Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. IS. 43:19
Do you struggle like me at times to believe that the new thing is ever going to come? Sometimes it can feel like we have been waiting forever for our wounds to be heal, our family to be restored, that new job opportunity to happen, or our hope to refill. And nothing. Or so it seems.
One of my favorite Pastors, Steven Furtick, said that, “Revelation is more powerful than reason.” We don’t and won’t always know the “why” or the reasons for what we go through, but, God’s revelation (his truth) is always available to us and is jam-packed with his power. No matter what we go through we can seek God’s perspective and believe in his goodness and this is where freedom from the agony of unanswered “why’s” lies.
Here are a few things to ponder?
Why do we default to thinking that the devil is attacking us instead thinking that God is using this situation or uncomfortable place to free us from something planted in our heart from long ago? Maybe just maybe he is going to use this moment you felt rejected and unwanted at church to heal your heart from the rejection you felt when your daddy left and never looked back. Maybe just maybe he is going to use this trial to help you learn to trust him with your heart again, because he lost it years ago when you felt betrayed and broken by the very people who should have kept you safe. Maybe just maybe…(fill in the blank).
Could God be using this time in your life to propel you to something greater and develop the characteristics in you that you will need in order to not be overcome by where he wants to take you?
Is the enemy’s attack really bigger than what God can create out of it? Do you believe that Greater is He that is in you than in the world and that he can work all things for your good?
Why do we have a tendency to assume the worst of God? We need to flip our view. He doesn’t promise life here will be cheery and bliss, he actually promises the opposite. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NLT).
Do you know what was happening in Jesus’ life when he spoke these words to his disciples? ONE BIG HUGE TRIAL. He was headed to the cross to give his very life for us. His next words were: “Father, the hour has come.” Next came betrayal, arrest, torture, and death. But above all came the greatest GOOD ever known! His victory became our victory. A victory that gives us the ability to stare our past in the face and every last sin we have ever committed and say, “You no longer have power over me! Jesus defeated you – sin, failure, hopelessness, depression, abuse, shame, abandonment, anxiety, rejection and I am free.”
Have you ever really thought about the fact that Jesus’ trial, sorrow, betrayal, death had to happen for us to be free? Pain is simply a part of this life, BUT I choose to believe that not matter what comes my way God will use it to shape me, transform me, and free me more and more from myself. His ways are beautiful and good and he always has our best interest in mind.
Could this trial, time of sorrow, betrayal, rejection, loss, hardship, loneliness be the very thing he will use to free you, to bless you so that you can become an unstoppable blessing to others?
Hum…something to think about! If we keep perceiving God through the lens of punishing us or the enemy’s attacks as bigger than what God can do, we will continue to feel defeated. I often need to remind myself that GOD IS 100% GOOD AND HE IS ALWAYS FOR ME , even when time keeps ticking.
Believe, especially, when you cannot see, that God is working behind the scenes for your good!
Be blessed my friends and don’t let anything stop you from shining your LIGHT!
Until next time.