“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?
In Tasmania, over the summer season, we have had significant fires, threatening homes, lives, property and causing horrible devastation to industry and natural resources. Even after over four months of fighting, while the risk to communities has been lessened, our fire-fighters, alongside specialist remote area firies are still working to manage these blazes.
Spiritually, December through February, was a significant period of time for the body of Christ in Tasmania. We were managing a lot in intercession, and an organisation I am involved with, had some very specific prayer tasks to do within that larger task. After the fires had been (mostly) contained, and a number of other significant mile markers had been achieved in celebration; Father spoke to me and said: "You are now running with horses. If you don’t keep up, you will be trampled underfoot."
Individually we can choose which level we run at. There is always a choice. But there are some whom He is taking to a place where we are responsible for the fate of nations, and alongside this, we need to have the understanding; we are each individually responsible for the consequences of our own actions.
If we want to run with the horses in intercession and forerunning (breaking new ground, pioneering), we must be fit for the task. Literally fit. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally. This kind of “levelling up” requires us to take ourselves in hand.
Father never requires of us something we aren’t made for. There are skills, gifts, tasks & responsibilities which are not in my wheel house and I’ve had to learn over the last months the truth and the FREEDOM of the statement “Not my circus, not my monkeys!”
This statement is not about abdicating responsibility, it is about recognising and defining boundaries; my own, and other peoples.
To be able to discern where my own line in the sand is, and to be able to say:
“Yes! This is mine!” or
“I Love This; but what I’m supposed to be doing is this part, but not this part.” Or
“I Love This; but I think it’s because I can see God’s heart for your vision, and I know if I get involved it’s because I want to feel fulfilled in a particular way, not because it’s actually my task…”
or any other iteration of yes or no right down to: “Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys.”
There is no condemnation in prayerfully drawing our line. In fact, there is freedom. We know that we know where God has actually called us. He tells us all the time. It’s in the listening to Him and in the practice of listening to Him and following through with what we hear, that we refine our place in the world and experience the great expanse of freedom and influence which is available in and through Him.
Jeremiah was called to spiritually govern nations & kingdoms.
We all know, not everyone in the world is called to the task of governing nations – spiritually or otherwise; too many cooks and all that. The Body of Christ as a whole is called to that level of authority, but not everyone within it is called to that level of daily sacrifice. Some people are called to families; some to a region; some to a congregational body; some to three people; some to our nation. There are as many different calls as there are people!
All of these tasks are horse-running tasks. But they look different. They require the same level of commitment from each person who has been given the task, and the same depth of intercession.
I have learned these last months, there is more Glory for God & more glory for me, in defining my task and being able to be fully present for it, than being less present for more things that might fit the task. Those things are more like a decagonal prism in a round hole. [That's a 10-sided peg there.] It might fit... but there are gaps...
God Bless You Very Much.
- Anita