Drawing the right conclusions from setbacks and failures…..

How do you respond when faced with a setback? How do you respond to failure?

If you are not careful you can draw the wrong conclusions from them. I am much better at this now,

but there was a time I used to draw the wrong conclusions a lot. The doubts caused by the failures and setbacks

wreaked havoc in me. The obvious response was to project all those negative emotions to the rest of my

life which was downright destructive.

 

There is a way to respond to setbacks and failures. Tearing yourself down because you failed is not the

way. It’s important to see failures and setbacks as “isolated incidents” Don’t let the doubts and other

negative emotions bleed into the rest of your life. You can grow after a fall, after a setback but make sure that’s

what’s happening. I am reminded of a quote that perfectly portrays what

I am talking about;

 

“Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your three other tires because you

got a flat.” – author unknown 

 

That is so true. We need to learn to draw the right conclusions from our setbacks. A setback doesn’t mean

we are failures. We failed yes, but we can get back up. We have another chance to try again.

Don’t let your setbacks and failures define what your tomorrow will be like. Don’t let them define what your

life will be like.

Remember to view them as “isolated incidents”. The Lord will lift you up when you fall.

He is more than able to turn around any situation no matter how bad. Look to Him when

faced with setbacks. Call on Him when you fall.

Bless you friends…..

 

Rolain

 

Singleness and its challanges…..!

“And her [promised] husband, being a just and upright 

man and not willing to expose her publicily and to shame

her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly

and secretly.

But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord

appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of

David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for

that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy

Spirit.

Matthew 1:19, 20

 

I love this passage of scripture. It challenges me so much as

a man. Joseph could of easily exposed Mary. It would of

been okay but he didn’t. He could of made her pay but

instead he decided to put her away quietly, secretly!

He didn’t know she was

pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit and

yet he sought to protect her!! In my eyes, Joseph is

THE man! What he did inspires and encourages me.

I could go and on but that is not why I shared his story

with you.

 

It’s been quite a week I must say. There have been things that

have happened this week that have made me think about

singleness more than usual.

For the record, I am at peace in my singleness. I decided

some time ago I would wait, really wait! God spoke to me

about how important this season is and if you would like

to read what He showed me then please click here.

 

Like I said before, this week, actually this past month has

been hectic. It started with a couple I met at a church

social. In short, the husband didn’t understand why I was

still single and actually suggested I wanted to get married

at fifty!! He then proceeded to try and hook me up with

a girl, not a specific girl but any girl. (you should of seen

the look on my face…haha) I was shocked!

 

That incident rattled me I must admit. I doubted if

I was doing the right thing – waiting!

I doubted if I really heard from God.

Is my head in the clouds?

Does God really have someone for me?

Those are the kind of thoughts I was dealing with.

A lot of people I know have been either getting engaged,

dating, or married. So you can imagine, I was not in a good

place!

 

It took a long time to get to a place of complete

trust in God for my wife. In the post I linked above I talked

about how I believed God was orchestrating my love story.

I was content with that. I was at peace that God was orchestrating

my love story. He was orchestrating the most amazing story not

because of anything I had done (not on the basis of never sleeping

with any girl or dating) but because He loved me. The reason He

would bless me with a wife was because He is good. All my

efforts to stay “pure” were rags in His eyes! They didn’t impress

Him and He was calling me to trust Him completely. He was

calling me to give Him this area of my life completely and I did.

It had been hard or so I thought, that was until the married

man I told you about said all those things.

 

After that I doubted everything God had promised me. As

friends were getting married and so on that doubt grew bigger

and bigger.

I even almost considered settling……

It was bad friends……yes, it WAS bad because God renewed

my faith this week. He showed me something in His word

that gave me hope again! I would like to share what He showed

me.

I shared Joseph’s story because there is a truth I want you to

see.

 

God was the integral part of Joseph and Mary’s union. On his own

Joseph would of left Mary but God intervened. He was involved,

He was directing his path……

There are many more examples in scripture where we see

God directing the affairs of men concerning who they were

to marry!

 

Remember Isaac and Rebekah. God led Abraham’s servant

right to Rebekah who was the daughter of Bethuel who was

Abraham’s relative (He was either a brother or nephew. I

am not too sure)!!!!

