This time of year can be a struggle for some because of loss, holiday celebrations, struggles with oppression, and the time change. Don’t allow the natural seasons to dictate your spiritual seasons. December is the twelfth month of the year. Biblically the number 12 is a powerful number. This number represents the government of God, completion, being chosen, God displaying His power against your enemies, and the end of things prophesies the beginning of a new thing.
As we celebrate Hanukah this month, it’s a prophecy to us that light will overcome darkness. Jesus is the light of the world and darkness cannot overcome Him. No matter how dark it is, know that God will cause you to overcome because the light of Christ in you is greater than the darkness around you.
One of the things the Lord has been showing me in this season is, that He desires to deal with the sting of disappointment in the hearts of His people. The Lord has been stressing the importance of dealing with this before we head into 2024. Don’t wait till January. Come into 2024 free of disappointment.
What is disappointment? Disappointment is a state of emotion, sadness, or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations, or a feeling of loss (dictionary.com). Disappointment can also be, the unhappiness or discouragement that results when your hopes or expectations have not been satisfied, or someone or something that is not as good as you had hoped or expectations (webster-miriam.com).
Many of God’s people have been in a stuck place, a hurt place, and in a place of unfulfillment. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV declares, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” When it says here in this verse that, “hope deferred makes the heart sick,” it’s not meaning your physical heart. The word in Hebrew, leb, refers to your soul man. We are made of body, soul, and spirit. Our spirit can be strong but, if we don’t tend to our soul, it can take us out. Our soul is made up of our mind, will, emotions, capacity, and our belief systems. When we deal with heart sickness, we are coming into agreement with a lie or perception that is contrary to God.
It’s important to keep our souls healthy in the midst of disappointments, unfulfilled hopes and expectations, and the things that try to take our hearts out. Let God be the Jehovah Jireh of your emotions. He’s more than enough to meet anywhere you lack even, in your emotions. We keep our hearts healthy by washing ourselves daily with the word, meditating on the promises of God, and declaring His promises till they manifest in our lives.
When our hearts become sick, we become unanchored to hope. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, it says, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” Hope is not a wishful thought or an emotional feeling. Hope is an eternal truth anchored in the eternal realm of God. You can anchor yourself in the hope of God because we have a hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:5).
If you need hope, there is an unending supply found in Jesus Christ because He is the hope of glory. In Hosea 2:15 NLT it declares, “I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.”
In other translations, the Valley of Trouble is named the Valley of Achor. Achor in Hebrew means a place that causes sorrow, trouble, and affliction. It was the place where Achan and his family were stoned and burned to death because, of disobedience and sin. Because of His sin, it caused a disconnect between God and His people.
When Joshua and the people went to fight AI, a nation they should have easily defeated, they were instead humiliated in defeat. Once Achan’s sin was dealt with in the camp, God was able to restore His people back to Himself. What has caused a disconnect in your relationship with God? It may not be as drastic as Achan’s sin but, it’s hindering your connection and relationship with the Lord.
The Lord keeps speaking to me that 2024 will be a year of restoration. What is restoration? Restoration is restoring back to the original state or condition, returning what’s lost, renewal, revival, reestablishment, the act of being restored (dictionary.com).
When restoration takes place, communion with God is restored which leads to our hope being restored. When hope is restored personal revival and renewal can take place. God desires to make all things new in your life. I prophesy over you that your Valley of Trouble is turning into a gateway of Hope. In this Season of the Door, God is bringing you out of the low place to a Door of Hope. He is the Door of Hope and the Gateway of Hope. I prophesy your season of disappointment is changing to a season of hope and joy.
Lastly, as you allow God to take disappointment from your heart it will give room for not only hope to grow but joy as well. Joy is one of the greatest weapons of warfare we have. In Proverbs 17:23 NLT it says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Joy is a safeguard to our spirits being crushed. Joy is a supernatural substance and it comes from the Lord. It is supernatural and infuses us with supernatural strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
You may have come into this year or December in tears but, I declare God is supernaturally shifting your tears to shouts of joyful laughter. It says this in Psalms 126:4-6 TPT, “Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again. Those who sow their tears as seeds will reap a harvest with joyful shouts of glee. They may weep as they go out carrying their seed to sow, but they will return with joyful laughter and shouting with gladness as they bring back armloads of blessing and a harvest overflowing! “
I want to encourage you that God has seen every tear and frustration you cried. He is using your tears to water the harvest of joy and restoration that you will carry in 2024. Keep your heart tender. 2024 is a year of double. In Isaiah 61:7 it prophesies, “Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
Hold on to this promise as you enter 2024. For many, it’s been a Job year, a time of great testing and loss. God is faithful. Not only will He restore what’s been lost, but He will multiply it to overflowing in your life. Allow God to remove the sting of disappointment from 2023, so you can walk into 2024 with hope and joy ready to receive what God has for you.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Prophet MJ
Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
[…] Open the full article on the kingdomwinds.com site […]