When Things Go South…

God is bigger than our circumstances.

We need to remember this constantly. Even when everything seems to be failing and crumbling around us.

Even when our circumstances are telling us that there is no hope, we need to trust in God.

There is a scripture that I would like to share that has been helping me so much.

“Though the fig trees should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields

yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer’s he makes me tread on my high places.”

Habakkuk 3:17

As you can see Habakkuk was having a difficult time. Things were not going well at all but despite what was

going on around him he chose to focus on the Lord.

The bad circumstances he was facing did not weaken his faith in God.

His faith remained resolute and unwavering.

What are you believing in the midst of difficult situations?

Are you convincing yourself that you are doomed, that there is no way out?

I want to encourage you to look to God. He wants to help you through what you going through.

Let me share one more scripture with you,

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.”

Psalm 146:5-7

The Creator of the Universe is our help!

The word says we are blessed because he is our Helper.

So don’t remain silent as go through the storm. Ask Him for help. Put all of your hope in Him.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God loves To Come Through For Us

“But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house.

And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug.

I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

1 Kings 17: 12

The widow at Zarephath was in a crisis. The little food she had left was about to run out.

She had gone to gather a few sticks she could use to cook the last meal for her and her son then die.

Like I said, crisis.

But God came through for her. He sent Elijah and when she obeyed him by making him a meal

first the Lord provided for her in an amazing way.

“So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.  

There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised

through Elijah.”

1 Kings 17:15, 16

I share this scripture because it teaches us a truth about our God – He loves to come through for us.

No matter how bad things get God has got your back.

No matter how deep you are in trouble, God will help you out.

When there seems to be no way out of the trouble you face, He will ALWAYS come through for you.

Throughout scripture we see this truth play out over and over and over.

With Daniel when he was thrown in the lions den

With David, when King Saul was hunting him down

When Hannah was being ridiculed for being barren

When the Israelites were trapped by the Red Sea as the Egyptians chased them

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.

God loves to come through for you.

So in whatever trouble you find yourself no matter how bad it is, remember that

God is for you. He wants to help you.

Ask for His help always!

Bless you friends

Rolain

With So Many Reasons To Live In Fear, Trust God Instead.

There are so many reasons to live in fear today.

You don’t have to go far to find fear. It’s all around us.

It’s on television, radio, the newspaper, Facebook feeds, WhatsApp Group Threads and so much more.

So what must we do when we come face to face with fear?

For the answer let’s get into the Word Of God.

In the second book of Chronicles chapter twenty, King Jehoshaphat was given some bad news.

A huge army was about to attack him. Let’s read what happened next,

“Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat saying, There cometh a great multitude

against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar,

which is Engedi.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout

all Judah.”

2 Chronicles 20:2, 3

When the king heard the news he feared. He didn’t try to hide it or ignore it.

But instead of allowing fear to overwhelm and paralyze him he set himself to

seek the Lord for help against the mighty army that came against him.

And when he sought the Lord for help, the Lord fought for him and destroyed

the army that came against him.

So like Jehoshaphat, seek the Lord for help when you are face to face with fear.

He will help you always.

He will hear your prayer as you cry out to Him.

Put your trust in Him in times of fear.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Where You Start Is Not Where You End.

On one of my recent podcast writing episodes I talked about this.

If you didn’t know, I have a podcast where I talk to authors and aspiring authors.

I provide tips, advice and encouragement. The podcast is called,

The Writer’s Creative Space.

If you would like to listen to the episode here is the link.

Anyway, as I recorded the episode I realized this was not just a life principle but a

spiritual principle.

“Where you start is not where you end” is a spiritual principle too.

I am reminded of Rahab. She didn’t have the best start. She was a prostitute and people

saw her in one way. Her narrative for a time was negative. I don’t think anyone saw

greatness in her. But that all changed when some Hebrew spies came to her.

Her life changed forever. Her narrative changed for good.

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed

with those who were disobedient.”

Hebrews 11:31

Her end was so much better than her beginning. And if you search deeper into her

story you will find she was included in the lineage of Jesus Christ!

