Recently, as our family was traveling out of state for the holidays, the song “Free Fallin’” by Tom Petty began to play on the radio. In that moment, the Lord began to speak to me. I heard Him say, “2019 will be the year of the free fall.” I immediately pulled out my journal and began to write. This is what I sense the Lord speaking for the Bride of Christ as we enter into this new year and new season:

2019 will be the year of the free fall. You have felt the momentum building, and everything has been leading up to this moment. Through many valleys, you have faithfully walked with Me. Indeed, I have been your fire by night and your cloud by day (Exodus 13:21). 2018 has been a year of extreme intensity for many, but know this, My Bride: not one thing that you’ve walked through will be wasted. Indeed, I have been strengthening and fortifying you for what lies ahead.

What has looked like tremendous loss, I will turn to gain. Am I not the God Who gives beauty for ashes? (Isaiah 61:3) What has seemed like an end is actually a new beginning! This will be a new chapter for you. Do not look to the former, for I am making all things new (Isaiah 43:19). I have been doing, and am continuing to do, a deep work in you. As you have been freed of the baggage and trauma of the past season, it is important not to pick it up again. For whom the Son sets free is free, indeed (John 8:36).

You are entering into this new year and new season free of the past yokes and entanglements. You have been emptied out to be refilled! As it is written, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Your hands are now free to carry the new that I am releasing unto you. Doors that have been previously shut will now fling wide with little to no effort, for I set before you an open door (Revelation 3:8).

A friend once told me during a time of prayer that she was hearing the phrase, “When it rains, it pours.” She continued to say that she believed the Lord is turning this saying into a positive phrase for the Body of Christ. I believe the Lord is saying now, “There will be rapid acceleration and assignments opening up for you. Even like the weather patterns, things will begin to change very quickly in this next season. You will see My blessings rain down on you, and you will be one who testifies of My goodness. You will be able to say with joy, ‘When it rains, it pours!’”

Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy (Acts 14:17).

“Be willing to lay down what I am calling you to lay down, and pick up what I am calling you to pick up. Radical faith and obedience will be required of you, but I will be with you; I will never leave or forsake you. Faithful I have been, and faithful I will continue to be. As you are stretched out of your comfort zone, know that you will be rewarded for your obedience. My will is the best and perfect place to be.

“As you allow yourself to free fall into My plans for you, you will be amazed at the places I take you. Like the caterpillar that bursts from its cocoon as a butterfly, you will soon soar to new heights with Me! Beloved, now is the time to get your hopes up. It’s a new day and a new dawn. Let hope arise! The Father is breathing fresh life and strength into you, even now! I am washing away the sorrows and heartaches from your past season. Truly the best is yet to come!”

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).