When People Let You Down

“Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary that you come with

swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there

teaching every day.

But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.”

At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Matthew 26:56 NLT

“At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Jesus’ closest friends abandoned him when He needed them the most. In His darkest hour

there was no man standing with Him. But His trust was not in man but in His Father.

And even though man let Him down and deserted him, His Father didn’t.

That is a truth we can hold on to when people let us down, because it will happen.

When people let us down, God will not fail us. He will never leave us or forsake us.

He won’t desert us.

And that is why we need to trust in the Lord completely.

Who is your faith in when things get difficult?

Are you trusting in people or in the Lord?

I am also reminded of Paul who had people abandon him as well,

“The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me.

Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them.

But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might

preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear.

And He rescued me from certain death.”

2 Timothy 4:16 NLT

Once again we see this amazing truth in action.

When Paul’s friends abandoned him the Lord remained by his side.

He delivered him from the enemy.

In a dark time of Paul’s life when it seemed like he was alone, he really wasn’t.

The Lord was with him.

So as I conclude I want to encourage you to trust in the Lord completely.

He will not fail or forsake you ever. He will remain faithful to you.

And remember that when people let you down, He won’t.

Bless you friends

Rolain

You will laugh again…

“And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 

Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. 

No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham’s child. 

But I have given Abraham a son while he is old.” 

Genesis 21:6

 

This spoke to me deeply. We live in a world saturated with darkness and in the darkness,

it’s hard to see God’s hand. It’s hard at times to see the good things He is doing for us.

Sarah was promised a child from God but she was barren and as the years went by she passed

the age of childbearing. It may have seemed like it was over but God was not done. He was going

to fulfill His promise to her. He fulfilled His promise to her!

He gave her a baby like He promised.

Where there was disappointment and hoplessness the Lord replaced it with laughter.

And that’s all we can do when He does good things for us. That’s all we can do when

He is faithful.

 

You may be in a dark place right now where nothing seems to be going right but know your

situation will turn around for the better. You will laugh again. The Lord will fulfill what He promised

you. It may seem like the dark times will never end but they will. You will have victory, and you will

have success. The Lord will not let you down.

What are you believing for currently? Don’t give up. Keep your hope alive.

A day is coming filled with laughter, your laughter!

Expect Him to move on your behalf.

 

Bless you, friends

 

Rolain

 

There will be rejoicing again…….

“The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings

of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly

and achieves strength!”

Psalm 118:15

 

I love the picture this verse paints. What a statement right?

 

This verse is prophetic for me in this time. There were seasons in the past

where the sound of rejoicing had been heard in my home.

But not at the moment.

There are things I am waiting on God for, things I am praying for

and that is why this verse spoke to me.

 

The victorious rejoice, the sick woman who has had her prayer for healing

answered rejoices, the man who has finally gotten a job rejoices, a young

man or woman who has received a full scholarship to the university of their

dreams rejoices.

 

Like I said before, this verse is a prophecy, a prophecy for the person who is in the

dark right now, for the person who is crying out to God for an answer, for

a miracle!

It’s declaring that, even though things may seem to be falling apart

in your life and things may seem like they are never going to get better,

and the pain will never go away, don’t despair because the day of rejoicing will

come. The day of rejoicing will come friend.

 

The healing will come, the breakthrough will come, the answer will come,

salvation will come!

That is a promise!

Let’s read that verse again,

 

“The voice of the rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings

of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly

and achieves strength!”

Psalm 118:15

 

No matter what the enemy throws at us there will be rejoicing and salvation in our

homes. No matter how hard he tries to keep us down he will not succeed. Let’s

look at another amazing passage of scripture,

 

“When the Lord brought back the captives [who entered] to Zion, we were like

those who dream [it seemed so unreal].

Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing.

Then they said, among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.

The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!. “

Psalm 126:1-3

 

I love this passage of scripture! The people of Israel condemned themselves when

they forsook the Lord.

They were taken captive because of their unfaithfulness to God.

Their enemies thought they had won. They thought they had eradicated them

for good. But that was not the end of the story for them.

He delivered them from the land of their captivity!

He turned their mourning and their darkness into rejoicing, into laughter!

There was singing and laughter where there was once dismay, pain and crying.

Where there was guilt and condemnation there was now favor and grace!

Where there was hopelessness there was now hope!

 

This was their testimony,

 

“The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!”

 

Your winter will end. The sound of rejoicing and salvation will be in your home!

You will not die, but live!

Believe in God’s word. No matter what you facing today believe there will be rejoicing

and salvation in your home. You will be rejoicing because God has been good to you.

There will be rejoicing because your prayers have been answered.

You will rejoice because the Lord has been faithful and continues to be faithful to you!

As I end I want to leave you with one more scripture,

 

“I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts

of the Lord.”

 

Bless you friends……

Rolain

 

Do we really understand His faithfulness??

