Sunday 11 September 2016

Isaiah 54:2-3 : “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. »

Verse three says that we shall spread abroad. The Hebrew word literally means to break out. In other words it is something that happens suddenly.

Like filling a balloon with air until it bursts. So too God is filling us, more and more with His presence and with His power. And then BOOM, suddenly it breaks out. And when it breaks out, it will spill over to the left and to the right. In other words we won’t be able to contain the flow of the power. It will flow out everywhere. Like the surfer who rides the wave. He doesn’t make the wave, nor determine where the wave goes. He just gets on his board and he stays on top of the wave.

As Isaiah says here, so too I believe our children will be mightily used of the Lord in what the Spirit of God is about to do. We must invest heavily in our youth and our children. And this is not a burden for only those over 45 years old to carry. Those from 30 to 45 need to begin mentoring those in their 20’s. Those in their 20’s need to begin mentoring those in high school and junior high. And our teenagers need to begin mentoring those younger then them. If we fail in this when the Spirit of God breaks out, we will not have the number of workers necessary to handle properly what God will do in our nation.

Finally, the promise of God is to make the desolate cities to be inhabited. I believe this speaks to us of our mission in the world. Frankly, the government really has no idea how to fix the problems in the world. And God is wanting to raise up His people and give them the kinds of ideas that will fix our broken society. God wants not only to release to the world really great preachers, He also wants to give the world righteous politicians, ethical doctors, excellent teachers, selfless businessmen, compassionate social workers, and on and on. God wants us to invest ourselves in every aspect of society and bring to the light Biblical principles that will cause everyone to live in security and prosperity.

Our government system is broken. Our politicians are either corrupt or incompetent. Our business leaders are only interested in making money. And worst of all too often our preachers are giving answers to questions no one is asking.

This is a time for each of us to take our place in God. Seek Him first. And allow Him to enlarge us that we might go out and change the world around us.