There are times during the process of pursuing your dreams, that you might feel that your “hope” seems to have been locked up in a prison. You can’t seem make your dreams come true, and yet, you find it impossible to stop believing in them!

You can’t go forward any faster than God will let you, and yet, you sure don’t want to return to where you once were before you were overshadowed and given a “life vision” with a promise from God!

God just will not let you give up! During this time you might feel like saying, “Okay God, this is enough! I don’t want to hope anymore! I am tired of being like an egg in an incubator with this promise! I want out of this prison of hope!”

It’s during this time that your dreams feel so very real to you, yet to others they don’t! There is a big conflict between what you discern in the Spirit and what appears to be moving so slowly in the natural, and that grates at your soul!

You feel like you are on a Ferris wheel. You have your up times when you can see your dream’s fulfillment far into the future, but you also have your down time when you can’t see anything!

You think to yourself, “Am I crazy to think that God could use me?” The enemy comes in like a rushing flood and you begin to doubt, causing anguish to your soul. This is the time when God is doing His greatest work in you!

Oh how weary you are of the awful refinery and that seemingly endless tweaking. “Okay, God, you can stop now!” you scream. But He doesn’t stop. You’re caught in a prison of hope and He will not let you out until He is finished with what He began in you.

This is when the refining process REALLY hurts, because He is getting down to the very core of your soul, to the deep regions of your heart. He is developing things in you that you didn’t even know that you lacked; things that you didn’t even know that you needed.

You think, “Okay, God, this is deep enough.” But every builder knows you must dig down deep to lay a proper foundation first, before you start to build upward. And the greater the height of the structure, the deeper the foundation must be.

Do you feel sometimes as though you are hopeless? Well, you are not without hope, you are not hopeless, but you ARE helpless. (Repeat) God has put you in a position of helplessness or complete dependency on Him and you are helpless to help yourself.

You struggle to gain back some measure of control over your life, but your pride (that you did not even know that you had) is being crushed, and the only thing for you to do is to surrender! You may feel hopeless, but really it is the condition of helplessness that is causing you pain.

God wants you completely dependent on Him, and He will keep you a prisoner of hope until you are.

Return to Your Fortress!

Your fortress is trusting in a loving God. Trusting Him in spite of all the reasoning of your mind . . . in spite of the circumstances that surround you. You were content to give God control of your life until He decided to do something with your life you did not like.

You were happy to surrender all to Him, until He decided to give your promotion to someone else. You believe in His sovereignty, until His sovereign will conflicts with your will.

Then you are sure He has made a mistake. You want to run from Him, but He is your refuge. How do you run from your refuge? How do you run from the only one who really loves you or understands you? The answer is . . . you don’t.

So, return, my friend, to your fortress, and remain a prisoner until He is done with you – until He decides that you are ready for all that He has for you.

“Return to your fortress! Yes! You prisoners who have hope! Today I declare that I will return double what has been taken from you,” Zechariah 9:12.

“Double for Your Trouble”

The Spirit of God says, “Even now I announce to you that not only will I restore to you all that has been taken from you, but I will give you double for all the trouble you have endured.” He says, “Don’t stop now . . . keep trusting me, because I can see your future and it is very blessed. Keep walking with me and keep trusting in me and I will give you rest.”

“Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28.

 

In His Shadow,
~ Mary Lindow ^©

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” THE MESSENGER ” ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
Global Prayer Rooms

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Mary Lindow has a passion for encouraging others – all generations, careers or vocations to live expressing excellence through personal integrity, healthy accountability, and wise management of talents and skills. She’s a sought after keynote, inspirational, humorous speaker and teacher across the USA and internationally in Ministers & Spiritual leaders Conferences, and training seminars for various organizations.

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