Dear thirsty ones ~ Thirteen months ago in January 2021, I wrote an initial post, Persuaded Heart, in a new Wellspring category with the potential of becoming a series for the year. 2021 came and went alongside our personal transition into a one-year sabbatical. This post lands timely in our 11th month.
Before I paused nearly all writing during our sabbatical time, Wellspring and our granddaughter celebrated eleven years. Though I was stirred then at the significance of the number eleven, I have held those embers in my resting hands these past eleven months. I’m glad I waited because transition and revelation are at the heart of the biblical number eleven.
Persuaded Heart – Eleven and Times of Transition
finds its expression at another personal, genealogical, corporate, and spiritual blueprint crossroads. Or more aptly, doorway.1 Transitions occur as life progresses. How life progresses often is determined as we enter the doorway of change before us when it appears in life events. At such times, our responsive choice to our times of transition either purifies more or muddies further the outcome.
The number eleven has two sides to its coin: remaining in rebellion or submitting to the King of kings. Yet another opportunity to move forward (to 12/gain) or backward (to 10/loss) is key to this “eleven place of transition”.
Doorways, in God’s economy, often reveal the bent of our soul and willingness of spirit, first toward Him. We see open doors and closed doors and natural reasoning ensues. While standing in the doorway is the King of Glory, beckoning us on into deeper relationship and greater outflow of His life in the new place He has waiting for us. Dear heart, He has already been where you have not yet placed your feet. Do not choose to be un-persuaded.
Daniel (11:32) prophesied, “Those who know their God shall be strong and do (exploits for God, valiantly, stand firm, display strength and take action).” This is my heart of covenant love with the Lord behind Persuaded Heart.
Biblically, there is a plethora of eleven examples and genealogical meaning throughout scripture. It is not my purpose here to lay out what is readily made known in your own Bible reading and study. If you’re into numerology, please use Wisdom’s discernment and caution as to the sources you draw from. Wellspring of Life is about sourcing from the heart of the One True God, our alive and present Lord Jesus Christ, the Word. New Age, divination, and false light have no part here.
Personal and Genealogical Significance
As I gathered steam from the breath-wind of Holy Spirit blowing on the afore-mentioned embers, He once again connected my personal dots, now in eleven-year increments. I am presently approaching twelve years of Wellspring of Life and our granddaughter’s 12th birthday. We are in the eleventh month of our pre-determined sabbatical. And, I found 2022 marks eleven years (in August) since I wrote the original Desert Days posts surrounding the significance of the 9th of Av – Standing at the Border and The Eye of the Needle.1 Hold that thought, now eleven years later …
I said it before and remain persuaded today, that our lives are very much inscribed in the Word of God. His is a Living Word that is life-giving to all of life. Including our very personal and genealogical blueprints and timelines. Amid all these personal elevens, in Father’s plan, I descend from my earthly father, the eleventh child of fourteen. That too has been significant in my life transitions and revelation, as He has shown me my life in His scriptures.
Whether or not eleven figures prominently in your personal cycles or genealogical patterns, there is a spiritual rhythm to your time. Your heavenly Father keeps both the blueprint and the calendar of your life. Lean in, listen, look, learn, trust.
Corporate Significance
This post also pays tribute to the corporate date of February 22, 2022. Social media and news clips have been flooded with nods, both secular and religious, to the calendar’s numerical significance. However, I’d like to encourage our hearts and challenge our wills that the door of transition is not open just for a day, but all of 2022.
The Desert Days posts referenced above were written concerning the nation of Israel after their deliverance from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. The journey across the desert to the Promised Land was a mere eleven days. Instead, due to their rebellion and murmuring, it turned into a journey of wandering the wilderness for forty years. A careful reading of Deuteronomy 1 sheds light on the significance God places on His mathematical Being. Eleven is a weighty number, with consequence. How our heart is persuaded bears future witness to God’s blessing and favor, or to another trip around the mountain of frustrated futility. We serve whom and what we choose.
Eleven most often has negative connotations – rebellion, judgment, confusion, betrayal, bribery, disorder, lack of trust in Father God, false authority and government, and being incomplete. Yet, in God’s purposed plan, eleven can also symbolize a place of godly transition. Even now, we stand at the threshold of grace-full lurches forward!
In the fortieth year of their wilderness wanderings, Moses read Deuteronomy 1 to the ones remaining and assembled at that time. It was reiterated to them in the eleventh month of Shevat, this time to a generation born and raised in the wilderness and poised to enter the land of promise. They are an ancient picture of our present reality of Christ’s redemption working on our behalf. May we not wink lightly at the things on which the Lord places great significance. Especially, the value He has attached to eleven and times of transition in our own lives.
Spiritual Blueprint Significance
There is an added benefit to our unique spiritual blueprint each time a doorway of transition appears in our life and we keep our eyes fastened on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. No one, least of all Jesus Christ, ever said that all doors are easy or desirable to walk through. However, stagnant wellsprings cannot deliver freshness. There are times God determines a new wineskin is in order, and it is often found on the other side of transition.
Tomorrow, February 232, marks eleven years since my breast cancer reconstruction surgery in 2011. Double elevens later in 2022, I can look back and trace the Lord’s loving hand and work of reconstruction in all the levels of my being – spirit, soul, and yes, the surgical reconstruction of my body. Most important and precious, though, is the knowledge and evidence of His life life’ing mine. His promises are not unattainable; they become Reality.
I bless you in 2022 with a heart set on godly transition in your life. His life-giving revelation and reality will follow.
~ Gracefully Free
1Desert Days – Standing at the Border and Desert Days – The Eye of the Needle; 2Do You Have a February 23rd?
©2022 Nancy C. Bentz – Author’s permission granted to forward this devotional piece in its entirety, including this copyright line.
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