Deuteronomy 31: 6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
What a great victory statement Moses wrote here. Can you feel the power in his words?
Have you ever been victorious in something that has been extremely difficult? Maybe you are at that point right now but just haven’t stopped long enough to look back on where you came from and what it took to get where you are today.
I am reminded of a single mom who gets up every morning to care for her children sacrificing all she has inside her to persevere throughout the day, every day. There are very few moments she can slow down to see how she can say the words that Paul said. She has struggled but has not been defeated.
I can think of so many people who have been victorious over job loss, financial ruin, medical problems, depression, addiction, abandonment, divorce, loss of a child or loved one, handicaps, acts of racism, poverty, and religious persecution. Yet as I read the scripture again, the question came. When do we let God off the hook? When do we finally concede that God is for us and He will carry us through the most difficult times in our life? When do we acknowledge His unwavering faithfulness? When do we become in awe of His power, His compassion, His grace?
It has been a pattern of mankind from the beginning of time to struggle, for God to deliver us from struggle. For us to praise God but then to lose sight of Him until the next struggle comes, only then to question as to where He is or why this or that is happening or how am I going to survive. Can we ever reach a point that we face each new trial with confidence and not ask God to have to prove Himself over and over again, but rather to now know for absolute certainty what He means when He says He will never leave us or forsake us and that he will give us strength to do all things through Him and to ultimately treat all trials past, present, and future with pure joy?
James 1:2-4
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Stop today for a moment and assess your life and take inventory of how God has been there for you and conclude for yourself that He is truly God. And then take your next step boldly and with a smile as you recite your victory verse He has written on your heart.
If you have not experienced God in such a way to praise Him for your trials, then I encourage you to draw closer to Him and you too will have the chance to experience how a great God can work in your life.
Luke 12: 22 –26
Do Not Worry
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
See you in the victor’s circle!
Just a Thought…
