SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- January 4, 2010:

Your level of obedience to My Word and your faith in My promises will be tested. Disobedience and unbelief will be revealed in the fires of testing, and you will have opportunities to make corrections as necessary. Do not be afraid, for this is part of the cleansing process that will produce the power of My presence. Without the fires of purification, you will not realize the power.

This is a time of renovation and restoration and of coming into complete order in every area of your life. Order will be the result of allowing divine wisdom to direct your steps on every level and in every situation and circumstance. Seek Me continually, and trust Me perpetually.

You have experienced an upheaval and a shaking, and your foundation has been laid bare. Now, you can begin to be established and settled on a new level of understanding and stability. Stay in the flow of My Spirit, and you will regain confidence that I am doing a good work in you and will bring it to perfection. The worst is over, but it's not over.

The enemy has tried to isolate you and instill a sense of lonely desolation, but he is a liar. I am going to override this attack against you and give you a sense of connection. You will again know innately that you are a vital part of the whole. And, your fear of living without purpose will be a thing of the past. I am your purpose!

That feeling of being stagnant is going to be displaced as you yield to a subtle stirring in your innermost being. This stirring will make you feel unsettled and will create a desire to move, to progress, that cannot be denied. You can no longer live with feeling stifled, stale, and bored. It is My will that you break forth out of deadness; let Me lead you in newness of life and restore to you a sense of kingdom adventure.

Watch as I open doors of opportunity for you to shine in dark places. You don't like the darkness, but it still exists and grows more and more desolate. You are My light, and this darkness will not overtake you, but will be revealed for what it is by the light that is in you. Keep the lamp of the Spirit burning brightly within, and let your light shine!

The things that you have been required to lay aside for a season will begin to re-emerge, and even though they appear to be exactly the same, you will soon realize that this emergence is actually the manifestation of new growth. What you laid down had to go through a spiritual metamorphosis, and will come forth as born from above - changed in substance and nature. This is a resurrection of sorts, a seed sown in the flesh, dead, buried, and resurrected in the power of the Spirit. Rejoice!

The days ahead are pregnant with the hope of My glory and are ready to bring forth, says the Lord.