While sitting in my hotel room in Taiwan, last month, God completed this word that he started speaking to my heart over the last few months. I’ll title this short message ‘From Tired to Thriving’.

God has been talking to me about the fact that a season is coming, and very near at hand where his children who have been living under oppression and in depression will understand the secret of moving to a place of thriving, spiritually and physically.

The plant in the image is mine. Before leaving on a 3-week vacation, I soaked the soil and filled the hidden inner trough, then put it in my vestibule. The summer heat was brutal, and I expected the plant to be completely dried up when I returned. The soil was completely patched, but to my surprise, somehow one portion of the plant managed to thrive under the impossible conditions, while the rest of the plant surcommed.

Some of you reading this have been suddenly thrust into a season of chaos, where it appears that ‘all hell has begun to break loose.’ The enemy knows what’s coming and is making a last-ditch effort to thwart God’s plan in this upcoming season of your life. Stay focused.

God’s instruction to you today is from Jeremiah’s letter to those in exile in Babylon, in Jeremiah 29: 4-9, “This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God… “Build houses and make yourselves at home. “Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. “Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away. “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare. “Pray for Babylon’s well-being.” Yes. Believe it or not, THIS is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: “Don’t listen to the lying prophets/leaders around you! God’s Decree!””

Today, God is calling you to thrive in the midst of your oppression. He doesn’t need to move you out from under the hand of the oppressor for you to thrive. Thrive right where you are.

I can almost read your mind, and I can hear you asking the same question that I asked God when He said this to me: What does that look like? How is that even possible? That doesn’t make logical sense.

God responded from chapter 30 verses 10 and 11 of the same book of Jeremiah. Please pause if you are distracted, and focus in carefully.

This is God’s instruction to you today!
“So Fear No More, dear servant. Don’t despair… Look up! I’ll save you….”

Let me explain: The source of oppression is fear. The reason why oppression is successful is because of our fear of all the negative possibilities that can impact us: fear of failing, fear of dying from disease, fear of losing our jobs, fear of businesses failing, fear of the unknown, fear of our children failing, it’s all about fear, fear, fear.

Remember what 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, and I’ll paraphrase it: ‘God has given us His Holy Spirit, which doesn’t cause us to be afraid, but instead enables us to have the power to accomplish God’s plan, love others, and be mentally sound.’

Notice that fear causes us to look down at our circumstances and our limitations. God is saying to us stop looking down, ‘Look Up’.

Why look up? Because God has said, “…I’ll save you….” The God above all Gods, the God of the Angel Armies, the one who created all things, knows all things and is all-powerful, has promised to save you.

When we look up, we are looking at God’s ability, God’s provision, God’s hand of blessing, healing, and wisdom. We move from being limited to being limitless, because our sight/perspective shifts from who we are, as mere men, to who He is. When we look at God, we see who we truly are in Him, clothed in His righteousness, power, and authority. We are children of the Most High God.

Did you get it? The secret has 2 parts, first ‘Fear No More’, then ‘Look Up’! That’s it. Simple yet powerful enough to completely change your life and shift you from being tired to thriving.

I can hear someone saying, ‘Oh, that’s just another positive thinking trick.’ I want to assure you that God’s word is not mind games or wishful thinking.

I want to challenge each person reading this to be obedient to what God’s word says, ‘Fear No More’, … ‘Look Up’…, and watch Him turn around your situation. God never instructs us to do something without making the provision for accomplishing it. Whatever His word says to do is possible for us because of the Holy Spirit. So, I admonish you to be present to, and aware of the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand.

I sense that many will be blessed as a result of their simple obedience: I ask, please, that you return here to share your story to encourage someone else.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your child reading this. I pray that you would remove the scales from their eyes, and allow them to see themselves as the giants you create. Allow them to truly internalize this word and to intentionally, with the help of the Holy Spirit, ‘stop living in fear, and look up’.

Father, for those who have determined in their hearts to be obedient, pour out your anointing upon them and allow them to feel the overwhelming sense of your presence. May they know, really and truly know, that you are always with them and that you love and care for them unconditionally.

Father, begin right now to break things off of, and out of their lives that hinder them from experiencing your promise of abundant life, even while they are reading this.

Thank you for the many testimonies that will result from your children heeding your word today. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Thanks for pausing to read this. Be blessed.