything God can’t do!
God is preparing you in this very moment for the very thing you’ve prayed for, whether it looks the way you want or entirely different from what you’ve expected. As you lift your hands in faith and close your eyes in prayer, surrender every “hurricane” you’re facing to the Lord. Pray for boldness to take the next step faithfully, RISE UP with spiritual awareness, equipped with wisdom, spiritual armor, and readiness. Our prayers not only require faith but steadfast action.
As you seal your prayers in the Throne Room of Heaven with a heart of steadfast faith, RISE UP WARRIOR and let the Lord fall afresh over your soul, equipping you for the journey ahead, filling your mind with peace, spiritual strength, endurance, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Never lose sight of the ways God is working, both in the stillness of the morning and in the center of your “hurricane(s)”
There’s a story in Genesis that talks about the journey Abraham and Sarah walked through as they prayed and prepared for the baby the Lord had promised them. God heard every single prayer of Sarah’s heart and He knew the very moment He would respond, but Sarah lost sight of God’s divine timing because His season of preparation was longer than the discomfort she wanted to walk through. Warrior, God hears our prayers before we pray them out loud and He knows the very moment He will answer them (whether they look the way we want or better than we could ever imagine). Let’s learn from our Biblical Heroes and stand on a watchtower of awareness as we lift our prayers up to our Father enthroned in Heaven. For the very thing you’ve been praying for might be in front of you all this time.
It’s time to RISE UP WARRIOR and press into God’s voice, Word, and presence through the various “hurricane(s)” you’re enduring, for this moment could be the very building block you need to take the next step, experience the next breakthrough, see the fruition of each answered prayer, etc.
So, what are you going to do Warrior? Are you going to press into uncomfortable “hurricanes” and RISE UP with God, grit, and grace within you or are you going to complain about the very thing you’ve been praying for?
-Jessica-Andrea Brown
