Face Like Flint

 For many believers, the seasons in our lives of trial and trouble have left us carrying a sense of shame and humiliation. Plans and ideas that the Lord had placed in our hearts seem to have fallen short, leaving us wondering, Did I even hear God? Why didn’t this work out if it was Him?

I’ve had my fair share of dreams and expectations being met with opposition, loss, destruction, and disappointment, wondering where I went wrong, or perhaps, where God was amid this frustrating thing He’d called me to. I recently was struggling with letting some things go and feeling anxiety about the unknown before me. I stayed up for a few hours in the night, simply telling the Lord I’m not sure what to do or say, but I’m here with Him in it. There were moments that I had to stop my mind from calculating and suggesting scenarios that could seem to fix my problems, knowing all too well how good intentions can lead to straying from the narrow path. He blessed us with problem solving minds. Unfortunately, they are easily hijacked in times of fear and confusion if we are not rooted in the Word of God, allowing doubt and fear to become our guides rather than the Holy Spirit Himself.

So, I was relieved to receive a message from a friend that simply said, “face like flint.” An encouragement I recognized as the words of an Old Testament prophet who’d also been up against circumstances outside his control. In reading Isaiah 50, we find that he is resting in the revelation of the Lord’s might and goodness, becoming bold enough to challenge those who opposed him and the work he’d been given by the Lord. This boldness came from a track-record of trust with God. We find in times of difficulty that we easily ensnare ourselves with complaint rather than praise or trust. Worry, being a far cry from trust and unable to give us the results that we need regardless of the endless scenarios we play out in our minds.

Perhaps in these moments of unknown, of loss, disappointment, and frustration, we are met with the opportunity to be crazy enough to believe again for the impossible. Could it be that in these seasons, the Lord is strengthening us in the wild, unashamed childlike faith? Children who, knowing the goodness of the Lord are brave enough to ask again for the things we haven’t seen yet.

I’d like to think in this season, He is bringing around again things that were overlooked, dropped, left in pieces and misunderstood. I believe the Lord is bringing His people deeper into the revelation of His steadfastness and how we are learning to walk in it, regardless of the troubles around us. What’s in your hand? He asked Moses in Exodus 4, as He was commissioning this slavery-born, Egyptian-raised, stuttering, man-killing outcast to go and bring his people into freedom with a wooden stick.

We’d like to think once our ships come in then we can begin ministering. Once we have the finance, the time, the following, the connections, the resources, then we can begin to operate as He has told us to. We even dare to think that once the storms have stopped, there's peace on every side of us, that we can get started. But, as believers, we must recognize that the battle is ever-raging, and we must be ready in season and out (2 Timothy 4:2). I’ve been guilty of this, waiting on a door to open, a word to come, or the waves to stop slapping against my small boat. Like Peter, it's time to start walking on water. Like Isaiah, it's time to speak up. Like Moses, it's time to take hold of the Lord's voice.

What’s in your hand?

The Breaker Bride