Tonight I was pondering again and for some reason this article I wrote in 2002 came back to my mind. I thought about posting it in the morning, but as that was two hours ago and I still am awake and thinking about it... I decided this may need immediate attention... Now I sleep and you read :)
INTRODUCTION
Today was a very special day in the history of the city where I live. Newport in South Wales, United Kingdom has recently been granted city status from our previous status as a town. Today is the day that Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England came to visit us as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations, and to announce by Royal decree the honour she has bestowed on our town.
Throughout these Golden Jubilee celebrations the Lord has been giving me fresh insight to His kingdom; whenever I read, or watch anything related to the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, I am always expectant that the Lord may want to show me something more. So when the Queen visited us today, I was not surprised when some of the issues the church are going to have to adjust to in this late hour were being exposed before my eyes.
THE WAIT
It was 12.30pm and we decided to make our way to the city centre to wait for the arrival of the Queen. She was due to walk through the main street between 2.30 and 3.00pm. As we arrived, there were already people standing behind the crowd protection barriers, they had been waiting for sometime (some as early as 8am) to get the best view of the queen. These people appeared to be very loyal supporters of the queen. This was evident from their commitment to stand for hours waiting for their precious reward ‘a glimpse of royalty’.
As time went on and the crowds filled in behind us, we all got quite ‘snug’ as we waited. Entertainers were called to perform for the children; the wait for whom must have seemed like eternity!
THE LITTLE CHILDREN
It was at about 1.30pm when I realised a little girl about 8 years old was standing next to me crying. Apparently, she had made her way to the barrier (two rows in front of us) and slipped between two women to hopefully get a glimpse of the queen; unfortunately she had been pushed back as the women would not yield.
A friend of mine had seen the incident and was quite close to the women, so she promptly pushed her way to the front to speak them.
“Do you realise you have made this little girl cry by pushing her to the back” she said.
Their defence was that they had the right to stay in position because they had been waiting there the longest. They were quite determined to stand ‘their’ ground and they did! At this point the little girl had withdrawn from the commotion and was stood next to me. As her tear’s quietly streamed down her cheeks and were dripping off her chin, I raised her face to look at me. The expression of disappointment was too obvious to hide; I couldn’t help myself and found myself saying, “Its OK you’ll see the Queen, you can sneak through that gap when she starts to arrive!”
At this her eyes began to smile and the tears stopped flowing. This simple word of encouragement gave her instant hope; this positive comment affected her whole posture, and her outlook regarding the event that was to follow. She now had a raised level of expectation and as time moved on I couldn’t help but notice she had decided she was going to stick to me like glue until she had seen the Queen!
W.W.J.T. ?
I couldn’t help but consider ‘What Would Jesus Think’ about all this, and what did He want to show me in all this? As I was pondering, two biblical parallels came to mind; my eyes however, were still captivated by these ‘inconsiderate’ women.
In fact these thoughts rose up in me so strong I indicated across to my friend further down in the crowd. Loud enough for all standing in ear shot of our group.
“You know this reminds me of a story of a vineyard when the workers had been working all day, and they became indignant at the fact that the workers, who had come at the eleventh hour, received the same reward!”(Matthew 20v1-16)
“Yes that’s right! “ the little girl’s aunty said in agreement, to my surprise!
If nothing else, this brought a smile to my face, as I could feel myself starting to shake a little with the witness of the Spirit to this hostile environment, and sensing His desire to breakthrough to victory.
Only a few minutes earlier I had been joking with my friend, “ Right then, now that we’re all sandwiched in here, perhaps we should do the ‘preach’ thing’”
“Yeah, I’ll leave that one to you then!” she replied with a smile, curious of course to see how serious I was? It was almost like a ‘dare me to preach a message here then?’ Later this incident reminded me of how the Lord can allow any situation to develop for his voice to be heard, we just need to be obedient; if it feels a little uncomfortable and inconvenient its probably God!
THE RICH REWARD
This whole scenario, uncomfortable as it was, only echoed home, that during the eleventh hour of the church, many labourers are about to be brought to the forefront and raised up to positions of favour and authority. They will also receive a reward according to what the Lord decides and not in relation to anyone else’s calling, achievements, or length and works of service.
The reward is personal. We the church must be careful we do not try and take claim on the reward prepared for the army that God is raising up. These women did. They saw it as their right to prevent this young child coming to the forefront because they had been waiting since the early hours. But more and more the Lord will in this hour, continue to show us, His ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.
We have no claim on what we have done for the Kingdom of God and therefore no right to claim any territory as our own. The battle and the territory belong to the Lord. He will decide at what time He will appoint his warriors, and what ground they are to take, reinforce or consolidate. He also will decide the reward to be given. If we become a stumbling block for anyone, we are preventing Gods work, and therefore it is The Almighty we will be coming against, not the child. The child may, be a babe in Christ or even someone young in years, to us they may seem weak or even inexperienced.
POINT: Is it not one of the Lord’s prerogatives to use the foolish things by the words standard to confound the wise?
The other biblical parallel brought to my remembrance was Matthew 19v13-15
‘Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Jesus said ”Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” When he placed His hands on them he went on from there.’
This reminds me that young as these children were, whether in their spiritual maturity or in years, the Lord laid his hand on them. This not only signifies blessing but it can also symbolise approval and appointment to position.
This would have quashed any further attempt from the most ‘committed loyal supporters and followers’ who may try to hinder the children’s desire for intimacy and closeness with His majesty, or the fulfilment of their calling.
Note: Jesus said ‘the Kingdom of heaven ‘belongs’ to such as these’. It was not something they had to wait for it already belonged to them. Therefore, no person or establishment, however prestigious, has the right to prevent these little ones from receiving what is already theirs.
