The 2020 high school and college graduating classes were born around the time of 9/11 and now 18 to 21 years later, have graduated in the midst of the worldwide COVID shutdown. As the time for graduations has arrived, I’m seeing sad posts and campaigns for students who are unable to enjoy a “normal” graduation. I see a focus on lament and loss.

Please don’t get me wrong, it would be nice to openly celebrate and for the community to be able to be involved in this significant achievement in these young adults’ lives! It is an inconvenience but it’s not going to stop people from celebrating as a family. And, when things calm down parents will be able to hold a more public display of love and support on their graduate’s behalf.

But I see another perspective emerging. These children were born in the midst of a tragic event in the United States that had a ripple effect worldwide. The world quickly and dramatically changed around the time they were born. They have no understanding of how things were before. They entered this world at a time of extreme chaos and uncertainty.

These children grew up forged through the Lord’s fire. As illustrated in Psalm 66:10, 12, “For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined… You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out” into a place of abundance.”(NASB)

Is it such a surprise that they have entered adulthood at yet another unique time in history that is filled on a global scale with even more tension and uncertainty? God knows the times and what is needed for each era. He sent these children to every part of the world and purposed them for this specific time in history. And now, they are fully prepared, uniquely equipped for this time, and shaped by God to change this world for the better.

In the simplest of words so eloquently expressed by Dr. Seuss in his book Oh, the Places You’ll Go, “Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!”

The Lord has been putting RESTORATION on my heart lately. I was out on a walk recently and a huge locust flew up in front of me. Seeing that reminded me of the passage about the Lord restoring the years the locust have eaten. It is a new season and the things that were lost or stolen in the past season are being restored.

The darkness is afraid. It knows it’s time is short. In fact, it’s time is over. The darkness is holding onto any last vestiges it has. It is a desperate animal caught in a trap, hissing, and trying in abject fear to claw its way out. It is willing to do anything it can to try to hold on to a grasp of something that never rightfully belonged to it. The darkness knows it has been replaced by the sons and daughters of God, who are about to be revealed to the Earth. And it should be afraid because the rightful heirs of this world are, with God’s help, about to do the impossible. They are about to transform this world into God’s kingdom.

Often, when the Lord is ready to promote us, He asks us to face challenges that we need to overcome in our lives in order to handle the next level successfully. In the struggling and grappling, the Lord draws hidden abilities that have been lying dormant deep within us to the surface. As written for the film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”

–Tanya Vezza
Chapter 5: WARRIOR from Lessons from God

In the midst of all that is currently going on, it is important to remember that God is still in control.

The Lord’s pioneers have been on my heart recently. The word pioneer has several definitions, but interestingly enough, their meanings are closely intertwined. The word pioneer embodies the following characteristics:

• a person or group of people that help originate new thoughts or activities or a new mode of doing things
• one of the first to settle in a an unknown territory
• one who creates a new way or helps prepare a way for others to follow

By design, pioneers, are unique and different from most people. They are the first to head out into the unknown and make a way for others to follow.

Throughout history, the Lord prepares a people – His pioneers – for each new time or movement yet to come. He sends his pioneer first, ahead of everyone else. They will be trained in what the new time will be, in order to help the rest, when the time comes.

Their path will not have made sense to them or anyone else around them. But how could it possibly make sense? They are being trained in the unforeseen future that only God knows. Of course it looks strange and different.

Their journey and training will only make sense when the new season arrives. And when the time changes, the pioneers will flourish because that is what they have been prepared for out of season and in advance. Everyone else will be confused, just as the pioneers once were. But, the Lord sent them ahead to be able to help the remainder of His people.

If you are a pioneer, the very people who misunderstood you and your call will be grateful that the change in season does not affect you, and that you are there to help guide them into the new. You were one of the few who trusted the Lord and ventured out into the unknown, holding onto Him in the midst of the chaos around you. In the next season, you will be helping usher in one of the greatest movements of the Lord.

There are many in the body of Christ who are tired and weary. They have walked through a long and intense wilderness season. They are at the edge of their breakthrough into their promised land. The Lord is asking them to believe again… Believe in themselves … Believe in their future. He is asking them to decree again. But they are so weary and discouraged that they don’t see the power in speaking over their lives.

And, I am right there with them. But the faintest glimmer of hope is lighting up inside me from somewhere deep. All God is asking us to do is speak the promises He’s made to us. Say it in your head, out loud, sing it, write it down. It doesn’t matter what form it takes, just decree over your life!

Just like the Israelites, when they entered into their promised land, we have to shake off the dust of the wilderness and partner with the Lord by speaking to the giants in our land. It was only after they walked around the city, as instructed, and shouted that the walls fell down. Stand your ground and decree.