DEVOTION: March 4

He was a janitor at the church. He whistled while He worked and smelled of garlic and grace, always greeting with a huge smile and a hello.

He was infamous among the staff for his words. Some would call them words of encouragement. Some would call them prophesy. I called them wonderful. He was close to God. And when you least expected it (but most needed it), He would walk right up to you at your desk, place his hand on your shoulder, close his eyes and share in his Caribbean accent what the Lord placed on his heart about you. 

I rarely escaped his touch without tears.

Sometimes these words were encouraging—reminding you to never lose hope, to cling to God. Sometimes they were a balm to a hurting heart—that He sees and knows and hasn’t forgotten. And sometimes they were prophetic—birthing a calling to rise to, a mantle placed on you, a reminder God had more for you.

I often wanted to act immediately on what was spoken to me. I assumed I knew what his words were referring to and what they meant. But what I learned quickly about these promises from God was I had to let go of my interpretation of them in order to embrace God’s definition. They weren’t supposed to be a horoscope, predicting a future that required I act immediately. Instead, they’re a gift to hold loosely, for God to let me know when to pull them out and examine closely. 

Are you currently holding onto a promise of God that might have a different definition for than what you assumed? Abraham was told he’d father many nations, and took matters into his own hands and gave birth to Ishmael. Pray that in this birthing phase you’d have the courage to lay down the promise until He reveals the perfect meaning, time and space for it to come to fruition.

“Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24, The Passion Translation)