The warm sunshine cascaded through the frittering leaves that gently swayed with the whims of the summer breeze. At one moment you could feel the heat from the sun penetrating your flesh and warming your bones as it peeked through the towering trees. Yet in the very next, you reached to pull something over you to shield yourself from the breeze as the warmth retreated with the sun, giving way to the cool shadows of the leaves. The changing temperatures from the warmth of the day to the crisp night air all served a natural reminder of supernatural realities.Something was different this year.
The difference could be that for the second time in three years a guest speaker had not been able to keep their commitment. That is not a criticism, but rather an observation. After all, the scriptures teach us "a man may make his plans, but the Lord directs his steps," and "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." In spite of the last minute adjustment to our plans, this was not the first time we have had to adjust to unexpected changes.
Still, something was different this year.
Yes, we had some unexpected tests to our faith at the last minute, and great concerns for those we love. People came and stayed at camp who had not been able to before, and others were not able to make it who had always made it before. Changes had to be made in organizational details that we had not anticipated. I would call it "unexpected contingencies." Yet we have had to pull our organizational hats out of the fire before.
But something was different this year.
As I walked the ground Wednesday morning with the faithful crew who had come up the day before to clean and organize the camp facilities, we were all keenly aware that there was something different in the air. It felt different. It felt uneasy. It felt unexpected.
Perhaps that is the best way to describe the camp this year. It was different. Different can make us feel uneasy, and true difference is always unexpected. That is where we were at— and that is where God met us!
From the very first day
, change was in the air. It was in the natural air. You could feel the end of summer as the cool breezes lightly touched our skin so that we longed for the warmth of the campfire. In turn, we were reminded that Autumn was upon us and the unrestrainable downward pull of temperatures would take us into a new season.And it is in that very natural phenomenon— in nature itself, that we find the answer to the perplexities of our beloved Family Camp. From the very first service, God began to declare a seasonal transition over us as he sent a great anointing for prophecy into our atmosphere. Just as nature perfectly portrayed to us the transition of the seasons, God supernaturally brought an end to our old season and opened the door to a new one.
Change is never fun. We don't like it. We avoid it... sometimes at all costs! Don't get me wrong. We want the new season. We want the blessing of the new season. But we don't want to give up the old. The old is comfortable to us. It makes us feel secure. And sometimes if we have to choose, we would choose to stay with the old rather than embrace the new. But life is not like that. Seasons change, and we must change with them. Does it make us feel uncomfortable? Yes. Does it make us feel uneasy? Of course! But there are blessings on the other side of the transition that are unforeseen and unattainable until we go through the changes.
So what are some of the lessons we can take away from our experience at camp?
1. In order to walk into the new season we have to close the door to the old.
This is not an easy task, as I have already said. Besides the security and familiarity, there are precious memories we tend enjoy reliving, and it feels as though we are leaving something behind.
But there are also things we just don't want to get over. We've been hurt. We've had difficult circumstances that caused anger or bitterness. Our injuries have either become infested, or chronic. We say we want to get over it, but we cling to it as well. It is like trying to put a lid on an overstuffed container, it doesn't fit so we just let it spill out all over. Its messy, but we tend to let it continue. We might even call it controlled chaos.
There is a blessing when God supernaturally speaks into a situation. If we walk with Him, the lid begins to fit. Grace is released, and if we are willing, we can get over it. That is what happened at camp. Our stuff was spilling out all over because of the added stresses. The lid no longer fit and we were abiding in controlled chaos. But God intervened with grace to put the lid on the past and enabled us to move on.
2. The blessings of the new season are well worth the sacrifices in the old.
In the old season we made sacrifices. We worked hard. We figured things out and made things work that didn't work. We fought long hard battles— and even carry some scars! The lessons learned, the battles fought, the wounds of war have all created great memories and testimonies. For some, the remembrances of those times serve as badges and medals. We won! We deserve the accolades.
On the other hand we cling to them. They cheat us out of victory in the present. They choke us with vivid memories of how things use to be and remind, to our dismay, that they are not working now. We become frustrated. Some even become bitter and angry. We long for the "glory" days when victories were decisive.
Those days were glorious and the sacrifices produced great victories in our battlefields, but that is the problem. We tend to stay at the battlefields to long. If anyone comes along we can point out the skirmishes, give a blow-by-blow report, quote the orders handed out by our Commander-in-Chief. We can site the verse and passages and sing the old battle songs, but the problem is the battlefield is silent. We have become inactive observers recounting a battle that has long been fought. The battle has moved on. There is fresh ground to be gained. The battles we've won were only meant to be stepping stones to the next battle until the Kingdom has fully come. Your sacrifices have paved the way for the next level of warfare. The lessons are learned and the testimonies are inspiring, but we need to re-enlist to the next battle and get in the fight!
3. The failures of the past season are never the end. God wants to make them a springboard into our destiny.
Failure is heart-wrenching. It overwhelms our emotions and clouds our judgment, but failure is never the ending. Defeats are only opportunities to help us fight more effectively. Defeats are not places to stop, they are places to learn. Defeat never ends a war, it altars the battle plan. Defeat is not the end— surrender is the end!
God has a springboard for everyone in every failure, mistake and sin... it is called grace. Grace is the power to overcome against great unbeatable foes. Grace is the supernatural ability to see in dark. Grace has the full supply to rise above every situation. Grace not only saves us, but it is grace that delivers, heals, prospers— every believer who is willing to walk in it. Grace is what turns defeat into a win, failure into success, and sin (what's wrong) into righteousness (what's right).
No one ever reaches their true destiny nor finds their purpose without failure. Failure fine-tunes us and defeat makes us strong. The old adage, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," is true. No pain, no gain. No loss, no win. No failure, no success. No defeat, no victory.
Now camp is over. Thank God, something was different this year. I trust that you will declare with me, "Something was different this year at camp, and now its made a difference in me."Let's have a blessed new season.
Pastor Woodie
