A Fresh Bake Series

Unsearchable Things You Do Not Know

So I’m not really a bread person. I know—shocking! The only thing that converts me and makes me think, “I need more of this in my life” is freshly baked bread.

And that’s how I feel when I come across a verse in God’s word that I’ve never encountered before, or when I encounter a familiar verse but in a new way. It genuinely thrills me and here’s why: it reminds me that God, who describes his word as daily bread, doesn’t offer us stale, old bread.

Having grown up in the church and with people of faith (❤️ y'all!), I've frequently heard passages preached on or spoken about in the same way. When I do, I find myself wondering, "Is the Holy Spirit really only revealing ONE THING to all these people? How can that be?" Well folks, he isn't.

It isn't that frequent flyer scriptures and their accompanying messages aren't important or of equal value. It's just that the Father is also in the business of doing and revealing new things, just as he says in Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Maybe you can relate to the longing for something new, for fresh revelation, for a fresh bake. I know I certainly do. This then, is how this series was born.

Keep scrolling to read two excerpts from the series below—I hope you find them refreshing! The rest, you can find here on Instagram.

Tell the People to Move Forward

“Tell the people to move forward.” That’s the command God issued to Moses in Exodus 14:15 as the Israelites were straight out of options. That’s right, this command came before Moses lifted up his staff. Before the waters were parted. When moving backwards wasn’t an option, but neither was moving forward. “Go forward? Huh. Where exactly?!”

Friends, they felt (and were!) stuck. But God…

And at this point, it’s usually the verse before Exodus 14:15 that gets a lot of air time. Maybe you recall it, "The Lord will fight for you, you only need to be still." Well that's what MOSES said. But what recently jumped out to me was what THE LORD said: Tell the people to get walking.

Most of the times (okay, I’ll be honest…all of the times) I’ve heard Exodus 14:14 preached or discussed, the main message is usually this, “If you are just still, at peace, and quiet (aka, choose trust), you will see God work.” I think this is often true. At the same time, however, sometimes we take this to mean that trusting God means doing nothing. Just watching. Just being still. Just being quiet, trying to keep our anxious hands from wringing and our souls from fidgeting.

And while this is how God sometimes asks us to demonstrate our trust in him as we wait for him for deliverance, salvation, intervention, or help for the huge miracle we need, sometimes he actually commands us to get walking. To be still in our hearts, yes, but to arise and take a step forward into the impossible thing—with him.

And this is quite the word. To move forward BEFORE all the chips are in. Before we know how things will turn out. Before he makes a way. While we're still a mess with questions and flooded with doubts. While the waters look ready to swallow us.

I'm not 100% sure why God didn't tell his people to move forward AFTER he parted the seas or, at the very least, began to—I mean wouldn’t that have been way more logical and convenient after all? Yes, yes, yes, he was after their faith, but perhaps he had another reason.

Maybe that reason was actually to prepare them. To help them get into position so that, when he did act, they could journey across the open sea without delay, so that by the time they got to the other side, their victory was so complete, so joyful that it was as if they had never had their back to their wall. Maybe he wanted to give them the gift of total joy…a joy that couldn’t be taken away, a joy made complete (John 15:11).

The Father isn’t just seeking maximum faith from you. He is seeking to maximize your joy too. To give back to you far more than he has ever asked you to give to him—that is, your for real trust and beyond theory sacrificial faith, which is truly so precious to him.

So, what what is your Red Sea? What are you facing today?

Why not take a moment right now to ask the Lord how he wants you to respond? Does he want you to stop and let him do his God-thing? Or is he asking you to take a step forward, then another? He’ll let you know if the particular situation weighing on your heart and mind is one that he wants you to face sitting still or walking forward. He knows which of these two responses is the one you most need and will most strengthen your trust in him, which is what he really desires so he can most maximize your joy and overwhelm your awe.

For Those Who Find it Hard to Tell God What They’re REALLY Thinking

“Pour out your heart like water before the Lord.” Lamentations 2:19.

I love stumbling across metaphors and similes in the Bible. They are some of the best ways for us to really catch what God is saying. This was the case for me when I encountered this scripture the other day. And, if you've ever wondered how honest you can be in prayer, this word from Lamentations 2:19 is for you.

Here are some things that stood out to me when I thought about how pouring out water is like pouring out one's heart to God in prayer.

💦 In the same way that water flows freely, your words to God can too.

💦 Water is clear and you can see through it—a beautiful picture of how we can show up before the Father. There is no need to hide anything. He sees through and clearly anyways.

💦 Have you ever experienced a time when water was scarce? Because water is life, we conserve it when we find ourselves in situations when there is little to spare. This is why we intuitively understand that to "pour out" water is to offer something truly precious. And that is what your lay-it-all-out-there prayers are before and to God: Dear to him. Most cherished. Valued. Not wasted. Absolutely received.

I'm not sure what's currently on your mind that you haven't felt sure talking to God about, but this verse says to pour it all out. Because it’s in sharing what’s really going on that an avenue is opened for us to connect with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the God who moves towards us. The one whose name is “Emmanuel”—God with us. The who left his throne to meet us where we are, which we will celebrate in the next two months at Christmas.

With all this in mind, friend, take it to heart so that, wherever life finds you, you don’t miss the chance to draw near today and tell him everything. He will welcome your out-pouring in the same way we treasure the pouring out of water, so let the flood come. Heaven can contain your tears, genuine doubt, hurt, delight, insecurities, and/or exuberance.

Kemi