That was not a coincidence, God was involved!

“Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life,

“Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can,

because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven

years.

The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family

went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.”

2 Kings 8:1, 2

 

God’s word is so amazing. I love it and the lessons it teaches.

Before I continue I want to ask you something,

Do you believe Yeshua is directing your every step?

Has He planned your every step?

 

I strongly believe He knows and has planned our every step.

Even in the difficult times, He is directing us and is very much

in control.

There is nothing that happens in our lives that throws Him off guard.

Totally nothing!

 

Let’s take a look at the woman’s story for a bit. The man of God told her

to move to another land with her family because a famine was coming

to her homeland. The famine would last for seven years!

Getting up and going is no easy thing. She had to sell everything she had.

She had to make a new life in a foreign land which wasn’t easy.

 

What a risk she took right! There were so many things that could have gone

wrong but God I believe was directing her every step. He knew exactly

what was happening with her and had planned what would happen to her

because of her obedience.

 

Look at what happened to her,

 

“At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines

and went to appeal to the king for her house and land.

The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and said ,

Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.

 

Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life,

the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the

king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my Lord the king, and this is her son whom

Elisha restored to life.”

2 Kings 8:3-5 (emphasis mine)

 

That was no coincidence! How did she go to the king at the exact time Gehazi was telling

him about how Elisha raised her son from death to life?? There is no way she could have

timed it perfectly.

The only way that happened was because of God!

That’s the way He works.

Like Ruth just happened to be gleaning in the field of Boaz (Ruth 2:2-4) so it happened for the woman.

She thought she was just going to plead to the king for her house and land and nothing more.

She didn’t have the faintest idea that Gehazi was talking about her.

She had no idea how her life was about t0 change……

 

“Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, Give back everything that belonged

to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

2 Kings 8:6

 

This post is about how a loving God directs our

every step in ways we cannot even begin to fathom!

He has planned our every step friends.

You may be between a rock and a hard place but know that God is with you.

Nothing that happens in  your life escapes Him.

He is well aware of all that is going on in your life.

Have faith that He is taking you somewhere.

It may seem like you are at a dead end but its not true.

God will make a way out for you.

There is so much more He has in store for you.

He is leading you to pleasant places.

He is leading you to places He has appointed for you from the beginning

of time.

So as you take that step know He is directing your every step!

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

What do you believe about prayer?

How does God answer prayers? Is there a formula, a to-do list we have to follow? Well, a friend was speaking to me about prayer and this is what he had to say:

Throughout the Bible, God told His people to do something first before he answered their prayers. 

– God told Moses to strike the rock, and then water would come.

– The prophet told the widow to bake him a cake first. She believed God’s promise through the prophet and was kept alive through the famine.

– Before Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, He tested the their faith first, He told the mourners to first roll away the stone, then because of their obedience He brought Lazarus back to life. 

– Jesus told the blind man to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, then he would receive his sight.

– He told the ten lepers to go show themselves to the priests. When they showed their faith by obeying and heading in that direction, only then did God do the miracle. As they went, they were healed. 

 

I thought what he said was very interesting. You may not have an answer to prayer because He wants you to take the first step? As I read what he was sharing, things started popping up that I know God would want me to do first. Not that He is unable to perform a miracle because He is capable.

With that said, I don’t think God expects us to do everything. He wants to see our faith in Him in the first step we take! Do you trust Him, then step out? Have you prayed and not received an answer? Maybe you need to take the first step, in faith that He has heard you!

Rolain

No matter what happens, God is in control!

You have a calling….. You were brought to earth for a reason and that is the truth. What I have been thinking about are the journey’s of all the great men and women in the bible. I don’t believe the road God paved for them was easy. And this is the thing though, we read their stories and we know their ending but the actual people didn’t. For example, look at Joseph, Esther, and Rahab.

Joseph – We know his story but imagine what he went through. He was sold as a slave. What was going through his mind at that precise moment? Just before that his brothers threw him down a pit and were planning his death! Did he think his life would amount up to something? Did he feel like God had abandoned him? Did he lose hope? Did he ever feel like just giving up? I think he went through all these things but when we read his story we know the end. We know God would deliver him in a mighty way. We know he would become second to Pharaoh! We know he would save the world from a severe famine but did he? I don’t think he knew that when he was in the pit. But the fact is this, God was in control, even when things didn’t seem like that. He knew the end and that is what matters. Joseph may of felt abandoned because of the circumstances he found himself in but he wasn’t abandoned. God had not abandoned him! God was guiding him and making a way for him. God was preparing him for something big.