NOW YOU ARE MOVING INTO MY SPACE
It wasn’t long before a woman on my left, who I hadn’t even noticed trumped,
“Can you move over, I’ve been here since eleven o’clock and now you are moving into my space”
My face must have been a picture! Considering my small frame I suddenly felt as though a metamorphosis into Goliath has just taken place. Hoping I could put at least one fruit of the spirit into action, I attempted to put the whole situation into context for this lady.
“ Yes, we’ve all been waiting a long time” I said, “In fact this little girl has been pushed right back so that now she cant see a thing, so as we’re all here anyway, lets all just enjoy the day. Is that ok?”
She gave a bit of a huff, but the situation seemed to be sorted, Hallelujah!
Strangely enough I was wrong! I suddenly realised I could feel my foot being pushed forward as this lady was determined to make space for her picnic bag between my legs! I found myself having to re-adjust my self as I was now standing in a compromising straddle position!
Maybe she thought I was with the circus team that had been performing for us and she was helping me with my leg extension warm-up exercises? I don’t think so some how!
Anyway my motto is. When in doubt, sing in tongues! So off I went.
As I was singing I decided the only way this little girl was going to see the Queen was if I lifted her up. So we discussed the plan and did a practice run. She was to put her foot on my knee and then I’d launch her into the air……suddenly we realised the Queen was arriving, and if we didn’t get something sorted out quickly, we were both going to miss her!
Then I began to think Shoulders, Shoulders. My heart was racing as I realised she wasn’t the most delicate of eight year olds, and if I couldn’t stand up once she was on my shoulders, we might all end up on the floor. I prayed for strength as I lowered myself to lift her up. A little shaky to start but as I began to move it became much easier.
This little girl could now see more than any of us. “I can see the queen she’s coming” she said, “She’s dressed in green”. She was so happy to share what she could see, this caused everyone else to take advantage of her new position and they started to ask her “Is she nearly here?” “How far away is she?” Suddenly she became useful to us all. Even the picnic bag knew how far away the queen was!
When I put her down, she was so happy. She had seen more than most, and as we both smiled at each other we knew it! Our plan had worked. I felt prompted to say to her. “Listen, don’t ever think because you arrive last or feel like you’re last, that you can’t be first, because you can be first. Just like today!” She once again smiled, as now she knew exactly what I meant.
SHOULDERS
Recently the Lord has been speaking to me about ‘shoulders’. I’ve had a dream and he showed me they were relevant, and then he showed me them in lyrics to a song.
He has since reminded me of Isaiah 9 v 6:
“ For to us a child is born,
To us a son is given,
And the government will be on His shoulders…”
I then remembered, that a few years ago at a conference in mid Wales, an intercessor had used this passage in context to spiritual authority. She had a picture of an American footballer before the conference. When she asked her husband why the footballers shoulders were so broad?, he told her that this was to diffuse the impact of a blow during play. Also a prophet who was present shared that shoulders also represented team ministry, where the burden was shared. She said that there would be a shift, in Wales to this style of ministry, and not the present hierarchical system we have become accustomed to.
Again I believe the Lord is saying:
At times spiritual leaders and those in authority in the body of Christ will be asked in this eleventh hour, by His Spirit, to lift up Gods children onto their shoulders. This could mean a leader or even a whole ministry team are asked to do this. This may mean that they decrease whilst the children they are releasing will increase in effectiveness and run faster and farther than they ever did themselves.
This will take ‘outrageous grace’ and great humility to do this, on the part of the leaders in question. However, as the children are raised up the whole body will benefit; as I saw when I lifted the little girl up to see the Queen on my own.
Should leadership fail to yield to what the Spirit is saying during these season’s, God will still gain an increase for His Kingdom, but it will come through another ‘willing’ vessel who raises up his chosen children.
Rebellion will reduce the effectiveness of leaders and ministers that will not yield. Saul tried to prevent David from being raised up because he had observed David’s popularity and effectiveness and he became jealous. His desire was to remain in the same place of authority but that was not Gods desire for the new season. We need to always seek what Gods strategy is for today.
Isaiah 43 v 18-19 tells us:
“Forget the former things;
Do not dwell on the past.
See I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up: (as on shoulders?)
Do you not perceive it?….”
We need to keep in step with the Spirit!
Shoulders, has been a difficult section for me to write. I sense some who have just read this, and know me personally, will be aware that, I too have waited for many seasons and wondered “is this the season for breakthrough into the fullness of my calling?” Yes, there have been times when I too have been pushed down, by those in ‘authority’ and by those I trusted: but I write this not from a bitter root, but from a desire to express what the Spirit is saying to the church today.
I am actually thankful for these experiences. As a result it has given me even more compassion for those children who are being pinned down, but are ready to fly. I continue to move towards the underdog and this can only be a positive for anyone in the Kingdom of God.
FINALLY
In sure if this little girl had been called by her aunty to make her way to the ‘vineyard’ in the early hours she would have gone. But as the parable says; when the eleventh hour worker were asked, why they had been standing there all day they replied:
“Because no-one has hired us”
There are now, many ready to be called into service at this eleventh hour, but they have yet to be raised up onto the shoulders of leadership. It was only while reading today the last line of ‘the parable of the workers paid equally’ that I realised God is speaking to both his children who have been pushed down, and as yet are without a voice; and to those in authority on whose shoulders the Lord is asking or about to ask to lift up his end time army. The following verse unknowing to me was the very verse I had felt led to share with the little girl who ironically was the first of us to see the queen.
“So the last will be first and the first will be last.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faKFcfytlxU&feature=related
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