I was at the grocery store today with my husband and God prompted a Word in my Spirit but I didn't even realize it until later, when I was at work of course. Truth be told God had started pouring elements of the word into my heart, mind and circumstance a few months earlier. So, it went something like this- between my husband and daughter there was a stern determination to bring summer back, at least in the fruit section anyway. Our cart began to be filled with all things summer-watermelon, mango, citrus and strawberries etc. I, being the penny watcher that I am, was less worried about the tasty fruits and their yummy goodness as I was about the fact that just a few short weeks ago strawberries were a meager $.99 pert container and now they lunked in the cart at a heavy $4.99!!!!!! This fact alone made me stop and re-evaluate our current situation. I explained to my unappreciative co-shoppers that the season for these wonderful offerings had passed and that if they just "had to have them" they we certainly not be getting the quantity they desired, or not at all if there was even an inkling that there was some GMO agents present that allowed these items to simply exist at this time. Later on at work, I suppose I was still stirring a bit about having been dupped into buying a $4 watermelon (and I am talking about a small, person pan sized watermelon), when God dropped the word in my heart like a weight (yet again). Seasons, Krystal, life is all about seasons. The Word tells us in Ecclesiastes 3 that to every thing under the sun there is a season in which it is to happen. This is true about everything in life, the good the bad and the fruity. Things change, time goes on, things grow and they die-so is life,and it happens whether we want it to or not, whether we approve or not. The beauty in life, harmony can be found in learning to move in tandem with God and in enjoying the fruits of the season. I am not an advocate of paying a higher premium, or contributing to the need for genetically engineered products to appease a person, but I must admit regardless of the time of year I love a good bunch of juicy grapes. However, God is teaching me in THIS season of life to love the fruit of the season, or at the very least learn to appreciate them because all things taste sweeter in their own season, they leave the earth in proper shape and provide the greatest amount benefit when they are cultivated and harvested in their own season, When the season is upon you to cultivate and reap patience, God may till the ground of your heart with difficulty, and an endless showering of hard times, but He fully understands the need to get it just so to reap the greatest harvest. So in whatever season you may find yourself, simply learn to dance in the rains of spring, soak up the sun of summer, enjoy the crisp air of fall and appreciate the renewal that comes from the hibernation of winter, God sees the end from the beginning and He wants you to be the sweetest and most vital you can be when the peak of your harvest time comes.

There is place for everyone in the will of God but not always in His presence

      As I was working today, the Holy Spirit laid a word upon my heart that caused me to stop and really think about what He was saying to me. The word was relevant to a situation I was (am) praying about in regards to my own personal life as well as professionally and spiritually. The word dropped in my heart like a weight.....There is place for EVERYONE in the will of God but not always in the presence of God. Allow me to unpack that a bit.
      There are times in life where God arranges situations and circumstances to buffer things off of us to make us better, and other times where He uses them to propel us into our purpose. Every great person in the Bible was placed into their position by an opposing force, a person God used to set into motion the seemingly negative circumstances that deposited them into their destiny. For example-
Moses had Pharaoh
Daniel had the other governors and leaders
Joseph had his brothers AND Potiphar's wife
Esther had Vashti AND Haman
AND OF COURSE JESUS HIMSELF HAD JUDAS
       All of these counter parts set up the other to be in position as vessels of honor by being vessels of dishonor, as those mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:20. Without the divine set-up, if you will, and the seemingly negative circumstances surrounding these people in their time of propulsion they may not have made it to the mark. God allowed there to be particular circumstances to be set into motion surrounding the would be victors that, should they have responded in a differing manner, may have shifted things in the opposing direction, Jesus realized that Judas was simply serving a purpose by betraying Him. While we all realize He is the son of God and therefore possessed supernatural power and purpose, He was also at one point wholly human, and prayed the course of His purpose to shifted, were it possible. Judas, by way of his betrayal, and subsequent 'sale' of Jesus to the Pharisees ensured the plan of God was seen through to completion. The same is true for Joseph with his brothers, and the rest. We will try everything within our power to wriggle out of uncomfortable situations, ones that push us out from the safety of the shore out into the great unknown, situations that cause us to feel betrayed, abandoned and rejected. We will try all we know to somehow work out in our minds that God's will for our lives includes Him wanting us to be happy, but we have to understand that our happiness will ALWAYS come second in line to God's Holiness and His will, and sometimes God has to use people to ensure we reach our purpose.
      Considering all things, we have to be sure we learn from the example of Esther in dealing with Haman, waiting on the proper and wise time to put him into his place. If she had moved too quickly the King's heart may not have been inclined to let make her petition, and even more importantly Haman would not have had time to build the very gallows that would later be his final stop this side of eternity. More importantly we must learn from the example of Jesus in His treatment of Judas even after it was revealed that he was the very one that would betray Him. Jesus still sat at the same table, broke bread with and even washed the very feet of the one that would solidify His place on the cross. Judas had the opportunity to walk side by side with the Master, to glean from His wisdom and partake of His greatest blessings but chose rather to be used a vessel of dishonor in the will of God removing himself from the presence of God.
      We are called to respond in love to all situations and glorify God in all because even the ones that hurt, especially the ones that hurt the most are the ones with the greatest rocket fuel to launch us to our purpose.