The Prophet Speaks: Apostle Stacey Woods

Apostle Stacey Woods

God has given to us the tutor of time, diligently leading us and instructing us as we journey through life. This season has introduced me to many valuable lessons, and I’d like to share some wisdom from the heart of my experience. I don’t claim to be the most prolific or profound, but by allowing you a quick glimpse into my present trial, I pray that God would speak through these words, and allow them to be used as a tour guide as you find your own way.

There are so many things we have a tendency to hold on to. However when the familiar friend of separation comes to bring a closure to one end, remember that the friend of completion is also following behind. Completion brings healing, wholeness, and renewal and I welcome them all.

There is a song that says:

[note]Time is filled with swift transition
Naught of earth unmoved can stand
Build you hopes on things eternal
Hold to God’s unchanging hand[/note]

[note]Hold to God’s unchanging hand
Hold to God’s unchanging hand
Build you hopes on things eternal
Hold to God’s unchanging hand[/note]

[note]Trust in Him who will not leave you
What so ever years may bring
If by earthly friends forsaken
Still, more closely to Him cling[/note]

[note]When your journey is completed
When the valley you pass through
Fair and bright the home in glory
Your enraptured soul will view[/note]

No matter how swift the transition is we must hold on to God, HOWEVER we mustn’t hold on to things that were. If we do so, we will never be able to embrace what will be! Ask God for the grace to go on, grow on, and to let go and let grow! We can’t be selfish, and we can’t be stagnant. We have the tendency to fight with all our might when we feel that things around us are changing, however we must not fight the process that God Himself is insisting we engage in. It won’t be easy and you may not be perfect (or pleasant). Your emotions may swing you back and forth and you may feel that all around you is shaken. Actually it IS shaking and that’s the point.

Read this:
Hebrews 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Job 16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

There are things that God wants to remove from you. IT’S NOT PEOPLE its things. People carry things with them, but it’s the things God wants to rid you of, not necessarily the people. However, when people lend themselves to carry the things…then they too must, if only for a season, be shaken from you and around you. It’s the process of the Lord, not necessarily an attack from hell. Be careful what you brand and name as the devil. GOD WANTS TO GET GLORY OUT OF THIS, AND THE PROCESS IS HIS!

The word of God let’s us know that in the shaking process, EVERYTHING that can be shaken off, WILL BE. Those things that are eternal, and that are to remain will last. Listen, I’m finding out that the eternal things last pass falling outs, arguments, misunderstandings, disagreements, and even years of not communicating. GOD WILL. LET HIM. But don’t YOU try to hold on to it. Just LET GOD! In the threshing process we are tossed. However the tossing is for a purpose and it is this- to separate what is flighty and useless from that which is weighty and needful. Submit to the separation of the flighty things in you (REMEMBER THIS IS NOT ABOUT PEOPLE, ITS YOU THAT GOD WANTS TO PERFECT). PLEASE don’t read this like—HALLELUJAH APOSTLE, GOD WANTS TO GET RID OF FLIGHTY PEOPLE! No, its YOU that He wants to perfect. Only the weighty things will last, and will fall back in place after the threshing. So it’s up to God what He will deem to be flighty. That’s the challenging part. BUT DON’T HOLD ON TO IT!!! Let HIM! Instead Hold on to God.
In 1906, Charles Albert Tindley wrote a song that said:

We are tossed and driven on the restless sea of time;
Somber skies and howling tempests oft succeed a bright sunshine;
In that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away,
We will understand it better by and by.

Refrain:
By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We’ll tell the story how we’ve overcome,
For we’ll understand it better by and by.
We are often destitute of the things that life demands,
Want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands;
We are trusting in the Lord, and according to God’s Word,
We will understand it better by and by. Refrain:
Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand
All the ways that God could lead us to that blessed promised land;
But He guides us with His eye, and we’ll follow till we die,
For we’ll understand it better by and by.

Refrain:
Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares,
And our hearts are made to bleed for a thoughtless word or deed;
And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best,
But we’ll understand it better by and by.

As I was driving on the highway yesterday, I was bothered by a car moving “too slow” in my opinion. The funny thing is, I was praying and asking God what to do in this situation. So many things and thoughts were encircling my head, and so many options were being presented to me from others, my own thoughts, and then from the voice of God. I had a hard time discerning, so finally I just blurted out, “TALK TO ME LORD.” Then there was this car. It was going so slow that it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to maintain my comfortable speed so I had to slow down. In my slowing down, I also had a chance to read its bumper sticker. It read SUBMIT. I was being cynical and remarked within, WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD PUT SUBMIT ON THE BACK OF THEIR CAR, I MEAN THAT COULD MEAN ANYTHING. WHAT POINT…

Then I REALIZED, God WAS talking TO ME. I don’t know what purpose the owner of that car was serving by purchasing a custom license plate with SUBMIT on it, but I do know that the slow moving car had a purpose in my life at that moment. However, I was too intent on passing up the car and continuing my prayer and seeking to even NOTICE what God was actually saying THROUGH the car.

Would you like to know what I did? I said FORGET IT this car is moving TOO SLOW, pulled into the next lane, then passed it. Suddenly I got it, YOU DUMMY DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU JUST PASSED A PLACE OF SUBMISSION??? WHAT IS THE RUSH, WHAT IS THE HURRY? WHERE DO YOU HAVE TO GO SO FAST THAT YOU DON’T TAKE THE TIME TO SUBMIT???”

So I’m trying, but my God its not easy to submit to this process and stop being stubborn. I’M A NATURAL FIGHTER, although I don’t always appreciate conflict. Like Job I was AT EASE, enjoying Jesus and all His joys, but now He has seen fit to SHAKE ME. I’ve been set up. I can’t resist the shaking because its shaking me and all those around me. I can’t kick against the prick, and I can’t hold on to what was.

I ENCOURAGE YOU, DON’T HOLD ON, JUST LET GO THE GRIP YOU HAVE ON YOUR DESTINY!!! YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL. GOD IS SOVEREIGN. Let God take you where He wants you to go. I will.
PRAY FOR ME.

[info]Stacey Woods is one of the Father’s chosen mouthpieces, dedicated to provoking God’s people to pursue His presence. A native of West Baton Rouge (Port Allen), Louisiana, now residing in Birmingham, Alabama, Stacey is humbly being used by God in the five-fold ministry offices. Stacey travels extensively throughout the country declaring the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Lord has trusted Stacey to found and establish many ministry works which include but are certainly not limited to the following: Promise Center, A Kingdom Apostolic Ministry — Founder and Pastor; Prophetic Company, A Kingdom Apostolic Fellowship — Apostolic Leader; Stacey Woods Ministries, Incorporated — CEO; Prophetic Company’s Ministry Training Institute — President.

Stacey is licensed as a Minister, consecrated as an Evangelist, confirmed and ordained as a Prophet, and licensed and ordained as an Apostle in the Lord’s church. She has been formally trained in ministry work at Christian Bible College (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) and scholastically trained at Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, Louisiana), where she holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Theology with a minor in Music. Her professional musical experiences include many appearances on the Bobby Jones Gospel Show with various choirs and ensembles, Singing on the steps of the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II (Xavier University 2000), and performing in various operas and concerts.[/info]