For days I keep looking at the clock as it reads “10:10.” It drew me right to John chapter 10 and opening in verse three is says, “The watchman who open the gate for Him, listen to His voice.” John 10:10 speaks to us of the thief that comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus has come as a GATE for us, that we may have life to the fullest. That is a tension that we must live with…pressing in to receive the fullness God has to offer and yet aware the enemy of our soul leaves us no rest in His schemeing. There is a verse in Isaiah the Lord has put with me in regards to the 10/10 tension, it’s in Isaiah 21:12 (see the transition in those numbers) “The watchman replies, Morning is coming, but also the night.” As God brings increase and more to His people the enemy is right alongside trying to distract and distort us from the good that God has and the places He wants us to go.
I felt the Lord speaking to me recently about asking for “the more that He wants to give.” To diligently ask and expect and believe for more as I press in to His plans for the future. I find it superb that the name on this clock is “new gate” becuase gates give us access to pass through where we want to go, and likewise Jesus makes reference to Himself as The Gate in John 10. The plans He has for us and the places He is directing us to go will come through Him and His ways. I believe there are many of us heading into places that haven’t been forged yet, we haven’t walked the road where Jesus might be asking us to go and do the things He is asking us to do. Perhaps, as the clock reads, it’s a new gate to walk through but not a road that we’ve been down before. It’s both fun and scary and there is tension in both of these things. Both hope and heartache that holds what is next and new/ and yet scary for what we have to let go of and leave behind. Here are some great words from a good doctor as we move ahead this season:
“There are things down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on. But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. Onward and upward a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On you will hike and I know you’ll hike far, you’ll face every problem whatever they are. You’ll get mixed up of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step that it’s with care and great tact and remember that life is a Great Balancing Act. -Dr. Seuss
Let’s keep in mind the tension of 10/10 and choose to push through, expectant for more…believing that where we are headed is a gate of new access where our God “will do a new thing and make a way where there seems to be no way” (Isaiah 43:19).
Blessings in the new! DeAnn C.