Just Be Faithful
Sure it’s a brand new year but it’s a brand new year on the tale end of the old one and so much weariness is there, just after the busy Christmas season, and yet, it’s still time to get moving and get going once more.
Weary soul, do not give up just because you don’t see evidence of fruit. Don’t throw your strong faith to the wind in your perplexed and tired spirit of life. Do not lose heart for the good of all things or for the good of your ministry. Your reward is great and is to come from our God, the giver of life, in His time, but , your now reward is that still, small voice at the end of the day that whispers into your weary heart “You were faithful, in the small things! Well done thou good and faithful servant!” Ah, yes, and we dare not ponder the failures or the successes of the day but just be obedient to God’s leading. Rely on Him! Hope in Him! Find courage in Him and rise up with new strength for the weary days! ~k
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
Galatians 6:9, 10
“Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
New Year’s Resolution
So here we sit with maybe some disappointments about the whole last year and maybe you thought you left the old baggage at the 20.15 terminal but it beat you to the 20.16 gate didn’t it? It arrived before you did and so here you sit on the brink of the first day of a new year and it’s the same old, same old. Wouldn’t you just know it? That’s because bad news travels fast, bondage doesn’t break easily and old habits die-hard.
Some things just didn’t go as planned and some things were left undone and some prayers weren’t answered and some things we just wish were different somehow. But they’re not, so ~ what do you do with that? Hey, you! There are things that we just can’t undo and some things that just can’t be made different by us. Those things we have to accept and place into God’s hand for good keeping. Habits? We can make our new resolutions and begin with every good intention to change, but the old stuff creeps back in as “Self” creeps off the altar of sacrifice. The loose end stuff creeps in to leave us reeling in guilt or fear or insecurity and disappointment and so perplexity reigns instead of peace and what do we do with that?
David knew all too well the evil about him, and invokes God’ s help while praising His character. He knew how to pray to our God of mercy and compassion. “Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to You. Save me, for I serve You and trust You. Be merciful to me O Lord…..O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for Your help.” Psalm 86: 1,2,3a,5
So, beautiful soul, ask for God’s help as David did. Pray to our faithful God who understands all the chaos of your heart and knows about that baggage that haunts you even into the New Year. Pray David’s prayer or pray a personal prayer on this brand new day of a brand new year. Open the windows wide on 2016 and without a speck of fear or disappointment or frustration breathe in the fresh air and newness of life.
A new resolution? Yeah, for sure! Go ahead and let go of the past and step into peace with God.
I can choose to dwell on my insecurities, my weaknesses, my hurts, disappointments, my frustrations and the failures of my past, allowing the enemy to crush me under the weight of their load, or I can lay them at the foot of the cross with a broken spirit, stand back and watch God make beauty out of ashes as He weaves His golden threads in, around, over and through the confusion of my broken dreams. God doesn’t want my perfection, He only desires a humble, repentant and willing heart. His desire is to pour His unconditional love and grace upon me to bless me, and give me peace, but He won’t control me. He gives me the freedom to choose “His life” over the enemy’s death. The choice is up to me. ~k
Begin again and watch God do something new!
“Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 14: 18 – 19
Maybe last year left you with battle scars and you feel afraid and alone in the midst of some pretty heavy stuff on your plate. As difficult as it is to keep walking through it ~ keep walking through it with the Lord guidance. It’s through perseverance that our strength comes and our faith is made strong. Those things that don’t make any sense to you, don’t have to! They will in time and when they do you’ll see it’s those very things that were being gently guided and controlled by your Faithful Heavenly Father. Without any of your help it will all fall into place.
Pray, Relax and Walk on dear friend. trusting God to lead the way. Walk on ~ Don’t give up!
Psalms 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”
Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:3
Despised, hated, criticized, rejected, judged, condemned, abandoned, tortured, impugned and put to agonizing death on a cross for my sin and for my infirmities. It was my sin that crushed Him. My sickness, my disease, my sorrow that weighed Him down. It was my weakness that He carried and my rebellion that He was pierced for. Greater love hath no man than this, than a man should lay down His life for His friends. John 15:13. What amazing love in His terrible death. What unspeakable joy and victory in His glorious resurrection!!! The cross could not stop Him. Death could not defeat Him and the grave could not hold Him. He reigns supreme as my Redeemer, my Restorer, my Healer and my Savior. Our God is brilliant, and even in our greatest thoughts of Him, He is greater still. His plan of salvation goes beyond any thought I can fathom. His thoughts are too high. I can not attain unto them. He guards, He guides, He leads, He protects. He watches over His creation, His people, His universe and His world in all the splendor of His omnipresence, and in all the power of His omnipotence. He’s not caught off guard, He’s never surprised. He never abandons and He never forsakes. Imagine our victorious Lord, victorious even unto death, as He sits at His Father’s right hand, in His all-powerful presence, interceding for us, for our sin, for our repentance, for our failures and for our forgiveness, for our desires and for our petitions. Is This not powerful? Friends, this is victory!! It’s our fervent prayer born out of humility, in all humbleness of heart and attitude that unleashes the blessing of God’s supernatural power to strengthen us to be lights on the hill, and salt in a desperate, faltering and dying world. Yes, prayer performs His Strength, His Power and His confidence in us and through us, in our life of service, in our world of ministry, in our struggles, our temptations, and our shortcomings. Christ is the doorway to deliverance, repentance and forgiveness and His authority prevails. He is entirely strong and He is my strength, my Rock and my Refuge. He is my provider, my councilor my confidante. I must turn in, relinquish my failures, my fears, my insecurities, my weaknesses and my hang-ups to this all Powerful,
all-knowing one, whose victory is secure. I must catch a glimpse of the cross of Christ, the empty tomb and my resurrected King of Glory and rejoice today in the God of my salvation and in His resurrection power!!!
You Be blessed in the sad and yet joyous celebration of the cross. Rejoice in His power over death, the magnificence of the empty tomb on the third Day, and the ultimate victory of our Risen Lord. May you be embraced and warmed in the Father’s love and blessed with joy unspeakable as you rest in the Lord’s abiding love, grace and favor throughout this Easter season.
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 