11_08072011

More On Grief and Heaviness

The past three days have been very difficult for me, but I need to share with you all some things that have come out of these times of hardship. I know on the “Wings of Prophecy” site we have had many discussion of late that a heaviness for intercession has been coming upon many at times (find the site here). The things the Lord showed me are both a warning and a bit of instruction for everyone who might be touching this, for I feel as if the events are at the door and the beginnings of Judgment are VERY soon to appear in our land. Timing is such a hard thing to discern, and so too is it with this, as the weight and the revelation are now, but the manifestation of judgment is still yet to come (though some is here already).

If you have touched the grief, mournfulness and heaviness I am talking about here, there is no rejoicing or pride in it and you have learned this isn’t some “prophetic toy.” This manifestation has much to do with traditional teachings on travail, but this is a touch different. (Did I just use the word “traditional” about prophetic things? Ugh!)

                        Mat 26:36-45 (select)

                                   Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane,
                                   and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.


                                  And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be
                                  sorrowful and very heavy.


                                 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:
                                 tarry ye here, and watch with me.


                                 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying,
                                O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless
                                not as I will, but as thou wilt.


                                And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep…



                               And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy…
                              saying the same words.


                              Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now,
                              and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man
                              is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

We know the story, we know what happens next and what Jesus was about to face, yet, we (though we have heard many things, even from the Lord) have very little understanding as to what were are about to know very personally and intimately in the near future. Some places in the world have faced this by measure already, but to those of us in the Western World, this will be something brand new in this generation.

There is not one of us that will not be rained on by grief and just because there is offered us a place of escape and shelter, does not mean it will not come; even as our Lord Jesus Himself was not immune from being touched by it. This is the picture of Jesus walking on the waters in the time of the storm that made experienced fishermen in a boat were dreading for their own lives; were they not also disciples of Jesus? In the verses above there is something going on which we have been partaking of and it is a prophetic dealing that must be heeded and accomplished.

Jesus was touching and being brought the actual grief that He was soon to endure, before the events actually took place, in fact the very night before! This glimpse into the fact that Our Lord didn’t escape, but had to bear the emotional “weight or heaviness,” this is a warning to us and a blessing.

Two Purposes

The first is to have the oil to endure what is before us personally. God in His mercy brings the actual “weight” of it before hand so that we might call upon Him and obtain that measure we need BEFORE the day actually arrives; this is a blessing. This is not a cheap copy or just a likeness of what is coming, but a translation of the VERY weight before it arrives. If we win the victory and fought the actual battle before the battle even starts, God shall have praise in that hour. This is for us to grow in His grace, and ready the very substance of grace (oil, anointing) needed because God has brought the actual weight and heaviness that is coming and allowed us to lay hold upon the victory before the day arrives.

The second part is like the first; but is the heart of the matter and is the mystery of what some call the “double portion.” We could, go through the events as they occur and call upon the Lord for the things needed in the hour as we face them; this is still the portion of the Lord, but we would have nothing to give. A preparation of the gift of grace for OTHERS is established by this, so that when we see the day arise upon everyone (ourselves included) and others struggling, we have to give to them, even if we are seeing these things for the first time in the natural.

Why do I say this is about oil and use this example in particular? We are in the same place Jesus was when we experience this, the garden of Gethsemanē, the place of the “oil press”.

G1068 Gethsēmanē

Of Chaldee origin; oil press; Gethsemane, a garden near Jerusalem.

After this was the cross, and after this He was to provide not only for His own self in not shrinking under the withering assault, but for us ALL.


Part of the Times

Hear now this scripture in the light of what we were just talking about.

                          1Pe 4:17-18
                                  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:
                                 and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not
                                 the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely (with difficulty and
                                 much work) be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

In the light of this scripture and what we are discussing, what is it that we need to be expecting: that churches be the first to burn or that the weight of the judgment to arrive at the doorstep of our hearts before it appear in the world? That every food riot will start in the parking lot of a local assembly or that first we must be made hungry for things of God? That an army mustering for an attack will gather at the church parking lot or that we should prepare our hearts for warfare and battle? What does it say, “if it first begin at US”… this is personal! While it means that we should have revelation of the day in the sense of knowledge, we also shall have the emotional weight of the day as well; both are prophetic in nature.

What to do When Heavy?

Firstly, while it is one judgment that is coming to all, the particulars that you will experience will be different and will be fashioned for us. It will touch you at your weaknesses, not at your strengths, so be mindful of that fact. (Some will speak later that things are coming against your “strengths,” this is yet a true word, but it is true to those that have been exercised by it first touching your weaknesses, have called out unto the Lord until it becomes your strengths.)

Secondly, in the garden the Lord did say,

                        Mat 26:39 
                                       O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
                                        nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Some things the Lord might let pass, but this would be of God’s permissive will, not His highest and best; because the fact that they have come means you have an opportunity for more than just delivering yourself. This is not at its heart an attack of the Kingdom of Darkness on you in particular; this is indeed a blessing of God, a Refining Fire of God and one of the ways of God. Moses wandered away the prime of his life in the same desert he would lead the Children of Israel through in his later years.

                          Mat 11:12
                                        And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
                                        heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Rejecting this cup as an attack of the enemy and praying for just the “weight” to be removed is childish milk. While the end is still “relief” from the weight, there is as opportunity for something higher and better; make a grab for the Kingdom of God! While you are praying for relief, press on to win the victory and then you shall have both relief and victory, and be more than just be one saved through the fire, but obtain the true spiritual riches.

Thirdly, run for the rock. Much can be said about PS91 here, but when the heaviness comes, the way into the secret place of the most high seems blocked up. You come to pray away the anguish, to find rest in Him, to be in His presence and feel His feathers about you. Just as you arrive and are in sight of the throne of God; the cares of this life, the visions of your worst fears and the emotional senses of distress, drag you heart and soul out of that place. Another way to say it is that distractions and “imaginations” seem to pull you from the peace and rest of His presence and you find yourself wrestling to sit in the place that was easy before, this is the battle.

Lastly, when it seems you have accomplished the end of being able to abide in His presence and stay in the secret place of the Most High without disruption, and feel that you have “prayed through” you with rejoicing stop praying and try to return to the practicals of the day. About a stones throw from your prayer closet you feel your knees buckle and the same process with the same weight as first, begins the same process all over again. Observe…

                          Mat 26:44

                                       And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time,
                                       saying the same words.
Closing

These weights are blessings and necessities of the day. Understanding their purpose will help you to lay hold of the full measure that the Lord is trying to bring to you at this time. This isn’t always a “I just want to feel light” and “be free” in Jesus fest: it’s a war! It hurts, it is hard at times, it involves pain and death and if these be accomplished in the spirit and in the soul the flesh shall follow after, for the end is not death, but life. I expect this to not just increase among us, but at every step inward this begins anew: so be warned, having walked this through once means nothing! A new day will bring new burdens, equally as heavy.

The words that have been released about “Drawing Near to Me” and in recent history on the “Wings” site are precisely the instruction of what to do. I am once again amazed at how the Lord is working with us all.



Brian