It's Not What It Looks Like

Photo by Claudia Soraya on Unsplash

It’s not what it looks like.  Yes, I know for those of us in the DMV, it is cold and snowing.  It looks like winter.  It feels like winter. It may even sound like winter, but it is not.  It’s spring. We crossed over yesterday at 12:15 pm, then the ice, sleet, and snow came down to make us question the time we are in.  We need to hold on to our new season – a time destined for rebirth, regeneration, and restoration.

We must choose to believe what we know vs. what we see, or what others are speaking. With my last pregnancy, I had to go to so many doctor’s appointments that I joked I needed to be put on the payroll. Around my six-month, my OB had to travel out of the country for a time.  I had to see a substitute doctor. I was poised to get along with her, but she had a nasty disposition and cold hands. She started by announcing her credentials to me, and then this woman opened my medical records. She rattled off everything that was wrong with me - my age, my blood pressure and so on.  She didn’t know me, but she thought she did from reviewing some files for five minutes.

After this, she proceeded to talk about what could go wrong with the birth.  She said, “As a physician, I need to inform you of the things that could happen. Because you have these conditions, you are at a greater risk to have a low birth weight baby, a pre-term birth, a still –“Before she could get it out, I looked at her and said in a stern tone, “Doctor, I respect that you have to communicate the risks to me.  I respect your education and your expertise as a health care professional, but I’m going to have to stop you.  None of these things is going to be the reality of my son’s birth.  My son will be born safely and without any of those things you said.  If you are going to be on my team, then your language needs to line up with what I’m saying.  You cannot help me if you are speaking contrary to what I already know. I believe what God has already promised me.” She interrupted, “I have faith too, but…” And I stopped her again.  “There are no buts in faith! You will either speak what I’m speaking, or I don’t need to see you anymore.”

Some would say that I was ignorant or arrogant for shutting her down. In fact, I thought my husband was going to fall out of his chair at some point.  Here’s the thing: I already knew the stats that she was spewing, and I wasn’t disputing them.  More important, I knew what God had spoken. Case settled.

Photo by Rohit Tandon on Unsplash

In Numbers 13, Moses sent out some men to explore the land of Canaan.  He gave them instruction to come back with a report of what the land was like. Were the people in it, strong or weak? Were the towns unwalled or fortified? Was the soil fertile or poor? Then he instructed them to do their best to bring back some of the fruit of the land, as it was the season for ripe grapes. So, the men went into the land and explored it for 40 days. Indeed, they found one cluster of grapes so big that two of them had to carry it on a pole. Then the men went back and took the fruit of the land.  They declared, “The land does flow with milk and honey, and here’s the fruit. But, the people who live there are giants.  The cities are strong, fortified, and large.” In verse 30 Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who went with him began to spread a bad report and said they seemed like grasshoppers in their own eyes.

The master of illusion always wants us to believe contrary to what things are. Some of us are on the cusp of birthing something great or entering a fresh season or a land that was already promised to us.  This is not to say the birthing will not be accompanied by the pangs of labor, or the land will not have giants that will need to be run out. However, we must refuse to buy into anyone’s negative or false report out of fear and/or lack of faith. Some need to just begin declaring some things right now, while reading this.  Speak to those things to line up. Declare, I am free. I am more than a conqueror. I am victorious. I am a giant! 

Friends, we have climbed out of our winter season, a place of desolation and barrenness, and we have crossed over to our spring. Adversity in the form of all kinds of negative reports, old files and records, and falsehoods will surface. It may be an inbox from Mr. or Ms. Not-so-wonderful. It may be an offer to take that drink, take that puff, or take that pill. It may be a bill in the mail, or a phone call that wants to snatch us back.  I say, “It’s not what it looks like!”

For more about the exploration and report on Canaan, read Numbers 13 and 14.

Feel free to leave a comment and/or share.  (Please note certain browsers may have trouble with leaving comments).

© 2018 by Antoinette V. Barber