Have you ever had a birthday ever feel unfulfilling?
This post might be pretty unpopular.
Have you ever had a birthday ever feel unfulfilling?
No I’m not talking about the insatiableness often associated to the day, like getting that gift you really wanted or expectations around friends or family doing this or that, but rather deep down something about the day just doesn’t feel right?
You’ve wanted MORE out of the day, but not for you, for our world?
You’re not alone. And quite frankly I have a hunch there’s boatloads of people out there who are going to identify with what I’m going to share next.
But I will caution you, if you’re not ready to have a day that you MIGHT hold really dear to you turned UPSIDE DOWN then I’d stop reading now. Here is your out.
But for the curious, for the one who wants to join me on this treasure hunt, boy do I have something to show you. Something that I just recently FOUND.
And it answered that feeling in my spirit that something just felt OFF with birthdays, with every year that cycled and went by.
Just wait till you hear, what I found…
But before I share the gold, I gotta back up a bit to what He revealed just prior.
We’re about to head into 2023! And as I pondered the coming year, and the expectations of so many things that await it, one of those is…turning 40 right smack dab in the middle of it.
40. A birthday, in our culture that is viewed as such a BAD number to hit!
All the dark jokes come to mind of being ‘over the hill’, every store has decor for such occasion and what’s the color?
…BLACK!
We even try to HIDE the fact that we are 40 when we finally hit the date never wanting to share that we’re over such an age. Why? Because “it’s all over now”.
Do you hear what I hear? SO MUCH DEATH is spoken over not only the day, but the time in our life!
What next then hit my spirit was quite the opposite. A reminder of so many stories from history of what 40 signified.
First with the story of Noah, and the ark in Genesis. When you read the account, what number shouts? 40. A number associated to a great transition.
A transition that came with leaving all they knew behind! In fact, the entire world that they knew. But then what came next?
A NEW BEGINNING.
A PROMISE.
A BLESSING.
But that wasn’t the only account that came to mind.
The second, were the Isrealites right after they left Egypt. Again when you read the account, what number shouts? 40. A number once again associated with a great transition.
A transition that came with so much expectation! After spending 40 years in the wilderness after fleeing so much captivity, what came next?
A NEW BEGINNING.
A LAND PROMISED.
A BLESSING.
But that’s not all that hit me.
With both accounts, can you also hear how important the heart position was of those present?
What would have happened with the account of Noah if they had NOT listened or chosen to trust the Voice of their God about not only what to do, but what He was doing? That He was going to be CLEANSING the earth?
What did happen to the Isrealites, right after leaving Egypt when they chose NOT to believe that the new land was going to be given to them, that a BLESSING was going to be given to them as their INHERITANCE? They first had to wander…for 40 years!
You tell me, how IMPORTANT is it that we listen to the Voice of BELIEF. But not only the Voice of Belief, that we fully BELIEVE in our INHERITANCE?
I think something has been stolen from us…
Instead of being reminded that 40 is a time of great TRANSITION, NEW BEGINNING, PROMISE, and BLESSING. What are we told? What are we given?
So much DEATH.
I think it’s time we RECLAIM our rights to the NEW! I think it’s time we reclaim our rights to His TRUTH!
I think it’s time we REALIGN with His DESIGN for 40!
How do we do that? Well, here’s where it really gets crazy. I told you I found something. And here’s where it could get really unpopular.
We just went through another holiday, one which this year was so set-apart for me as I was welcomed in to another families celebration. And it was so set-apart.
But set-apart in ways I did not expect. What do I mean?
I mean we all were not expecting the revelation that came that evening.
A conversation that led us on a hunt, and to quite the discovery.
A discovery I’ll share next;
As we pondered the holidays, a question hit my spirit “Why DO we even have birthday cakes and blow out candles? Where did that even come from?”
As I sat there with my friend and we did some digging. We were flabbergasted.
We found that the first cake and candles originated back in the Middle Ages. Cakes being started by the Germans during kinderfest, and candles on cakes by the Ancient Greece to honor Artemis the goddess of the moon. The lit candles on the cake represented the glow of the moon, and the smoke carried their wishes to the gods who lived in the skies. The candle were placed on the cake to represent the “light of life”.
Enter my fury, and so many more exclamations, in learning of such an origin and intent!!!!
WHAT THE FLIP FLOP?!?!
WAIT. You mean not only do birthday cakes and candles originate from worshipping a foreign god but they literally would BLOW OUT their lights?!!
AH!! And we stand in circles CLAPPING as the birthday candle blower blows their lights out?!?!!!
Aren’t we DESIGNED by THE Creator to BE A LIGHT and to let our light SHINE?!!!!
And here we are year after year, literally blowing our lights out on the day of our birth, the day associated to our IDENTITY, and coming into agreement with the opposite?!?!!
Jen is now FUMING.
Holy crap is the enemy crafty! But I’m on to him!
I’ve think we’ve got some contracts to KILL.
NO WONDER every year on our birthday’s we can feel so unfulfilled!!!!
Our own spirits KNOW something is not right! Something is WRONG with this design!
So maybe you are now like I was wondering next…what WOULD leave us feeling fulfilled on such an occasion?
Is there more to that cycling that we should be seeing?
Even doing?
THERE IS!
If you’re anything like me, I want to go back to the most earliest design, the earliest intent of such an occasion. What do I mean?
I mean the design and intent of our creator, not man!
We all know, MAN will fail us.
As I dug deeper into history what did I find? I found so much RICHNESS. So much blessing. And so much NEW.
Did you know that the Hebrews would celebrate every birthday by speaking a BLESSING? It’s called the Shehechiyanu. “Blessed are you, Adonai, Source of all life, who has sustained us, and kept us alive, and brought us to this time!”.
But that’s just the beginning. There’s so much MORE to this day in this time in history.
But the day also weaves in Psalm 118, it weaves in gratitude and thanks, it weaves in giving back and making the world a better place, it weaves in cleansing with Mikvah-ing practices, and it weaves in a REMINDER of our very inheritance and where we came from as all this is not only said over us, but woven into our very identity intentionally on a yearly cycle of renewal!
Side note; remember what happened with the design of the flood and a “cleansing for renewal”?!!
And here we have substituted all that RICHNESS meant FOR US to yearly remind us of our very identity all the way back to creation, from generation to generation….and we’ve substituted it for a cake and candles.
Literally blowing out the light we were meant live and STAY LIT.
I don’t know about you, but I sure want to reclaim my inheritance!
I sure want to come into alignment with my Creator’s original design!
I sure cannot WAIT to turn 40 in 2023, and reclaim it all!
I don’t see death.
I SEE SO MUCH EXCITEMENT in TRANSITION.
I SEE NEW LAND!
I SEE BLESSING!
I SEE PROMISE!
I see fulfillment, on a day, on a life and a design that we speak so much death over.
As you look at YOUR identity, your birthday, even 2023 friend, what do you want?
And more importantly, are you willing to ask the hard questions? Why do we do X over and over again…were did this come from?!
Back in the beginning of this post I mentioned a hunt. A hunt for treasure He’s been taking me on. And look what was just recently found!!!!
Anyone else want to go on a hunt like that with their Creator?
I invite you to join me in the hunt for more GOLD (it's free)!
There’s an Adventure just waiting for you, to join in the hunt. A hunt for so much more GOLD. A hunt that can and will leave you with so much more FULLFILLMENT!
If that’s YOU, click the link below!