He Has Prepared a Table Before Me

Good morning readers and Happy New Year.

 I pray 2016 is being kind to you and that the Holy Spirit is  revealing to you new and wonderful things

 I apologize for my absence, and then again, I do not. As I normally do, I began this year fasting and praying. In the last month I have begun six different writings and was not able to get through any of them. Maybe the Holy Spirit will allow me to go back and complete them, may be that I  should just delete the ghosts of blog entries past, lol. For whatever reasoning I did not feel the freedom to write during this season, but instead to be like Elijah and allow the ravens to feed me and drink from God's supply.

 I will be honest, (you know I will), I really did not like the season I just passed through. It was painful, There were things to revisit, lessons to relearn, heart ache that came in like that estranged relative who comes in and makes everything and everyone uncomfortable, perhaps bringing up past pains and hurts that have yet to be reconciled, and with their presence enshrouds the soul in a strange mixture of sadness for the days of yore and longing for some hope of a semblance of something brighter in the future. Then it lingers there until you are left wondering "Is this the new normal?" "Is this all that is left?"

I will be the first to admit too, I do not like carnival rides and an amusement park can throw me into a tailspin quickly.Once, I was dumb enough to get on a roller coaster, okay it was a very small one, but what I found is I had to go down in the dips and back up the peaks to get to the end. I may be hanging on for dear life and I may be desperately trying to hold on to my lunch along the way, but once the journey began I had to take each dip and dive to get to the end and cling to the hope that the metal and steel beneath me would be sufficient to support me along the way.

 So when I unwillingly began this journey four short, yet long years ago, I was not prepared for the roller coaster ride it would become. I tell you, if I had not been here to witness the provision of the Lord and the attacks of the enemy, I would not have believed it myself. You see, coming into this journey I had no knowledge of spiritual warfare.

 I wasn't living for the wicked one but I wasn't his enemy either. A complacent Christian is not an enemy to Satan. He doesn't care if we love Jesus as long as we don't tell anyone else about Him. As long as we sit in our pew and attend our services he is fine with that. It is when we are out being the hands and feet of Christ that the enemy is infuriated.

And in the last four years, I have infuriated him. A lot. I have not keep my mouth shut and I have not covered his workings and I have not let him defeat me. In 2012 his goal was to destroy me. He was almost successful. But God had already set a plan in motion.

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

If you have read my previous blogs, you know then that in my darkest hours the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that the enemy has tried to destroy me  to keep me from telling my story.It has also been the enemy's scheme to have me abandon my only source of strength, Christ alone.  Yet God has reassured me time and again that He has a plan to redeem those dark chapters for His Glory. 

I have found along the way that my feeble human comprehension has been naive at best. Bear with me here, I promise I'm not going too far off track. You see I thought that the ultimate goal was just getting onto that mountain top. If I could just get "there". But I have discovered so much about mountains and valleys. For a short while, the view from the top is spectacular, the air is crisp and clean, the feeling of grandeur is overwhelming and then if you are astute you begin to notice it is not enough. 

Do you know those people who never have to eat? You know those people, they seem to run on oxygen alone. They may nibble of things every now and then, they may keep their coffee or diet coke within in arms reach, but you have never really seen them sit down to eat a meal. Often times it is those very same people who, seemingly on the outside, have it all AND have it all together. 

Well...if you know me, I AM NOT one of those people! This gal likes her food! If you are my Facebook or Instagram friend you are mercilessly bombarded with my food pics (sorry, not sorry. Y'all need to know how to eat healthy. Wait, that's another blog) on an almost daily basis. 

The funny thing about those mountain peaks, nothing grows on a mountain top. There is no vegetation there. The rocky surface of a mountain top is constantly bombarded with wind, and rain and heat and all the elements of the natural world make a mountain top a very difficult place to live. Oh it is beautiful while you are there, and mountain tops have their purpose, but the mountain top cannot sustain you. 

It is in the valley that the fertile land lies. It is in the valley where the rivers run, the grasses grow, the animals graze and the fruit is plentiful.  

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: Psalm 23:5

I have also found that it is in those valleys, in the shadows of those mountains, amidst the fertile fields of knowledge and enlightenment that this is where the King prepares His banquet table. Lavishly spread with all the valley has to offer, the finest fruits, the most delicate wines, the heartiest of meats, the offerings of our toil as we labor along side the Holy Spirit. 

While we toil and labor waiting for the harvest it is easy to look longingly at the mountain top where it appears our enemy sits taunting us from the the lofty ledges and with their lofty countenance. Not unlike an arena or stadium. Yet, in actuality God has allowed them to sit in the box seats to watch in envy as we dine with Him on the plenitude that He has placed before us. 

After our labor and toil through the growing season, our God invites us to come to sit and dine. He has taken the bounty of our labor and has prepared it. I like food period, but I like good food. I am also a cook that does not like  many hands in my kitchen. So it is many times as Father is preparing our banquet, it would appear that he is distant or silent. He is preparing. He is seasoning, He is letting us baste in the lessons we have learned in the labor. He is adding in those secret spices and touches that only He can. The unseen things. You know you always have that friend or aunt or grandma who will give out that recipe, but always leaves out just a little something or secret so that yours will never be as good as theirs. 

"In the presence of mine enemies" that also means that the enemy could not  stop the Lord's plans. My enemy was right there and yet was helpless to hinder all that God was preparing for His children and now as the banquet table is set before us, all the enemy can do is watch as we feast and God's favor is lavished upon us. 

The growling and groaning of their own empty stomachs becomes the echo that reverberates back to the enemy as Father God has prepared a table before us, in their presence. The enemy only a spectator in this lavish banquet as the Heavenly Father fattens us up and prepares us for another leg of the journey. Filling us with all that is necessary to sustain us as He leads us to yet another mountain top. Christ. The water, the wine, the bread of life. 

I'm just 47. There will be more mountain tops and more valleys. There will be more roller coasters (ugh) but He is teaching me to trust in Him who will be sufficient to hold me up and support me along the way. He will labor with me in the valley, He will prepare my tables and fatten me for sufficiency on the mountain. He will lead me where He wants me to go. He will guide my path to do His work, where ever that may be. My enemies cannot stop me, they didn't send me. 

I think that will be my banner this year. They can't stop me, they didn't send me. 

If we are obedient to the Lord's call and His purpose for us, then all the enemy can do with his fiery darts is  distract us and watch from the side lines. 

The second portion of this verse promises "you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over"  .My flesh wants to boast on the wonderful things the Lord has and is lavishly pouring out right now, of harvests not planted, of lands not toiled, of cities not built,  but I can only boast in Christ alone who has been my provider and sustainer. The enemy will just have to sit back and watch,  I hope he likes what he sees. (insert sarcasm). With my belly full, I'm off to conquer the next mountain top and just as He has been, He will be...my God, through all of it.

Colton Dixon- Through All of It