“For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are

everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all

generations. “

Psalm 101:5

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

This verse has been on my heart this week. The Lord is so

faithful. This past week has been interesting because I have

been reminded about the things I am trusting God for. Those

things haven’t come to pass as yet. Nothing seems to be

happening. I have asked God the “why” question and the

“when” question and as I have done that the scripture I shared

has been bubbling in my spirit. Even in the “hard to understand

times” God is faithful!

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

It may “seem” like nothing is happening at the moment but

the Lord is faithful! He really is….

 

The word says “His faithfulness and truth endure to ALL

generations!”

God was faithful to Abraham when He told him to

leave his home to go to a place he didn’t know.

 

“The Lord had said to Abraham, “Leave your native country,

your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land

that I will show you.”

Genesis 12:1

 

A hundred and one things could of gone wrong for Abraham.

Leaving what you know to go to a place you have

never seen and never heard of is crazy right.

But Abraham obeyed and went and God’s faithfulness protected

him as he went. God blessed Abraham, protected him and

directed his every step. Abraham had favor where he went.

That was God’s faithfulness operating in his life.

 

The Lord was faithful to Adam and Eve when they ate of the

tree that God told them not to eat. They were doomed when they

ate the fruit. The enemy had won if it wasn’t for God’s

faithfulness to Adam and Eve! (Genesis 3)

Without God’s faithfulness we would be doomed.

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

Generations later we see God’s faithfulness in the life of Hannah.

She was barren and because of that she was constantly

ridiculed by Peninnah. It seemed like Peninnah would be

victorious. It seemed like her negative words would ring

true in Hannah’s life.

 

“So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because

the Lord had kept her from having children.

Year after year it was the same – Peninnah would taunt Hannah

as they went to the tabernacle.

Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not

even eat.”

1 Samuel 1:6, 7

 

But God was faithful to Hannah! He answered her prayer and

granted her heart’s desire by giving her a child, Samuel!

Year after year it seemed like nothing was happening for

Hannah. There was no relief from the taunting. But God is

faithful and even in that dark time God’s faithfulness prevailed.

Because of God’s faithfulness Hannah had a child and

a testimony! (1 Samuel 2)

 

“And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from

God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home

is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be

His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear

from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or

crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:2-4

 

God’s faithfulness is everlasting. Even in the end of time we see

His faithfulness!

 

Throughout scripture we see God’s faithfulness. Generation after

generation we see His faithfulness at work. His faithfulness

was at work then and it’s at work now. I know things don’t

seem to be happening right now but God is faithful.

Last month I went on tour to Zambia and I was involved in

a very serious car accident. I was supposed to be dead. At the very

least I was supposed to be seriously injured but because of

God’s faithfulness I escaped unscathed.

When my country came to a standstill in 2008 with no food

in the country and our dollar crashing it was God’s faithfulness

that kept me. When I didn’t know where the next meal would

come from God was faithful. So no matter what is happening

or not happening at the moment I know God is faithful!

 

Why I am sharing this with you? I am sharing this with you

because no matter what you going through know that God

is faithful. Troubles will come in their droves but

God is faithful and He will deliver you from them all!

He was faithful yesterday, He is faithful today and He

will still be faithful tomorrow!

His faithfulness will outlive us all!!

Because He is faithful your darkness will turn to light.

Because He is faithful everything will turn out alright.

The enemy will not win over you because of God’s faithfulness!

You will have a testimony because of His faithfulness.

Because of His faithfulness your posterity is blessed!

 

It will take all of eternity

to write of God’s faithfulness so as I close my hope is that you

will get a revelation of God’s faithfulness in your life.

I hope the very few stories I have

shared will encourage you to rely on His faithfulness in your hard

times. In the dark know He is faithful.

His faithfulness might not manifest itself in the way we expect and

the time we expect but know this, He is faithful!  That truth is

irrefutable! Have a blessed day friends…….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He turns dark situations into light!! (part 4)

This is the last post in my series on David. I love the word

because there is so much to learn. I have really enjoyed

this series. David truly was a man after God’s heart!

Let’s get going.

Some time ago I wrote a post on David titled “nine months

later……”

In that post I talked about David and Bathsheba.

 

“When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was

dead, she mourned for her husband.

And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her

to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

2 Samuel 11:26

 

That was the key scripture I used. David sinned and he didn’t

even know it!

David didn’t repent straight away. We know from the above

scripture that Bathsheba was in a time of mourning.

She also gave birth to a son and still David hadn’t repented!

For at least nine months we know David was in sin and he didn’t

even know it. Even when the prophet Nathan came and told

him a story that would expose David’s sin, David still didn’t

get it. Nathan had to tell David, he was the one he was talking

about in the story!

 

But we know the end of the story and I would like to pick up

the story there.

