BeyondSeeLevel

I purchased 2 new pair of eyeglasses. I had worn the pair that I replaced for 4 years. They were still in good shape. But because I had transition lenses and they were old, it seemed that I just couldn’t get them clean. I thought they were pretty fashionable. They were a solid, deep burgundy color. The arms of the glasses were very thick or wide (however you say it). It gave me a classy look. But as fly as I thought I looked, they limited my peripheral sight. I had spent the last four years of my life looking fly without peripheral vision. I had been limited so long, I adjusted. As a matter of fact, after a while, I didn’t even give it a second thought that I had no peripheral sight. I had gotten comfortable. I adjusted to my limited vision.  

As I mentioned before, I bought two new pair of eyeglasses. Once again, I thought I looked pretty fly. One pair was a light, clear-like colored tan color. The other, a solid dark blue color. Both pairs have the same thick/wide arms like the 1st pair. I thought I looked better in the tan pair. But I found myself being more comfortable in the dark colored pair. I would start my work day out in my tan pair. But by lunch, I would switch to the dark blue pair.

Why!? Why would I switch if I felt like I looked better in the tan pair? When I got off work one day, pulling out of a parking garage, I realized why. I had gotten so used to the old pair, it was difficult for me to adjust to the new pair. I had no issues with the frames; they’re actually the same style, just a different color. But I was actually having trouble adjusting to this new found peripheral sight that I had when wearing the tan pair. Whenever, I’d be in a well lit place (particularly outside on a sunny day), I found myself desiring the dark blue pair; the pair that limited my peripheral sight. Crazy right?! I know you’re probably saying to yourself “Ok! What’s the point of this? Where is she going?”

I’m so glad you asked. 

Every Tuesday night, for the past few years, I have convened on a conference call bible study with some of the best Christian women in America. Anyway, that particular week, we had an additional call on Monday night. It was unplanned and requested at the last minute by one of the ladies.  We just got together to pray. We all felt the need, so we did. There’s nothing like praying women! We had some general prayers. There were prayers of adoration, forgiveness of sin and thanksgiving. Then we had intercessory prayer for one another. I asked the ladies to pray for me. I stated that I could see how God was working in my life; how He was illuminating my mind; and how He was answering my prayers. But my request was that God help me to stop resisting the illumination the Holy Spirit was giving me. I was fully aware of how God had answered my prayers for encouragement, confidence, boldness, wisdom, understanding and motivation to move forward and embrace the calling He had placed on my life. In spite of me being aware and God providing me with everything I needed to move forward, I was in a tug-of-war. I was struggling to embrace what I knew was good and best for me. I was struggling to receive what I had asked for. 

Again, I asked why? Back to the eyeglasses. The Holy Spirit revealed to me a parallel between the eyeglasses and my resistance to how the Holy Spirit was working in my life. He showed me that, because I had been limited for so long, I became comfortable in my limitations. When I step outside in the sunlight, I felt like it was just too bright. There’s too much illumination out here! Then, I would voluntarily, put on my blinders to dim the light. (Hallelujah!) Spiritually speaking, because I had been limited so long, I had become so comfortable in my perceived limitations, that I rejected the power of this new illumination. I kept putting back on my blinders. I kept sabotaging my peripheral vision.

I felt like a ground hog. I had been in the dark so long, I was tripping out with all that sunshine; all that illumination. And I volunteered myself to crawl back into my dark place with no peripheral sight; with no illumination-stripping myself of the power that God had given me to see better, to do better and to be better. 

Is this for you today?  God has empowered many of you and is giving you everything you need in order to embrace the light; embrace the power; embrace the strength; embrace the abilities. But because you have adjusted to the limitations in your life, you’ve forfeited power; you’ve forfeited growth; you’ve forfeited God’s calling on your life. Understand that you will adjust to the light! It may take some time. You may have to squint your eyes for a little while until you get used to it. But the light won’t hurt you. Stay in the light! This is only way you will adjust.

We are so busy embracing and supporting the limitations in our lives,  that we can’t even accept the new and improved vision that God has given us. Some of us have been praying to go to the next level in our spiritual lives. We even ask others to pray for us. Then God gives us a word. He gives us exactly what we need in order to position ourselves to receive the blessing of that request. He gives us a word of admonishment, empowerment, correction and instruction. He says fast and pray. He says read My word daily. He says pray without ceasing. He says repent and turn from your evil ways. He’s says forgive your brother. He says……………………. But you resists. You put your blinders on and continue to accommodate the very thing you’ve been asking God to deliver you from. You stay in dark places instead of coming into the light.  

