The Spirit of the Lord says,
“Canada, these are the words of the God Who Makes you Safe. I have watched with twinkling eyes as you have made yourself a refuge for refugees and vulnerable people. Your generosity and warmth has earned you invitations and favor among the nations. Even at times when you have not noticed, I have quietly used your steadfast support for one another as an exemplar of Christian community.
Yet in spite of the favor I have placed on your relationships, you have been afraid to embrace favor’s fullness. Today, I am coming to teach you how to enjoy risk.
In spite of your patient service and steadfast love, there has been a growing sense of disquiet and discontent on your insides. You have wondered if perhaps you simply were not grateful enough for what you have. You have felt guilty for wanting more, and wondered about the effect your appetite will have on your relationships. Will you alienate others if you step out?
Just like the wrestle between Judah and Perez in Tamar’s womb, I have been the God of your Internal Wrestling (Genesis 38). I have caused Discontent to break out against First Fruits. I have planted a holy discontent inside you so that you will break out of the boundaries the enemy placed on your previous season. In the last several months, you have felt growing dissonance as your desires come against your previous models and approaches for ministry.
I, the Lord, have never been offended by your desire for more! I know the plans I have for you; you were never meant to remain small. I have caused Holy discontent and even Holy jealousy to burst upon you so that I could burst you out of the ways you have partnered with self-rejection. You have been like a child wondering whether I would remember you, watching while all the other nations received good gifts. You have wondered if I have loved you less than others, to give you so little influence. The enemy enticed you with predictability at the cost of greater effort, and you wondered how it was possible to get so little returns on such great generosity. Oh nation who has loved serving others, my freedom is more than service! I am a God of justice! I will give you the better wine, but I want you to openly desire it (John 2:10). I have not forgotten you! Desire the better fruit! I will not just redeem each and every place where the enemy called “Fruitless”, I will change your entire paradigm of what fruitfulness looks like.
I am God the Father, who makes you safe to risk. In a time of shaking, I am the God of Perfect Safety. I am coming to heal your trauma, and ways you have falsely defined safety as comfort. Watch as I make uncertainty feel safe, and comfort feel too restrictive. I am bringing you into a spacious place where your joy, freedom, and peace will transcend your circumstances (Psalm 118:5). I am standing so close, attending to your cries. I will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5).
Today, I am coming to break off the fear of disappointment that has kept you from risk. I do not consider your small beginnings small (Zechariah 4:10). I am not afraid of the possibility that you will make mistakes (1 John 4:18). I do not expect perfection. If you rely on my grace to make the individual and structural changes I have highlighted, you will find ease in transformation. However, if you continue to cling to the past, you will become isolated communities that lose their social relevance. Do not let the enemy cause your communities to harden into smallness!
Surrender! Make peace with your desires. When you rejected the part of yourself that wanted more, you were really rejecting more of me.
It was always my intention to answer the hidden desires of your heart. In a previous season, I withheld greater opportunities from you so that you would dare to long for more. A child is satisfied by simple pleasures, but an adult longs for more!
I want you to partner with me in the exploration process! If you will admit your longing for more and better, I will bring you into maturity so that you can be an equal yokemate for the things I long to do through you. My works will not be small, but extravagant; not stale but overflowing with abundant life. If you are willing to admit that the previous season no longer suits you, I will dress you in new garments. You will know what it feels like to walk confidently in colors more audacious than you would have chosen for yourself! You will be like children grinning at one another, each sitting in front of slices of cake much bigger than you can comfortably eat. You will know me as the God of Abundant Joy.
As you let desire turn into direction change and are marked by the new season, your courage will heal your elders. Older people will come to you with stories of longing for more and better, and repent of their self-rejection and fear. You will be a nation who is unafraid to want more, and openly encourage one another to risk bravely. Within your borders, there are many people who have become like Ghosts stuck in patterns of discontented waiting. When you allow me to call you out, they will come to you to come alive again. As you allow me to become God Your Safety, your embrace will teach your nation what it means to be truly safe.
Written 9-14-2022
Age of the Unexpected 