(read Genesis 24)

But this is the point, God was directly involved. He was not

idly sitting by watching Abraham’s servant. He was directing

him in his every step!

When it comes to our lives, that is what

He is doing. He is not idly sitting with crossed fingers hoping

we make the right choices. He is orchestrating things in our

lives but we have to let Him have His way.

And that’s what I did. I renewed my decision to wait on Him.

Things will come and rock my faith but I will keep on trusting.

 

If you are waiting on God for the person He has for you

know that He  can be trusted. He will not let you down.

People can talk, and let them. Your faith is in God and He

cares deeply for you.

It may seem like nothing is happening and time is going but

God WILL come through.

He is the One who is orchestrating your love story and

what a story He is orchestrating!

He can be trusted!

Blessings to you friends…..

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: Google images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because he had no convictions he……….

 

Hi friends…..

It has been a while. A lot has been going on. God has been working on me so much. He has been

revealing a lot of stuff I need to deal with. I want the passion I had when I first came to the Lord.

I have put a lot of other things first and I am having a hard time pushing them down. I definitely

need His grace in this season. Please keep me in your prayers in this season. Simply put,

I need a revival in my life, an awakening! There are so many things I am trusting God for but

they all count as nothing if I don’t have God, if He is not first in my life……

 

Anyway there is something I would like to touch on concerning destiny. As I always say and will

keep saying, God has a plan for your life. He created you for a reason. You are not a mistake.

On the road to discovering your destiny there is something you need and can’t do without.

That ‘thing’ is conviction.

To accomplish your destiny you need to have convictions.

 

PS.   When I talk about conviction I am talking about it in context of our walk with God.

There are lots of people who have conviction about the wrong things. We need conviction

but it needs to line up to the word of God! I wanted to make that clear as I start.

 

I want to share a scripture with you:

 

Your personal convictions [on such matters]–exercise [them] as in God’s presence,

keeping them to yourself [striving only to know the truth and obey His will].

Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he

approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do].

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because

he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not

originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its

approval by God is sinful]. (‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22-23‬ AMP)

 

The passage was speaking about people having a conviction concerning what they

decided to eat but there are lessons we can take from it that apply to our daily lives.

It is very clear from this passage that there is a connection between faith

and conviction. You cannot have convictions without faith. For example, I have a

conviction that God has a plan for me right. That conviction stems from my faith in God

that He has a plan for me. Do you see that?

It is important to have convictions in your walk with God even if they don’t

make sense to the people around you. Look at what this passage says:

 

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God],

because he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith.

For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done

without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. (‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22-23‬ AMP)

 

I have a friend who doesn’t eat pork. He has never eaten it ever!

Before I read this scripture years ago I made it my personal goal to change

his mind. I tried everything but I failed. But I am glad I lost because He

pleased God! He stuck to his conviction even though I didn’t understand.

We need to be like him! If my friend gave in to me, It would of been sin.

When I give in to someone else’s conviction even though it goes against my

own conviction it’s sin! Do you see how important it is to have your

own convictions based upon what GOD HAS SHOWN YOU…?

It may not make sense to the next person but that doesn’t matter.

 

What has God put in your heart? There are things God has put into

each and everyone of us! Will we listen to that strong voice or

will we shrink back in fear?

 

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because

he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith.

 

The truth is this,

You are condemned if you are not true to your convictions….ouch!

Stand by what you believe. Don’t be ashamed to believe what you

believe. Stand up for what you believe!

No matter what people say, stick to your convictions….

 

There are times I shrunk back. I shrunk back because I

wanted to please my friends,

I shrunk back because I didn’t believe what God had promised me would come

to pass.

I shrunk back because I was the only person and it seemed crazy to keep believing!

But whatever the reason it’s wrong!

Stick to your convictions friend!

Convictions reflect how much faith we have in God!!

Rolain

 

 

photo credit: Google images

 

 

 

 

 

Why we need to be still…….

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭10‬ NKJV)

I was meditating on this verse last night so I would like to

share some insights I got as I was doing that:

 

The word says, “Be still”

Stop all the fretting and worrying!

Stop the voices of fear and doubt!

Silence everything!

Being still is proclaiming to the enemy you believe God is bigger

than what you are facing right now!

