Believing God when life is hard.


 

“[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed

that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!

 

Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good 

courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. 

Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord. “

Psalms 27:13, 14

 

It’s so easy to expect good things when everything is going well

for you. It’s actually hard to be negative when doors in your

life are opened and everyone loves you but what happens when

things go wrong??

What if nothing is working in your life?

What if everyone hates you?

What if things are falling apart?

It’s in those times, when expecting goodness isn’t so easy.

 

I have had a couple of rough weeks and to be honest it’s been

hard to expect the Lord’s goodness. Things have not been going

the way I wanted them to. . I have been public enemy number

one at times. In those circumstances it’s been hard to be

positive.

In my sad state it was easy to start thinking negatively.

It was so easy to tear myself down.

But that was not where God wanted me to stay.

He wanted me to focus on His goodness.

 

The enemy wants us depressed. He wants us to feel hopeless.

He wants us to believe nothing good will happen in our lives.

He wants us to believe God doesn’t care about us.

He wants us to experience God’s goodness period!

But the Lord wants us believe we will see His goodness in the

land of the living!

What are you believing today?

Do you believe you are finished?

Do you believe nothing good will happen for you?

Do you believe your circumstances won’t change?

 

The word for us today is to wait, hope for and expect the Lord!

It’s not easy to do those things but we have to be brave and

courageous!

We must expect the Lord’s goodness!

 

The author writes,

“what, what would have become of me had I not believed that

I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living?”

 

We can’t let the bad circumstances steal our hope?

We can’t allow the fear in the world to shape our expectations.

We can’t let the bad things that happen to us in life take God

out of the picture.

No matter how bad things are God wants us to believe we

will see his goodness!

He wants us to believe things will get better.

He wants us to believe that bad situation will turn around.

My encouragement to you is to expect the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living!

Wait, hope for and expect the Lord!

He wants us to expect His goodness because He will

turn the bad to good. He will turn that bad situation into

good. He will not let that

winter last forever. He will answer our prayers.

He will give us that breakthrough we are trusting Him

for.

What will you do today???

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

Why we need to endure in a broken world…..


no pain

This is crazy. There is so much bad happening in the world

at the moment. It’s enough to make you go crazy.

And it’s not just in one place, no. It’s everywhere. War, famine,

natural disasters, economic meltdown, and so on. You don’t

have to go far to know all the bad that’s happening in the world.

At times, the bad gets really overwhelming. It all feels so hopeless.

What is the answer in such perilous times and make no mistake

about it, we are in very perilous times. If you are not careful

your faith can get snuffed out by the bad that is happening around

you. I deliberately moderate the amount of news I ingest.

It’s guaranteed that if I spend a significant time watching the

news or reading it I will be left in a state of fear.

In times like these the prospect of heaven seems really

appealing.

 

“God will wipe away every tear from thier eyes; and death

shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and

mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions

and the former order of things have passed away. “

Revelation 21:4

 

I don’t know about you but I want that.

 

Things on earth can

be so diffcult so what is the answer?

Does God enjoy seeing us suffer?

Does He want us to have a hard life?

Does He have a plan in the midst of such tragedy?

 

I have to say, being born in Zimbabwe makes it a bit

easier to deal with what’s going on in the world. Our country

has gone through some incredible challenges which I have

talked about countless times. We have had to trust God

with everything we have got. The pressure we have

experienced has forged iron in us. The people who have

stayed and endured have come out stronger in faith.

 

God has a plan for keeping us in this broken world. In fact

I want you to see how imperative it is you endure all the

pain and hardships on this earth. Yes, we are just passing

through and yes we are not citizens of earth but we need

earth more than we think. Look at what James 1:2-4 says,

 

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are

enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into

various temptations.

But let endurance and steadastness and patience have full play

and do a thourough work, so that you may be [people]

perfectly  and fully developed [ with no defects], lacking in

nothing. “

 

 

Let me be clear, without the trials, and pain we encounter

on a daily basis we would not be fully developed. That’s what the

word is telling us. There would be no endurance, patience and

steadfastness built into us. We would be incomplete without hard

times and storms.

 

(let that sink it for a bit)

 

We need heaven but at this moment we need to endure on

earth for a bit longer! You may be fed up with the craziness

that is happening all around you but hold on, don’t give up!

God has a plan and He is in control.

 

So when something crazy happens to you or you hear of

bad things happening in the world don’t fret or panic. Like

James said, we need to count it all joy when those things come.

Instead of destroying us those things make us grow into the

people God created us to be.

Don’t run away from trials and storms.

Look to the Lord.

In a world so broken God wants us to step up, not back down.

 

Let me say it again, without pain, without trials, without storms,

without hard times we will not be complete. We need not pray

for those times but when they come our way our trust should

be found in the Lord…..

He is a good God who is directing our every step through the

most intense darkness the world has ever seen.

Will you shrink in fear when you hear or read of all the craziness

happening in the world or will you allow God to build patience,

endurance and steadfastness in you??

That is the question….

 

Bless you!

 

Rolain