We all are good at making plans, but only when we find ourselves at a dead end – when our plans fail – do we give over to God. We so much want to see our plans succeed, and we’ll do almost anything to make it work; but Yahweh is saying: “You need to believe without seeing.” We constantly look for confirmations in the natural realm to help us in our faith walk, but the walk He calls us to, is a walk in the spirit, where we need to trust Him and believe His Word. Yahweh tells us what faith is in Hebrews 11:1: NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses] (Heb. 11:1. Amp).
Believing Yahweh means to have faith in Him and His Word, even when we see nothing in the natural realm to support our faith. The strength He gives us to overcome is in our spirit, and we need to draw from that well to walk the walk of faith.
Throughout our journey we had learn to trust Yahweh with radical faith, and radical obedience. There were many times when we didn’t see anything in the flesh to encourage us to keep on believing, but Holy Spirit just led us step by step into the truth. There will definitely be times in this faith walk where you won’t be able to see anything around you, and all you can do then is to give one more step forward in faith.
Things need to be established in the spirit first before it can manifest in the flesh. Often your spirit will sense something (having received a revelation from Yahweh in preparation for what it to come), but you will not see the outward manifestation in the natural realm yet.
At this moment I am in San Diego, California. It is Sunday morning and the mist is hanging over the city. Early this morning my friend and I went for a walk and we could hardly see where we were going through the thick mist. All we could do was to keep on walking one step at a time as we followed the pathway. When the sun finally came out and burned off most of the mist, we saw the most beautiful flowers around us. When the mist was thick I could smell the flowers, so I knew they were there. As we kept on walking the sun shone brighter and eventually we could see our beautiful surroundings. As we walked I thought to myself: “This is what a walk of faith is all about - believing without seeing.”
In the mist, everything around us seemed quiet and we could hear the slightest movement and noises. This made me realize that in my own Wilderness times (when I couldn’t always see the road ahead), I always heard His voice very clearly as He directed me where to go. In the times when I couldn’t see, He taught me to listen.
Yahweh’s voice becomes louder and louder in the Wilderness of our uncertainty; and not only that, but we are also better listeners when He has our full attention. In difficult situations, when we can’t see, there is nothing that will distract us from Him. When we realize that our plans don’t work anymore, we become desperate for His intervention, His counsel and His leading.
Have you noticed that blind people are much more attentive to what they hear than people who can see? When we can’t see – but only believe – we are totally dependent on God, and this makes our ears attentive to His voice and our hearts tender to obey His instructions. In the quietness, when we are alone together with Him, our desire for a deeper love-relationship with Him starts growing. We start to have an awareness of His presence around us, and in us, all the time. Since we serve a God who desires for us to have a relationship with Him and to hear His voice throughout our lives, He will often allow Wilderness journeys in order for us to have more intimate fellowship with Him and to prepare us for the Promised Land. Yahweh wants us to know His voice with confidence.
During the Wilderness seasons of your life, don’t neglect to learn how to listen to His voice. When we feel alone and abandoned by everyone around us, it is the perfect opportunity for us to hear only His voice, and to move as He instructs us.
Not only does He teach us how to listen when we are in the mist, but He also teaches us how to trust Him. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Yahweh will lead us and guide us step by step. I totally believe in the “step by step” method. Because of all the storms and tests I have faced in my life, I am no longer worried if I can see what lies ahead or not. The mist doesn’t bother me anymore. I just choose to radically trust and obey Yahweh – one step at a time.
As we hear His voice, our faith starts increase, and as we grow in our faith it will become easier to trust Him – even if we can’t see. This is a foreign concept to anyone who looks at the world through natural eyes only, and not through the eyes of faith; and who lives according to the flesh and not according to the spirit. The shift will only happen when we focus more on Yahweh than on our circumstances, and when we live for His kingdom.
In Matthew 6:33 it is written: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” So, if Yeshua says that we need to seek first the kingdom of God, it means that there must be some other areas in our hearts where we don’t seek Him first. That is why it is so important for us to pray and ask for the glory light of Yahweh in our hearts to expose the dark areas of unbelief, rebellion, hatred, jealousy and bitterness. These “dark spots” cause us to live in darkness, and it makes it difficult to walk a road of faith, because sin keeps us from being intimate with Him.
The only way God can flow out of our spirit, is through our hearts. The Word of God says that our heart is a wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23), and that a man speaks out of the abundance of his heart (Matt. 12:34).
Your heart is where your treasure lies. Whoever or whatever captivates your heart, will have your attention and affection too. Can you say that your heart belongs to the King and that He manifests His Kingdom through you?
He wants us to have faithful hearts towards Him. Like purified gold, He wants to refine our hearts to be pure before Him. He wants our hearts to be of an unmixed seed. Mixed seed means to seek God’s approval, but also the world’s acceptance. Mixed seed means that God is not our first love in every area of our heart, and that we sometimes place someone, or something, above Him.
This is what James spoke about when he referred to a “double minded man who is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6). A divided heart cannot walk a road of faith until the end.
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name (Ps 86:11).
Our call is to focus our heart on Yeshua. We need to be an example of His character to the world around us, and we need build His Kingdom. We need to be people who love Yahweh with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength; who love our neighbors as ourselves, and who seek Yahweh’s kingdom first. That is a walk of faith. The more we cultivate a pure heart, the easier the walk of faith becomes. Start with your thought life, because what you think becomes your words, and what you speak will become our actions. Our thoughts will begin the divine progression of purifying our hearts.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things (Phil. 4:8).
Paul says in Romans 8 that the mind set on the spirit is life and peace, but the mind set on the flesh is death. You cannot walk the walk of faith with a mind set on the flesh. Let’s set our minds on what is above, because then it will cause the divine flow of Yahweh’s life inside of us to stir up and to flow through us to others. (Photo: Retah with Scott and Glennis Brodie, Seattle Washington. To read more about the Brodie's testimony, visit www.deathvalleypromises.org)
It is Sunday night and we are packing for San Francisco. It was absolutely amazing to experience the flow of God’s anointing this weekend in San Diego. It is so good to see the apostolic and prophetic flowing together. Yes, we had a glimpse of heaven! So many soul-wounds were healed – all because of His glory light. Glory to our King! He wants His bride to be restored, healed, whole and walking in the spirit by faith.
There is a time difference of about nine hours between the west coast of America and my home in South Africa; so I am going to bed now, and my family will be waking up soon. This whole world – that seems to be so big, with places so far from one another – is in Yahweh’s hand!
Thank you to the people in California for their love and hospitality. We love you Lord, we love You so! Thank You for the walk of faith. Even if we can’t always see, we know that You are not a man that you should lie. Whatever You start in us, you will finish!
Love,
Retah.
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