In the last blog, I wrote about the 50-day time period between Passover and Pentecost, which is the same time frame we are experiencing today in the Hebrew Calendar.  I feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to keep sharing more regarding this time frame and it’s relevance for us today.

One of the key things the children of Israel experienced during the 50-day period were “testings” to reveal where their trust level was in the God.  They were accustomed to a familiar pattern of provision (even as little as it was) that was given for their performance as slaves to Pharaoh.  They were also familiar with their bondage, which for some, actually brought unconscious comfort to their souls.

This guarantee of provision, as oppressive and little as it was, was at least a “comfort” guarantee.  The ability to count on something that is known, rather than take a chance at trusting something better is one of the reasons why the children of Israel almost aborted what God wanted to do through them.  If not for Moses….

There is a huge test the body of Christ is going through right now.  God has been stretching us to a place “unknown” and “unfamiliar” than what the Church at large has been conditioned to.  We are being called to be God’s risk takers, but the risk is in stepping out in obedience to the places that are unfamiliar to our religious culture.   WE MUST PRESS ON TO THE HIGHER CALL.  That takes a whole lot of uncomfortable, and zero complaining in the midst of the journey which we could not do on our own.  If not for Jesus…..

God is speaking directly to us through Deut. 8:1-3:

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and TEST you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

These 50-days are a part of God’s final exams for those God has hidden for a season.  After studying all these years, taking quizzes along the way as to how to transition and breakthrough into the Tabernacles Age, we are coming toward the finish line called “REST.” The journey has brought us outside the “box” the Church has been in, processing what is truth, standing against rejection, persecution and injustice, and rising above it all in humility.

Jesus is going to be our Commander in Chief and lead us all in one rhythm.  He is drawing us closer to that “SUDDENLY,” when fire is released from heaven, and the landscape shifts us to ONE WITH CHRIST.  But for now, we are in the process of “end of semester” testings to see if we have learned to humble ourselves, choosing to abide in His ways, His timing, and His truth.

Many of us have experienced an excitement in our Spirit about what is about to transpire.  WE are all anticipating something, but cannot see anything anything quite yet.  Sound familiar?  So did the children of Israel in the wilderness.   We are all being tested NOT to grumble and complain as we continue to WAIT for the Promise, the full measure of His glory, to be sent from the Father.

Many have been given a vision to build that seems to have tarried so long.  And our hearts have been revived in that vision because God has poured a fresh anointing on it this Hebrew Year.  But we still haven’t been granted access to the treasury of God’s rich resources.  Are we fighting off discouragement that keeps knocking on the door of our hearts, questioning where we are?  Join the army who are wrestling too!

You may be wondering: What is the hold up?  And the answer is that the release comes in God’s SET time.  The Feast of Pentecost is another SET TIME that will release an increase for sure.  Remember, we are in the seed sowing months that WILL produce a harvest.  But TIME AND PATIENCE must be applied.  Our destinies are tied to a corporate movement that is on a SET time.  And watering those seeds with the Word, prayer, and obedience will produce that harvest to come.

Abraham was told there was a SET time when Sarah would be pregnant and produce a seed that would multiply into nations:  

“But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this SET time next year” (Gen. 17:21).

Jesus had a SET time when He was to die:

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these saying, that He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified'” (Matt. 26:1, 2). 

Jesus has a SET time when He will return for the nations:

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).

And so we wait. But we wait in REST, knowing that God is faithful to perform His word:

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.  Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  And let patience have its perfect work, that you would be perfect and complete, lack nothing”(James 1:2-4).

Rest does not mean we don’t do anything.  On the contrary.  This month, we boldly go to the throne and pray so we can receive from heaven instruction from the Father of what He wants to reveal.  This month then is characterized by intercession and reflection of His light.  And so here is our command for these next 30 days of Iyar:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

But we need to do so like this:

“But let him ask in FAITH, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

We cannot receive anything if we are in doubt, so we must remain in God’s REST and trust He is in control. Our destiny and circumstances are tied to a much grander picture that connects us to others in the body of Christ, and we are all in the palm of God’s hand.  

“For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:7,8).

What then comes on the other side of REST and TRUST?  GLORY!  Is this not why the disciples went back into the most hostile environment, Jerusalem, because the Lord directed them so?  And did they not question this command, but waited in the upper room, in one accord?  How can we have one accord if there is doubt?  We cannot.  Because doubt creates a double-minded body of believers.  In the place of rest, faith and trust, THE  PROMISE WAS SENT, and it came SUDDENLY.

We too must have that poise, and our hearts SET ON HIS TIME ….UNTIL…GLORY!