Luke 12:22-34
I’m kind of up against the wall here lately. Waiting to see what happens with where I’m going to live in less than 15 days, how I’m going to pay for it if I do get a place, and just other things like my ministry that I feel I’m supposed to be doing. I feel God has spoken to me and given me words and scriptures and al that, but nothing has happened. I’m standing very much empty handed and putting all my hope in something I think I’ve heard from God.
Now this can be quite nerve racking if I let it be. You can very easily start to freak out and think things like, “Well, what if that wasn’t God?” “How do you even know God is speaking to you?” “Are you being lazy and just calling it ‘Waiting on the Lord’?” It’s really easy in these times for the enemy to creep in and blow all of that up even more, too. Literally, I am living on a prayer… ooooohhhh I’m half way there…
So it’s in these times that our faith is put to the test and we realize if we really mean the songs we’ve been singing. Is God really mighty to save? Is nothing impossible for Him? Even the old kid’s song, “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do! (For you!)” You have to pretty much look at yourself and say, “Do I believe these words or not?”
We must believe. We must believe that God ACTUALLY SPEAKS to His children , and that Jesus IS the Good Shepherd and knows how to lead His flock. We must believe that if God’s put it in you, then it will be so.
See, the problem is that so many people give up on the promise and their faith because nothing’s happened. We live in a society where success is measured by time. If you haven’t graduated by [now] it means you’ve been screwing around too long. If you don’t own your own business by [now] you’re not trying hard enough. If you ain’t married by [now] it means something’s wrong with you. In the Kingdom of God, though, it’s not about time. It’s about faith and the voice of the Lord. Don’t be afraid to wait. Patience and laziness are two entirely different things.
Hebrews 6:12
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Faith and patience always get the promise.
If you’re in the middle of July in Florida, how could you ever believe that it will get cold and Christmas will come if we haven’t seen it happen before? It’s like 900 degrees in summertime. You can’t even walk outside without shoes on because your feet will melt into the pavement and you’ll be stuck there to the ground like a statue, waving at people walking by. You can’t feel winter coming. You can’t see it coming. But it always comes. And we know it will because we’ve seen it happen before. In the same way, remember the things the Lord has done in your life and know that He will do it again. He is more faithful than the seasons.
So don’t lose heart because it seems like things are taking forever and will never come about, it’s a testing of your faith.
Jude 3
“I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once entrusted to the saints.”
Sometimes you have to fight for your faith and persevere for your peace. I know there’s been times been times where I’ve been going through something and I’ve prayed and then God has given me peace about it, and then in no time I’ve lost that peace. Does that mean that God never gave it to me? No. it just means that you have to fight to hold onto what God gives you sometimes. We have an enemy that wants to take what God gives you.
John 10:10
“The thief comes ONLY to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
You know sometimes I forget that God is stronger than the world He created. It’s all His. He knows what He has made and how it works. And I think these verses sum everything up:
Luke 12:29-31
“29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
It’s comforting to know that God knows. He knows what we need even before we ask. So ask. Don’t lose hope just because you can’t see what’s happening or how it all plays out. The only we need to see is Jesus.
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The day after I wrote this, I got a call from two of my close friends, Alex and Mike, about them needing a place to live, so we’re getting a place together now. I didn’t know where I was going to be living in a matter of days, but God provided!
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