I Will Go Before You…
October 2nd, 2007 | Michael Pink
“Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the armor of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3)
For the next several emails, I am going to break out this passage for all of us to consider. It has profound implications for believers, but I will focus my remarks on the business community. God gave this prophecy to Cyrus — a heathen king — who was given the task to overthrow Babylon and rescue the tribes of Judah and Benjamin from their captivity. It was an awesome task. The walls were seventy-five feet thick and two hundred feet high, surrounded by a wide ditch full of water, and defended with one hundred gates of brass. It was considered impregnable and Cyrus well knew the difficulty of his assignment.
To be clear, I know this was a word given to Cyrus and had literal fulfillment, but as so often true in Scripture, there is spiritual truth to be gleaned from historical happenings. In fact, oftentimes the historical event happened as an intended foreshadow of a future event. Consider Abraham who was about to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a clear picture of God later sending His only son to die for us.
Back to Cyrus, he was given a task that was so challenging, so seemingly impossible that it required God to go before him. By the way, God did go before Cyrus. The Babylonians had been feasting the night before the attack and forgot to shut the gates to the city! God truly opened the two-leaved gates for Cyrus! So here’s my question to you today… Has God given you an assignment that requires His presence to go before you to complete or are you working on something that sheer determination can get you through? If you can do it in your strength, what have you really accomplished? If it requires His presence, the second question must naturally follow; did He ordain you for this task? If He did, He will go before you and you can follow Him in the garden of His turbulence. (To be continued.)
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October 2nd, 2007 at 9:38 am
Thank you so much for this post today. It is incredible how God brings thoughts and words of encouragement like these to us at precisely the time we need them. Thank you.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
May God Bless you in every way today Evangeline
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 am
“If I am for you, who can be against you?” Good stuff Michael!
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:26 am
Thanks Lorisa
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:32 am
I am currently going throught the raincatchers series and God knew I needed what you said today “I will go before you” I am at a crossroads now as I am owed a lot of money in my business and I am really struggling as it is never in my timing. I have to make some decisions and I do not know what to do. I will focus on how God took care of Cyrus.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
This is a wonderful TRUTH of the Word of God. He loves us and He takes care of all our needs according to His Riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. We can take that to the bank, stand on it and the winds can blow and the rain come down and we will NOT BE MOVED. I love the Word of God and your emails give me the encouragement and knowledge that I need at the right time. Thank you for being obedient to the Lord Jesus!
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Michael, great message. How many times are do we need to be reminded to never get a head of God? Joshua asked God for the sun to stand still as he was fighting the Gideonites and the sun stood still and the moon stopped. We need to pray with Audacity, Accuracy and Action (where we must move for God to move. If we do the natural, God will do the supernatural.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:24 am
I am about to make a decision that might be a little difficult for the authourities to accept as I was pondering over this I stumble on this your message , So glad I did . I pray that the lord will give me signs to go ahead and that He will go before me and make the crooked places straight: and that the Lord will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron: And will give me the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that I may know that He, the LORD, who call me by my name, is the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3)
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:31 am
Hi Glen… Thanks for posting a comment. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Keep strong in the faith my brother!
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:32 am
Elizabeth… Thanks for adding to the substance of this discussion. Your words encourage many!
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Michael,
It has been my experience, that when the Father goes ahead of us, the work seems minimal when we get there. One still works the task put before him but the struggle to set it up and get it going has been eliminated.
Woody Quinones
The Promotional Guy
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:52 pm
This word has come as a timely reminder for me in that, I am where I am as a result of Him and always to “…obey all His commandments and to love the Lord my God and to serve Him with all my heart and with all my soul” Deut 11:13 and He will provide the resources required to complete the task at hand that will lay the foundation for the next assignment which provides a foundation for our next generation and their next generation etc. God is omnificent which also implies unilateral patterns being able to operate at many heights, breadths and depths… and that is the measure that we must operate at and this is in thought processes having the ability to look beyond the natural, the now, the physical and focussing entirely on God, waiting upon the Lord, hearing the Lord and Obeying His commandments.