In all honesty, I’ve been believing God for a lot lately. I’ve even given Him a deadline. How dare I do that, you ask? Well, I’m daring to believe that God has a good plan for my life, and that He’s willing and able to help. After all, who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

I like to call a problem that only God can solve a “God-sized” problem. Perhaps you have one or two God-sized problems of your own. Let’s face it – waiting is hard, and waiting well is even harder. But the Bible says that we can to be full of joy and peace as we believe, and that the Holy Spirit gives us power to remain hope-filled (Romans 15:13). Yet I had still been struggling with doubt and unbelief regarding the some of the God-sized problems I had. I knew I had some spiritual work to do.

So I sat down and had a heart-to-heart with God. I cried. I complained. I felt sorry for myself. I told the Lord that I didn’t understand why all this was still happening and why after so many years of believing nothing was changing. The Lord then, ever so gently, explained to me that things actually had been changing but I just hadn’t perceived them yet. Then I heard,

“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

Could it be possible that while we are waiting on God to do something, we are actually missing what He is really doing? Perhaps we miss the things God is doing because they are not what we were expecting or hoping for. Maybe we’ve been too busy or distracted to catch what the Lord is trying to do for us or even in us. Perhaps what God is doing begins so small we deem it insignificant or silly. What if I pray for a tree and God gives me an acorn? Does that mean God didn’t answer me or that He isn’t working?

What if our perception of what God is doing is more significant than having proof of God working? Paul references the passage (above) in Isaiah as he explains that some will look and look with their eyes but will not see. He goes on to say that they shut tight their eyes so they will not perceive what God wants to do (Acts 28:26-27). I don’t know about you, but I have decided that I want to embrace and participate in whatever new thing God wants to do in my life, whatever that may look like.

While we’re still waiting on God, let’s be hopeful, expectant and assured that the Lord will perfect everything that concerns us (Psalm 138:8). And until He does, let’s speak, believe, see and partner with the things God is doing, no matter how small, insignificant or different they may seem. Amen.

In Luke 5, we read the story of the miraculous catch of fish, and the calling of Peter from being a catcher of fish to a catcher of men. As I was studying this passage last week, I heard the Lord ask me, “May I borrow your boat?”

You see, when Jesus asked Peter to use his boat, He was actually asking for the use of his most valuable resource – his livelihood. This boat was essential to his survival and success. Yet Peter freely gave Jesus his boat in obedience, surrender and faith. As a result, the Lord then multiplied and blessed Peter by bringing in an enormous load of fish, which until then, Peter had been unsuccessful at catching that day. Furthermore, Jesus called Peter into his identity and destiny!

So what is the boat that Jesus may be asking to borrow from you? For me, I believe the Lord wants to use my words and language skills. I have earned a living for the past 30 years by speaking and teaching Spanish. However, God has been leading me from teaching the language of Spanish to teaching the language of the Spirit.

What is your greatest resource that the Lord may be asking to borrow from you? Notice that He doesn’t take, He gently borrows, uses and then fully restores what we offer to Him in surrender, obedience and faith.

When you do allow Jesus to borrow your boat, I offer this advice:

1. Don’t be afraid of hearing new instructions from the Lord. Even if you’ve been an expert at “fishing” all day, God may surprise you by asking you to launch out into the “deep” or to “fish” at odd times of day or in different ways. God can bring about long-term gain from short-term loss. He is the God of the impossible.

2. Prepare for a miraculous provision of sales, profits, raises, and promotions. As you offer to God what is vital and valuable, even if you have spent years working to no avail or satisfaction, God will use what you give Him. It’s not by our abilities but by His Spirit, working in us, that will cause miracles to happen.

3. Be willing to partner with others. This does not mean you are not able, but that the “catch” will be so large it will affect those around you! Peter had to ask the other fishermen to help him, since the catch was so large. When I set about to publish my book, I had to work with an editor, a cover designer, and a printer. God is excited to work through so many of us to accomplish His will.

4. Beware of “Imposter Syndrome”. When you embark on something special and significant for the Lord (as Peter did) you may feel unqualified, unworthy or insignificant. Am I really an author, evangelist, or prophet, etc? This is where God’s grace takes over! Scripture assures us that His grace works best in our weaknesses. He does His best work through yielded, available and broken vessels. This is the way we bring HIM the glory – not ourselves.