Have you been accommodating your weaknesses? Have you been putting your blinders on instead of trying to adjust to the light? You can’t expect a harvest when you refuse to allow seed to be planted. And even if you’ve allowed them to be planted, you still can’t expect a harvest if you don’t continue to nurture and cultivate them (in the light). 

*Tressa Jo

I once had an encounter with someone I was very familiar with. I had known this gentleman for over 10 years. We have a business relationship. But I also consider him a friend. Over the course of the years I’ve known him, he has been a big support and source of encouragement to me. The nature of our friendship would remind you of an uncle and his niece. I’d share with him the events of my life and he’d encourage me to “keep going in that direction and you’ll be ok”. I always got a feel from him that he was genuinely concerned about the welfare of me and my children.

One visit, we repeated the same usual routine. I shared. He listened, advised and encouraged. Now normally, that would be the extent of it. However, on this particular day, his words were different and immediately caught my attention. I would always let him know how God was working in my life and how He keeps on sustaining me and my girls. I would talk a little about how God was using me and positioning me in spite of me for His glory and my growth. I’d also mention many of the great things my church was doing.

But this day, he looked at me and said “You don’t have to be at that church all day.” In my mind I thought to myself “Where in the world did that come from?!” When did I every express to him that I spent all day of any day at church? He then continues on to say that it’s not necessary to spend so much time at church doing “church stuff” because God doesn’t require all that. All God required was one service. He said that there are bigger demons in the church than there are in the world; from the pulpit to the pews. He then asked me something that he hadn’t asked me before. He asked me what church I attended. I told him then he continued with his rant.

As he spoke, I said “Well, it works for me.” I, silently, wondered why would he discourage me from doing what apparently had been working for me as long as I’ve known him? If my commitment to “church stuff” keeps me out of trouble and “going in the right direction”, why instruct me to stop? But when I looked at his face and saw a disturbed countenance, I knew that that comment wasn’t about me at all. It was coming from his own place of frustration and disappointment with his own “church” experiences.

Because I respected him so much and valued his opinion, I could have allowed his words to take root in my spirit and followed suit. But of course, I didn’t. I realized that there was a message beneath the words he spoke. His message was “I’m frustrated! I’m tired! I’m angry!” But none of it had anything to do with me or my “church stuff”. Although, his words were directed to me, they weren’t for me. His words exposed his own personal struggles at that time in his life. I’m so glad that the Holy Spirit whispered that to my spirit in the midst of our conversation.

But even more calculating than the fact that his words to me weren’t even about me or for me, was the fact that his words were the words of the enemy trying to discourage me and detour my path. Yes, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Sift through those words Tressa! They’re not for you.” In the like, Satan was whispering at the same time. He attempted to whisper words of determent and distraction. Satan knows the path that God has me on. He also knows that it’s a path destined and purposed to glorify God and affect the lives of many. I’m thankful that the whispers of the Holy Spirit overpowered what Satan was trying to put in my ear that day. I was able to look my friend in the face and say to the enemy, “Get thee behind me Satan!”

Praise God for His small still voice! Be mindful and watchful how Satan whispers in your ear. Recognize that it has little to do with the vessel he uses to speak through. But it has everything to do with the influence beneath the words of that messenger. We don’t war against flesh and blood. Many times, Satan chooses to whisper; not shout. He uses friends; not foes to do his dirty work. Don’t be deceived by the sound of a genuine sounding, gentle whisper. Always consider the power beneath the words.

I still hold my friend in high esteem and respect him greatly. But I also know that the closer the relationship of influence the more likely Satan is to use them against me. I also know that whatever I feed will lead. What empowers me to have discernment in the influence of words is the fact that I have the Word. I have Jesus! May the words of Satan through the mouths of man never mute the words of God in my ears!

*Tressa Jo

It  amazes me how one of the biggest lessons I’ve ever learned about living the single life, was actually learned while I was married. During the course of my first marriage, I, like many, have experienced the trauma and drama dealing with an unfaithful, adulterous spouse. Considering he was my “first love” and we had our first child, you can imagine the emotional roller coaster I was on. During this time, I began my journey towards a “committed” walk with the Lord. I had come to the Lord about two years prior. But I still hadn’t committed to Him yet. You do know that you can come to the Lord and not be committed right? Anyway….I would pray for God to “fix him”–show my husband what he was doing to me. I deserved so much better than this because I was faithful and committed to him, in spite of his lack of faithfulness to me. It was during this time of new dedication to the Lord that God showed me ME. 

