Samantha Wiraatmaja »

August 22, 2014

A Word in Season: Desert Exodus

“So many of my people are lost in self-pity. They are bound and trapped, unable to come out of their pain and inward-looking misery. I want them to come to Me. Turn their eyes from their hurting hearts and look to Me. Only My Love can heal them and set them free.

Now is the time for the people of Singapore to arise and shine, for I am doing great things in the land. I need my people to stand up and be strong. I need them to throw off the shackles and be free to undertake the tremendous mission that I am releasing even now. They need to break through their own natural defenses. Only they can choose to do so.

My people, why do you complain and say, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? I AM the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. I will not grow tired or weary, and My understanding no one can fathom. I give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in Me will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

These are days of great darkness and trials, and I know that many of my children have been hurt. I know that they are buffeted by waves and storms that have left them weary and discouraged. Come to Me and you will be safe. I will never let you go. But you have to choose. Choose Me, don’t push me away and shut me out with your own defenses.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most of my people will grow cold. The wickedness all around you can cause you to be hurt, afraid, disappointed, angry and confused. These emotions, if allowed to linger in your heart, will cause your heart to grow cold even to Me.

Beware that bitterness does not take root in your heart. But let My love fill you, because Love conquers all. Let Me satisfy your heart. Let Me be everything that you need. In these times of turbulence, I am the only unshakable constant.

Do not condemn yourself – you are only able to love to the measure that you have been loved by Me. You don’t have to strive; just come to me each day and ask Me to establish and root you in My love. All you have to do is ask. Ask Me for a revelation of how wide and long and high and deep is the love that I have for you; ask for a revelation of this love that surpasses human understanding. Only then will you be able to be filled with the measure of all the fulness of Me. Then you will find that the heaviness, hurts, and fear can no longer hold you down.

This is the secret of why death could not hold Jesus in the grave – My perfect love conquers all.

Arise. Arise and shine. For these are the days of the greatest revival the world has ever known. Many of you say, “Revival is coming.” I tell you now, “Revival is here. Revival has come, and it will keep increasing in intensity until even the world cannot deny it”. It will be as undeniable and as massive as a tsunami wave hits a nation. And the knowledge of My glory shall cover earth just as the waters cover the sea.

I need my children to arise and shine. Once they break out of their own defenses, they will be able to help many others out of their pain. They will then storm the prisons and set free the prisoners, find those who are lost, and bring light to those who are wandering in darkness.”

Verse references:

Isaiah 60
Isaiah 40
Matthew 24
1 John 4
Ephesians 3
Habakkuk 2:14

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August 10, 2014

Who Is That Coming Out From The Wilderness?

Dear friends, after more than 3 months of silence, I am back at the computer writing again. I have lost count of the number of times that I sat at the keyboard, hands poised over the letters to type, a million things in my heart that I longed to say to you… and the words wouldn’t come. They couldn’t come. I was unable to bring words out of my heart to put into writing.

Maybe it was the hectic whirlwind of house renovation and wedding preparation (we got married last month, hurray!) that left me too physically and mentally exhausted to do anything more than drag myself into a hot shower and the comfort of my bed at the end of each day. Perhaps it was a traumatic experience with cyber bullying earlier this year which left me staggering under the weight of a volley of terribly wounding attacks on this blog, instagram, facebook, etc. It has taken me months to recover from the trauma and hurt of that period of time, and though I am at peace and have forgiven them, it left me afraid to write; because writing creates ripples and I definitely did NOT want to rock any boats. Maybe my reluctance to write was the inner workings of God turning the focus of my heart back to Him again. Or maybe it was just my heart crying out for time & space to be fully present in the many changes unfolding in my life.

I think it was all of the above, and so much more. But irregardless of its genesis, I was undeniably in a season of wilderness.

It was numbingly painful. I was frustrated and angry – with myself, with others, with God. I tried to pray, but was hopelessly unable to bring prayer out of my heart. I remember on more than one occasion lying flat out on my back, impotent and unable to utter anything to God other than a cry from my heart from months of pent-up frustration, “Lord, I have been wandering in the wilderness for so long.”

I cried out for help, but God turned His ear away. So it seemed.

So I stopped praying. I refused to worship, talk to God or about him, and I put my Bible away, shutting it out like a painful memory of rejection. I stopped trying to get into God’s good books.

BUT THEN…. He spoke to me this morning. He spoke to me. He spoke to me!!

Words of comfort, rebuke (but with SUCH love and tenderness), and a prophetic word for my beloved nation Singapore. *I will share the word I received in my next post.

It was like a gulp of fresh air after what seemed like an eternity of almost drowning. I felt like a mermaid who had been trapped on land for so long, and was finally released back into the ocean. A huge weight has been lifted off my heart, and though I know that I am not fully out of this season, I at least know that I am not alone. God has not forsaken me. He is not angry with me. He loves me!

But as I look back at this season of wilderness, and every other before, I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t trade it for a desert-less life. Because the wilderness teaches me so much.

It has taught me that God’s grace is not by my works, but it has also taught me to keep the faith even in adversity and shadow of darkness (Ephesians 2:8). It organized my life even though it also kind of threw it into disarray – it helped me to prioritize by seeing what really matters in life, it helped me to know that so much of human strife and time is wasted on what is futility and insignificant in the light of eternity, it showed me the things that are truly worth living and dying for. The desert uncovered the true heart of myself; I might have once thought that I was holy and a pretty good Christian, but not anymore. God uncovers more of me, and in doing so, reveals more of Him, so that I can truly say, “More of You and less of me Lord.”

