Have you felt as if anxiety, fear, and distrust have jumped onto your soul, weighing you down in the spirit? During the Dire Straits, approaching the 9^th of Av on the Hebrew calendar, worry can push into your mind, will, and emotions and tell you to operate out of fear, which presses you down.

As a Believer, it is important to see this as a time of testing, an opportunity to switch gears and be empowered by the Spirit to overcome.

Lamentations 1:3 says (emphasis added), “Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.”

During these Dire Straits, the approaching of the 9^th of Av, you have a choice of who will be in control: you or the Holy Spirit.

One will guide you into more distress, and one will guide you into promotion and victory. Which will you choose?

Join Rabbi Curt Landry as he explains how the soul can respond during the 9^th of Av time of distress and how you can be victorious by letting the Spirit take over during the storm of life.  

Transcription from Podcast (Revised for Readability)

Introduction

Shalom, and welcome to Ancient Principles, Kingdom Authority. I’m Rabbi Curt Landry. Understanding the ancient principles of God increases your Kingdom authority. You start to understand God’s habits, patterns, and ways because there are patterns through His Word intended to shape His Church.

When I got saved, I just fell in love with the history of the Bible. That’s why I love going to Israel, and I love going to Greece, Rome, and the different places mentioned in the Bible. Everything cries out.

·         Romans 8:22 tells us all of the creation groans together…

·         Romans 8:19 tells us creation eagerly longs for the revealing of the sons of God…

·         Romans 1:20 tells us that His eternal power and divine nature have been revealed in creation, in all the things that have been made.

If you learn the ancient principles of God, it will give you Kingdom authority to overcome now because if you learn from history, then you don’t have to repeat it.

The Dire Straits and the 9^th of Av

So I want to talk to you about a season we’re in right now, and it’s called the Dire Straits, leading up to the 9^th of Av, which is considered the saddest day on the Hebrew calendar because so many horrific events fell upon the Jewish people on this day throughout history.

It’s a time of distress and it’s called the Dire Straits in the Bible. And it’s between the 17^th of Tammuz and the 9^th of Av. The 9^th of Av, also called Tisha B’Av, is something you can read more about here: Tisha B’Av: A Day to Remember.  Many bad things happened on this day, such as the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Wars and destructions, all these different things continue happening at the same time in the calendar.

And why is that?

Because it’s a time of distress and pressure. So then, what do you need to do to stabilize and overcome during this time of distress?  Anytime there’s distress or pressure, there’s always an opportunity to switch gears to be promoted and overcome. There’s always an opportunity to switch, be empowered, and overcome.

The scripture says (Lamentations 1:3), “Judah has gone into captivity under affliction of hard servitude. She dwells amongst the nation, she finds no rest. All her prosecutors overtake her in the dire strait.”

If you’re in the Dire Straits, which is the 17^th of Tammuz to its culmination on the 9^th of Av, it is a testing period of time that comes every year. So for Christie and I, we know we need to be on high alert. But here’s the biggest thing, I want to tell you this. We never make major family decisions during the Dire Straits/9^th of Av.

What Happens in the Spirit During This Time?

We are prone to soul pressures because of the intense pressure and warfare that can happen during this time. This means we can get into the zone where we are…

·         Angry

·         Frustrated

·         Fearful

·         Doubtful

…operating out of the soul rather than our identities in Yeshua. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions move into control. So you have a body and soul (mind, will, and emotions). You have a spirit man, your human spirit man, and you have the Holy Spirit.

The Narrow Passage

During times of distress, the high pressured times, the soul—the mind, will, and emotions—can start to take over.

Think in terms of being on a ship. There are 4 people on the ship.

·         Body

·         Soul: mind, will, and emotion

·         Spirit-man

·         Holy Spirit

You are on this ship and going through the Dire Straits—a narrow passage. I used to live in Seattle and go boating with a friend, and we would go through the Ballard Locks—a narrow passage. Going through the Ballard Locks, you had to pay attention. There were other boats, and you had to go through narrow spots—this is a picture of the Dire Straits.