Won’t you let Jesus borrow your “boat” in this season?

When I was kindly given two tomato plants last spring by a co-worker, I decided to have a go and try to grow tomatoes. Now, I’m a city girl. I don’t like dirt, sweat, animals, or being in the middle of nowhere. As such, I live in a condo with my husband. Since we don’t have a lot of free garden space, I decided to plant the tomatoes in a large pot on the back patio. An expert gardener at church told me about “grow bags”, so I ordered a pack online.

When they arrived, I didn’t have a lot of extra soil, so I plonked both plants into one grow bag. I knew they would get tall, so I also bought a tomato cage and even some fertilizer. I was now a real gardener. 

As the months and hot days of summer rolled on by, I was faithful to water, fertilize and stake the plants. I was excited to see small flowers develop. I was even more excited when I realized the flowers formed the fruits themselves!  

I was worried about two things: enough room in the bag for the roots as the plant had gotten taller than me; and enough water during our upcoming week away.  

Our trip to Lake Michigan came and went. As we returned home, my first instinct was to check on my plant. It looked pathetic. It was so wilted it had diminished at least a foot in height. I spent the next week trying to revive it. After about 3 days, the plant started looking like its old perky self! 

A few weeks later, I saw little green tomatoes emerging! I was so excited. Soon, some of the tomatoes turned yellow, then orange, and then red. As the branches grew heavy with fruit, I added more support and cut back branches that had no flowers or fruit to make more room.  

It was finally time to pick my first fruit from the vine! It came off quite easily. I inspected it with great admiration, only to see the skin underneath it was black, deformed, and rotten. In despair, I threw the tomato into the nearby woods.  

Luckily, the next batch of fruit was red, ripe, sweet, and lovely, just very small, and these were not the cherry tomato type. The subsequent tomatoes were healthy and delicious, albeit still quite small. 

I have pondered this tomato growing experience and it has taught me several spiritual lessons that I’d like to share:

1. The size of the pot determines the size of the fruit. We will only produce what we have the capacity to believe. If our faith and our thinking remain small, our lives will produce only the small things we believe we can do. God had promised us wide, open spaces of abundance! Let’s not limit the roots of our faith to fit into bags or pots.  

2. A few days of drought can do damage, but deep watering restores. This is why we need daily watering and nourishment from the Word and the Holy Spirit. Extended time away from those sources will be visible in our lives. But once we return to the true Living Water, we are refreshed and revived once again.  

3. Even if a plant produces rotten fruit at first, it can later produce a sweet harvest. We may have gotten a rough start in our life, family, ministry, or career, but that doesn’t mean we are useless and fruitless. As we mature in Christ and transform our thinking with the Word, God will work things out for good in our lives.  

4. We have Divine Gardener who is faithful to lovingly nourish, support and even prune us as needed. God is happy to be our Source of life. When we are dry, He refreshes. When we are weak, He makes us strong. When we are weary, He revives. All we need to do is welcome and receive His care. We are invited to be careless in the care of God.  

I’m so excited about my book being released in the coming weeks! I believe it will be life-changing for many people. Consequently I’ve noticed an increase in the amount of spiritual attacks lately. I’m sure I’m not the only believer who has experienced a rise in demonic activity just before some advances in God’s Kingdom.

In the face of these attacks, I was faced with two choices: faith or fear. To be honest, my initial reaction was fear. But I quickly allowed my spirit to take authority over my mind, and I began to think and speak in line with God’s Word.

I had weapons with which to fight! But they were not physical weapons. I came against the enemy’s advances with the name and the blood of Jesus, and with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The young shepherd boy, David, knew this truth. He yelled to the giant Goliath, “You come against me with a sword and a spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty!”

Scripture is full of examples of God fighting for His people. I’d like to share a few of the declarations that I have been saying recently. They have helped me claim the victory in the recent battles before me:

The Lord commands justice and vindication for me! (Ps. 7:6)

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! (Ps. 35:1)

You deliver me from those who try to rob and steal from me! (Ps. 35:10)

God has redeemed my life in peace from every battle that is against me. (Ps 55:18)

The Lord is my helper I will not be afraid. What can men do to me? (Ps. 118:6)

Rescue me from all those who persecute me, for I am no match for them! (Ps. 142:6)

I’m not sure which battles lie in front of you today, but I do know that our God promises to prepare a table before us in the very presence (not absence) of our enemies. Focus on the table of blessing, provision, fellowship and victory that is right in front of you.