Gladly will I admit that I am weak, for it says in the songs of the wise King Solomon, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?”

Gladly will I admit that I am barren, for the prophet Isaiah declares, “More are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

Gladly will I remain in the wilderness for as long as I have to, because it shows me how jealously God loves me as He reveals through prophet Hosea, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.”

In the wilderness God is all we have, and we realize that God is all we need – that’s where we go deeper into the heart of Yahweh and come to know the FULLNESS of God’s care.

The LORD is my shepherd – He is Yahweh Rohi, “The Lord my shepherd”

I shall not be in need – Because He is Yahweh Jireh, “The Lord will provide”

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters – He is Yahweh Shalom, “The Lord my peace”

He restores my soul – He is Yahweh Rapha, “The Lord my healer”

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake – He is Yahweh Tsidkenu, “The Lord my righteousness”

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me – He is Yahweh Shammah, “The Lord is present”

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies – He is Yahweh Nissi, “The Lord our banner” (of victory)

You anoint my head with oil – He is Yahweh M’Kaddesh, “The Lord who sanctifies, makes holy”

My cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Verse references:

Isaiah 54
Song of Solomon 8
Hosea 2
Psalm 23
Matthew 5
Ephesians 2

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March 18, 2014

Godly Wives: Embracing Conflict & Enjoying The Process (By Olga Mills)

A guest post. Godly Wives is a space where women talk candidly and honestly about real issues in marriage.

My husband Zack and I have been married for 4 months. When I got the invitation from Sam to write about my marriage journey, part of me thought, “I just got married. I probably don’t have much wisdom to share.” But looking back, Zack and I would both say that it has already been quite a journey and we have grown so much.

If I had to reveal the secret of maintaining a close relationship with my husband, I would say it is conflict. I believe that many people, like me, do not like conflict. We have the notion that conflict drives people apart. On the contrary, as I have discovered in my marriage, conflicts help us to know each other better.

When Zack and I were dating, we naturally wanted to find out the other person’s likes and dislikes – what he liked to eat, what music he listened to, what hobbies he had, etc. We wanted to be able to do what the other person liked to do so that we could be together as often as possible.

Everyone enjoys the process of dating. This is because we all want to be known and understood. We want to be accepted fully and unconditionally by the other person.

But when we begin living together, other parts of our character are revealed… including the parts of us that are not so adorable or that we ourselves do not even know of. Even our closest friends have yet to see the worst of us because they are not with us 24/7. This is also the time when conflict arises.

What I have learned is that if we choose to run away from the problem or ignore the conflict, not only do we lose the chance to get to know each other on a deeper level, but the same problem will also surface again. On the other hand, when both parties are able to face the situation and communicate after cooling down, we then begin to see our weaknesses, and learn to accommodate each other. After talking things through, we feel that we have known each other more, and have grown closer to each other.

Therefore I encourage you, whether you are a single or married person, to develop the skill of talking out your conflicts. It does not matter if it is between friends or between husband and wife. If you treasure your relationships, you must learn to communicate and not give up on knowing the person you love on a deeper level.

This brings me to another important lesson I have learned through marriage. It is to enjoy the process.

Looking back on the past 4 months, if there was one thing that I could do differently, I would let myself enjoy the process of building a home. Just like many other women, I wanted my wedding to be special and romantic. Therefore, in the process of preparing for my wedding, I tried to control and make sure that everything turned out just as I imagined it to be. In the process of chasing after the results that I wanted, I forgot what the real focus was – my relationship with my husband. I could not enjoy the preparation of being a bride because I was too focused on getting the results that I wanted. I had to constantly remind myself that no matter how the wedding turned out to be, it was just a part of the process. The real deal begins after the wedding , which is known as marriage. After all the busyness of preparation has died down, it will just be me and my husband. Isn’t this just what I’ve always wanted, being able to be with the person I love most?

Things may not always be perfect, but I am learning to enjoy the process of doing something together with Zack. I believe this is the beginning of building a marriage.

In the course of our marriage, not only will we have to decide on what type of sofa to get and who will be responsible for washing the laundry, but we will have much more important life decisions that need to be made together. Therefore we should not forget that eventually we are just two sinners saved by God’s grace – we’re all gonna make some mistakes, we’re all gonna need grace from each other, and we all need to learn to receive God’s grace and give grace to one another.

I pray that we can all commit to grow with our spouses, and let God’s glory shine through our commitment with each other. For His grace is enough for us.

If you are interested, I would recommend you read an article called 9 questions to ask when your relationship starts getting serious. I find it is very practical for the singles, but some also very helpful for the married.

Olga Mills married Zack last September and they currently live in Taiwan where they both serve with YWAM. Seeing people’s lives get changed miraculously by God has been the favorite part of her job. She loves trying different kind of food, and has recently begun developing her baking and cooking skills. Read more of their story here.

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A Word in Season: Desert Exodus

Who Is That Coming Out From The Wilderness?

Godly Wives: Embracing Conflict & Enjoying The Process (By Olga Mills)

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