On the World Race, we observe Sabbath. At Training Camp, that meant taking a day of rest from all the corporate learning and committing individual time to the Lord so that the Lord could do what He wanted with it.
I wasn’t that excited about it. I had things I wanted to do. But I decided to trust my leadership and lean into God.
I have a lot to learn about the practice of Sabbath, and I know that very well.
So, that morning I sat in silence listening for a few minutes. Then, I felt I was directed to open the Bible. I asked God to guide my hands in opening to where He wanted me to be. I ended up in the Old Testament. Numbers 28. Which, just so happened to be what seems to me like the strangest scripture on Sabbath I could have been asked to read.
You see, Numbers 28 is about the daily sacrifices and offerings that the people of Israel were asked to make in Old Testament times. It went into detail about the regular, daily offerings and the offerings of every holiday, and there’s a section on the offerings required on the Sabbath.
What on Earth does this have to do with me today?
But I got the impression that God did have a lesson for me. The lesson was that if I’m doing something for the Lord then it’s not work and it’s ok to do on the Sabbath. Interesting way to give me this message, but ok, God, you do you. But it was also a relief because I felt God was saying that when the opportunity arose later in the day it would be perfectly ok to do the things I wanted to do. Sabbath was not actually in my way because I was trying to do work for the Lord.
And then I got really tired.
It was weird.
And I fell asleep.
Sitting there in the middle of the circle drive of training camp, I fell asleep for what I’m honestly pretty sure was mere seconds. But those mere seconds had a purpose because I had a dream.
In my dream, there was a tall building and there was an elevator that stopped at the top and at the bottom. At first, I was on the elevator going up and it was awesome and I knew I was on the right path toward the right goal.
But then it switched out of nowhere and suddenly I was on the elevator going down. And I was confused and frustrated. I wanted to be going to the top. This elevator needed to STOP RIGHT NOW! It needed to switch. Go back to the top. Go back where I knew the goal was. Where I belonged.
But then I heard God speak over me: “Sabrina, elevators don’t work that way. Once you push the button, the elevator goes. You have to go all the way to the bottom before the elevator is going to stop and you can start going up again. Are you willing to go to the bottom for me?”
And then I woke up feeling more awake than I have felt in a long, long time. Man was that a heavy dream with a heavy message.
I know what that dream meant for me in that particular moment. I know that God is telling me that immense sacrifices are coming.
And I said “yes.” I said “yes, I’m willing.”
So, we’ll see how this journey goes. I’m really glad I have a team to journey through this with me. It won’t be easy.
But that dream wasn’t just for me or just for this season. I will think of that elevator in the future every time I’m facing a season that I don’t like that much. I will use that illustration God gave me over and over again. Because I truly do believe it was a message from God. And I truly do believe it has a purpose in my life or He wouldn’t give it to me.
So, I challenge you also to think about your seasons and your sacrifices and the elevators you’ve ridden. Think of the stops along the way as other people got on and off. Think of the annoying people who pushed extra buttons FOR NO REASON! You may have to make a few extra stops along the way. My advice is don’t waste them. Use them to learn something for the journey back up and the journey going down.
After that dream, I felt very overwhelmed and heavy and wide awake. And I felt God saying, “Ok, we’re done. You can relax a little now.” God knows when He’s given you enough for the moment. God knows when you need a break or you need some help. God let me go on a walk after that. He let me just kind of think about the elevator as much as I wanted and think about anything else as much as I wanted.
He’s good like that.
But the challenge still stands. A reminder that we’re always in a season where we gotta lean on the Lord to help carry us through if we’re gonna get something real out of it.
So, rest assured, right now I’m in an elevator going down. And I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be in this elevator for quite a while going somewhere I’m not gonna like that much. But God is with me and God is faithful and He will never leave me in the elevator alone.
Whatever direction your elevator is going right now, you’re not alone. God is with you. He’ll hold your hand and whisper exactly what you need to hear if you’ll listen. Let Him. And just see where it takes you.
