Stumbling or Backsliding?

Exodus 14:14 (NIV) -

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

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Proverbs 24:16 (NLT) -

The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

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Habbakuk 2:3 (NIV) -

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

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Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV) -

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

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This is a little different to what I would usually post, and a slight interruption to our "Life in the Ecclesia" series, but I feel it's important. Through several conversations and situations that I was in yesterday, one thought was persisting through it all, slowly being developed in my mind. I know it's a word for me, and one that I need a reminder of far too often, but I believe there are also some of you who need to be reminded of it too. Here's what I believe God wants to say:

YOUR STUMBLING IS NOT YOUR BACKSLIDING

You've been trying and trying to do the right thing, but you've failed. You've wanted so badly, so desperately, to live the way that God's Word has told you to live, knowing that it is the best and only path forward for you, and yet there is something within you that has held you back, that keeps you from doing his will. It is the flesh at work. "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." (Gal 5:17)

You are brokenhearted, disappointed, and frustrated. Even more than that, you know that every time you return to your slavery, you are grieving the Holy Spirit. Even in the moment, you feel how your disobedience wounds him, and because you love him, you feel his pain as well. And yet, you still aren't able to stop yourself from falling back into sin.

You have begged and pleaded with God to take it away from you. You have tried everything that you possibly can to remove the distractions, remove the temptations. You've read the books, you've tried the programs, you've set up the accountability, you've brought it before God in prayer, you've tried to submit it to him time, and time, and time, and time again. Nothing has changed. You're still stuck. You're still living in death and slavery, bound by chains that seem to be of your own making. You know God has given you the key already - why, then, can you still not get out?

You fear that you have turned away from God, that you are backsliding in your faith, and so you desperately look for some kind of solution. You frenzy, you panic, you worry, you fret, because what is your life without God? What would you do without the one that you love so dearly?

But thus says the Lord: Your stumbling is not your backsliding. You may fallen for a time, but that does not mean that you're moving away from me, only that you've stopped moving closer for a moment. Backsliding is intentional, a deliberate decision to turn away from the things of God and instead move towards the things of the world - most importantly, it is doing these things without guilt, ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit repeatedly to the point where you can no longer hear his gentle whisper anymore.

Your stumbling is not your backsliding. You see, your worry is the proof that you aren't deliberately turning away from me. Your love for the Holy Spirit is so strong that, even in the moments that you fail, you still feel his hurt and are convicted of your sin. It doesn't mean that you yet have the strength to turn away from your sin, but what it does mean is that your heart is still open to me, and as long as it is, I can still move in your life.

The time is coming, soon, when I will move in Spirit, in truth, and in power to set you free from your chains. I myself will move by my mighty hand to break off the shackles that have kept tripping you up and preventing you from striding forward in faith towards the calling I've placed on your life. In fact, I will not just break them off your feet, I will shatter them so completely that they will never be able to be used on you again. They will completely lose their power, and I will endow you with my heavenly authority to proclaim freedom, both over yourself, and over others who are going through similar difficulties. I will use you as an instrument to set others free, just as I have first set you free.

In the meantime, you don't need to worry quite so much. All I'm asking of you is that you keep your heart open to me, keep moving forward after you've fallen, and wait on me to do the rest. You might not understand yet why I'm taking my time, but you will look back on this in many years and see that I was preparing you through this season, so that you might be able to more fully take hold of the things I have prepared for you in the future. Although it might seem to be taking a long time to you, I promise you that your healing is coming right on time, exactly when I have intended it to come. Just get up, keep moving, and wait on me. I will fight the battle on your behalf, because you are the one I love and I have much more in store for you than what you see or even imagine right now.