Welcome to Your New Life

The Lord spoke to me about several themes in 2022. In July of 2022 the Lord said to me, Welcome to your new life. I remember thinking, I wonder what that means. Then he said, It's a new season.

I asked him to show me his love for me and I saw Niagara Falls. There was a time we went there as a family. We stood behind a chest-high wall right where the water flows over the falls. You could see how clear the water was and yet how thick it was and how much was going over. So when he said that his love for me was like Niagara Falls, I remembered how stunningly beautiful it was, water clear as glass pouring over the edge without end.

Then he said, Niagara is a dim picture of the real waterfall in heaven. His love for me is even bigger than Niagara Falls.

He talked to me a lot about who he is. He kept reassuring me because I tend to worry. He said that he has every detail. And he said, Simply ask and I will speak. He wants me to move forward in confidence. Trust me, I have you covered.

And then he would say, over and over again, I'm drawing the whole world to myself. He started saying that to me when COVID started in 2020. He also said, I'm showing the world that I'm the only one who satisfies and I'm the creator and sustainer of the universe.

He also said that he made each person for love. Then said, Each person is deserving of your love. He wants me to love everyone around me, even if I find that in my flesh, I don't really like them.

He talked to me a lot about who I am. He said, Let me order your steps. I know the way. Don't give in to doubt, that you need something that I won't supply.

He showed me that I have a great tendency to try to think everything through. It's so true. If I'm going on a trip, I try to figure it all out. When I went to California in July, I tried to figure out where I could get food in the Denver airport that won't flare my system. I remembered a taco place there, went online and located it on a map of the airport. I was supposed to have a layover of several hours. But my flight from Burbank was greatly delayed. We landed in Denver and I was happy to see us rolling towards the C terminal. This is going to work! I thought. Our plane taxied around the end of the terminal and I said, “Oh, there's my next gate, gate 60. Oh, good.” Then, “Oh no, oh no, ohh no.” We were going further and further down the terminal eventually pulling up at gate 20.

I was near the back of the plane. Everyone around me said, “You're not going to make it. You should try to get one of those carts to take you. But I thought, No, I'm going to run as fast as I can. As I ran I saw the gates tick by. It seemed so slow. At the end of each walkway there was an area of shops and restaurants I would have to circle (including the Taco place), then get on the next walkway. People would hear me coming and kindly step aside. I ran the whole way. My heart was beating out of my chest, but I got there. I got to the gate and got on my flight.

Later, in September I was back in the same terminal with my friend Sarah. We walked just part of the distance I had previously run. I could not believe how far it was. God was saying, You spend all this energy trying to figure out how everything should happen. You can't anticipate what will actually happen, and yet I provide for you. I remembered that as I left California I had been given a bag of nuts and an apple. That was my lunch.

He also told me, I ordained this time, this season for you. You're braver than you think. You are my chosen, anointed for this work. You are my beloved Betsy, a mighty warrior equipped to lead nations. I've been preparing you for this new season. Do not hesitate to move forward. I am preparing you. I've chosen you and empowered you to be my mighty warrior.

This year I've been greatly impacted by a book, Christendom to Apostolic Mission, and a set of videos on the same topic that David Takle shared with me. The book and videos talk about how our culture is moving out of the place where it believes Christianity is the right way to live. Before, people may not have been experiencing a love relationship with Jesus or living as Christians. Many were hypocrites, but most, in general, believed in the basic tenants of Christianity and adhered to the moral standards of Christianity. It was seen as the right way to live. Now we're moving into an Apostolic season where the general culture does not adhere to a Christian world view.

In this season, we have to operate differently. As Christedom loses its influence and power, we, like the early church, must hold fast to our Lord. God's been showing me how he's been designing HCI for this season. We're going to need our community connections. We’ll need a solidity about what we believe, what we know is true. We will need an intimate relationship with the Lord, where we can turn to him and hear his voice clearly. I believe great revival is going to come out of this new season. I think that many churches have become stale and compromised with all the different crises and moral breakdowns. I feel like he's saying that all the things he's brought to HCI over time and grounded us in, like being able to grieve, he did so we can thrive in this new season. Many Christians are trying to shore up Christendom, to regain power and the Lord's saying, That's not the way to go. The church should be about Christianity, a love relationship with God, not Christendom. And he said, Don't try to hold on to societal power and influence. The way out is to be dependent on the Holy Spirit and to be focused devotionally on the Lord and to not try to operate under your own power.

He's also been talking to me again and again about rest. This has been going on for several years and to be honest, in the beginning of 2022, I was frustrated because I was trying to rest, but finding it very hard to do with all that is on my plate. He would tell me, You're more weary than you think. In December I stopped and said, “OK, this is not working for me. I keep hearing that I'm supposed to rest, and yet I tried to take a nap after the tea because I knew people were coming here for dinner. But then after an hour, Sam wanted a nap and when I went downstairs there was so much to do and I ended up cooking the whole meal. I don't see how to do it. I feel that I am failing. It is really hard.”

So then he said, Sit at my feet and give every concern to me right now. You're coming to the end of your humanity. Focus on me and my love. Let me order your steps. I know the way. Don't give in to doubt, that you'll need something I won't supply.

He's saying I've been trying to do this in my flesh. I wasn't aware, but I think he's right. I need to pray for strength because I literally am physically exhausted at the end of the day. By the time I take care of myself, Sam, the house, the yard, the puppy, the ministry, it's a lot. I'm physically exhausted.

He said, Pray for strength and pray for Sam. Instead of saying to Sam, “Won't you help me? Can't you take the dog out this time?” Instead of nagging him, pray for him, that he would want to be more active.

This is where I am. This is the cutting edge of my life. I'm asking God to keep reminding me to pray and to give all these things to him, every burden, and stop trying to exert my function and power through. Stop thinking, “If I work harder and harder, I'll get it all done.” I do get it done but it's costly.