It has been a while since I was consistently writing my blog posts and the reason for that is due to a job situation that was draining, I did not have the energy to communicate what God has been showing me. However, I have been convicted by the truth that when we withhold revelation God gives us, it keeps people enslaved and what we sow we will reap. So, I am going to freely share what the Lord shares with me, hoping it will liberate you as it has been and continues to liberate me. So, I am back and will not retreat again. Thanks for your understanding, I have missed you all so much and am ready to run and keep on running.
This morning, while I was doing my prayer time on the back patio, the Lord began to highlight for me a knot that was loose in the fence connected to my house. I went over, took the knot out and began to look at it, the Lord said, look up what a knot is. So, that is what I did and this is what I learned, thanks to Wikipedia.com.
Knot in wood is a particular type of imperfection that affects the technical properties of the wood, usually for the worst. The knot appears as a rough circular solid, that is usually darker than the rest of the wood. The grain of the wood all flows in one direction, but the grain flows around the knot, because the direction of the knots grain is 90 degrees different from the grain of the rest of the wood. A knot is a base of a side branch or a dormant bud, which is a flower that did not bloom. Dead branches produce knots which are not intimately attached to the tree. Knots affect cracking and warping in the material and are the cause for defects which weaken lumber and lower its value for structural purposes. The weakening is much more serious when forces produce tension or pressure, however, knots which appear near the end of the beam do not weaken it and a forest grown tree does not produce knots.
As I was reading about knots in wood, my spirit was jumping around with understanding, revelation and conviction. Knots in wood are like character flaws in our life. They weaken us, others have to flow around us, because we are out of sync with others. And when trials come into our lives, we can’t handle the pressure and we weaken the whole team, all because we were unwilling to deal with the knots in our own lives. As we listen to the news, read the paper, open our email, scan the internet, we realize this is a season of revealing the knots in peoples lives, publically. Presidents, politicians, pastors, leaders, are all being exposed for their knots that have been left undealt with. As I listen to various prophetic voices, they are saying that God is removing all idols from our lives, He is exposing the dark places in our lives, He is purifying His church and His people. Then just this morning Prophetess Brenda Todd said, whatever corrupt practices financially you are doing, whatever immoral behavior you are engaged in, stop it, stop it now! She was adamant, that we need to deal with the knots in our lives.
One thing the Lord has been revealing to me is that He is working on the infrastructure of people’s lives, churches, nations, etc. If the infrastructure is not sound, knot free, it will not be able to handle the pressure of prosperity, promotion, persecution, the presence of God. If God poured out everything He is promising to us, and we have knots in our lives, the pressure will reveal those knots and people will have to flow around us, but we will weaken the whole. I know some people polish knots and say they add character to the design, but God says, I want to remove the knots from your lives. When I removed the knot from the wood in our fence, it left a whole, as I looked at it, I realized if there is a whole in our lives, we are always looking for a way to fill it as fast as possible so no one can see our hole, but the Lord said, He will fill the whole with new wood, where the knot was removed. When God fills our holes, we are stronger than ever before.
There are two major moves coming on the earth, one is a move of God like we have never experienced before, it is going to be worldwide and the harvest is going to be enormous. So, God is building infrastructure in those who will carry His glory to the nations. In addition there is another move coming as well and it is an increase of wickedness. The enemy is going to launch an assault that is unprecedented in history, it is going to bring persecution like we have not seen before. Now with that said, both are going to come with pressure, glory is heavy (you know the song the weight of your glory fall on us, glory is a weighty thing); and wickedness is heavy as well. So, our infrastructure must be strong as individuals, companies, churches, families, communities, nations. The removal and exposure of knots is for the strengthening of our infrastructure, not for shaming us before others. I want to close with the following verse, I hope with this post as your context, this verse sheds some new light.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”