Throughout Scripture, God had His prophets act out in their physical bodies what He was doing or was about to do in the earth. These actions often served as warnings, as well as points of agreement with what was to come. It is doubtful that God will ask you to lie on your side for 390 days like Ezekiel or wander around naked like Isaiah, but He will ask you to do things that challenge your belief system, stretch your faith and break the bondage of the flesh. Acts of obedience pull you out of agreement with fleshly limitation and align you with the limitless One.
One of my spiritual heroes in the area of radical obedience is Rees Howells, a Welch coal miner whose life of total surrender, constant abiding, radical obedience and passionate intercession literally turned the tide of World War II. From the time Holy Spirit took complete possession of him, God placed tests of obedience and faith before him, and each time, he would wrestle with his flesh until he was finally able to obey. He ended up being able to trust God for staggering amounts of money, always laboring in prayer to hear God’s direction and then stepping out in faith to obey. He once said:
You may preach anything and everything without proving anything, which is nothing but spectacular theory! Faith must become substance before it becomes evidence.
One test of faith came as he and his wife were leaving for the mission field in Africa. They said goodbye to their family and walked to the train station… with no money. They felt certain that the money would come while they were waiting on the platform, but the time came for the train to leave, and they still had no money. He writes:
…The Spirit then spoke to me and said, “If you had money, what would you do?” “Take my place in the queue at the booking office,” I said. “Well, are you not preaching that My promises are equal to current coin? You had better take your place in the queue.” So there was nothing I could do except obey. There were about a dozen people before me. There they were passing by the booking office one by one. The devil kept telling me, “Now you have only a few people in front of you, and when your turn comes, you will have to walk through. You have preached much about Moses and the Red Sea in front, and the Egyptians behind, but now you are the one who is shut in.” “‘Yes, shut in,” I answered, “but like Moses, I’ll be gloriously led out!” When there were only two before me, a man stepped out of the crowd, and said, “I’m sorry I can’t wait any longer, but I must open my shop.” He said good-bye and put thirty shillings in my hand! It was most glorious, and only a foretaste of what the Lord would do in Africa, if we would obey… We were singing all the way to London!
This is a perfect example not only of radical faith, but also of behaving as if your miracle has already happened! When you act FROM the place of your manifested miracle, behaving as if it has already happened, you will feel the joy of promises fulfilled, and circumstances which before were difficult will become effortless. Ask Holy Spirit to show you what these kinds of faith-filled actions are to look like for you.
This is an excerpt from my book, Miracles Are Normal: Co-Creating Through Oneness With God. You can purchase paperback or digital copies from my website here: Miracles Are Normal. And you can purchase from Amazon here: Miracles Are Normal on Amazon
Happy Co-Creating!
Virginia