“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1 NLT
If there is something we as sons and daughters of God need to always remember is that God is good. At His core of who He is, He is good. And it’s important to have that truth secured in your heart because the devil will try to challenge that truth by using the painful things we have been through, the heartbreak, the rejection, the loss, the unanswered prayers and so many other things. And we need to be careful to not listen to the lies he tries to tell us as he reminds us of the painful things that happened to us. A good example of that is with the people of Israel. God delivered them from 400 years of slavery but destroying Pharoah and his people but even on their journey to the promise land they doubted God. Their trust in him failed numerous times. Let’s look at what happened when they reached their destination.
“Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness! they complained. Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
Numbers 14:1-3 NLT
God in His goodness had led them to the promise land to give them what He had promised but the people didn’t understand that. Instead they thought God wanted to kill them and their children!! And this kind of talk happens a few times in the desert.
The enemy wants us to believe God is a cruel God, he wants us to believe God is evil, unforgiving, mean, hateful, uncaring, unloving and so many other negative things but we can’t let him convince us because at the core of who God is He is good. He loves us so much.
So let me ask you this.
What do you believe about God in the difficult times, when your prayers haven’t been answered, when things are not going your way? Or let me ask it in this way. Do you believe God has got you in the midst of all the terrible things you have been through? Do you believe there will be a turnaround in your situation because He is good? Look at some of the people in the bible. Job went through some terrible trials but God showed him His goodness by revealing Himself to him and restoring double what he lost. Then there is Hannah who was barren. God gave her a son eventually. He showed his goodness to Abraham and Sarah by giving them a child in their old age and fulfilling the promise he made to them. And then David. Even though he sinned numerous times God in his goodness extended his grace and mercy to him. He called him a “man after his own heart”
God at His core is so so good. Hold on to that truth no matter what comes at you. As I close I want to share one more scripture;
He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him.”
Proverbs 11:27 AMPC
So because God is good we need change our expectations. We need to expect good. The Word says we must SEEK good because when we do that we seek God’s favor! We go through so many tough things that at times we just expect bad things to happen. “No good things happen for me” is what we tell ourselves but that’s contrary to God’s word. We need to expect and seek His goodness to show up in our lives. Expect Him to answer your prayers. Expect the breakthrough to come. Expect the door to open for you. If I could sum it all up I would say,
Expect Him to be good to you! Period.
So with that I have come to the end of the post.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
I don’t know about you but I feel inadequate often when it comes to God’s purposes for my life. I look at the things He is leading me into and I am like, how am I going to do this Lord? And with that comes the insecurities. Thoughts like,
I am not worthy
I am not qualified
Who am I to do this?
Where do I even start?
And so many more like thoughts ravage my mind.
Recently I was feeling very insecure but God reminded me of a few things that I want to encourage you with if you are facing the same feelings of insecurity.
God’s purpose for your life will always be infinitely greater than your current abilities and strengths
He knows very well that you are not able to accomplish His purpose in your own strength.
He is very in tune with your weaknesses and failings but in His grace and mercy He has still chosen you!
He wants you to trust Him wholeheartedly every step of the way because that’s the only way you can accomplish what He has called you to.
Another thing I realized is that the devil wants you to focus on your weaknesses, and sins so that you can disqualify yourself from God’s calling. Remember Moses.
When God called him, what did he do? Instead of saying yes Lord, he started giving excuses why he wasn’t the right candidate. Excuse after excuse he gave until he pleaded,
“But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else”
Exodus 4:13
The answer to feeling overwhelmed and out of your depth is not digging in and going at it alone in your own strength but it’s diving deeper into God and seeking His strength and wisdom.
Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. You are enough because God calls you His son and daughter. He chose you not because you were strong enough, clever enough, rich enough, born in the right neighborhood, or because you went to the right school. It’s because He loved you and extended grace to you.
Whatever you do, don’t talk yourself out of his purpose. Take your insecurities to Him and drop them at His feet. Unpack every burden you feel and don’t hold anything back.
The Lord has amazing things planned for you so trust Him every step of the way.
The 9th of January marked my tenth year of blogging!
That’s a huge milestone for me. So much has happened from making the decision to start blogging. I have met some amazing people, got confident in my writing and even wrote a book.
I remember when I first started. I was afraid because I didn’t know how people would respond to what I was writing, and anxious because I didn’t know anything about blogging. “How was I going to do this” I thought?
But the important thing to note is that I did take the step of faith to start and God has been so good.
I want to encourage you to do what God has put in your heart to do. This is the best time to start. You may be like me who was fearful of the unknown or anxious but God is with you. He will help you as you take that first step. Just start friend.
If you gave up and think it’s too late to start again, you are not too late. God is the God of second chances and He is waiting for you. Don’t bury those desires God has put in you. That’s what the enemy wants you do. He doesn’t want you accomplishing what God has called you to do.
And as I come to the end of the post I want to thank all those who have been with me on this journey, new and old. Your support means so much to me. Here is to another ten years of writing!
I hope you had a great festive season with family and friends. I also hope you got a time to rest, recharge and reflect. I don’t know about you but I am so excited for 2022. I know God has amazing things in store.
One great thing about the New Year is the prospect of something new. New beginnings, new opportunities, new doors and so on. Everything is new, new, new
But I won’t be talking about that today. I want to focus on something else.
Another great thing about a new year is the second chance we get to either make things right, to do things the right way, finish a project, repair broken bridges in a relationship, to correct some mistakes made in the previous year, and the list goes on. Whatever that thing is a new year brings with it a second chance to try again.
And this is important to know because a lot of people carry shame, guilt, anxiety, fear and so many other negative things from the past year which has a definite impact on the current year. Those people end up believing that the New Year has nothing different to offer them.
If you are one of those people I want to encourage you that the God we serve is the God of second chances. No matter how bad you have messed up He wants to give you a second chance. Take Jonah for example.
God called him to go preach to the people of Nineveh but he ran away from doing what God told him to do. But instead of disowning him or punishing him, God gave him a second chance to do the right thing,
“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.”
Jonah 3:1-3
The Lord spoke to Jonah a second time and instead of running away like before Jonah grabbed the opportunity to do it right. And because he did Nineveh was saved from God’s punishment.
I also think of Peter who denied the Lord three times. One would think he blew it for good but Jesus gave him a second chance.
We serve a God of second chances. So as we are now in 2022 don’t let the mistakes and failures of 2021 stop you from having a great year. Take the guilt, shame, fear and anxiety you are carrying to the Lord’s feet. He has a second chance waiting for you.
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