The Sound of Agreement
I have been standing on and believing God for something really big, Family. This was a trusting out of a great need rather than want. This was one of those times when God was my only option. I really needed Him to come through, because I could not allow my mind, or my heart, to role play any other scenario. As pressing as this sounds (and I was pressing!), I think our Divine Daddy dotes especially proud during these ‘no other option’ times, because we give Him the opportunity, voluntarily or not, to really show Himself strong to us, for us, and on our behalf. Father God shines especially bright when He is the only One who can do it. When God is our only option, then He gets all the glory and honor. As fond as I am of this notion, the reality is a different story—stretching me past my limits, and breaking me through to new ground.
Standing on and contending for God’s Word is nothing new for me. But this time, it strained and pulled on my faith like never before. Being careful to watch every word, repenting when I didn’t, and silencing the neigh saying voices of my flesh and areas of my unsurrendered soul became almost unbearable.
The breakthrough came one night, while I was having yet another irrational wrestling match with every fiber in my being, when I heard the Lord say very clearly: “the bells are ringing in your favor. What has been rung cannot be unrung.” It took me a few moments to comprehend and wrap my mind around this reverberation of revelation.
While it is important to watch our words, and proclaim the profession of our faith, this can sometimes become an act of religiosity born out of a place of desolation, rather than a trusting and knowing that God is Who He says He is, with every promise in Him a resounding YES and AMEN (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our Forever Father looks at our hearts, and more than makes up the difference when and where we fall short. This is what His grace and mercy are all about. This is what He does. This is Who He is. After all, did He not first love us, when we were not even thinking about Him? While we were yet sinners, didn’t He still die for us in the person of His Son? Grace and Mercy are His gifts to us, and a gift by its very definition, cannot be earned; otherwise, it is no longer a gift. This certainly doesn’t give us a license to be careless or reckless, but it certainly is an oasis of consolation and refuge when we mess up, or when our belief falls short. It is during these times that God has us covered.
What God has spoken in our favor, cannot be unspoken; unless we are just downright defiant, willfully rebellious and reject His Word. And even then, God’s great love for us knows no bounds. And even there, He can and will restore and redeem everything that has been held up, lost, or taken from us. We need to learn to rest more in the assurance of our Father’s promises, enjoy the journey of stepping into His plan, purpose, and destiny for each and every one of us, and chime in to the ringing of our Righteous Redeemer’s bells singing over us. We need to make the conscious decision to simply believe what God says in His Word concerning us, regardless or in spite of the contrary. This choice, this echoing back, produces the sound of agreement.
The next day, after this liberating epiphany, I went out and purchased two bells. I now keep one in my dwelling place and the other in my vehicle. I ring them often, as an act of faith in receiving, believing, and resting in Who God is for me, in me, on my behalf, and in my life. And my Faithful Father came through like He always does. This hasn’t stopped me from still ringing my bells, producing my own sound of agreement for which God has spoken over me and my life. Heavens no! It has caused an even grander vibration to spring up from deep within me. I now operate in this new place, built by this newly-discovered sound, tapped into merely because God was my only option.
And because God is no respecter of persons, meaning He does not play favorites, what He has done for me, He will do for you. You have only to believe. And when you can’t seem to muster that seed of faith strong enough to move mountains, that’s okay too. Because there is a sound that flows from the Father’s heart of great love, grace, and mercy, that will more than make up the difference and bring you into your glorious destiny. Are you ready to release that sound? Great! Go get your bell.
(Photo credit: Lyubov Nazarova on Shutterstock)
