Go in to possess!
Nehemiah 9:15”You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them.”
Observe the title once more, it is not 'go in and possess' but it says 'go in 'to' possess!' You cannot stand out and possess! Move on! Sometimes we expect God to spoon-feed us! We want the ‘blessings’ wrapped with colorful, glossy paper and given to us; it does not happen that way, there are times we got to just move forward and possess it. Anybody there? But that certainly does not mean you move recklessly quick and impulsively do things; be not a coward but be circumspect!
If I have to say sob stories of my own, I have tons of them, but I narrate the encouraging ones to lift your spirit up; nevertheless, the tough terrains crossed has to be mentioned so that you understand, success and victory stories is not without pain and struggle. Listening? Besides excellent prowess in a particular field, experience and knowledge, one needs courage and confidence to confront the oppositions and go through it.
Getting permit from the Government, for running a public school, where the city and the language are new, is no small matter. On my first visit to the Government office, I met the secretary of the particular educational department, who spoke telugu and refused to speak a single word in English, he did not give us proper information, due to the nonchalant attitude of many people in the office, things were getting inordinately delayed. We had to submit the papers for Government permit before October 31 and we just had one day left. That morning, I had a clear ‘push’ from the Lord to go! How did I know? I knew. I told my husband that we got to rush before those guys go for lunch break, so we took all the papers, office seal, letter heads…everything possible, we dumped into the car and left. On the way, I called the local officer to check if it was okay to go, he said, ‘clear the papers with me before you submit’; the distance between the two offices were several miles and it was impossible to do that. I just stuck to God’s push and kept moving towards the main office, what happened after this is just marvelous. It was the last day of submission and the particular officer was there in the office to accept our documents. That by itself was a miracle, considering the empty cabin that we always saw! He sealed the documents with the date and gave it to us. Ah! We had done it! Wait a minute, I would not have budged if not for the ‘harsh push’ from the Lord! This was step ‘A’ that we have just done, there is a long way to go, though. When you have clearly heard from the Lord, don’t allow hurdles and oppositions to hinder you! God wants tough, committed leaders, who would not buckle down to pressure, but would move forward like Nehemiah to build His Kingdom.
I am speaking to youth leaders now and prayer cell leaders! Don’t expect cake-walk when you desire to serve Him; be sure to be confronted, deserted, lampooned and discouraged. Fear not! Move on!
