And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.. Psalm 1:3 KJV
"Remove me from the currents of life." Those were the exact words of my prayer this morning to Abba Yah. I wanted Him to remove me from the currents of life. What I mean by that is that I want to be away from the things that can cause me to sway and around the things that makes me rooted. I don't mean sway in the typical sense of being tempted to sin by having the wrong people around, I mean sway by becoming self-righteous, pompous, arrogant, prideful, and angry --- thinking I can trust in myself (or my knowledge of self) thinking that "I got it" and "I know enough." I also mean sway in the sense of living to please man rather than please the Creator.
It's easy to become a product of your environment. That can be a bad thing if you're environment isn't edifying or causing you to grow but it can be a good thing if you are in an environment where Yah dwells. Since coming into "this truth" or remembering who I am (of Israelite lineage), one of the first things I learned was how easy it was to get wrapped up in thinking that you're helping when you really aren't. I had 'woken up' so I thought everyone else should wake up since it was so plain and clear for me to see. I couldn't understand why others weren't following pursuit just as quickly and easily as I did, so naturally that caused me to get frustrated. I started to feel like it was my duty to express to everyone in some sort of fashion that they all needed to come to this 'truth' the same way I did and at the same time. Anyone see a problem with this? Sure I was constantly promoting Yah's Word and Commandments but I was doing it in the wrong spirit and effort. It wasn't long before I realized that that was a mistake --- that I had swayed in my thinking. If I wanted Yah's people to see the need for them to repent and come back to Him, it wasn't going to be by me expressing my frustrations.
Soon after that, I decided to just do what I knew I needed to do and things were going pretty smoothly. I would post things here and there on social media and I started to get 'attention' from others who lived the same way that I did and from those who didn't but wanted to express their 'opinion'. The next thing I realized was that I was slowly beginning to carve my posts to fit the different audiences that I was now attracting. I would post one thing because I knew other Hebrews would appreciate it and then I would maybe not post something or re-word something just to avoid those who liked to express their viewpoint in a rather less than inviting way. Not too long after that I realized that I had swayed again. My intentions were good but my efforts were wrong. In a rather long and transparent round-about way, I hope that you are beginning to see where I am going with this; but if not, I'm getting ready to tie it all together now.
Swimming is something that I love to do even though I am not very strong at it just yet. While on a volunteer trip in Tobago, West Indies in 2016, I was swimming in the ocean at Pigeon Point beach talking and laughing having a fun time with the trip organizer and other volunteers. Most of us weren't very good swimmers so we said that we would stay in one spot that wasn't too deep just to be safe. In the course of us laughing and talking, we noticed several times that we had swayed with the current and drifted off many feet from our original location. Because we weren't planted, we had no way of securing our location in the ocean! Psalm 1:1-3 KJV reads, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. This scripture tells us that the Law of the Most High is our delight and by meditating in it both day and night, we will become like a tree planted by the rivers of water!
When I first started out in this lifestyle, my delight was in getting everyone that I knew needed to wake up to wake up. Next I delighted in being able to gain attention and respect from those who lived and believed like me. Later I delighted in being able to avoid some unwanted and unnecessary drama. Although I loved Yah throughout all of this, my delight wasn't in Him and His word like it should have been which left me not planted like a tree and able to be swayed by the currents of life! Many times, our intentions may be good but they aren't beneficial to our people nor to ourselves. If you're not careful, you can chase good intentions and end up swayed several feet away from your intended location. I learned to plant myself into the Most High and His Word (Psalm 1:3 / Proverbs 18:10 KJV) instead of trying to cause others to repent by my words (or prideful, self-righteous acts of obedience) or trying to gain or dodge attention from others.
I now know that the thing that is going to cause my people and the world to see the light of Yah in me is me becoming that tree planted by the rivers of waters --- that is what is going to cause me to bring forth fruit in due season. They will see that something is different about this person; she isn't like the rest --- what makes her different? Only Yah can lead someone to repentance, only He can change their heart. I don't need to try to do it myself nor do I need to change/tweak whatever the message is that He's given me to share just because it may or may not be inline with the wood grain. I encourage everyone reading this to focus on Yah and His word; delight yourself it in, meditate on it day and night. Do not become easily distracted with the currents of this life, the currents of good intentions or the currents of fear, self gratitude, self-righteousness, or the currents of knowledge --- in doing these things, you will find yourself drifting instead of being planted.
Peace & Blessings,
-Yah'Annah