The Calendar

It’s like the rest of the calendar is more like being out in the bay or the ocean where you don’t have to pay so much attention to how you’re steering. But when you’re in a Dire Straits, you’re in that narrow place.

The 4 People on the Boat

In that narrow place, fear comes. Maybe the Holy Spirit was the captain of your ship until you got to this place. The Holy Spirit was at the tiller, and He was speaking to the second mate, your soul, saying, “Okay, we’re sailing now. This is our course. Everything’s good. The sails are trimmed. Everything’s good.”

Your spirit man’s going, “Yep, I’m in good shape here.” Your soul—mind, will, and emotions—is sitting over there in a lounge chair with a nice drink, with an umbrella in it and a big pineapple and going, “I’m the happy-clappy. Everything’s happy-clappy.”

Your body is all relaxed. You’ve got sun tan oil on. Everything is good. You’re going, “Wow, this is the greatest cruise there ever was. I’m just enjoying this.”

The Storm Comes—Fear

But now, all of a sudden, a storm comes, and the storm hits when you’re going into the Locks, and you’re going into the narrow place.

The spirit of fear comes, and it’s in your soul. It jumps up from the lounge chair, throws the drink over the side, goes over to your spirit man, and says, “Listen, I’m terrified, and I don’t trust that Captain Holy Spirit. Go over there.”

Here’s the thing… we have free will. If we want to take over the ship, He will step to the side and give you the tiller.

Your soul is staying, with a spirit of fear on you,

·         “I don’t trust Him. I don’t know why. All I know is that anxiety and fear have jumped on me. And we’re in a Dire Straits. We’re going into this narrow place. We’re not only in the Locks, but we’ve got a 60-mile-an-hour side wind coming. There are other boats. I don’t trust Him. I know that anytime I’m in trouble, the only person I can trust is myself, so I’m going to do this.”

So what happens now is your soul convinces your spirit man to push the Holy Spirit away and say, “Please go sit in the corner. We’ll handle it from here.” That’s when the problem comes because now you have the captain of the ship, who is your spirit man, traveling through spiritual Dire Straits in a storm, and is not qualified at this level of navigation. You may be the captain during the sunny day when everything’s going great, and there’s a 15-naut wind coming out of the south, and everything is happy-clappy.

But when you get into a Dire Strait, know this, you better let go and let the Holy Spirit have the captain chair back. You need to get Him back on the steering wheel and say, “You know what? Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of God Himself, the Spirit who not only knows the storm but understands all things in all creation, I need You back at the wheel.”

The Biggest Lesson to Learn During the Dire Straits Season

And so that’s one of the biggest lessons to learn during the Dire Straits season. When the pressure comes, do not immediately knee-jerk and get up from your lounge chair. Yes, the storm is here. Yes, the pressure is here, but you will always overcome when you say, “I am not going to let my spirit man, me, my free will take the wheel from the Captain Holy Spirit.”

The most practical thing I can tell you is to let the Holy Spirit lead. When the fearful thoughts come, when your body says, “I’m up out of the lounge chair, I do not like this. The waves have come. I spilled the drink all over my lap.” And then you’re blaming it on the Holy Spirit, the way He’s steering the boat, and it’s the storm.

It’s not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s got under control. Look into the Holy Spirit’s face. You can see He says, “I’ve been through so many storms. It doesn’t bother Me.” But if you put your spirit man in control, it is going to get worse because that spirit man now is steering in fear. And anytime you move from fear, the storm’s going to get worse. There’s going to be an embellishment in your mind, will, and emotions. Everything has been hijacked to be magnified up to a higher level. That’s the key to understanding what is happening in the spirit during the Dire Straits season, the 9^th of Av.  

When fear comes…

·         Keep your body in the chair

·         Do not let your spirit man get to the wheel

·         Make a choice in your emotion to follow the Spirit

Decide to…

·         Pray in tongues because when you start praying in tongues in the Spirit, you speak out the same thoughts as the captain of the ship, the Holy Spirit.