What an honor, what an ending.

So you see. where you start is not where you end.

Let me share one more example.

The disciples were ordinary men with no real purpose before Jesus. They were fishermen.

I wouldn’t say being a fisherman was bad but it wasn’t the greatest thing to be.

The disciples were probably overlooked. They probably overlooked themselves!

But look at what happened when Jesus came onto the scene.

Everything changed. Their lives were changed forever.

They became fisher of men and turned the world upside down!

And that’s the other thing I want you to see.

Only Jesus can change the narrative.

Only Jesus can change the ending.

You may be in a place today where you can’t make sense of how your life is going.

You may not understand how God can turn it around but He can and will.

No matter how you have started know that your end will be very different.

Look to Jesus for help.

Trust Him to change the narrative in your life.

Trust Him to change the ending.

Bless you friends

Rolain

When The Enemy Has Appeared To Have Won, God Steps In!

“When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house,

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

But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.’

2 Samuel 11:26, 27

We all know the story.

David slept with Bathsheba and to hide what he did, he got Uriah her husband killed.

That was a dark season in David’s life, if not THE darkest.

All seemed lost for him. The enemy appeared to have won against him but God stepped

in! He intervened in David’s hopeless situation.

He stepped in and pulled David out of the dark pit he was in.

When Nathan the prophet confronted David he was quick to confess his sin and received

forgiveness. But there was more…

“And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in into her, and lay with her:

and she bare a son, called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.”

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

As I read that verse I had a thought. Why didn’t Solomon come from David’s other wife Abigail?

She was amazing and had less “baggage.”

But I believe God used Bathsheba because He wanted to make a statement.

God took the darkest and ugliest situation in David’s life and turned it around.

The enemy’s proof of victory was no more. The “souvenir” he kept with pride was now turned

into a testimony of God’s goodness, mercy and power.

He could no longer brag about the destruction he caused in David’s life because God redeemed

the situation!

And God will do the same for you and me.

He will take the enemy’s victories and turn them around into powerful testimonies of His goodness,

mercy and power!

Even if you have messed up big time and it seems like the enemy has won, he hasn’t. The Lord

has the final say. When He steps in there is nothing the enemy can do to stop Him.

Forgiveness, mercy and grace are a prayer away. Call on the Lord for help when you are in trouble.

Call on Him when sin has made you stumble.

He wants to help you.

And with that I have come to the end of the post.

If you would like to support what I am doing here financially, you can do so with a few dollars a month.

Click here to support me.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Focus On God, Not Giants.

“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing

in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and

asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?

Neither he replied, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now

come.”

Joshua 5:13, 14

Instead of focusing on Jericho, Joshua looked up and because he did He saw

the Commander of the Lord’s armies!

A lot of the time we spend so much time looking at the giants standing in our

way. We focus on all the things that are not working, the prayers that don’t seem

to be getting answered, and forget to look at God.

I have been guilty of this many times.

But we should be looking to God who is our Savior and our Strong Tower of Refuge.

He is stronger than every enemy we will ever face even if the giants standing in our

try to appear stronger than they really are.

So when Joshua changed his focus, he saw the Commander of the army of the Lord!

So who or what are you focused on today?

Take your eyes off the enemies in front of you and focus on the Lord who is your very

present help in time of need.

“I lift up my eyes to you,

to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

till he shows us his mercy.”

Psalm 123:1, 2

This post is inspired by a devotional from my book.

If you would like to get yourself a copy, click here.

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Bless you friends

Rolain

Then God showed up…

 

The children of Israel were trapped. The Egyptians were behind them and in front of them was the Red Sea but the Lord showed up. He split the sea and drowned the enemy.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were in serious trouble. The king was going to throw them into the burning furnace because they refused to bow down to his image. And he did throw them into the fire but once again the Lord showed up. He saved them.

The Lord loves to come through for us – fact.

No matter what comes our way, the Lord will always be there to save us. What are you facing today? Call on Him for help. He will rescue you from the most intense of fires. Put all your hope in Him and see His mercy, power and faithfulness on display in your situation. He is good!

