This time of year is difficult for me - maybe for you too. I function so much better in the sunshine-bright, long-growing days of spring and summer,. These short days of darkness tend to feel gloomy and isolated. Perhaps those feelings are accentuated this year by the spiritual darkness that is pressing in on us. But yesterday I came upon a Scripture that felt to me like a huge burst of LIGHT and hope! I want to share it with you.

Let me preface it by sharing something I heard Pastor Marty Gale teach about a year ago. He was asked why we believers in Messiah Yeshua are not experiencing the kind of supernatural, angelic assistance and power of God that we see in the Bible, in the days of the early Church. His response bore witness in my spirit and I have held onto it. He said he believed that the persecution of the believers in those days was so intense and so unbearable that God, in His mercy, sent supernatural help to those who desperately needed it. The message of the Gospel was fresh and new and those who carried this great treasure were being tested by the fire and the fury of the enemy.  Almighty God made certain that the message of salvation in Yeshua/Jesus would not be stamped out! He sent an earthquake and angels to rescue Peter from the prison. On the day we call Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to speak in other languages that they did not know, and flames of fire, in the shape of the Hebrew letter shin (which stands for El Shaddai) appeared over their heads! Even in Old Testament times we see great signs and God's powerful assistance to those who were under fierce persecution, such as Daniel in the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the intense, flesh-melting fire. He was with these people who did not deny Him and held tightly to their faith, no matter the cost. Pastor Marty's point was that we are headed into such a time of persecution again, and El Shaddai will again cause His Holy Spirit to powerfully assist and deliver those who do not deny the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

So, I have held onto that hope, and then yesterday the Lord quickened this Scripture to me, which absolutely confirmed this thought.  1 Peter 1:3-9: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Is this not a thrilling word, delivering so much light and hope to your soul? As the Lord clearly states, through Peter, His apostle, there is an inheritance kept in heaven for YOU who are shielded by God's power until our Messiah and Lord, Yeshua/Jesus is revealed again IN THE LAST TIME!  And He reminds us that we can rejoice in this thought even though we are really ARE (and will be) suffering all kinds of trials - for the purpose of proving our faith.  This is the season we are in right now, I believe. Although there are believers in China and Syria, in Russia and in Nigeria, and all over the world, who have already suffered unspeakable torture and trials of persecution for their faith - and yes, even death - we in America are just now beginning to see the small sparks of persecution. We are hearing on the news the formidable chants of "First the Saturday people and then the Sunday people" from those who hold to Islamic jihad. It is coming, my friends. Even in America, it is coming. That's the pressing of the darkness that we feel.  But I believe this powerful Word from the Lord strengthens us and renews our hope that when we are sorely tested in our faith, in the violent days ahead, fueled by the enemy's fury against believers in God and His Son, Jesus, we will experience the power of the Holy Spirit and the assistance of the angels. Psalm 91:1-2, 9-12:
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

May our trials, our grief and our suffering result in praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ is revealed! ​Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Luke 1:26-38:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Yeshua. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

First of all, I cannot imagine how startling it must have been for Mary to see this angel up close and personal! Surely that wasn't something that happened every day! Secondly, the Scripture tells us that young Miriam (her Hebrew name) was greatly troubled at his words and "wondered what kind of greeting this might be." That tells me that at first she is uncertain who this messenger is and what his impossible message could really mean. She's not very old, but clearly she understands that you can't have a baby without having relations with a man! But the angel concludes his message by sharing with her the miracle of her cousin Elizabeth's pregnancy and then declaring to her, "For no word from God will ever fail." 

It must have been a lot to take in. But young Miriam doesn't skip a beat. Faith rises up in her and she responds, "I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT.  MAY YOUR WORD TO ME BE FULFILLED."

We've all read the Scripture and heard the story dozens of times. It's so familiar to us we really don't stop to give it a lot of thought. But I was listening to one of my very favorite preacher/teachers, Allen Jackson, as he presented this Scripture, and something he said arrested my attention. He said, "Don't wait for the big revelation for your future - but prepare your heart and yield your life."

I cannot tell you how powerfully those words spoke to me! It was as if an explosion went off in my brain! I know that that's because I have spent SO much time in the past five years dreaming about and waiting for God's next big assignment for me. And as my husband has continued a long, slow decline, I've grown impatient, wondering if there will EVER be a time again when I am released to go across the globe and carry the News of the Kingdom.  

When the angel appeared to Miriam and told her she had favor with God and He was going to do this miraculous thing through her, her response was one of remarkable humility. "I am the Lord's servant." She had favor with God because obviously she had prepared her heart and yielded her life to God, for whatever purpose He might have in mind for her.  So what if the purpose had been simply for her to go to Elizabeth's home and care for HER during her pregnancy, and help with her newborn son? Not nearly as earth-shaking and incredible as being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit in order to conceive and bear the Son of God! But I believe she still would have said, "I am the Lord's servant. May Your word to me be fulfilled."

I think for each of us - perhaps some more than most - there is a tendency to want to peer into the future and find some exciting plan that God has prepared for us. But I am grateful for Allen Jackson's wise words that settled me back into the quiet confidence of waiting for the God of all the earth to reveal His plan for my future. I see now that that is not going to happen until He is satisfied that my heart is prepared to receive and my life fully yielded to receive His word -  no matter what it might be, no matter how big or how small. Then, trembling at His presence, I will be able to say with confidence, "I am the Lord's servant.  May Your word to me be fulfilled." Because no word of God will ever fail!