I’m in love with God, and I’m a nurse.  Both of these things color how I view both the world and the Kingdom.  There are a number of us in the Portland/Vancouver area in Oregon and Washington that are and have been seeking the Transformational Shift that everyone has been hearing about from God for many years now.  I am calling it that because I believe that it will be more than just a ‘revival’ like those of times past, but a true transformation that brings about inner and outward change on all levels at speeds far faster than previously experienced ever before. I believe it will not be abnormal for an individual to go through 10-20 years-worth of inner healing and deliverance in a fifteen-minute period of time with the spiritual technologies and spiritual acceleration that God is releasing even now.  And that’s just one example.

With this release, there is a greater perspective that has to come into play—and a greater responsibility that we who are currently aware have to use to help steward this as it manifests in the earth.  In order to ensure new wine is not just spilled worthlessly through mismanagement, there is a new wineskin which must be provided.  In the same way, while it is not our job to provide either the wine OR the wineskin, it IS our job to partner with God to do what we can do, so that when we have done everything we have been told to do that He will do what ONLY He can do.

As we have been discussing a little of how to move forward to step into the living-out of this new wineskin, there are a few things that I have come to understand as a nurse that I think present an important topic for consideration as we walk out what God is doing in a responsible manner.  Please bear in mind that while I truly believe this is important, that it is only part of the puzzle.  Many others also have important thoughts to share as we all walk into the Greater Glory that God has for us.

I believe that as we step into this Greater Glory manifestation that is going to include but not be limited to physical healing, we are in danger of creating as many problems as those we solve by applying the power of God to situations.  I believe it is important to understand the problems we are in danger of creating in advance in order to adequately prepare to solve those problems before we make them exist.

Take a nursing home for an example:  When transformation power hits the building through God’s vessels of Glory, namely you and I, His children, people will get healed.  And this at first glance appears to be good, because it is.  But let’s look a bit closer at the scenario.  Let’s say that some friends and I walk through a nursing home and start healing people, at first a few things happen.  Albert the quadriplegic has a total recovery and gets up and walks himself into the bathroom for the first time in over 20 years.  Sally the stroke victim is able to eat and drink water that is at its normal consistency without having any danger of breathing it into her lungs.  She greedily gulps water without help and then dances down the hallway without assistance in clothing she put on all by herself.  This is the first time in 14 years this has happened.  It’s a miracle!!

While we are busy rejoicing over the miracles that God is performing (and we SHOULD rejoice), there is another problem.  Albert’s wife left him and took all the money with her over 15 years ago.  He has no money and hasn’t had a job in over 20 years.  He is now 68 and has no practical way of returning to the workforce.  Sally’s house was sold years ago to help with her medical bills, and she and her husband both moved into the nursing home together.  He died two years ago and her money is all gone.  She is 85.

For both Albert and Sally, they are healed, and it’s a miracle from heaven!!  But because we healed them they no longer qualify for benefits under Medicare.  Both of them have to move out.  Certainly, they have a couple days at most to remain there as the administrative staff are talking to a lawyer and are bewildered about how to kick these poor people out of their facility since nothing like this has ever happened before, but they are no longer paying customers and the facility needs the beds.  The fact remains that in a day or so Albert and Sally will be homeless and jobless, and with no additional resources.  Yes, they have been healed.  But now what?

In Albert’s case, there is a vague chance that one of us healers might take him in for a few months, help him get back on his feet, and maybe even help him find a job somewhere.  If we let him stay long enough, he might be able to get enough together to get an inexpensive car or similar, buy some clothes and accumulate some other household items and then move into his own apartment elsewhere.  In Sally’s case, things don’t look so good.  You see, we know that if we take Sally in, she will never leave.  She has no place to go.  And are we in for that kind of deep commitment?  What if she has future medical problems?  Medical bills?  The small amount of social security she gets doesn’t come close to meeting her financial needs, and she could quite reasonably live for another 10 years or longer.  This doesn’t even address her needs for food and clothing.  What is SHE going to do?

Let’s pretend that Sally’s needs were met as well.  What about the other 30 people in that care facility that we healed and just don’t have enough room or resources for??  And what is the facility going to do now that it has no residents—and thus no need for any of the staff?  It might stay open, but it could very well close.  We say that God is our Provider, and He is.  But it is easy to say “God is big enough” and harder, I think, to choose to cast a vision large enough that it solves the problems we create alongside the problems we solved.

As God comes and keeps on coming, we need to enlarge our vision and ask God for both insight and connections.  We need connections because no one can do any of this alone.  We all need to help each other and receive the help of one another.  And we need insight to foresee the problems we will create and have strategies set in place through divine wisdom and divine counsel to take care of these needs in advance instead of waiting until every emergency hits.  In 2 Kings 4, Elijah gave a woman direction from heaven to pour out oil supernaturally and this abundance of oil would solve her financial needs.  But with that instruction was another word of direction which told her to prepare by collecting empty vessels with which to contain the outpouring when it started.  In other words, when the oil started being poured into jars, it was not the time to be looking for containers.  It was time to fill the containers which had already been gathered at God’s direction.  We need to ask God for wisdom on how to move forward, because it is now time for us to set our containers in place, because the jar is being tipped and the first drops are coming down even now.