Character and Nature Week- YWAM DTS Week 7! by Kat Winter, November 16, 2023
Chris Tiempro, our base leader, spoke this week, and what a beautiful week it was! Chris exemplified what it looks like to lead like Jesus—simply by yielding to what God wanted to do over his own agenda and teaching. Letting the conversations shift and flow from tithing to a complete runthrough of the Old Testament… in one day! He shared His story with us and asked us to pull out who God was in the story and what He was doing. We were given a sheet of paper with the list of names of God on them and tasked to review our own story with God and pick one of the names and identify how He was reflecting this name in our own story. I picked Elohim—God the Creator, and I was surprised how easy it was to identify Him as creator! Below is what He showed me:
“ELOHIM
God: ‘Creator, Mighty & Strong’: God has created many things for me—jobs, unique ways of relating to people, and the world around me, an ability to see beauty all around me. He has created beauty in what I do and in who I am, with hope for who I am becoming. He has created countless ‘moments,’ big and small, for me to experience His love and heart for someone and, in turn, experience His love and heart for me as well. He has created story after story of Him turning what was ashes into something beautiful—relationships, health, finances… where there has been a lingering death over my mind, time, dreams, family, body, hopes, and future… He has created Life.. and life abundant. He has created in me the capacity to know him, to desire him, to believe him, to turn to him, to trust him, to be in awe of him, to learn from him, to be aware of him, to be like him. He has created connections within myself that I never thought would be rightly connected again, and with those around me… being so faithful to create the space and place I need in the season I need it with the right people to fill it. He has been an All-Powerful God—mighty and strong—when I am at my weakest!”
All Powerful Redeemer!
As the week progressed, I just kept seeing the Lord as The All-Powerful Redeemer. No matter what family background we come from or genetics, mindsets, patterns, and models set for us… God is always reworking His beauty, love, character, and nature into us. When we say yes to Jesus, we say yes to the power of the cross, which is able to fully redeem any aspect of our life! That is what I see as HOPE!
The night before the last day of the lecture, I had an awful night of sleeplessness and nightmares. Sleeplessness and anxiety always confront me with the questions: Do I believe God’s character and nature towards me? That He is my protector and is Good despite insomnia, sickness, anxiety, and night terrors? Do I have faith or do I follow my senses? Do I believe in God’s love and power to free and heal, or do I give in to the temptation to fear, self-protect, doubt, and come under the weight of discouragement? The latter has been my propensity, if I am honest.
That same morning, as I was feeling consumed with fight or flight, I noticed the clouds and how beautiful and light they were in the sky. They seemed almost joyful. I felt a song/poem come to mind with the idea that God is not brooding over us in anger, judgment, or anxiety! That is not His character. That is not His nature. As I scribbled it down, Chris began to share that the Lord wanted him to scratch the entire teaching that morning and to go off of Psalm 46. This Bible verse spoke straight to my heart—Stop fighting, be still, and know that I am God. He gave us the invitation to be still with the Lord, mind, body, and spirit. To simply lay down for the next 2 hours and listen to what the Lord wants to say & experience Him. I needed this more than he knew. The “stop fighting” feeling, as if I had to war on my own behalf, and to let the Lord encounter me was exactly what faith looked like for me at that moment. Peace finally broke through. II wrote The following poem/song as a declaration of the very nature and character of God in the face of what seems to be the opposite.
POEM OF THE WEEK
It’s not your character to hide.
It’s not your nature to lie.
It’s your promise to protect.
It’s your job to connect…
All that’s not of you.
It’s your responsibility to remove.
You don’t confuse.
You don’t brood.
You only redeem.
You only renew.
Come like the cloud that led the way in the past.
Come like the fire that didn’t allow the enemies to pass.
It’s not your character to hide.
It’s not your nature to lie!
Everything I have experienced…
I come boldly to you & sing…
You’ve died & overcome…every little thing!
You’re my great high priest…clouding over me!
Reminding me that you have experienced every single thing!
Now you’re on your throne in heaven and in me…
Breaking every system & renewing every little thing…
It’s not your character to hide.
It’s not your nature to lie.
You didn’t give your life to suffocate me or hide.
Prayers I can’t offer, nor humans will save…
It’s not my willpower or effort that will take this sickness away…
You be the magnet in me drawing it away.
Saving me from death, hell & the grave…
Saving my soul from the torment & making a way.
You’re the lawyer in heaven.
Declaring it’s been paid.
Silencing the accuser.
By the Lamb that was slain!
On the mercy seat, you’re ruling.
Over me, bringing grace, hope & faith
Into every single day.
It’s not your nature to lie.
It’s not your character to hide.
You’re the judge on the throne.
Bringing judgment on behalf of me…
Pointing to Jesus & calling me clean!
Prayer: God, you say, “Stop fighting, Be still, and Know that I Am God! I Am the one who defeats the nations; I am the one who controls the world!…. Make this a reality in my soul. Where there is a battle in the mind, bring it to stillness and help me to know and rest because you are powerfully working out what is best!