On September 2nd, we returned home prematurely from a vacation @ Myrtle Beach. On the way down to the beach, we were rear-ended by a young man in a Mustang. The accident totaled his car, totaled another person’s vehicle and unfortunately damaged our RV. We were able to drive on to the beach and enjoy three days of beauty and rest before being mandatorily evacuated due to Hurricane Dorian. The week didn’t go as expected, but we could clearly see God’s hand of protection upon us as HE shielded us from both situations.
Upon returning home, I walked out the side door of our screened porch to check on my Koi in the pond. Immediately, I noticed a bright fluorescent yellow tent stake lying in our flower bed. Because we are empty-nesters, living privately on a 10-acre plot, with very few visitors, we racked our brains trying to figure out who the tent stake belonged to?
To this day (September 23) we are unaware of where it came from. I didn’t pick it up immediately. It laid there for a few days. But, with each passing day, I began to realize that this tent stake was a message and a sign from God! The Spirit quickly flashed Isaiah 54:2 before my eyes – “Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch your tent curtains wide. Do not hold back! Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.”
To my surprise, I also learned that September 1-September 29 is known as the month of ELUL on the Hebrew calendar. Spiritually speaking, the month represents a wide-open field. The King of Glory sets up His royal tent in our field and offers us special access to meet Him face to face.
Christine Vales writes: “If we are His children, we always have access to Him. But, just as there was an appointed time for Jesus to dwell on earth with us, so there is also an appointed time each year when He comes into our field and sets up His royal tent. He invites us into a special time of intimacy. All we have to do is walk out into our field and enter into His tent…as we are. As we walk with the King this month and pour out our hearts to Him, the Master Gardener will give us His wisdom. He will personally instruct us in our fields of influence, our field of dreams, and yes, even our battlefields.” Come My Beloved and let us go into the fields. - Song of Solomon 7:11.
God is reminding us that it is His will to enlarge our spiritual tent. Through promotion, He will expand our borders and increase our influence for His glory. However, THIS will require a strengthening of our stakes. For a tent, the stakes symbolize FOUNDATION. All month, I have been drawn into a time of deep surrender – prayer – and fasting. God is revealing the little foxes that come to spoil our connection of intimacy with the Father. He asks us to lay those things aside and repent by turning away from attitudes, mindsets, habits, and sins that have kept us from living our best life of holiness.
This month is a time to let God search your heart…A time to bow low in humility.
The King is in the field and advancement is at hand. Make thyself READY!