“And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one LANGUAGE; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have IMAGINED they can do will be impossible for them.” (Genesis‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭AMPC‬‬)

The Bible mentions two instances where the people of God joined together in agreement according to one vision and in unity of voice. When these two principles were combined, the impossible became possible.

First in the Old Testament, Noah’s offspring tried to build a tower to fulfill their ungodly desires. Because they were of one purpose, in one place, and one language, nothing could stop them but God Himself. And He did. God confused their language and displaced the people. (see Genesis 11). No communication and no contact = Defeat.

Later in the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples gathered in one place (the Upper Room) and for one purpose (to wait). In this moment, God unified their language and purpose with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). ONE Voice + ONE Vision = VICTORY!

Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37), or for Jesus’ followers, as we learn to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit and seek a common kingdom vision.

Which impossible situations and circumstances in your life might change if you began to speak in agreement with others and envisioned the expected outcome together? Be encouraged and challenged today!

See our Learn page for more verbal and visual tips and tools.

In the world, it’s common to hear the phrase, “Seeing is believing”, but in the Kingdom of God, many things can appear upside-down. Jesus told us the last shall be first, the weak will be strong, the sad will receive joy, and the lonely will become families. We are promised that those who have not seen but believe anyway will be blessed (John 20:29). Jesus explains that if we believe, first, we will then see the glory of God (John 11:40). What exactly is the glory of God? It’s the manifested excellence, power, majesty and presence of God. Wow! Who wouldn’t want to see that?  So as believers, we can say, “Believing is seeing”.

The secret to seeing such goodness and faithfulness of God on display in our lives is to adopt a visionary lifestyle that can visualize a victory before it happens; A mindset that can visualize already receiving what was prayed for; The spiritual foresight that can envision already having the promises of God.  

Faith is the first requirement before we are able to see anything.  Hebrews 11:1 gives us a nice definition of faith:  

“Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we  cannot see (Hebrews 11:1 GW).” 

 Faith is not based on human sight but on our spiritual insight (of knowing who God is) and the foresight to see into the future. This is why Paul reminded the Church to live by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). 

Faith requires us to look beyond what we see with our physical eyes because faith is visionary. Moses, Abraham, David, and Paul were all visionaries. They had the ability to envision all that God promised long before it came to pass. They were able to look forward in faith because they knew God would deliver on His promises. 

How can we increase our faith to behold a future we have yet to see? The New Testament tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word. As we increase our intake of God’s Word, described as seed, it will grow in our spirits and produce a harvest.

I discovered this scripture last summer, right before I started writing my first book. It says, “The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng” (Psalm 68:11). With tomorrow being International Women’s Day, I thought I would share some thoughts.

In context, King David is describing the ancient custom of women declaring victory over a battle that has been won. This would involve a parade welcoming the brave men home from the war. It was often accompanied with singing, dancing and the playing of music by the women. I love how it says that the Lord announces the word, and then the women take that word and announce it to others. This served as confirmation for me when I was still unsure if God wanted me to write. In fact, the Amplified Bible uses the word “publish” it its translation!

I have also been spending the last few months reading the Old Testament. Invariably, I feel quite sorry for the women of that era. They were treated as property to serve men’s needs and little else. I mean, poor Bathsheba, one day she’s taking a bubble bath and the next minute she finds herself being forced upon, and later pregnant. There are many such instances of abuse of in the Bible. I asked the Lord about it, and He reminded me that it wasn’t like that in the Garden; Eve was Adam’s helper. However, after the fall, the world was changed because of sin. That is, until Jesus came and restored mankind and womankind. In fact, the New Testament declares that there is no longer male and female, but we are all one in Christ Jesus (see Galatians 3:28).

I want to encourage you today. The Lord has music, songs, dances, and books that He is waiting for women to create! Don’t be afraid to release the word that God is announcing to you. Let the mighty throng arise and proclaim His word in power to reach a lost and broken world. Let us shout for joy as the battle has already been won! Amen, so be it, Lord.