When you are faced with the impossible…….!

 

I have been talking to God about my life. I don’t know about you

but as I look at my life there are things I am trusting God for that are

way over my head. Things that are bigger than me.

I look at those things and I can’t even can’t make sense of it!

But it’s okay right?

Okay to dream big, okay to ask God for the unimaginable?

 

We all have something like that, something crazy and big!

Something only God can do….something you know that you

know only God can do!

 

But as I was meditating on the sheer absurdity of what I

was asking God, a friend of mine shared a scripture that opened

my eyes:

 

Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” (‭Matthew‬ ‭19‬:‭26‬ MSG)

 

There are a lot of things in life where we simply need God!

How many times do we try to do things in our own strength only

to fail?

God wants us to trust Him.

Whatever you are trusting God for no matter how big it is, please

know that you can trust the Lord!

 

You have a chance if you dare to trust Him, but no chance at

all if you try to pull it off by yourself because of your lack

of faith in Him!!!

 

So the word today is, trust! Trust the Lord when you are

faced with the impossible!

You have a chance in the face of the impossible if you will

trust Him but no chance if you try to do it on your own!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

The true face of grace……

Grace is wild. 

I didn’t understand what that statement meant when I first read it. I asked my friend
who had posted it and got some idea but only now am I beginning to understand what
it really means…….Grace is wild indeed!

As I sit here writing this post I realise I am where I am because of God’s grace. It is
because of God’s grace that I am here.

My life in its entirety is a testament of God’s grace!
Forget intelligence, wit, resourcefulness and so on…..

My life is a testimony of God’s grace and nothing else!

The reason I am alive is because of God’s grace

The reason I have hope and a destiny is soley because of His grace
Looking at my life it doesn’t make sense why I am here doing
the things I am doing. With the kind of past I had I should be
poor, lost, abandoned, without hope, purposeless and so much more….
but His grace brought me here…..

I may not have reached my destination but it’s because of His grace
I am even traveling!!!
Do we really understand how amazing His grace is..???

Because of His grace I am doing things in normal situations I am

not supposed to be doing. Some of those things are:

 

I teach kids every Sunday but when I started I stuttered badly!

God enables me every time I teach. I don’t stutter now! That is grace!

I love writing but I never pursued it at school. I have never went to

writing school.

 

I have lived in a country that has had one of the worst economies in

the world. The country came to a stand still, we ran out of food and

our dollar crashed and yet I am still here……!

 

Because of abuse I had NO self esteem, nothing whatsoever!

I avoided crowds and hated speaking in front of people. I hated

myself but here I am today knowing who I am and helping others

discover who they are in God. I don’t know about you but that

is grace! The person I am today is because of God’s grace!

 

God’s grace is not to be taken lightly. It’s His grace that carries us

everyday!

We have a chance at life and we have favor because of His grace!

We can face giants because His grace is on us.

We can walk through the valley because it’s His grace that leads us

out of it.

 

I have come to the conclusion that the enemy has no concept of grace.

He doesn’t understand it. If he did he would stop fighting. He would

stop trying to fight against God’s people because he would know his

efforts are useless because God’s grace is with us and protects us! He

may not understand but we do…..

If grace has got me this far what more my future?! I can look with confidence at my future because I know His grace is with me. Grace opens doors that I can’t open in my own strength.

Grace enables me to face giants

Grace gives me permission to ask the impossible.

When we are humble we begin to understand grace more fully!

Pride hides the true face of grace!

My desire and prayer is that you will begin to see more of God’s

grace in your life. His grace is truly amazing!
Amen

Rolain

Oh no….I lost the ‘list’!!!

“You don’t know what you want” were the words ringing in my ears after speaking to a friend this past week. The words were a bit harsh but he was right. We were talking about relationships and the challenges I was facing finding the One. Have you written your “list” he asked? Off course I did. I wrote the “list” a long time ago.

“The list, for those that don’t know is when a single man or woman writes about the attributes and character of the man or woman they want. It’s a very specific list of things you want.  (Is she tall, short, athletic, adventurous, is he funny, caring and so on?)”

