RISE UP MY BELOVED

[FAITH]

A move of God by definition involves God moving. Which means we may not "find" Him exactly where (or how) we have in the past – because He is doing a new thing. He is not changing, God never changes (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). But He loves to reveal more of Himself to us in greater and greater depths and dimensions so that we can know more of Him (and thus make more of Him known to the world around us).

He woos us into a greater revelation of all He is by leading us from the comfort zone of what we have already come to know of Him.

In Song of Solomon 2, the Lover (Jesus) is wooing His Beloved to a new place in verse 10, "Rise up, my beloved, my fair one, and come away," he invites. He then goes on to declare that "the winter is past…the flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come…the fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom," and then he repeats his invitation for her to arise and come away with him (Song of Solomon 2:13).

The Lover (Jesus) is announcing that it is a NEW hour, a NEW season, and that he has NEW things to show her, new places to take her, new heights for them to soar to together. She is hearing him on some level (SoS 2:8), and yet at the beginning of Song of Solomon 3 we see that while she is yearning for her Lover, she is still reaching out for him where she has always found him – and discovers that he is no longer there (SoS 3:1).

STEPPING INTO THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE UNKNOWN

She has a choice to make. She can continue to search for him where he has been, or she can respond to the invitation to arise and step into the uncertainty of the unknown, discovering him in new places and in new ways (SoS 3:2-4). She chooses the latter, and in doing so embarks on a journey with her Lover in which she comes to know him, rely on him, and lean into him to such a degree that she is completely transformed – so much so that her peers do not even recognize her when she returns (SoS 8:5).

Like in the Song of Solomon, we may have entered into a NEW season. The Lord is beckoning us, wooing us, inviting us to come away from where we have been and ARISE into a NEW place with Him – a place of greater revelation and demonstration of all that He is.

If you have noticed lately, in 2021,  that things seem different, or you're not quite finding God "how" or "where" you have in the past, do not despair; do not be discouraged. He is simply answering your prayers. He is moving. He is inviting you to come along with Him.

Arise, and His glory will appear upon you. (Isaiah 61:1,2)

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY
https://afministry.ning.com/