Isn’t it a wonderful feeling when you realize what season you are in? For my sister Patrice and I, if we know nothing else, we know that this is a season in which God is unveiling His purpose and plan for each of us and showing us how we are connected. In this process, we have begun to look inwardly and uncover and acknowledge those areas in our lives that we need God’s healing touch to restore our broken spirits, wounded hearts and deliver us from our past that we may be free to walk into the call and destiny that is on our lives.
Last week, during my sister Patrice’s meditation time, she began to reflect on the wealth and gifting of our family members and what God’s intent may have been in blessing my mother with such a large “quiver” of children. As she continued to thank God for her family collectively and each person individually, the Holy Spirit spoke to her one word, “Equally Yoked”. Well, we all know from scripture what it means to be “unequally yoked”. In studying this myself, I found that it does not only pertain to marriage but in relationships in general.
Question: "What does it mean to be unequally yoked?"
Answer: The phrase “unequally yoked” comes from 2 Corinthians 6:14 in the King James Version: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” The New American Standard Version is a little more forthright: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other and to the burden they pull. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk slower than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles. When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another.
Answer: The phrase “unequally yoked” comes from 2 Corinthians 6:14 in the King James Version: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” The New American Standard Version is a little more forthright: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other and to the burden they pull. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk slower than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles. When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another.
I have personally experienced the deep pain and suffering that comes from being unequally yoked. It was once told to me, “right things done out of order will bring disastrous results”. In my former marriage, everything we attempted failed and I was ultimately distracted from my purpose.
As Patrice and I continue to flow in the Holy Spirit; to understand the will and purpose of God for our lives, we understand that we must first analyze existing connections/relationships for every person in our lives as should you. Ask yourself, how does he/she fit into the overall plan/purpose for my life? Just as you experience suffering and failure when you are unequally yoked, there is also power and blessing in being “equally yoked” with those God has assigned to your life. Not everyone is capable of handling where God plans to take you. So, as we begin the start of a new year, this is the perfect time to “clean house” and separate yourself from those connections that are not God ordained; that hold you back, drain you and delay you from stepping into the perfect will of God for his purposes to manifest for the Kingdom.
Although there is a wealth of untapped gifts and talents in our family as a whole, Patrice and I are sensing a drawing together; a spiritual alignment (based on childhood experiences and a painful past in general) of the two of us, our niece Kim and our eldest sister Carolyn to use our gifts and talents to minister to Abused Women and Children. What the enemy meant for our harm, God will use for our good. Although the full plan of God has not been revealed, we know that God is going to birth in us the capacity to establish a Women’s Center (Sista Katie’s House of Love); a home for teenage girls that have experienced sexual, physical and emotional abuse (“Auntie’s House of Hope”). Other family members have expressed interest in owning Restaurants, (“Katie’s Kitchen”); Companion Care services for the elderly, “WeCare Companions” and who knows what else is to come. There are books yet to be written, prophecies to be uttered, ministries to be birthed and a multitude of testimonies to be shared.
So for us, we already see the benefit and the blessing that will come as a result of us submitting to God, following the leading of the Holy Spirit as He continues to bring us together (equally yoked), using the pains of our past and the gifts, talents and resources to bring spiritual wholeness to those in need.
The Smith Family is being molded, directed and positioned to fulfill the call of God in our lives to leave a rich legacy for the next generation. We commit to “Knowing God” and we fully expect to experience His “Shekinah Glory” in our daily walk.
I hope you begin to reflect on the value of those in your life currently and seek God to show you who you are to be “equally yoked” with for this next season of your life. God wants you to prosper and succeed in all He has ordained for you
God be with you always,
Freda
