when you're this close to freedom

a kindling post

Shortly before America was birthed, there was a brief moment that almost sabotaged everything. The Continental Army had been fighting for years without pay from Congress. The officers drew up a letter proposing a coup to seize control of the government if they were not paid and they planned to put General Washington in charge as a dictator or monarch.

Our country was this close to freedom — the fighting was over, but they didn’t know it yet. And they almost lost it all, almost wasted the entire fight, by settling for less than the vision and going right back to what they’d known before…the very things they’d fought to be free of.

They were this close to losing it all when they were this close to victory, because the enemy saw that victory ahead and made a last ditch effort to sabotage it. It almost worked.

But George Washington, who was not part of the mutiny, said no.

He said a lot of things besides no. One of the last things he said was a courageous challenge toward self control and patience that he threw out to the men who almost lost it all for everyone:

“And you will, by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, ‘Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.’”

He asked and expected them to rise to the call. Had they not done so, and had the mutiny gone forth, America never would’ve been the bastion of freedom it became.

And some of you are this close to victory right now. The enemy knows it, but you don’t. So he has been riling up an unholy discontent and restlessness to urge you toward impulses that could cost you everything.

You need to say no.

You need to resist the bait.

You need to abide and pray and make slow, strategic, obedient moves that align with the vision the Lord already gave you.

You’ve been trying to figure out why things aren’t working, and digging around for any reason you can think of so you can fix it: Is it because I’ve strayed? Or been distracted? Have I not been abiding? Is God mad at me? Why am I being punished?

If you’re seeking and not finding answers, you might be asking the wrong questions. Because it’s not always about you.

Or it is, but maybe not in the way you’ve been thinking.

If you’re not hearing clear conviction from God as you ask Him — and you’ve been willing to hear it and be corrected— you might be barking up the wrong tree. You might need to turn around and draw your sword, because the enemy’s been on the attack and you’ve been too busy naval gazing to notice.

It might not be about you. It might be that the enemy is terrified of the victory he sees ahead for you — because he sees it more clearly than you do, and he knows you’re this close to freedom — and he’s been doing everything possible to prevent it, including making you think that current circumstances are somehow your fault and God’s just too mad at you to tell you what you did.

Does that match God’s character? No. You know better than that. You just forgot for a little while.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

— Ephesians 1:3-5

So draw your sword. Stand your ground. Charge forward.

You know the promises the Lord has given you. You know His word and you know His personal words to you. Those are powerful weapons, and you hurl them at the enemy:

“Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.” That arrow hits its mark.

“The Lord is going to finish the work He started in me.” Boom, dynamite against the roadblocks in the path forward.

“I have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and was chosen by God before the foundation of the world.” A river washes through, scattering the enemy and all his minions.

Go ahead. You know how to do this. You forgot for a little while, but get back out there and fight — you know the words, and you know where to find more of them.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

– James 1:2-4

Do not settle for less or go back to the old things He’s delivered you from, and that you’ve fought so hard to be free of.

Virtue will win the day: Patience, self control, and all the fruit of the Spirit. It comes by abiding, and the steadfast will see His glory.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

— John 15:5

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

— Galatians 5:22-23

What if the thing that’s discouraging you is a lie? Because it usually is.

Hold it at arm’s length and examine it for a minute. Is it the whole story? Is there more to it that you possibly can’t see? Has God said “End of story” yet?

No? Okay. Discouragement needs to be turned down several notches because it doesn’t have the authority to be yelling so loud in your life.

God is at work in you and on your behalf. He has been speaking to others about you and putting you on their hearts. People you don’t even know are praying for you, and others are going to connect with you in ways that contribute to the breakthrough you need.

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

— Hebrews 7:25

Discouragement doesn’t want you to know that or think about it. Discouragement only wants you to think of the dreaded possibilities, not the wondrous ones. But the wondrous ones always win. They always outnumber.

You don’t serve the god of discouragement. You serve the God of miracles, the God of angel armies, the God who conquered death on your behalf. Keep your eyes on Him, and watch.

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