Brothers and Hope

It had been eight months between my last blog and the prior one. I noticed that when I scheduled it to publish, I had already been faithful to write 61. The foundation of Unveiled61 is built upon Isaiah 61. Though a broader message for Yahweh’s people, He made it a personal one of what He was doing and would do with my life. He eventually showed me the chapters that preceded and followed it, 60 and 62. At the time, I stored in my heart the anticipation of those words coming to pass. Blessed Are Those was my 62nd blog. With it set to publish, I thought to reread the 62nd chapter and was glad I did. I see how Yahweh is now making what’s written evident in my life today.

Growing up, I was always the plus one of a band of brothers. Yet, I wasn’t an outsider; I was included. I was one of them. Eventually, times changed and God showed me it was possible to have healthy and trusting relationships with other women; now, I have an army of sisters. Leaving the world of college and marriage-less and kid-less days, I lost regular connection with my brothers; and I missed them. I began asking the Lord if He would send me brothers again. And He has. Yet it hasn’t been as I had expected.

They’ve shown up with beautiful masks like the ones I’ve worn, yet inside were icebergs I had yet to unearth. Trauma, brokenness, abandonment, abuse, exploitation, insecurity, and sin had marred these images of God, and we were experiencing only shells of the men we were supposed to see. I was heartbroken when I finally got past myself, sin, and selfishness, no longer looking to see how they could fill me, but I could pour into them.

Recently I was sharing with a girlfriend, a message and illustration by a woman that has for four years been indelibly marked in my mind (Abstain to Gain, Global Purity Ceremony). She spoke about and showed how so many men can’t see God nor the wives God has for them because we women are in their faces. She said instead, our role and responsibility were to point men back to Him. This flesh and insatiable appetite have made that a challenge, but I’ve sought to die to me so that perhaps my brothers could be resurrected and see.

Sons are desperately seeking shelter, water, and peace. Yet along the way, they find too many things to spoil their appetites for the real thing. I pray to the Lord often that as I’m in relationship with my brothers, I'll be a conduit of the former rather than the latter; which is only possible when I make Yahweh my Reservoir to supply us both. This leads me back to the words of Isaiah:

“Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.” Isaiah 62:10 NIV

David Guzik in his Blue Letter Bible Study states that “Isaiah prophetically looks forward to the time for the LORD to fulfill these promises. Since His salvation is coming, they must prepare the way for the people. They need to build up the highway, so a smooth road without obstacles is ready to usher people to the Lord’s salvation.” He goes on to say that, “not only must the way be prepared, but it must also be marked by a banner for the peoples. Then not only will they be able to come, but they will also be attracted to come.”

It's interesting, the use of the word banner, for that is what I named the gift Yahweh just gave me in my new SUV. When I searched for the biblical purpose of banners, the following uses were given: for identification, to be a rallying point, for direction, to be a symbol of unity, and to be a visual statement. I wonder what impact we could have if we considered how our lives have been purposed to be banners for the Kingdom. It makes me want to be the kind of woman whose life in Yahweh is attractive to all, and especially in this day to my brothers. I want to get out of the way when I need to and move stuff out the way so that they can get to the One who has satisfaction for their souls; for this world lies to them often, professing that it will give them what only He can. I want to be the kind of woman who when my brothers testify of me say, “She didn’t try to show me her body, she tried to show me her God.” 

I believe Yahweh is sending the hungry and thirsty to those who have bread to eat and living water to drink. Isaiah ends the chapter with these words:

“The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ ” They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.” Isaiah 62:11-12 NIV

I am witnessing the rewards of not perfection but of faithfulness to God. I was the woman deserted, broken, and abandoned, but He is making me Sought After. I believe so because He trusts me to keep climbing on that altar so that I’ll point my brothers not to me but to Him. When I turned 39, I began seeing 39 everywhere. I decided to see what it corresponded to in the Strong’s Concordance; one reference was the word hagion meaning holy, sanctuary, and holy place. The Lord is calling His sons and daughters to be holy places to inhabit His presence and praise. Hebrews 12:14 states that without holiness, no one can see God. We must be this Holy People for the clear vision of men.

As I was sitting on my bed thinking of some of these men, I have no clue what our stories will be. I don’t know if one or none of them is a suitable mate for me. I think we often ruin good relationships and spoil fruit because we cross boundaries we should have kept. This title Brothers and Hope came as I considered these men who’ve done much to restore my broken walls and as I gazed upon the beautiful portrait I had been gifted for my birthday with the following passage from Jeremiah 29:11:

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

When Jeremiah wrote these words, the people of Israel were in captivity. And how true our imprisonment is today – to our images and to our insatiability. But I want to entrust this future not to my manifestations but to God’s. I want to protect myself, my brothers, and our relationships with the Lord and with our spouses, should He choose to gift them. I want to hope in Him and not in me or them. Brothers, I have hope for our futures.

Pray

Lord, make me your Holy Place. A temple where the fragrance of your presence can be experienced by all who draw close. Help me to crucify this flesh so I can die the kind the death you did – daily. As I wrestle with climbing off this altar, Lord, help me to stay. I want to remain in the secret place you hide me, to make and mold me into the vessel fit for your use and not my own. Forgive me for the times I have led my brothers astray and away from their identity as reflections of Your Majesty, Your little kings. Help me to speak words of life and let truth be the anthem on my tongue. Yeshua, you are The Way, The Truth, and The Life so help me to lead them to you.  

The only thing you have to gain the attention of a husband is to be that virtuous woman. He’s going to find you. He’s going to pay whatever price he has to pay for you. 

-R.C. Blakes, What Changes in a Man When He Has Found “The One”?