You Are Equipped for Both Environments
A couple months ago, I was speaking in London. At the end of the gathering, the leader brought up a pair of new, fancy shoes he had bought a few days earlier. The problem was they were both for the same foot!
His wife was on her way to return the shoes when she decided to stop into the event. The leader took out one of the shoes and told me to take off my right sneaker. The shoe was my exact size. He placed the fancy, expensive shoe on my right foot.
He said, "This is a picture of your life from here forward. On one foot, you have a sneaker, and on the other foot, you have a fancy, expensive shoe. You will be walking and ministering in totally different environments, but you are equipped for both."
Then, just a few days ago, I was on a call with another pastor. As he was talking to me, he said, "Craig, I keep seeing you wear two different kinds of shoes. On your left foot, you have a sneaker, and on your right foot, you have an expensive dress shoe. I believe it's a picture of you being able to minister in different types of environments easily."
I couldn't believe it. Twice in a month, the exact same word!
I believe it's a picture of what the Lord is doing in these days. We don't have to be confined to what we have "worn" in the past. We don't have to choose either-or. It can be both-and.
I believe you have permission to move beyond old limitations that have restricted you and contained you. There is an identity upgrade available.
Some aspects of your old life may look the same, but you will now step confidently into new environments, spaces, places, roles, and positions.
A fresh, divine enablement and authority is coming to rest upon you. You are equipped with everything you need. Embrace the new, bigger, and different. I have shared a word about this below. I pray it helps you. (Photo via Unsplash)
Break Off the Limitations
In this crossing-over season, the Spirit is drawing you beyond self-imposed boundary lines and containment. There is freedom to live beyond labels and identities that have limited you. Break out of confinement. Shake off religious legalism. Come out from the expectations and opinions of others. Exit from wrong alignments. Step out of old ruts and routines. Open up options. Push back perimeters. Shatter glass ceilings. Enlarge your territory.
"He brought me out into a spacious place." (?Psalm 18:19? NIV)
There is blessing beyond your previous borders and confines. There is favor outside of old, familiar, comfortable places and spaces. You have permission to explore, enlarge, and expand. Things don't have to be done the way you've seen them in the past or the way you've always done them.
"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.?" (Isaiah 54:2–3 NIV?)
Previously, many of your decisions had to be either-or. You had to choose this or that. You are now entering a hybrid season. You have permission to do both-and.
David was a shepherd, and a musician, and an armor bearer, and a warrior, and then a king. In each new environment, the "more" that was on the inside of him was drawn out. You, too, are much more than how you have been labeled or defined, or how you have limited yourself in the past.
Don't restrict yourself to a narrow area when God has deposited so much diversity within you. Don't be pressured to conform to the expectations of others if you sense the Spirit leading you in a different direction.
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.?" (John 3:8 NIV) (Photo via Unsplash)
Try the New: Dream Again and Reimagine What Could Be
Your past does not define your present or future. Try the new. Innovate and experiment. Dream again and reimagine what could be. Give things a go. Embrace the shift. Holy living and creative thinking will be a powerful combination in these days.
A new breed of Kingdom pioneers, entrepreneurs, and creatives is emerging. They are men and women with holy boldness and Christ-like humility. These prophetic trailblazers will forge new paths, break new ground, push back frontiers, and take back enemy territory.
They won't slot neatly into a category. They don't fit religious stereotypes. They will break the mold. They are difficult to label and difficult to define. They make religious people deeply uncomfortable. They are neither "this" nor "that." They are so much more. Their identity is firmly rooted in Christ.
Follow the wind of the Spirit into wide-open spaces and uncharted places. Explore and express all that the Father has woven within you. A new level of favor, fruitfulness, and fulfillment will be found on unfamiliar paths.
Ask for the Spirit's wisdom to make the right strategic adjustments and pivots in this rapidly changing season. There will be risk, but greater will be the rewards for those who step out into the unknown in response to the leading of the Spirit.
"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." (Isaiah 42:16 NIV)
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Craig Cooney
HOPE Church | Daily Prophetic
Email: contactdailyprophetic@gmail.com
Website: dailyprophetic.com
Craig Cooney has been in ordained ministry for over fifteen years, leading churches in the north and south of Ireland. He is married to Becky, and they have a son named Elijah, as well as a labradoodle puppy named Henry. Craig is the author of four books: "The Tension of Transition," "SPIRIT SPEAK," "I Hear Yahweh," and "When the Lamb Roars." His passion is to help Believers to hear God's voice for themselves and apply God's wisdom as they navigate through the transitions of life.
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