DIGGING FOR THE HEART (2)

I have posted the original vision again below as Digging for the Heart (1) as this next writing needs to be understood in it's context.

The past weeks have carried a new kind of tumult in the Spirit, and currently there is much raging around something great and new that is happening whether we can see it or not. This morning I began to pray and see this within the context of the vision of digging for the heart which I have now carried in prayer and my own heart for nine years this month. The vision had such an intensity that it is as clear today as it was then.

One could look at events in the natural realm right now and see things that are (to my mind anyway) mad, bad and sad. We could go down in a depressed heap of negativity or rise up in religious self-righteousness, neither would prove particularly helpful. However, in the face of these things there is a new kind of intercession taking place and the Lord is beginning to speak clearly to His prophets - we are emerging from a time of famine in this regard.

We have become a nation of very diverse people groups - so many of earth's nations represented here now. It could look like a loss of our national identity, but could it be the forming of the final identity and heart God always had in mind for us as a nation?

The people who populate Aotearoa now have, each and every one, been created by God, simply because they are alive and breathing and carry His life within them. What does He intend this living, breathing entity to become?

Can such a seething and tormented heart, full of divisions and diverse origins be made into a whole that is peaceful and finds rest in it's Creator? YES.

Can His strength and power work for them more powerfully than evil and poverty and political power? YES.

Can He speak more loudly in love than the 'prophets' of negativity and doom? YES

Can a nation be saved in a day? YES

If we cannot shout our "Yes" to Him, Who and What do we believe in? Can we faithfully pray with Habakkuk,

Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Hab. 3:2)

God's response to the prophet's questions was:

Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Hab. 1:3)

Hosea, the prophet who lived the prophetic life in shocking obedience that defied logic, was able to make a call to God's people:

Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us, He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. (Hosea 6:1-3)

Last weekend we celebrated the incredible way God chose to make the Way to that revival and restoration possible.

My vision of this nation ended up with the people of prayer sitting in deep well-ploughed furrows in the earth - God had been preparing for a harvest. This year He has asked for prayer to release those He has prepared to labour in His harvest.

There is a good deal to consider in this time. Let us pray believing in His great ability, especially when we seriously doubt our own.