It is you proclaiming, that God is bigger than your fears!

It is you proclaiming God is bigger than your storm because

if you can’t take the time to be still but have the time to fret

and worry then what are you really saying???

That’s what being still means.

Because in stillness we will see God for who He really is!

We will see God exalted!

In stillness we see God!

In stillness we will know Him!

It’s hard to see Him when we are scurrying about. It’s hard to see Him when we are striving in our strength!
It’s hard to see Him when our minds are racing wondering what to do!

Being still requires us to make a deliberate effort to silence the loud voices!

No matter how loud and convincing the voices are, they need to be silenced.

In stillness EVERY voice is silenced, every voice except God’s!

In stillness truth is revealed and lies exposed!

Be still and know I am God!

Rolain

 

 

Why “perfect” doesn’t work with God……!

In the past two weeks I have been feeling inadequate, not enough, useless, for the purpose God has for me. A door of opportunity has opened up for me but instead of proudly walking through it I have had doubts and more doubts! I have second guessed my ability and come up with a conclusion:

I am not the right person for the job. I am unequipped and unqualified for this. 

But as I had that thought I was reminded of Jesus and the disciples! Jesus had chosen them, entrusted them with the job of spreading the good news after He was gone! They would be His hands and feet, they were to be His voice! They had some VERY big shoes to fill….

These are the men Jesus called:

– They couldn’t stay up and pray with Jesus in His most trying time!  Matthew 26:45

– They fled and abandoned Him when He needed them the most. Matthew 26:56

– Peter denied Him.  Matthew 26:74, 75

– They struggled to understand what Jesus was saying a lot of the time! Matthew 15:16

– They couldn’t cast out a demon because they lacked faith.                 Mark 9: 17, 18, 19

– They fought among themselves.   Luke 22:24

 

This is what Jesus had to work with. These men who had so many faults, these men who let Him down so much, these are the men who turned the world upside down for Jesus. They gave their all for Him! These were the men Jesus commissioned to spread the good news! Despite their flaws Jesus used them and He still does the same thing today!

God knows your faults, your weaknesses, your failings, but He has CHOSEN YOU!

Don’t think He has made a mistake because He hasn’t!

Whatever your weakenesses know that He wants to use you! Will you let Him use you??

Don’t believe the lie that God can’t use you because you are not perfect! We are far from perfect but God can still use us!

As you can see, my fears and anxieties were very irrational. After having those feelings I realised something, God wants me to trust Him every step of the way. He knew I wasn’t qualified but He wanted me to trust Him to guide me.

I have a sneaking feeling this won’t be the last time He calls me to something out of my depth! My purpose is way out of my depth not because He is mean but because He wants me to trust Him. If I can accomplish my purpose in my own strength how would God be glorified?

God’s calling is always bigger than you, it is always out of your depth! With all your faults and short comings He wants you to trust Him! He has an amazing plan for your life…..!

Rolain

 

 

When the doubts come……

 

“If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”

Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” Mark 9: 22

That is a very bold word from our Lord don’t you think? As bold as it may seem this is what I believe God is saying. The man had asked the disciples to heal his boy but they could not so when Jesus came down the mountain the man must of thought it impossible.

I have to admit and say there are things that I ask God without even thinking twice. I just know He will come through and then there are things that are harder to ask for. But from this whole passage we see this should not be so. We are to trust in God. Mark 11:22 says,

And Jesus replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. (Amplified)

When we come to God we must not come doubting. It must be in total trust. But the story continues and we see something very important.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, Then I believe. Help me with my doubts! Mark 9: 24

We want to believe and we do believe but doubts get in the way. What are we supposed to do? The man cried out to the Lord for help. We need help when it comes to our doubts. If you don’t struggle with doubts then bless you……But for those who struggle with it then look to God. There are no “ifs” in God’s vocabulary and there shouldn’t be in ours.

You may be in a place where you think “it’s too much, I can’t ask God for that” or “can He really give me what I have asked for” but know that there are no “ifs” when it comes to God. It’s either, ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Nothing is too big for God. Bring your requests to Him in total faith and if you struggle with doubts then cry out to him for help. He will help. He wants to help us in our areas of weakness…..God bless

Rolain.