Make Your Tent Bigger!

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""Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. Isaiah 54:1,2 

As I was reading these verses this morning, the Lord opened up several thoughts to me.In our personal lives, sometimes we go through barren seasons. Things aren't happening- same old- same old. If we dwell on it we get discouraged and our faith is weakened. But in verse 1 of Isaiah 54 the prophet told Israel to sing! How absurd! To sing when nothing is happening? To worship when we don't see God moving the way we think that He should? When our prayers go unanswered? To praise and exalt God when all seems lost; there is no new fruit in our lives, no new visions or dreams?  But the Word of God tells us to worship God because of Who He is, and not just for what He has done.  These verses are truths which we need to apply to lives when we find ourselves in barren situations and seasons in our lives.

Worship has the mighty power to bring for new birth- because worship is relationship between the believer  and God- and in relationship there is birth. When we worship God in spite of our circumstances-it has the power to bring forth new birth- salvation of souls, birth of visions or callings. It is worshiping the One Who brings these things to pass.

Verse 2 states- enlarge the place of your tent, stretch out those walls, lengthen the ropes and put the tent pegs deep into the ground. I immediately got a picture of my family when we would go camping. My dad, being an army veteran, knew just how to put up and take care of a tent. I could see him, especially after a hard rain- he would pull the walls of that tent out, lengthen the ropes and reposition the tent pegs. To me this speaks of making room for what God is going to do. We must stretch out our walls- those natural concepts that we have- stretch them and attach them to the ropes of faith. This is not easy. God is asking us to make our tent- our belief system-our vision- larger-- to expand it. I am not talking about mind expansion- but about faith expansion- stretching out our spiritual minds to envision those things that God is doing. We have to get a vision of what God is doing. When we stretch out the walls of our "tent"- we are making room for what God is bringing in. He is bringing increase. We must stretch out our faith and be fastened to the Word of God as it goes deep into our spirits. We must increase our faith based and and fastened to the Word.

This year, God has given me the verse in John 3:30- Christ must increase, I must decrease. (my paraphrase). I have been learning in these first weeks of the new year to clean out my tent of all unnecessary things in order to make room for Him. I am not perfect- but I am trying. We need to clean out our tents of those unnecessary things that we do, or read or watch- those things that really don't add anything to our spirit- it is just a filler. They are lesser things that take away our appetite for the greater things of God. Make room for increase. God isn't gong to come in and clean up our house. He is expecting us to do our part.

Though we, personally, or the Church, may have been barren for a long time- God is bringing the increase. De-clutter! Remove those things that don't add anything to our spirits, but just satisfy our fleshly desires. Not all things are sin- but we must choose those things, activities- which are uplifting to God and keep our spirits uplifted. Make room in our spirits for the increase.

It is an act of faith- though we can not see it with our natural eyes, we must use our spiritual eyes to view by faith. Jesus told Thomas that "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29).

Make room for increase. It is coming. I believe that God is bringing increase to His Church, to individuals, to ministries. But we must make room. We must believe even though we can not see. What is it in your life that seems barren to you? Have you thought of just worshiping God anyway? Worship brings joy and excitement and expectancy. Worships enriches our relationship with Christ. Worship brings forth new births, visions, callings, answers to prayers. It opens up the floodgates of heaven to cause the barren places to bloom and blossom; to bring forth springs and gardens. Make room. Enlarge your expectations. De-clutter your life and make room for a mighty move of God!

Enlarge your tent! Stretch out the walls of your spiritual mind, lengthen your ropes of faith and make sure it is all fastened to the Word of God- deep in your spirit.

 

 "...And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing..." Isaiah 35:1,2

~Donna

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