Esther – She was orphaned. She didn’t know who her parents were. She was abandoned and was being raised by her uncle, Mordecai. (Esther 2:7) And to top things off, she was a women. Not the greatest thing to be at that time in history. What did she struggle with? Did she even think she was called? Did she know God had an amazing plan for her? Did she struggle with identity and rejection? But as we read the story we know the end. We know she would be crowned the new queen and she would save an entire race! Did she know that in the beginning? I don’t think so but again, God was in control. She may off thought of herself as dirt but God had planned something so amazing for her. He loved her and God was with her. I wonder if she knew that in the beginning????

Rahab – She was a prostitute! I can only imagine what she went through before the spies visited her. She had to struggle with people mocking her. Did she struggle with abuse, physical and verbal? I most definitely think so. Did she struggle with self-esteem? People looked down on her? She was treated like trash. She wasn’t even a Christian!!! She was a prostitute for crying out loud. In her eyes and the eyes of everyone else around her, her life path was clear, there was no mistake of what she would amount to. She would amount to nothing!!! There was no hope for her. Did she believe that God had chosen her? Did she know something amazing was about to happen to her?? I don’t think so. But again, God was in control. He had a plan for her even if she couldn’t see it, even if everybody else around couldn’t see it. God had a plan and that made all the difference!

This is what I am trying to get to. God has a plan for your life. Even if like Rahab everyone says you are going nowhere, God has a plan for your life. Put your faith in God. His plan for your life is going to blow you away. Take comfort in the fact that, GOD has a plan for you. Your circumstances might be saying the complete opposite but God has a plan. Don’t give up. At times I don’t see. The circumstances around me get my focus off the bigger picture. But God has a plan even if it seems like He has abandoned me. Don’t believe the lies. God is in control. He created your beginning but He also created your end and it is wonderful!! It is grand and it is breathtaking!!! He knows how it’s going to end because He is the one who WROTE the end!!

Rolain.

How God Works On Our Behalf……

Where are you at in this season? Are you satisfied with where you are? Are you in a place where you don’t need anything? Or are you in a place where you need God to come through for you? Have you looked at your life and come to a realization that you need more of God? Are you in a place where if God doesn’t come through for you, you will go under? Does it seem like you just pray and pray with no answer? If you are in that place I would like to share something God revealed to me.

When God revealed this to me I was trusting God for some things. I would pray and pray but nothing would happen. It was a really puzzling time for me because I was not getting what I was trusting God for. Puzzling and frustrating until God showed me what I was doing wrong. Please get me, praying is important. You cannot be an effective Christian if you don’t pray. But what I am saying is, you can’t just stop at prayer. There must be more. In that frustrating season i was reading the story of the four lepers in the book of Kings. They were in a really bad situation. Look at what the word says,

It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, what are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.   2 Kings 7:3,4

I don’t know about you but that is a really bad situation!! But God managed to help them and a whole nation because of a simple act. They got up from where they were and starting moving!! And that is what God showed me. It is not enough to pray or to even desire. There needs to be more and that more is moving, you doing something!! So I was praying and trusting God but only as I started moving and doing something did God come through. Doors began to open, things began to happen. It is important in our trusting that we step out and do something. without works faith is dead. And the action may be something small, calling a friend, going somewhere, writing that letter, but do something!

As the lepers got up from where there were and started moving God did something amazing and that applies to you. This way that we follow is one of grace and I am in no way advocating for a works based life. The pharisees thought works would save them but they didn’t. What I am saying is, there needs to be a balance. There comes a time when we need to get up and act and that is the way God works on our behalf. A lot of the times we think God works by Himself, alone, but He works through people. That is the way He has chosen to move.

This is not an easy word. I am trying to walk in this daily. At times I forget I need to act. Sometimes I am just plain lazy, at times scared but if we are going to see God move on our behalf we will need to step out. My prayer for you is that God will show you what you need to be doing in your life at this moment. Amen

Rolain.