At the Station

A train STATION sounds like a place where you "stay"...phonetically a STAY-tion. We all know, however, that a station is somewhere you go to GO. Where you are stationed in life is about to be your sending point. I was given an image of a woman sitting at a train station. There is the quiet excitement of the anticipated trip. Once you get on a train, it- unlike cars or boats- cannot turn around once it leaves. When you step on the train you are saying "yes" to the journey destination. Many have their spiritual tickets in hand and are at the point of decision where you say YES and step on to the train. This woman in the image given to me is pregnant. She is lovingly thinking of the father of her child. She is hoping she can be brave through the pregnancy and birth and that she be a good mother to this life she is creating. We are currently co-creating never-before-done things with God. Things birthed out of our love and closeness to Him. To those who are feeling like the woman, God wants to speak confidence to your worries. As I'm "watching" this image play out, I am given a name for the child- Samuel. I immediately think of Samuel and Hannah. Hannah experienced a lot of grief and hardship BECAUSE she was favored and given a double portion. She also spent many years barren, thinking she could never have a child. This shows that our PAST EXPERIENCES DO NOT DICTATE OR LIMIT WHAT GOD CAN AND WILL DO WITH OUR FUTURES. When she prayed for a child in 1 Samuel 1, she was told to GO IN PEACE. As an act of faith- not having any indication of the ending at that time other than faith that God would answer her prayer- she went and "her face was no longer downcast" (1 Samuel 1:18). Verse 20 says "IN THE COURSE OF TIME" she became pregnant. It does not say how long! It could've been right then or taken months. I believe the message for us here is that the enemy is attempting to steal the peace and joy before the birth. It's a very different experience to spend pregnancy worried versus spending it excited. From the time of her prayer until the time Samuel was born, Hannah could've remained in a state of joylessness, hoping God would answer her prayer and feeling the anguish of uncertainty. She could've carried this uncertainty even into his life, worrying something would happen to him. But the moment she prayed she CHOSE PEACE. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4. GATES ARE ENTERED WITH THANKS AND PRAISE. In order to be able to thank and praise God, we first need to have peace that He will hear and answer our prayer. So Hannahs at the train station...YOU have a ticket for the journey God has invited you on. Fear, doubt, pessimism, and old habits do NOT have seats on this journey. Just as with having a child, this spiritual birthing and raising process with God may not be without difficulties, but we must remember the most important part; this is God's baby too! When we truly create and birth an idea or plan or organization or child WITH God, He watches over it with an affection we cannot comprehend. He is trustworthy, and He is a good, good Father!