Good Times Are Coming
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of October 29, 2023
As I sat before our Lord one morning a couple of weeks ago, I noticed four out the five of my battery-operated candles on my mantle had grown dim. So, not only had most of them weakened. They weren’t syncing with each other.
As I stared at this misalignment of candles, I thanked God that His light never grows dim, even in our most challenging situations. He’s our constant source of light, to guide us closer to Him and reveal His goodness.
In this light, Holy Spirit showed me a Word-vision to encourage us that “Good times are coming” on the other side of personal loss and socio-economic upheaval-at-large.
And, for many, I believe it will happen like it did for Ruth.
He reminded me of how, when she was faced with a dead-end in Moab, He was there, leading her to all He was and is and had for her all along. He reminded me that her heart connection with her mentor-mother-in-law, Naomi, had been cultivated and blessed by God as they grew together, even before they decidedly joined to turn back toward His expansive redemption.
I can only imagine that, over time during their pre-widow days, Godly seeds were planted in Ruth’s heart by Naomi, who shared stories of a land of God’s promise and provision, beyond famine, that she once knew and remembered well.
I was reminded that God blesses us through those for whom we have a heart and that a good (Godly) attitude is required, lest we prove reckless.
So, a message I believe Holy Spirit is highlighting right now is that He has cultivated a heart of righteousness in His beloved Ruths over time to step into His revealed promises of greater provision with greater responsibility.
There’s a new direction and door that awaits. And it’s the Door, who is Jesus and who offers us an open invitation through which undeserved favor is realized by His redemptive blood (John 10:7).
Ruth and Naomi ultimately experienced a gracious time of Jubilee redemption in Bethlehem. And we can experience Jubilee, too, as our inheritance in Jesus (Luke 4:19).
In Luke 4:18-21 TPT Jesus read from a scroll in a Nazarene synagogue, written by the prophet Isaiah (61:1), saying that "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to be hope for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set free!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun. After he read this he rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone stared at Jesus, wondering what he was about to say. Then he added, 'Today, these Scriptures came true in front of you.'"
Jesus spoke these words after He had returned to His hometown synagogue from the wilderness to proclaim the beginning of His public mission. So, my friends, this is His message to us right now for what’s in front of us, no matter what’s happening around us and no matter what we’ve been through.
I believe that many of God’s Ruths and Naomis will begin to return to their promised land of a better legacy during the next Jubilee cycle of 2024-2025 and that they will live it out with their Boaz.
I believe it will prove to be a powerful expression of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NKJV, which says, "Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
I believe they will enter into God’s willful and gracious outward blessings of Romans 12:2 AMP, which is having proved "[for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]."
So, this is a place where dreams and divine purpose are finally realized as God’s undeserved favor is expressed in His many ways and measures. We know that the path there is to remain near to Him and walk with Him in faithful obedience.
If you’ve been walking a long time, know that His good times are coming. They’re right before you. And they’ve been there waiting for you all along. He will guide you and cause your light to shine brighter as you continue to sync with Him.
For His glory.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
Originally published Sunday, 29 October 2023.
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