 

“Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her

and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name

Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the

hand of Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,

because of the Lord. “

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

 

This scripture amazes me. David and Bathsheba were not a

good thing. Death, pain, seperation, darkness had come

into David’s life because of that relationship.

But then something amazing happens, Solomon!

I think of Abigail, she was an amazing woman. Why didn’t

Solomon come through her?? I know, it’s a crazy thought but

I hope you understand where I am going with this.

I don’t think it brought a smile to David’s life when he thought

about Bathsheba. He killed someone because of her. He was

seperated from God in that time. There is no record of what

transpired during those nine months. David didn’t do any

exploits during that time. It was just a dark time for him

and Bathsheba.

 

I have a theory…..

 

“Now satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number

Israel. “

1 Chronicles 21:1

 

The enemy’s plan was to take out David. Bathsheba was how he

was going to do it. This was not the first time the enemy had

tried to take him out. he tried a few other times but God always

delivered him! And that’s why I believe Solomon came through

Bathsheba and not Abigail or David’s other wives. The Lord

would use what the enemy meant for harm for David’s good.

The enemy would not win! God would be glorified in the very

situation that was meant to kill David!

Please understand me, I am not saying Bathsheba was the

enemy. The enemy used that situation to try to destroy

David. He was supposed to be out at war but he chose to stay.

(read 2 Samuel 11:1)

The fight was always against satan and he would of won if

God had not stepped in!

 

As God was with David, He is with you and with me. God is our

Deliverer! The enemy will not win no matter what weapon he

fashions! I really believe that.

Even when David was blind to the sin in his life God came in

and saved him! God is so good friends!

What a testimony it was for David and Bathsheba. They would

look at Solomon and remember God’s goodness and mercy.

He turned such a dark situation into something glorious!

Be encouraged friends. God will not leave us alone. God will be

with us as He was with David.

David wasn’t perfect. But his life is a testimony of what a loving

God can do in a life of a man or woman who loves Him! I pray

this is a blessing to you like it was to me! Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

He didn’t want to go that way………!

And Judah said to his brothers, What do we gain if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites
[and Midianites, these mixed Arabians who are approaching], and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers consented.

Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. And they sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph [captive] into Egypt. (‭Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭26-28‬ AMP)

We know the story of Joseph very well. He had a dream from God and was not shy to tell anyone! His brothers hated him for the dreams he had been given and his parents rebuked him but the fact remains, God had great plans for him!

God had great plans for Joseph but he was thrown into an empty well by his brothers! What kind of thoughts did he have sitting in that dark empty well???
I can imagine him crying out to his brothers for mercy, pleading to them, begging them to set him free!

If that was not enough his brothers sold him into slavery!! The word gives us a clue into what happened that day:

“They said to each other, “We are being punished for the bad thing we did to our younger brother Joseph. We saw the trouble he was in. He begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. Genesis 42:21

God had a plan for Joseph that is very clear but,
he was first thrown into an empty well then
sold into slavery!!

Did he lose hope?? I would think so……! Was he confused and felt abandoned by God, maybe?

But look at what the word says about Joseph in the darkest time of his life:

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant.
[Gen. 45:5; 50:20, 21.]

His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron,

Until his word [to his cruel brothers] came true, until the word of the Lord tried and tested him. (‭Psalm‬ ‭105‬:‭17-19‬ AMP)

God had a plan for Joseph but God knew Joseph had to go Egypt if he was to accomplish God’s call on his life! And the only way Joseph could get to Egypt was as a slave!!! Just imagine if God showed Joseph all that before it actually happened?? I think Joseph would have refused. If Joseph had any say in the creation of his purpose, he would of chosen the most comfortable path! He would of chosen the easiest path! So,

Are you confused at how your life is going right now?
Do you think God has abandoned you?
Does anything make any sense right now in your life?

Just know that God is in control of your life and He loves you! He is guiding you!
Let me share one more scripture with you:

And the patriarchs [Jacob’s sons], boiling with envy and hatred and anger,sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him, [Gen. 37:11, 28; 45:4.] 

And delivered him from all his distressing afflictions andwon him goodwill and favor and wisdom and understanding in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
[Gen. 39:2, 3, 21; 41:40-46; Ps. 105:21.] (‭Acts‬ ‭7‬:‭9-10‬ AMP)

In all the difficult things Joseph went through, God was with him!
God delivered him from ALL his distressing afflictions!

In your dark times, in your trying situations, in your times of testing,
God is with you and He will deliver you! You are not alone!

Joseph thought he was alone in the empty dark well but God was with him, crying with him!
He thought he was alone when his brothers sold him into slavery but God was with Him!!
When he felt rejected because his brothers sold him into slavery God was with him!

As Joseph headed for Egypt he may of thought his dreams were finished but little did he know they were just beginning! You may feel like it’s end of the line for you but it’s actually the beginning! The enemy is lying to you! Your story is just beginning! Trust the Lord because He is with you!

Rolain