First, God revealed to me that my prayers were selfish and didn’t really even consider my husband; only what he was doing to and for me. It was literally like a light bulb came on in my spirit. I realized at that moment that I prayed ABOUT my husband, but I never prayed FOR my husband. Wow! God showed me my own offense as I brought my husband’s offenses to Him to deal with. Wow again! After that, I still struggled praying FOR my husband because he was still hurting me. I didn’t have thoughts of his welfare or him becoming a better man of God. I was only concerned about him becoming a better man for me. He was still unfaithful and I still wanted him to be faithful. I wanted my family to stay together. I was open with God about my struggle to pray for him. In the meantime, I started praying for myself. I knew that I had been so focused on my husband’s sin that I could no longer see the ugliness of my own sin. I know, had I not truly committed my life to God after coming to Him, I may have never had this personal revelation. So even though I was struggling to pray for my husband, I started to pray for myself. I didn’t consume my prayers with wanting things to be better or the state of my marriage. I focused on my relationship with God and becoming the woman, mother and even the wife God had positioned me to be. I started to understand that all of the hats I wore were hats of stewardship. God expected ME to steward my marriage, motherhood and myself in a manner that would bring Him glory. Even if I had to accept the grief of a failed marriage and a broken family, I was still responsible for glorifying God. And I purposed to live that exact way. Sometimes, I had to glorify Him through tears, struggle and sleepless nights. But I did it! I really started to grow in my relationship with God and I no longer gave my circumstances the power to dictate how I would act, live or who I would be. I became emotionally responsible and personally accountable for the choices that I made. God delivered me from a spirit of retaliation. Even though the marriage failed and I dealt with the aftermath and shame of being a divorced, struggling, unsupported mother, I still felt no desire to see him suffer or pay for the things he had done against me or was failing to do for our child.

The second thing God revealed to me was that my relationship with my husband (although it was dysfunctional) was more of a god to me than God was to me. I remember sitting at the dining room table about to eat a meal I had prepared. I don’t remember if I had gotten a knock at the door or a phone call from another woman (again). But my countenance fell immediately. I completely lost my appetite. My husband and I had just had another “meeting of reconciliation” the previous day. So needless to say, I was feeling good and hopeful about my marriage. But that encounter forced me accept the fact that they were just words and nothing more. As relentless as I had been trying to “make things work” I was officially tired. I still loved him, but I was tired. I was too tired to keep trying, but not tired enough to quit. So being separated was fine with me. But as I sat at that table staring at my food in tears, God whispered some words into my spirit. He didn’t rebuke me. He didn’t even comfort me. But He asked me a series of questions that I pray I never forget as long as I live. God asked me the following questions:

Have you ever cried when You didn’t hear from Me?
Have you ever lost your appetite when you felt disconnected from Me?
Have you ever lost any sleep waiting on Me to show you some love and affection?
Have you ever manipulated your schedule to make sure you were able to spend time with Me?
Am I really your #1 priority?

Wow!!!! God used my dysfunctional relationship with my adulterous husband to show me that I was an adulterer in my relationship with Him. I wasn’t fully committed. Hearing the voice of God was not enough of a priority in my life that I would cry about it if I didn’t hear from Him. I had never really felt disconnected from God because I hadn’t truly connected to Him from the beginning. As much as I desired the touch and attention of my husband on those many nights he didn’t come home, I’ve never stayed awake waiting to feel the touch and presence of God. And the most time I would give God was Sundays and Wednesday nights. But that was convenient—no manipulation needed. How dare I keep coming to God treating Him more like my Shuga Daddy than my Heavenly Father! I learned in a nutshell, that I had an “out of order” kind of affection and desire for my husband and for marriage. I wanted to be good for my husband but being good for God wasn’t a pressing priority.

As a single person, desiring marriage is honorable. However, it can also be out of order. Often times, the single person will seek to perfect themselves to qualify for the choicest prospective spouse. They present the best them in order to attract the best. They learn to talk right and act right. They perfect domestic or provisional abilities. They say, “I’m preparing myself for the man/woman God has for me.” All the while, failing to remember the fact that God created you for His good pleasure–not your own or a spouse’s pleasure. God tells us in His word that He is a jealous God. How do you think God feels when we put forth being our very best for another, but not Him? What do you think He thinks when we have more urgency to acquire and maintain romantic relationships, than we have to maintain a pleasing relationship with Him?

Have you ever had love and lost it? Do you remember how you felt? Did you cry? Did you lose any sleep? Was your mind consumed with thoughts of him/her? God could be asking you the same questions He asked me almost 20 years ago. Be honest in your assessment. Do you have an out of order kind of affection or desire for romance?

*Tressa Jo