I Feel Like Running!!!

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall RUN, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

I had a full schedule on Tuesday. I started the morning handling necessary business for our Resurrection Sunday dance. Then I got my hair done, cleaned, cooked, washed and worked on finishing my homework for school, all in addition to scheduling a job interview and writing this blog (which didn’t get completed until today). Although I was praising God for the warm temperatures and sunshine the cares of the day seem to be closing in on me. I was definitely getting things done, but there was a part of me that just wanted to be going or doing something else. That thought seem to intensify as day went on.

One of my errands was to take care of some paper work at my church, which I did. As I was driving through the forest preserve, on route back to my home the thought of wanting to go and be elsewhere arose again. As I looked out at the open fields that surrounded me I had this unexplainable urge to run. I could literally hear myself saying, “I feel like running.”  (Felt like the movie character Forest Gump~lol). I just wanted to run. I couldn’t shake the feeling. I wanted to pull the car over, get out, and run through one of the fields that surrounded me as fast and far as I could go. Of course I didn't, but I imagined myself running as hard and fast I could, hearing my heart beating rapidly in my chest, feeling the wind blowing on my perspiring face, and seeing me smiling as I enjoyed the freedom.

The desire to run took me back to my middle and high school days as a track runner. I was sprinter in middle school and ran the 100, 400 relay, and did shot put in high school. I absolutely loved track and everything about it, from our two hour practices everyday to our weight training and especially the track meets. It’s something about finishing a run that was refreshing to the spirit. It didn’t matter that you were out of breath and your chest hurt from the mere intensity of the run. It didn’t matter that your sides and legs would cramp at times, having to wait an hour til the pain subsided. It didn’t matter that you would be exhausted after a two hour practice or full day track meet. It was all about the RUN. Yet, in spite of my love for my running days I still couldn’t understand why I was feeling this urge to run so intensely right now. Then the Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart (You know there’s always a lesson ~ LOL).

I believe the desire to run was two-fold. The first was my desire to escape the cares of this world that can easily overtake at times. This is one of the busiest times of year for me and it's not unusual for me to doing the many things that are required doing this season. Yet, this year, I felt very different when doing my "usual." It almost as if the grace to get it done has been lifting (Whoa! Scary thought). It was if I could sense that what defined me in years past no longer seem to be fitting me, growing out my britches, if you will (I’m in tears now…I hear you Lord). The urgency to run was the Holy Spirit prompting a desire in me to move without fear and hesitation into the things that He has set before me. 

The Holy Spirit reminded of one of the words that the Lord had given me for this new year (season): Acceleration. I believe that there is a great acceleration in the spirit that the Father is positioning and repositioning many in the body of Christ. It's as if a strong wind is blowing as it did when the Father God parted the Red Sea [“…and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” Exodus 14:21b] and open doors and opportunities are being released to the body of Christ in this hour.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not getting ready to drop all that I’m doing and just start running to places and people I don’t know without the explicit direction and confirmation of the Holy Spirit (and you shouldn't either). I believe that this urge to run is a way of the Father preparing me for what’s to come, for that which is before me. This leads to my second reason for the urgency to run.

I believe that the Father is calling many forth to go forth in their gift and callings (by the leading of he Holy Spirit, of course). It's time to RUN! The Holy Spirit brought back to my remembrance a dream that one of my spiritual daughters had a few years ago. I won’t attempt to go into the details of the dream here, but I want to share the portion that shot through my mind concerning this running. In the dream she and I were standing at the edge of an open field. All of sudden she looks at me and I at her. There were some words spoken that indicated that I needed to run and so I did, immediately. I took off running in the field as fast as I could go. Then she took off right after me. Now, this is probably insignificant to most, but for me it was speaking volumes. The Lord was, again, reminding me of the time to run, to go, is soon approaching, even upon me....be prepared.

Much has happened in my life and in the life of my spiritual daughter since the time of this dream and the prophetic significance of what’s taking place in our lives is hard to explain in the perimeters of this blog. In a nutshell, it’s almost as if we both have gone full circle and we are here again, at this place at the edge of the field. Yet, this time it is very different. This time we are a little wiser, more aware, and our assured confidence is in Him. We have been broken to a place of total reliance on Him knowing that we can run only in His strength, not our own (Praise Jesus!). Our hearts are yielded to Him and we rest in the fact that there is a prepared way and people, ordained by the Father.

I know that the Father has had me incubated for a season. He has been personally working on me by the Holy Spirit: Breaking, pruning, restructuring, adjusting, and rebuilding. I believe that I, along with my husband, am going into a season of restoration and renewal.  And this desire to run is a part of that debut and the acceleration of it is taking place in the spirit. The Father is stirring the hearts of those who are His, yours and mine. He is stirring His people, as a mother eagle does her eaglets: Making their nest uncomfortable in hopes of them embracing their God ordained destiny to fly (Hallelujah!). The Father is preparing His people, as the mother eagle prepares the eaglet, to be dropped from the nest, located at the peak of the mountaintop. The Father, the mother eagle, fully expects us to spread our wings and fly and be the Eagles we were destined to be, soaring above all.

I don’t know about you, but I feel the stirring, acceleration and urgency all around. What is the spirit of the Lord stirring in you? What is He stirring you to? Do you sense the urgency in the spirit? The Father is calling His people in this hour. I believe that it is a season that the Father is raising of laborers: workers for souls in the body of Christ. The scripture says, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37). I pray that you’re seeking His heart today and that you will allow Him to accelerate you into the things of the kingdom.

My Love Song to HIM! Dorothy C.