“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” ~ Isaiah 54:2-3
I love the Message version of this verse, it’s translated as: “Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.” Wow, what a message, what a declaration for 2022!
If this is to be one’s declaration for 2022, we are told to first clear lots of ground for our tents; Jabez prayed in 1 Chronicles 4:10: "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Join me, as we enter 2022, in asking God to do the same in every area of your life and mines… not merely speaking in terms of wealth and prosperity but in terms of impacting the kingdom of God. Our prayer in 2022 is for God to increase our spiritual territory, to empower us to claim generations for the Lord. Might you too pray such a prayer?
The Message goes on to say, make your tents large. I recently read that a good “ask” for 2022 might be for the Lord to reveal to you in the blueprint of your life what needs to be removed so that He can enlarge the place of your tent. Perhaps the largest tent in the world has the brand name Coleman; it boast of offering extra protection for extreme and unexpected weather conditions. I believe, when asked, God can provide a massive, god-filled tent that gives divine protection and shelter from any and all unexpected storms – such tent has the brand name, Jesus Christ. So, shield us Lord in 2022!
The Message goes further to say, spread out! I interpret that to say, take wings and fly – take a risk in 2022. What’s your vision, what’s your hope? The vison is the fun part, and the Word of God gives assurance that it (the vision) will help get us through the times that test us. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.” Would you concur with me, that in 2022, it might behoove us to seek godly guidance?
And then, the Message says to think big! A very dear friend in Haiti once told me to dream big because we serve a big God. We need a dream in 2022 to motivate us, to stop the tiny voice in our head that might say “you can’t”, yet God says, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength - Philippians 4:13.
Finally, the Message advocates using plenty of rope, to drive the tent pegs deep. As we stand at the doorway of 2022, in anticipation of great things, what do you see? I see a long, extensive rope, I see an abundance of resources, people, funds, gifts, prayers, and support, all given for the glory of God, encouraging growth and expansion. The declaration is to build for expansion! Why? Because you’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
As you ponder the message in this blog, allow me to quote this phrase from the 1956 film “The Ten Commandments” when it was said by the pharaoh Ramses II -“So let it be written, so let it be done”. The meaning is: “I have given you an instruction which must be written down and then performed” - Build for Expansion!
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