Isaiah 58:12
“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
..........................................................................
Years ago on one rainy day, I had a very unexpected experience on a road that I frequently traveled near my home. Up until this incident, I believed this stretch of highway to be very safe. With the road being well traveled within a small community, I had never heard any reports of any part of the highway being unsafe.
On this brisk fall morning, the roads were still wet from a recent rain and a fine mist was still falling. All was going well when the conditions quickly changed as I was rounding a curve. Suddenly, I knew the moment that my tires left the pavement and my Jeep began to hydroplane. In the next moment, my SUV tipped and was traveling on it's left side. In the next moment, my SUV came down on all four tires only to tip again towards the right. My Jeep tipped and rocked two more times before it landed again on all four tires. When it did, I began skidding sideways on the highway where I completely lost all control of my vehicle. In the next moment, I skidded down the shoulder and was skidding alongside a wide path that paralleled the highway. By this time, I had resigned to the fact that I was about to crash into one of the large pine trees that lined my path when suddenly, I came to an abrupt stop two inches in front of a large pine tree.
Shaken, all I could do for a few minutes was to sit quietly and try to regather my thoughts. Suddenly, an elderly man appeared at the passenger side and began knocking loudly on my window. When I let the window down, all he said was, "Twenty-two". I was completely dumbfounded by his response to my near accident and responded, "What? Twenty two? What is twenty two?" He responded by telling me that I was the twenty second person that he had witnessed wipe out on that curve in all the years he had lived there.
The bright side of the story is that after such a LONG and DRAWN OUT near accident, no one was injured. There was no property damage and my Jeep didn't have so much as a scratch. However, I was determined NOT to go along my way and wonder who "twenty three" would be. Perhaps they would not be as fortunate as I was. After all, accountability in such a case is not always on those who are traveling roads for the first time. Accountability is more on those who have "made the trip".
Regarding the Kingdom of God, we experience very similar circumstances where we are seeking to mobilize two or more generations to walk together. In one administration, ministry is all about equipping people in the gifts. In the next administration, ministry is more about revealing the fellowship that the first Adam had with God in the Garden. In fact, restoration is often towards repairing the roads or breaches between the generations that disallow this fellowship to occur. God is a God of order. We have to learn to eat of the whole pie, not just our slice or part. It's no small thing to walk with God in fellowship...especially in the cool of the day! We soon find that "eating from all of the trees of the Garden" brings diversity into our mix.
Enter, the Watchman!
However perfect the Kingdom is, we are an imperfect people who are continually having to test the quality of our output, which is our ministry. If we're not judging ourselves to perfect our own product (ministry), chances are we may be judging others for what we produce or need to correct. Discernment is needed!
I never had any unforgiveness in my heart whatsoever towards those who constructed the highway. There wasn't an ounce of blame against anyone when I pointed out the part of the highway that needed to be built up. My intentions were to see the low place raised so that rain waters didn't collect on the highway to cause anyone else to spin out of control when they traveled the same path; especially in difficult weather conditions. If we become too absorbed in building the highway, or the ministry, we forget to build the people who are purposed to travel the highway.
Overall, we are a people navigating through uncharted waters. As good as this is, in order to see the Kingdom come in it's fullness, we must embrace the building part that leads to fullness or fruition. The seed is in the fruit. Where one generation builds the foundations, the next will build the house. If we don't see the fruit in our own ministry, chances are we won't see the seed of our ministry in the next generation when they're laboring to build at the next level. God never advances one persons ministry; He advances the generations. When the two are interconnected, both prosper.
I have found that the work of Road Construction is greatly lightened by traveling the Ancient Paths. For this, we need the Ancient of Days in our midst. In such a fellowship, there is never any blame or accusation because those who are present have all been "fathered" through the same course. Much like when the Hebrews were about to exit Egypt, who knows how the breach occurred 430 years ago? The matter at hand is in how to heal the breaches and make repairs to a course that all must travel on together.
I believe Israel had it together through being a nation, but they didn't have revelation of who they were in God. Even though they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, they did make strides in leaving Egypt. Because of Christ, we have the revelation of our own sonship. We also have revelation of Christ in a many-membered body. This, along with the knowledge of what it means to create the world that we live in, should never be hindered by a few Road Construction signs going up here and there.
When we give place for the Watchman to Watch and the Prophets to prophesy, we receive our meat in the grace of knowing that we are all in the same boat together. Corporate ministry has no personal agendas. No one person or branch of ministry can receive the blame for what the WHOLE are supposed to be building towards. This is why Jesus gave, Apostles AND Prophets AND Evangelists AND Pastors AND Teachers.
Isaiah 58:12
“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
Peace and Shalom,
Cindy Allen