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

Bring it all to God.

“Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation]

under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you.

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns,

once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

1 Peter 5:6, 7

 

I want to focus on the last part of that verse today. The word says to bring ALL your anxieties,

worries and concerns. But how many times do we try to deal with problems on our own.

I had to stop myself the other day from worrying, from trying to solve a problem on my own.

The truth is the Lord wants to fix every problem we face.

 

The call is to bring everything to Him. We don’t need to carry a single thing.

But because we have been taught to be strong we try to go at it alone. But all that will do is

tire you out. The more I try to go at it alone the more worn down and weighed down I feel.

 

Like I have said so many times before, the Lord is not impressed with our show of strength.

He is impressed with our faith in Him, with the confidence we put in His ability.

Give it all to Him and don’t hold on to anything.

 

Blessings to you friends.

 

Rolain

God cares about the little details of your life.

Something happened to me a few days ago that solidified the truth that God cares about

the little things in my life. Let me tell you about it.

 

I was playing mini basketball at lunchtime and as I was playing one of my cufflinks broke.

I was a bit stressed because most of the shirts I wear require cufflinks. In the larger scope of

things, this was not a huge train smash. It would throw me off financially but not by a lot but there

I was stressing about what I was going to do. I don’t know about you but there are days

when the simple things seem like mountains. What you would usually swat away in a second becomes

a real burden on your mind. Anyway a few days later I attended a meeting and

at that meeting, a friend handed me a small black box. After the meeting, I opened the box

and in there was a pair of cufflinks!

 

What! How did my friend know I needed cufflinks? I hadn’t told him I needed a new pair

of cufflinks.

He didn’t know, but God knew.

 

God cares about everything we go through. No matter how small the problem God cares. You don’t

have to worry and stress about anything that comes your way. Just bring it to Him in prayer.

There is a story in the bible that drives this point home.

 

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices

so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb, and they 

asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

Mark 16:1, 2

 

“Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

 

The problem the ladies faced wasn’t a matter of life and death? With the help of a few strong men,

the problem would be resolved but in the next verse, we learn that the stone which was very

large had been already rolled away by an angel!

The seemingly large but really small problem was taken care of.

 

God cares about everything you go through in your life, no matter how small.

There is no problem that is too small for Him. Bring it to Him in prayer.

Bring everything you are going through to Him in prayer.

He will help you, always!

Blessings to you, friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

Why do you believe what you believe?

Whether we like to admit it or not, our beliefs play a very big role in how our lives turn out.

But as I thought on this a bit more I realized something very important, something that has

changed the way I look at beliefs.

 

We were not born with beliefs! 

 

That was an ah-ha moment for me. The light switched on!

We were not born with beliefs. We were not born with the idea of not being clever enough, or not rich enough,

not handsome or pretty enough and so on. We picked up those beliefs, we inherited them, we made a choice to

integrate them into our lives, the positive and the negative.

We don’t have to live with outdated beliefs about ourselves, life and the other things we deem as important.

The toxic beliefs we have picked up can be changed by YAH’s grace. You don’t have to live with toxic beliefs

any longer. There is an opportunity for change.

 

We didn’t know better and accepted and believed certain things but think about Gideon for a bit with me.

He had some toxic beliefs, outdated beliefs about himself.

 

“But Gideon answered, “Pardon me, Lord. How can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in 

Manasseh. And I am the least important member in my family.” 

Judges 6:15

 

Someone told Gideon he was the least important. He accepted what people said about him and his

family at some point. He wasn’t born with those beliefs.

But thank YAH for His grace because He came and changed the negative beliefs Gideon had by using

him to deliver his people!

We need the Lord’s help friends. There are beliefs we have picked up that we don’t even know we have.

The Lord can shine the light and expose those beliefs.

Watch who you listen to. What are you accepting as truth about yourself?

Whose words are you accepting as truth for you?

These things all matter when it comes to adopting the right beliefs.

Blessings to you…..

 

Rolain