“There are many plans in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s counsel will prevail.” ~PROVERBS 19:21

“I don’t know what to do. I seriously don’t know what to do.”

These were the words I recited more than a few times during the 2019 year. I don’t know about you, but last year was a year and season of gaining new territory, creatively, physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually.

These are all great places to take possession of land but I also felt like, not only was the year truly moving at an accelerated pace but that some of the difficulties, trials, and tests I was facing were far out of my realm of knowledge or understanding. My head was spinning.

Though joyful and often times happy, I was overwhelmed. I was anxious. I was out of my element. None of my usual ‘go-to’s for success in any of the aforementioned categories were working.

I literally told the Lord I didn’t know what to do and He was basically like, “Of course not. This is new territory AND the enemies here are more strategic, they are different but I AM the same yesterday, today and evermore.” (HEBREWS 13:8)

That truth was the perfectly timed ‘aha’ moment which only made me press in deeper to our Heavenly Father and let Him whisper to me the wisdom needed for my new inheritances and the roads ahead.

HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY TODAY AND FOREVER!

Before I dive into the big ‘aha’ that the Lord lovingly shared with me, I want to take a moment to further expound on the truth that no matter where we are in our pursuits of calling, vision, and destiny, no matter where we are in our faith-walks, and no matter what enemy of our soul or circumstances rears its ugly head, our LORD is Victory, He is our Banner–Yahweh Nissi, then, now, and forever.

What does it mean for Him to be our banner? The Banner represents who the people are. God’s banner over us is love (SONGS OF SOLOMON 2:4). He will fight for His beloved (EXODUS 17:14-16). And because He has already declared the war finished from the cross (JOHN 19:28-30), done from the throne of Heaven in eternity past, present, and future (REVELATION 21:6) we know that every enemy is already under our feet ( LUKE 10:18-20)!

There is nothing and no one that we will ever face, no ‘new devil’ no matter what level of faith you’ve unlocked, that can defeat you because Christ has already defeated them. Once you are firmly established in this truth you will be able to apply the next.

DISCERNING WHAT TO USE AT THE RIGHT TIME

As I said, I spent a lot of time last year fully aware that I had stepped into a new dimension but the tools of faith and action that produced change were not working like they used to.

As I continued to pray and bring this to the Lord He, in response, gave me a vision of a Swiss army knife. As the vision of the knife unfolded the memory of a phrase He’d been speaking to me for over a year came to mind as well, “You have everything you need.”

The Lord then said to me, after showing me the knife, reminding me of His word that I have everything that I need, that the knife is useless with every part activated.

I will say that again, the knife is useless with every part activated. If you need the knife to cut a piece of rope but have the can opener out the screwdriver released, the corkscrew, pointing, the file at the ready, you have made your knife of no use. It is cumbersome and hard to handle.

What the Lord was saying to me, and to you is that we need to discern which thing to use and when. Our Father did not send us on our faith journeys ill-prepared. He has given us the tools we need to tackle our transitions, but we must seek His discernment to know what to use at the right time. The methodologies of yesteryear or even yesterday may prove inefficient and ineffective in this new place of divine transition.

I think our transitions over the last year have gone and are going so fast and so much is happening at once that we are not only frazzled but as a result, have our guns blazing when a gun may not be the tool we need to utilize at this moment and that is why we’ve been so ineffective in our warring.

SEEK HIS COUNSEL

What we must do from this point on is simple. We must make our plans for further advancement in our new territory BUT we must seek the Lord’s council with every step we take. The instructions He gives you may not make sense for the moments you are in, but we must do like Asaph, go beyond, and strike the ground with arrows if we intend to win our battles and be and inherit all that He has for us in this new dimension (II KINGS 13:14-19)!

~Dream. Imagine. Believe. Do. CONQUER!

–Candice Coates is an author, blogger, and contributor to Ambo TV. To read more from her, follow her blog at www.icameforthesoup.com