But as I recited to him the things on my list something shocking happened……..There were things I wasn’t sure about anymore!! I was undecided…..! I began to panic, what was I going to do? Was I double minded because if I was the word says, “a double man is unstable in all his ways and he can expect nothing from God”!

But upon further thought I realized why I was unsure. As I have matured and grown in the Lord and met and interacted with a lot of women there are things I have come to appreciate that I never did when I was younger. Upon further thought I came to another conclusion:

If the woman I wrote about all those years ago has changed doesn’t that mean the woman I write about now is going to change as I continue maturing? To take it even further, does it mean its pointless even compiling a list when I don’t even know myself that well?? A list is important, this I understand. It is so important to have an idea of what you want. This is one area where you cannot be clueless! But this is my point; the “list” can’t be all we go by. The “list” is flawed because we as humans are flawed. Only God knows what you really need! It’s okay to have a guide line for what you want. That guide line is the “list” but don’t let it be your final measuring line!

So here I am with an idea of what I want. It is very detailed but at the same time it’s not. There are things I can’t come to a final conclusion about but I am trusting the God who knows me better than anyone else in this world. I don’t have to worry about an incomplete list because God the One who created my wife will bring her to me and she will be everything I expect and even more. I pray she is not exactly as I picture her because that means God has succumbed to my low and flawed view of the “one”! I pray that is not the case. I want the woman He has for me, not the one I have created for myself!

Rolain.

God is to blame for my problems?????

I don’t know anyone in this life who has never had a bad thing happen to them. We live in a broken world where bad things happen and we as children of God are not exempt from it. In this lifetime there will be suffering and pain but where we err a lot of the time is we blame God or a friend, or a system or the government, or the wife, husband and the list carries on instead of looking at ourselves first.
As children of God we need to know in our heart that God has only the best for us. His plan for us is good! God does not have any evil plans for you. His plan for you is not to be sick or poor or lonely!!! He has a good plan for you.
Let us take a look at Joshua because he had to learn that God’s plan for him was good. In Joshua 7 we read the story of Ai. This was a small city compared to Jericho. Joshua had just defeated Jericho and now they had to face Ai. It was so small that Joshua sent 3000 men to fight! Ai was supposed to be a walk in the park but it wasn’t. Instead they got defeated and to make it worse other surrounding cities would attack them and defeat them because of what Ai did!!! This was a problem and look at how Joshua responds.

Joshua said, “Oh, oh, oh…Master, God. Why did You insist on bringing this people across the Jordon? To make us victims of the Amorites? To wipe us out? Why didn’t we just settle down on the east side of the Jordon? Oh, Master, what can I say after this, after Israel has been run off by it’s enemies?
When the Canaanites and all the others living here get wind of this, they will gang up on us and make short work of us – and then how will You keep up Your reputation?
Joshua 7:7-9

Can you believe him? “Make us victims”, “wipe us out”, “gang up on us”….! These were the words used and a lot more. Joshua totally missed it here. From trusting in God, he went to fear! He forgot that God’s plan is always good. As much as I would like to sit here and criticize him I know I have prayed the same prayer and thought the same thoughts!! Have you? When things go wrong we look to other people to blame. It must be that person, we tell ourselves but we can’t keep on thinking like that. We need to trust the fact that GOD is GOOD. He will never do anything to harm us. He loves us.
The reason the Israelite s failed to defeat Ai wasn’t because God did something wrong, it wasn’t because He liked to confuse them, or it wasn’t because God liked seeing them fail!!!!
They were defeated because some one man sinned! Achan failed to listen to God and disobeyed Him.
When things go wrong who do we look to? Is the first instinct to look outside of ourselves?? That needs to change. God is not to blame for your problems. God is not unfair and cruel and evil. He is good. God is not the problem, you are! It’s you and me!! God wants the best for you but how often do we mess it up. Before you blame God look inside you. Start with yourself.

Is God to blame for the evil in the world and the pain and the suffering? No He is not. Let us trust in His goodness. He is good. Do you believe that???

Rolain