One day you are minding your own business and Our Heavenly Father drops a revelation into your consciousness. What do you do? This revelation is going to change your life, your friends, your financial decisions, and your basic interaction with mankind. This revelation may usher you out of your local church congregation. It may impact your relationships that you have developed over decades. Do you disregard the revelation so as to have minimal impact on your current life’s ambitions and dreams?
Our Creator knows us all too well. HE gave us the revelation because HE equipped us before we were formed in the womb to embrace the revelation and carry it forward. He knew at that time that the adversary in whatever form would test us with trials and temptations to validate our commitment to the revelation. The Apostle Paul lived this reality. He was at the top of his “game” when suddenly Jesus appeared and gave him a new revelation. Uh oh! First, Paul was blinded.
Acts 9:9 And he (Paul) was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
That made quite a statement to Paul. Talk about a course correction, Paul’s life changed in a moment. His training in the opposition’s camp was now going to be used to spread the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the following passage, Paul gives an account of the cost of the revelation he received:
2 Corinthians 11:22-33
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
Are they ministers of Christ?–I speak as a fool–I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness–
besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;
but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.
Over the last year, Our Heavenly Father led me to write a book titled “The Circumcised Heart of Love”. For the most part, it was quiet while I wrote each chapter. Once I was ready to prepare the book for publishing, the resistance came. A blessed sister in Christ was to create the book cover and suddenly, roadblocks cropped up everywhere. Emergency dentistry and a PC crashing arrived at her doorstep. After several delays and some intercession, the cover was finished. The next challenge was to get the book in a publishing format. During this phase, we have had a number of challenging events to take my focus away from this step. Within two weeks time, we have had 10-15 events that were various aspects of spiritual warfare. Fortunately we don’t have a pet or it would have probably passed away during the last two weeks. The warfare was designed to bring us into submission and despair so that this revelation would not be spread abroad. Having dealt in spiritual warfare in the past, I was not particularly moved by all of the adversary’s attempts to disrupt the progress. Am I saying that this book will impact millions? No. In fact, I may be the only one it impacts. Having it published may be a waste of money. However, just as Paul was led to the utter most parts of the earth and suffered greatly as he spread the Gospel, I am compelled to complete this project as a service to Our Heavenly Father. I know the revelation needs to come forth and I am called to do my part in planting the seed, no matter how minor it may be. Revelation is always accompanied by trials and testing so you might as well embrace them.