Well Able
“Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” – Numbers 13:30
Two cords lay untangled and strewn about in the dust from which they came… trampled on, flattened, and seemingly useless, a Third Cord hoovered over the two broken and separated ones and asked them a question He already knew the answer to.
“Children, who hindered you?”
The two cords wanted to blame each other, but they knew it was themselves and their enemy that was responsible. They believed lies about each other and fell victim to the deception of perception; taking in their own edited versions of reality. Their gazed had been fixed on each other instead of the Third Cord in their strand that brought them together in the first place.
“Change is always possible with Me,” the Third Cord spoke over them. “Children, don’t you remember that I brought you out to lead you in…? And when My people were finally at the Promised Land and sent in scouts to survey the land, they observed by sight… Giants, fortified cities, obstacles, snares… they became discouraged, fearful, disheartened, and doubtful… they backed down because they did not see past all of that to The Vision that lay beyond, up, over, and through all those hurtles… You see, I put those hurtles there on purpose… so that My people would learn to cling to Me, trust Me, believe Me, learn My character and have it become theirs. Those obstacles were in place by My divine decree to sharpen and grow and sanctify My people into becoming the very essence of compassion, grace, and My agape love. But when they made it to this answered prayer, they backed down because it was not an easy road at first, but a hard one. They asked Me why I would lead them to such a challenge and yet forgot that I also led them to the edge of the Red Sea with Pharoah’s army behind them. It’s for My glory, I responded, and their ultimate good.
But two, just two of My servants did see The Vision. They saw with eyes of faith and although they were outnumbered, they had My heart. They knew they could be Spirit-filled and build and were Well Able with Me to take hold of this answered prayer. Instead of seeing fortified cities as challenges to overcome, they saw them as cities already built for their taking; cities they themselves wouldn’t have to build from scratch. They saw fields and farms, waterways, and valleys full of crops they could lay claim to if they trusted Me for them… don’t you realize, My little cords, that I want you to be like those two who saw with My eyes? That is why there’s two of you. So, I ask, what hindered and discouraged you to turn back and walk by sight?”
“It was the patterns, they convinced me otherwise,” said the one cord… “I lost all hope for change.”
The Third Cord replied: “In your flesh you will assure what you see more of by patterns. That is natural, but I call you to the unnatural, to have a mind that’s constantly being renewed. There are other patterns to look back on. Remember what I have done for you in the past, the things I taught you and brought you through, and the words I spoke to you. Remember how I led. That’s what the two who surveyed the Promised Land did. Unlike the others, they leaned on Me and believed that despite the obstacles, they were Well Able to take hold of My promise to them.”
“But my gaze was blocked by her,” said the one cord. “And mine was blocked by him,” said the other.
“Children, don’t you realize that by Me bringing you together is My primary vehicle outside of your own lives to draw you closer to who I AM?”
As the Third Cord continued to speak wisdom over the two others, He picked them up, one by one, and began dusting them off individually.
“I made you opposites on purpose. The first woman and the first man were not alike but complemented each other. She had what he didn’t, and he had what she didn’t. That is the way I intended it.”
The one cord spoke up: “But we are like square pegs in a round hole.”
The Third Cord smiled and clapped His hands.
“Precisely,” He said. “I did that on purpose. The round hole is My image, and I AM breaking off your rugged, self-centered edges by grinding you into that hole. It’s painful at times, but are the results not beautiful?”
At those very words, the two cords noticed they were glittering like gold.
“Where did that shine come from,” the Third Cord asked. “You know gold doesn’t get purified until it’s in extreme heat, so that the substance of what’s there remains. The trials, the attacks, the hurtles, the obstacles, from inside and out, ordained by Me or allowed by Me, have all been used for your good and My glory. I waste nothing and I use everything.”
The two cords admired one another as the Third Cord spoke over them again, this time, straightening them out and drawing them closer.
“You can’t be two drumbeats,” He said, “You need to be in sync with Me, and that means submitting in reverence and humility to one another and Me.”
The one cord bowed its head in shame.
“But things were so bad,” it said. For one believed the other was too passive and the other believed the other wanted space… one was too cautious and fearful, the other was impatient and feeling unloved.
“That is when you need to stick it out the most,” said the Third Cord. “It’s not when things are smooth and easy, for what good or growth comes from just that alone? But it’s when the rubber meets to the road, when iron sharpens iron, when grace and love have to be put into practice even against the natural will that lasting change occurs.”
He continued, now twirling the two cords against Himself.
“Those who went in to survey the Promised Land were supposed to see that they couldn’t overcome the giants and the obstacles by their own strength or will. It was so that they’d have to learn and experience and see that I was with them as their faithful Third Cord. My people, the Promised Land, and Myself… a Holy Trinity in a sense, since that is who I AM, and who I AM also making you into…
I told My people they were going to take the land, and I didn’t go back on My word. I gave them the land, and they were not to care about who or what inhabited it, or the obstacles that lay ahead… they were not to be threatened by them. In the same way when I brought you two together, I intended the same. Many of those who surveyed the land saw the hardships and spoke negatively about the land I gave them, just like you two have spoken negatively about each other because you too saw the hardships and stubbornness and sin in one another. But all of that was beside the point. You were to cover those things and look to Me. You were to see past those things and let go of them and not let them hurt, offend, or move you for long, otherwise the inevitable false narratives in your minds would make the giants out to be much bigger than they appear.”
“It just wasn’t what I expected,” the one cord said.
“Expectations are what led to your untangling and being strew about and separated. Your ideals don’t matter, what matters is each other, who I have for you.”
“But she didn’t respect me,” exclaimed the one cord. “Because he didn’t love me,” cried the other.
The Third Cord intervened. “Don’t you see the cycle?” He spoke. “If one feels unloved, how can they show respect? And if one feels disrespected, how can they show love? It takes My humility in you to break the cycle and decide to show love and respect regardless of the other. That is the only way to break the cycle.”
The cords looked bewildered, but as they kept listening and gazing at the Third Cord, their goldenness shown through, and they felt themselves getting tighter and stronger in the Third Cord’s hands.
“I gave Myself for the church, and what was the extent of that?” He asked.
The one cord looked upon the other cord and saw her beauty. Then he lifted his eyes to the Third Cord and responded.
“Your life.”
“Yes,” the Third Cord replied, “And even though I was 100% in the right and you were 100% in the wrong, I gave it.”
The one cord finally confessed.
“When You told me she was the one, I thought she needed to hit a checklist to meet my expectations, but now when I simply look past that and put my hope not in her but in You, I see her with new eyes and I know she is everything I am not, and everything I need.”
The other cord looked upon him, knowing the same was true of her.
“My children, I don’t ever let anyone end up with the right person. I have everyone end up with imperfect people so they can learn to love them with My perfect love. I choose opposites on purpose to sanctify and solidify something deep and strong, not shallow, and weak. You’re meant to clash to expose one another’s flaws, to better one another, and to learn My agape and grace.
These ‘afflictions’ have made you both beautiful. In them you have discovered Me anew. It is a painful reward, My infiniteness fitting itself into your finiteness. If the timing was always right, then you’d just be living in your flesh. I’ve called you to live in the Spirit. I AM being formed in both of you.”
And as He finished speaking, the two cords found themselves wrapped tightly around Him, stronger than before they had unraveled. In that moment, the Cord of Three Strands was cast through a hole of a sail that caught the wind and headed out to sea, Well Able to possess the Promised Land.
