Under Starter’s Orders

This morning in prayer I was chatting with God about the coming move/ outpouring/ revival that has been much prophesied. I do believe, along with many other Spirit-led people, that it is coming, and coming soon. But putting faith in those things that we have not yet (not ever) seen, and living according to promises not yet fulfilled is TOUGH. It takes determined patience to daily renew our hope and fix our eyes again on Jesus and what He is saying rather than returning to the comfort, or at least the familiarity, of the old.
As Proverbs 13:12 says, “hope deferred makes the heart sick” – or The Passion Translation puts it this way: “When hope’s dream seems to drag on and on, the delay can be depressing”. And this morning while I was praying, I wasn’t feeling discouraged exactly, but was certainly questioning the validity of waiting for the new rather than acting. I’m so glad God doesn’t mind me asking for reassurance when I’m a bit unsure – and He is always so faithful to give it!

I was asking Him about the promised revival, and asking Him to correct me if I was operating under a skewed perspective. I have dreams of things that I believe He has called me to in outreach, but for various (unclear even to me) reasons, I haven’t pressed in to them yet. The only thing I can put it down to is a vague feeling that the timing is not quite right. But as I am well aware that my human self-centredness can cause me to be lazy, and that spiritual warfare would seek to lull me into inaction, I wanted to check with God that I was responding to His Spirit and not my flesh or the enemy’s tactics. Not just for myself, but also for those I am responsible for leading – I do NOT want to be guilty of causing others to hold back too!
You see, God already poured out His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, thus empowering His disciples to “Go!” as He had commanded (Matt 28:19; Mk 16:15); His Holy Spirit has not left the earth since, and is still empowering God’s people to go into all the world and make disciples. So why do we need a fresh outpouring? Are we really supposed to be waiting for a new command to “Go” – or are we supposed to still be “Go”-ing in the grace of Jesus’ command some 2,000 years ago?

As I asked these questions, this is what I felt God say:

It’s both. Remember My word to you in October last year: I am preparing My people for a mighty move that is set for a specific season in My timing.
There is a grace available – and My Spirit is already available – for those precious ones who are already ministering and working the harvest fields. My favour is on them.
But I am also about to declare official harvest-season, and then it will be a case of “all hands to the harvest”. Whether My people feel called and equipped as harvesters or not, all will be needed to bring in My designated harvest.
Remember the mighty miraculous catch of fish when Peter had to call James and John to help him? I wasn’t just making a point to them at that time: it was a picture of My end-time harvest when all will be required to help – but it won’t be hard work with little success. The harvest will be great and ‘easy’ because I have commanded it to gather/ ripen. It will take work for sure, but the results will be supernaturally abundant, and shared between many boats (no space for sectarianism).

After God spoke those words I re-read Luke 5:1-11 which tells that account of the miracle catch, and v5 particularly spoke to me: “at Your word I will let down the nets”. Peter was an experienced fisherman who knew how to work hard and was skilled at his job. So he and his friends were perfectly placed to be able to bring in the catch when Jesus said so. But still the miracle depended on Him responding to Jesus’ command, rather than just doing what He always did. It’s not that we shouldn’t be doing anything right now in terms of outreach – but rather that God has commanded us to get ready for what is coming. It’s like we’re in verse 2 if Luke 5, “rinsing our nets” – getting rid of the debris of the previous attempts to fish, making sure the nets are clean, intact and strong enough to handle what is about to happen.

And then I heard the words that we are “under starter’s orders” – bringing me back to the picture from the word in October (as mentioned above), of athletes gathering for a great race. Starter’s orders are when a race official (the starter) brings those in a race to order, and prepares them for the imminent start of the race.
We have been called to our marks: I believe lock-down was a divinely appointed time for us to be positioned ready for the ordained events about to unfold. And more recently still I feel a subtle shift has happened – we are not just on our marks, but the starter has called “Get Set!” – asking us not just to be on our marks, but assuming the right posture, prepared and actively waiting for imminent ‘any second now’ action.
The wait may seem to be going on forever, but that’s how it is when our every sense is tuned-in and alert, waiting for that starter’s pistol to ring out: the more whole-heartedly we are focused on the command that is coming, the more it will feel like the wait stretches into eternity. But let’s hold that position of readiness – let’s not faint in the waiting. What we are waiting for is about to happen!

Galatians 6:9 is for all of us: “Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in“. Those who have been faithfully sowing and working the fields are perfectly positioned to reap the harvest that God is about to release. But even those who have not been working there are about to be called to action, because the harvest is so great, God is going to use every willing heart (Matt 20:1-16; Luke 10:2).

Let’s take up our positions, ready and waiting – for the start of the harvest is coming!