The Key

The ministry of prayer often teaches me as much as it helps the person I am praying for. This was the case as I prayed for a lady who I knew was coming into see me.

When I pray, God often gives me a picture of something, which can help the person, I am praying for. When I closed my eyes for this particular lady, I began to see an enlarged knob and keyhole on a huge wood door. The keyhole was large enough so that I could see there was a beautiful country on the other side of the door. I felt a peace as well as an excitement while I looked around to see as much as I could see. Then, I could see the lady I was praying for looking through the keyhole and admiring the land as well. Then the vision in my mind’s eye ended.

I was not sure what it all meant so I asked the Holy Spirit to give me some understanding of what I was to say. Moments later, I spoke out these words without even thinking about it.

The key is in the character.

I let the phrase roll over in my mind a few times before the revelation of what the Holy Spirit was saying came forth.

God often shows us a part of where He is planning on taking us by giving us dreams, visions, words of knowledge or prophecy or through other avenues in our daily lives.We get excited and sometimes consumed with the future plan. However, God will not open the door to the “promised land” until we gain the character skills to stay firmly planted when we get there.

So many times when the wait is long, we want to whine and plead our way into where we knew God wanted to place us. But God will not let us “jimmy the lock” open prematurely. Why? He loves us too much. He knows, if He allows us into the land too early, He would be setting us up for failure. Although every pathway has its challenges, God doesn’t intentionally send someone into a new situation knowing they do not have the character skills to accomplish what He is asking them to accomplish. We may try to send ourselves in disobedience but God will not send us unprepared.

So, if the key is the character, then where do we find the traits needed to advance to the next level? We can start with the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-goodness-faithfulness-gentleness-self_control. As we grow in Christ our understanding of each of these grows. As we put our understanding of each of these fruits into practice, then the Holy Spirit will reveal more and more to us. The more we develop our fruits/character the more usable we become and the more we can glorify the One we serve.

Are you ready to enter your promised land or are you still going around in stubborn circles? There are no shortcuts with God. Only the real thing will do. Ask Him what you are lacking and get ready to insert your key of character. God is more then ready to help you with opening your door.