THE STAIRWELL
Disciples are encouraged to embrace different seasons. We experience cold, silent winters, but also springtime with surprising growth and new adventures. There are spiritual seasons like summer where we bask in the sunlight of God’s goodness and there are amazing fall seasons where we bring in a harvest and strengthen our capacity for the storms that we know are coming. We learn to trust in the Lord and receive His blessings for every season in life. The Bible tells the story of Jacob, including his agonizing struggles and his high-flying experiences of glory. Through it all he became the father of the nation of Israel.
THE PROPHETIC DREAM
At a midpoint of Jacob’s life journey he flees from his father’s home in Beersheba to find a wife 500 miles away in Haran, in the home of his Uncle Laban. He does not return home for another 20 years but during this time God makes him a wealthy man. His adventure begins with a powerful prophetic dream.
“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran…He stopped for the night…He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying”…Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey I am taking, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God…and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth”” (Gen. 28: 10-13, 20-22).
Later, Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord and his name was changed to Israel. We may not have a destiny as grand as Jacob’s but all disciples will be presented with a stairway to climb. In his dream, Jacob sees a busy stairway reaching up to Heaven. This was a glory dream and a destiny dream; the Lord was there and He gave Jacob his destiny and the destiny of the nation of Israel that He had promised to his grandfather Abraham.
This stairway was not an illustration but an invitation. The angels were busy going up and down on it, and in a sense, Jacob was invited to climb it as well. He had to receive or reject his destiny. Jacob responded with a vow of worship and a specific promise to pay his tithes. He climbed the stairs by receiving his destiny and honoring the Lord with his first fruits.
From the moment that God calls us, every disciple is positioned in a spiritual stairwell. We are there now and by faith we have already stepped up a few flights of stairs. As we look up the stairwell we may see the next steps of faith that the Lord is encouraging us to climb. Or, the stairwell may be dark and our progress may be difficult to see. Some see a dozen flights of stairs and they have the faith to press on but they must pace themselves as they climb. Others, who are younger, charge up the stairs going from flight to flight seeing great results in a short period of time.
Derek Prince use to say, “If you are unsure of God’s direction for your life, you should step out in faith as best you can. A ship in the harbor will not change direction unless it is moving. When it is stationary, the ship’s wheel may be turned but unless the ship is moving it will not find the direction it should take.” Taking steps of faith is essential for advancement on our personal journey.
Like Jacob, those who have served the Lord for years will find themselves in different seasons. Some veterans of the faith have climbed the stairs for a long time and have recently found themselves resting on a landing in the stairwell, as if to catch their breath. They should not think that their days of stepping out in faith are over. The Lord will renew their strength and give them new, unexpected assignments. It will mean looking up the staircase of faith once again and pressing forward to serve the Lord in a new way. This is a season for bold new assignments and regardless of one’s age, all of us should say, “Here I am Lord, what would you have me do?”
The older we are and the higher we go, the more our ministry style will change. If we wish to receive the next invitation to climb and serve the Lord it should not require less faith, but more. Our promotion will involve more maturity, boldness and focus. We become more of a specialist than a ‘Jack of all trades.’
We may give more financial gifts to the Lord’s work and be more generous to our family and friends. We may focus more on encouraging and praying for younger disciples and caring for those in the church family that seem to be forgotten. We may be more hospitable or be more available to visit the saints than we did in the past. These ministries will be seen as more important than we had thought and God may use us to be a stronger pillar in the church than we have ever been in the past. This may also include stepping out on mission trips, or writing a book or hosting a small group.
We may rest in the stairwell for a season but the purpose of stairs is to ascend or descend. All of us live by faith; we wait on the Lord and ask, “Lord what would you have me do; how can I serve during this season?”
Waiting on the Lord is not being idle but rather it is a time of preparation so we can walk, run, be strengthened and fly.
“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).
You are in the stairwell. What does God want you to do? You have an important calling and the Lord will guide you, give you fresh direction or use you more powerfully in your present assignment. Remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!
We pray our monthly teaching
devotional empowers & inspires you
to live a supernatural Christian life.
DR. PETER WYNS
Founder & President
Christian for Messiah Ministries
Pastor at Antioch International Church
Instructions in Righteousness is produced by “Christians for Messiah Ministries” (CFM). Dr. Peter Wyns is the President of CFM and the Head Pastor of Antioch International Church. He has served as a pastor for 54 years and ministered in more than 45 nations.
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