Some Relationship Advice…

I’ve been thinking a lot about the revival that is happening in Florida. I think it is an amazing thing and I know that God is releasing things for people everywhere through this event. I don’t doubt that it is a real move of God. I don’t doubt that it is a big deal in our lifetime and generation, and I don’t doubt that there is amazing blessing and increased anointing going out to people through it. …but I’ve had this odd feeling regarding the way others seem to view it, and I never could fully make sense of it. Many people who I know and love have been traveling there and/or watching it on TV at night. I think this is wonderful, and I do not have an issue with it at all. I do think that the Lord is releasing things to those who go there, but I think God has been using this weird feeling in me to highlight something else to me about life. I’m not writing this to speak bad of people who are hungry and seeking more in any way at all. Having a hunger for God and things of God is probably the best thing ever. I always want more of that hunger, that fire, that passion… I think it is right and good to go there seeking more of a God who is obviously moving strongly there. I feel like God’s using this odd feeling that I’ve had as a way to teach me something in the area of impartation that comes at this wonderful concept from a different angle. I don’t think I have this odd feeling because of something wrong with the Florida revival or those who go there… not at all I promise! I think the Lord wanted to reveal something new to me through it though as I prayed more into it. So when I woke up this morning, I had to get this out…

I had a dream last night, and the tail end of the dream looped right into brand new thoughts in my head as I woke up. It’s like my body transitioned from sleep to being awake, but my mind didn’t move very far away from the dreaming thing. In my dream, one of my friend’s and myself were driving somewhere. The person I was with is someone who has been a wonderful spiritual father to me, and I’ve received so much from him and my relationship with him. We were driving in the dream and talking about the Lakeland, FL revival. We were talking about the concept of receiving anointing from God to move in power. I said something about how it almost seems like some people view it as a spiritual ATM where they go to fill their wallets, and then they leave with money to spend (maybe that’s a somewhat accurate picture of the way it is??? I don’t pretend to understand everything, and I don’t mean for that analogy to have bad connotations). After I said that though, I transitioned into being awake and I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said, “The key to exponential impartation is committed relationship.”

In the Kingdom of God, there’s amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit that are meant to be passed on and shared amongst believers. I think impartation services from gifted people that we’ve never met before are great. I believe that stuff truly is imparted and shared, and I love to be there. I love love love getting prayed for. I guess what I’m feeling right now though is that there can be a greater exponential impartation, where a larger portion of what is on one man can be passed on to another man, within the context of committed relationship. This isn’t to speak negatively against receiving from people we have no real relationship with, but it is to speak positively for what can be transferred when we get a handle on this family mentality that new testament believers should have. We need to learn to be real children and parents instead of just wearing the label of spiritual fathers/mothers because we know a believer who isn’t as old as us. Yesterday, I was thinking about Elijah and Elisha from the bible. Elijah was Elisha’s spiritual father…

(This paragraph is a summary of 2nd Kings 2) When it came time for Elijah to leave the earth, it was Elisha’s commitment to him that made Elisha follow Elijah out into the wilderness where he was taken to heaven. Elijah told Elisha not to come with him, but Elisha still followed. Elisha asked for a double portion of the anointing that was on Elijah. Elijah told Elisha that if he can keep his eyes on him (Elijah) while he’s being taken up, then he will have it. The next thing you know, flaming horses pulling a chariot of fire show up. They weren’t there to take Elijah away. They were there as a sort of distraction. Elisha didn’t bite though. He watched his father as Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind. Then Elijah’s mantle (symbolic of his place of authority) falls from heaven and Elisha picks it up and there are twice as many miracles recorded in the bible that happened through Elisha than Elijah.

I don’t think Elisha received a double portion of the anointing that rested on Elijah just because he happened to be there and because he passed one difficult test. I think it had to do with the relational commitment that existed between them. When Elijah was taken up, Elisha cried out, “My father, my father!” He really loved this man. I would go so far as to say that flaming horses and a chariot of fire weren’t much of a distraction for him because he loved Elijah enough that he wanted to look upon him as long as he could on their last day. This ‘test’ illuminated a reality in Elisha’s heart that I think would be a good one for more people to walk in today. It seems at times that we want to keep our distance from others in relationship to protect ourselves from possibly being hurt, or maybe we just don’t have the opportunity to access them in deep relationships… but we’d still like to receive from them good things (spiritually) that they can offer… we’d still like the double portion of what they have. I think we can still receive things from others that we aren’t in committed relationships with, and I don’t think it’s good to just let everyone into your heart. However, there’s a vulnerability that NEEDS to increase as the love/relationship increases. It’s just how it works as far as I can see it. I believe that this vulnerability that exists in committed relationships is an important factor in receiving “double-portions” from those who spiritually raise us up as they walk in what they have. This vulnerability is a risk of sorts. It’s a demonstration of faith in the person you are walking with. It’s not very dissimilar to taking a risk with God in a demonstration of faith in Him where if He doesn’t ‘come through’ we’re going to lose something. I’m not saying we should put our faith in Steve as opposed to Jesus, but I think you can understand what I’m saying when I say there’s an element of risk/faith that exists when we grow closer to someone. I think that saying you have a close relationship with someone without this risk/faith/vulnerability is a joke.

I’ll end this with my biggest reason for expressing views like these… my own life. The friend from the dream who has been a huge part of my life and my spiritual growth in things has been through a series of hard times recently. Over this time, other relationships he has had have seemed to grow more distant or cold. A large reason for this has been the way circumstances, which weren’t so easily controllable, have made him look to others. Yesterday, I was thinking about this a little bit. I wasn’t having any new thoughts on anything, but I was thinking about our relationship in the context of Elijah/Elisha. It hasn’t seemed hard for me to keep going in a relationship with him over the years. There’s been momentary issues, but those things that may look like giant fire-horses and heavenly chariots to others haven’t seemed so big to me… because I know what God has put in him, and I know the position that God has put him in my life. More than that though, I have a real love for him, a real relationship with him, and I know he loves me. I’ve simply decided that I won’t let myself get distracted by the burning vehicles that seem to show up to make me lose faith in our relationship when they don’t really have anything to do with our relationship. This isn’t a new recent decision I’ve made, but the terminology that I use to describe this decision is new. People aren’t perfect. Surprise! I don’t think that means we should act like we weren’t created to walk in deep relationships though because the imperfections of others might burn a little from time to time. Relationships are also very important for bigger reasons than the level of impartation we can receive from them too. I know I’ve received a ton of stuff spiritually from the person I’ve been talking about, and I think the level of what I’ve received has a lot to do with relational commitment more than how sweet either one of us is.

Great things rarely come as easy or as quickly as we’d like them to, but they are worth it because, after all… they are great things. If they do come as quickly or as easily as we like, I hope we don’t squander them as spoiled children waste what they receive because they haven’t experienced the value of it.

~ by leemyers on May 19, 2008.