·         Because when you speak in tongues, you speak what the captain is thinking in His mind as He steers your ship

Once you start praying and speaking in tongues, your mind, will, and emotions settle down, and the storm settles down. And praise God for that. And you can go back to your lounge chair there and finish your drink.

Let the Holy Spirit know that you’re on His side by praying in the Spirit and praying in tongues. Praise God.

How the Patriarch Joseph Operated During the Dire Straits/ 9^th of Av

The patriarch Joseph can be an encouraging testimony during the season. Joseph operated in unique way during trying times for the purpose of later achieving Kingdom success.  

Joseph’s Assignment

Joseph’s assignment was reconciliation with his brothers and downloading a plan so that when the drought and the famine came that there would be enough food to feed not also all of Egypt but all of Israel. So that was the plan.

Looking back…

Joseph is in Goshen, and his father and his brothers are basically in the Promised Land. So now we’ve got to move them out of the drought, out of the famine land, and get them to Goshen where the provision is.

When his brothers come to visit him, and they don’t know it’s him because he’s dressed like an Egyptian, he has on all the apparel of being second in command under Pharaoh. They don’t understand that this is their brother. And so he’s disguised.

Now, he could have, in the Dire Straits season and time of distress, exposed who he really was early, but then if he did, it wouldn’t have brought his family back to him. There had to be a process.

So instead, he gave his brothers some grain, sent them back, sent a gift to his father, and if you remember, he planted a golden chalice inside some of the food, the barrels, and the wheat sacks and accused him of robbery.

And then they said, “Okay, if you want to come back, then bring your youngest brother Benjamin.” Knowing that if he brought Benjamin back, then Jacob, his father Israel, that Jacob, would then, in turn, be broken enough to cut the soul tie with his homeland to come and to be there.

And so this was part of God’s plan of getting everybody moved into Goshen into one spot for their protection.

During the Dire Straits, it’s good to tap in again, praying in the Holy Spirit, praying in tongues, and doing exactly what the Lord has called you to do in that season of time because Joseph had many seasons of time where he did things that didn’t work out too well.

·         He had a dream that everyone was bowing down to him. He shared it with everyone.

·         His father gave him a coat of many colors. He put it on, came out, and said, “Hey guys, check this out.”

All those things ended up getting him thrown into a pit. But when he was sold into slavery, he ended up in Potiphar’s house. He knew that in order to stay safe, he would have to do his best. So he wasn’t there bitter and angry saying, “You know what? I’m a slave now. They know I’m an important Jewish guy from Israel?” He didn’t. He went ahead and used the wisdom of his God to prosper Potiphar’s house, which in turn promoted him.

Then, because of false accusations, he ends up in prison.

·         In prison, he interpreted dreams, which promoted him to Pharaoh.

·         And then in Pharaoh, every plan and strategy he did actually put him into being the second most powerful man in Egypt at that time, and basically the whole world.

So what happened? What was the key? During the Dire Straits season, he chose to do his best. He chose to wait on God, pray in the Spirit.

If, during Dire Straits, you take the ancient principle and the Kingdom authority, if you’ll wait on God, and before you make a plan, go to God first and say…

·         God, what is the plan for my life?

·         What’s the plan at Potiphar’s house?

·         What’s the plan in prison?

·         What’s the plan?

·         What’s the plan for me being second in command?

·         What’s the plan when my brothers return?”

If you’ll go to the Lord first, get the plan from God, and then after you get the plan from God, follow the plan versus what we all have a tendency to do when we get a plan, we will come out of the Dire Straight season victorious.

After God gives you the plan, say, “Hey God, bless my plan.” He will test your plan during the Dire Straits season. It will be perfected. Don’t fight it. Flow with it. And let the Lord bring ancient principles and Kingdom authority in your life to the next level.

We’ll see you in the next podcast.

Bio

Curt Landry, founder of Curt Landry Ministries, and his wife, Christie, travel extensively, preaching and teaching about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Together, their passion is to empower families to live and leave Kingdom legacies and understand their own personal heritage.