Vulnerable
by haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
"…all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way." Luke 4:14-30
"Yeshua answered, 'If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.' Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM'. Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them, and so passed by." John 8:54-59
For many reading these two passages of scripture, what has been taught and becomes envisioned in the mind is Yeshua, seeing the crowds advancing on Him to do Him harm, made Himself invisible and, thus, was able to pass through the crowd - but here, as elsewhere in scripture, we are left to the imagination as to exactly how He accomplished this feat because it is not stated precisely what happened. Just how did He 'hide Himself'?
Psalm 31:19-21 (click on highlighted reference for scripture) says that if a person trusts in the Lord before men, The Lord will, Himself, hide that person in the secret of His Presence. In other words, the very ACT of literally placing the reality of our life, our circumstances, into the palm of His Hand - as our trust in Him makes us vulnerable to the external forces of life - scripture says IT IS IN THAT VERY ACT that His Presence is caused to be loosed in this earthly realm on our behalf. As we step aside, as we become vulnerable, it gives God our permission and allows Him the opportunity to BE.
When those men came for Yeshua, He was merely standing in the Presence of the Almighty. If the Father did not make a way for Him to escape, He would have perished at their hands. But, because He had given Himself over to the Father's Purpose and because it was not His time (John 18:37), the Father caused Him to pass through those men. Whether He could be seen or not is immaterial - what matters is that the Father, exerting His Power, came to His rescue because of where He had positioned Himself in the Presence of God.
The Power that everyone is seeking is surrounded by a tightly guarded wall. The gate to enter that compound, that kingdom, is very narrow and there are few that find it. The Lord is calling us into the narrow gate, the one contracted by pressure
(Matthew 7:14 Amplified),
It is not the one we would normally desire to enter. It is not the one of comfort, convenience or security - but, it is the one that leads to Life. It is the one that opens to us the Power of the Father. Yeshua is very definitive about the parameters of that gate - take no thought for tomorrow, with food and clothing be content, he that would love his life will lose it, resist not evil. All of these measures cause us to become vulnerable to the externalities the world lays at our doorstep.
It is we who 'make' ourselves to become vulnerable. Isaiah 1:18-19 says "Come, now, and let us reason together, says the Lord...if you be willing AND obedient...then shall you eat of the good of the Land." There are two words that are almost always used whenever God speaks - 'IF' and 'THEN'. 'If' WE will do thus and so, 'then' HE will do such and such. His eyes run to and fro across the earth looking for those who are willing to walk hand in hand with Him - to trust Him that He might show Himself strong on their behalf (2Chronicles 16:9), That is half the struggle. 'If' we put ourselves aside (our wants, our needs, our desires, our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations), 'then' we are truly in a position to say, "...not my will, but Yours be done, O Lord." It is one thing to say it - quite another to live it out before others.
And that is what the core of this walk is about - more than what we 'do for God', more than where we are planted or who we come in contact with. At every step, at every juncture, bringing His Kingdom from within (Luke 17:20-21) into this earthly realm by our choices is our Purpose. That is where the authority He has given us lies. The word 'authority' in the Greek is 'ecksousia' and means (ready for this?) 'power of choice'. Of the 131 times it is used, it is translated 'power' 69 times. When we CHOOSE His Way over our way, it unleashes the power of the Rauch haKodesh (the Holy Spirit) to work on our behalf and on the behalf of others in our midst. That is the authority He has entrusted to us - and it begins with a willing heart.
It was when I quit 'trying' to find my place that He took me to it - and it was right where I was. It has taken me the better part of 30 years to discover that we carry the Kingdom within us. It goes where we go. We don't have to go hunt for our 'place' in it - we ARE it!
If we don't try to pre-determine anything, He will position us alongside those people who are to be instrumental in helping us get to where we need to be - we won't need to try to find them. He will cause events to occur that will MOVE us to be positioned so that we are in a place to receive what we need for the next step - we won't need to try to figure out where He is taking us. As long as you are willing, you have given Him the permission to move on your behalf - and to move you. Stay willing, stay humble, stay contrite and you will see the awesome Power of the Living God bring into existence those things which are not - to PUT you where He has called you to be. Look for His Hand and He will be found of you.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105.
When David wrote this passage, it was a literal reality. There was a small plate attached to the top of the sandals they wore that allowed a candle to be positioned so that it would light the path ahead - a "lamp unto my feet." However, it only provided enough light to show where to place the next step. That is still the same way He illuminates our path today - just enough light for our next step.
As you seek Him for your Light today and when you come to the place where you need to move, trust Him to provide the illumination in that hour for your next step. It is not a place where you can draw security from your circumstance, but because He is the God of Circumstance, you can trust Him that He loves you to show you when and where to take that next step when the time comes. Know also that He is bigger than our mistakes - if we leave it all in His Hands. So, be at peace, you are a child of the Living King, a person of Royalty who carries the Father's Kingdom within, charged with bringing that Kingdom into this earthly realm.
The other half of this walk is obedience. Having waited on Him, once your path becomes illumined, walk in it - trusting that you will be borne aloft by the Wings of the Rauch haKodesh as He comes beneath you to bear you up. This is the exercise of faith (Hebrews 11:6) - believing that what He has illumined is His Voice. He speaks as Light. It is within this environment of faith that we see Romans 8:28 begin to happen. Faith is believing that once He has spoken - no matter what we see, no matter what we hear, no matter what we feel, no matter what we think - God is Good and will do everything He has said He will do. This is Holy Ground and He has allowed us the privilege to walk on it.
This walk in the Spirit can be simplistically summed up into three categories - Knowing the Father (John 17:3), Hearing His Voice (John 10:27), and, having heard, Becoming Obedient (Philippians 2:8). The times we are in, more than ever, are going to require us to become proficient in all three categories if we are to survive this onslaught with our faith intact. If we succumb to or try to manipulate the externalities this life brings to our spiritual doorstep, we will find ourselves on the outside looking in with the rest of the world and wondering how we got there. If we are to find distinction from the enemy presenting himself as an angel of light, placing thoughts in our mind and masquerading as sheep we will have need of being exercised in the Way of Yeshua.
Every step, however, is our choice, just as it was His. When He was in the Garden, scripture says He could have called 10 thousand LEGIONS of angels to rescue Him (a legion was the principal unit of the Roman army comprising 3000 to 6000 foot soldiers with cavalry) - but He still chose the Way of the Father. He is our example. By His Life, He showed us how to walk in this realm. If we are to walk in this Power, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him - His Way. Denying ourselves and crucifying our flesh are two separate and distinct acts of our will - our choices to become vulnerable to the world around us.