As I’ve spent time with the Lord recently, I believe He is telling me to believe Him for increase. He wants our church to finish remodeling the rest of our property, invest in our Online Ministry so we can reach more people, and begin to hire more staff.
As many of you know, 2020 looks like a bad to time to expand. As of this writing, COVID-19 is raging, governments are issuing mandatory stay at home orders, other business restrictions, and face mask mandates which are causing many businesses to lay off or shut down. Fear is rampant! Natural circumstances don’t look good!
I’m writing this article and sharing my story because I think the things the Lord is showing me apply to all of us in this time of difficult natural circumstances. God wants all of us to increase! Look at Galatians 4:27:
27 For it is written:“Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.”
In this scripture, the Lord is telling a barren woman to begin to rejoice and shout because she is going to have more children than a woman that is already married and has a lot of kids. In this passage, the Lord is teaching us that with Him all things are possible and that He is not limited to natural circumstances to bring forth a miracle.
We find out more detail about the heart and mind of God for increase when we study Isaiah 54, which Galatians 4:27 quotes. Isaiah 54 was a prophecy given for the nation of Israel when they were coming out of Babylonian captivity. The Jews returned to Israel after they had been carried into captivity for 70 years and the city was desolate and barren. Circumstances didn’t look good and it appeared hopeless.
This is a picture of how many people see their economic situation today. If that’s you, I’ve got good news. While you may be trying to figure out how you will pay your next month’s rent, God is telling you to expand, increase, and buy a new house! Sound crazy? It’s not. It’s called faith! Let’s look at the first three verse of Isaiah 54.
1 “Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.
The Lord tells the nation of Israel to sing and rejoice in verse 1 in the midst of their desolation! He’s not saying to sing because of the desolation, He is saying to sing because He is their God and He is bigger than their circumstances. He’s trying to get them to put their eyes back on Him.
In verse 2 God tells this desolate woman (the Jewish nation) to stretch out their cords and lengthen their stakes so they can make a bigger tent. Why? Because if the Lord is going to give this woman more children even when she is currently desolate, she is going to need a place for those children to sleep. God is telling Israel to prepare for increase before increase arrives. This requires faith because faith doesn’t doesn’t look at circumstances, it looks at Jesus!
I believe the Lord is telling many of us to make plans to expand right now. He wants us to plan to increase and live accordingly. How do we do this?
1. Continue to tithe and pray about giving more. People of increase see themselves as blessed so they give like that is true! Shrinking back from giving when circumstances are hard is a sign we aren’t really trusting God with our finances and we don’t see ourselves as blessed.
2. Listen to His voice. What’s He telling you to do? Since we know His voice speaks increase, He is going to lead you to take steps in line with increase. You just have to tune in your voice to His frequency of increase!
Is He telling you to believe for a new job? Is He telling you to start a new business or expand your current business? Is He telling you to get involved with something that would take a big financial investment? If so, step out by faith. This is how you lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes and prepare to receive the blessing God is sending you.
3. Speak faith. Mark 11:23 says we will have what we say. If we want increase, we need to speak forth increase! Faith calls those things that be not as though they are, not the other way around! We aren’t supposed to see increase before we speak increase. It’s the other way around! We are supposed to call it the way it should be and then it will be!
Verse 3 tells us what happens when we metaphorically strengthen our cords and lengthen our stakes when we confess the word, continue to give, and plan to expand! It says that we will expand to the right and left and our descendants will inherit the nations. These descendants are the ones who came from a barren woman!
I hope and pray you are seeing this. When the woman who was unmarried and barren and was in all sorts of challenging circumstances began to change the way she thought about herself, she began to be fruitful! She rejoiced because she saw God as her source, began to plan for increase and act accordingly, and then breakthrough came!
I believe the Lord is encouraging many of us to plan for increase! When we see God as our source and act in alignment with His word, increase is the result! Believe God big today!
If you’d like to learn more about how to believe for increase, check out this message I taught at Grace Life Church.
