Believing God when life is hard.

 

“[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed

that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!

 

Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good 

courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. 

Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord. “

Psalms 27:13, 14

 

It’s so easy to expect good things when everything is going well

for you. It’s actually hard to be negative when doors in your

life are opened and everyone loves you but what happens when

things go wrong??

What if nothing is working in your life?

What if everyone hates you?

What if things are falling apart?

It’s in those times, when expecting goodness isn’t so easy.

 

I have had a couple of rough weeks and to be honest it’s been

hard to expect the Lord’s goodness. Things have not been going

the way I wanted them to. . I have been public enemy number

one at times. In those circumstances it’s been hard to be

positive.

In my sad state it was easy to start thinking negatively.

It was so easy to tear myself down.

But that was not where God wanted me to stay.

He wanted me to focus on His goodness.

 

The enemy wants us depressed. He wants us to feel hopeless.

He wants us to believe nothing good will happen in our lives.

He wants us to believe God doesn’t care about us.

He wants us to experience God’s goodness period!

But the Lord wants us believe we will see His goodness in the

land of the living!

What are you believing today?

Do you believe you are finished?

Do you believe nothing good will happen for you?

Do you believe your circumstances won’t change?

 

The word for us today is to wait, hope for and expect the Lord!

It’s not easy to do those things but we have to be brave and

courageous!

We must expect the Lord’s goodness!

 

The author writes,

“what, what would have become of me had I not believed that

I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living?”

 

We can’t let the bad circumstances steal our hope?

We can’t allow the fear in the world to shape our expectations.

We can’t let the bad things that happen to us in life take God

out of the picture.

No matter how bad things are God wants us to believe we

will see his goodness!

He wants us to believe things will get better.

He wants us to believe that bad situation will turn around.

My encouragement to you is to expect the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living!

Wait, hope for and expect the Lord!

He wants us to expect His goodness because He will

turn the bad to good. He will turn that bad situation into

good. He will not let that

winter last forever. He will answer our prayers.

He will give us that breakthrough we are trusting Him

for.

What will you do today???

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

What two men prayed…..

The Pharisee stood [ostentatiously] and began praying

to himself [in a self-righteous way, saying]:

God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men –

swindlers, unjust (dishonest), adulterers – or even like

this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all

that I get.

But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would

not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his

breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be

merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!

Luke 18:12, 13 (AMP)

 

The year is about to end and as it does I want to touch

on a few things I think we need to reflect on before we get

into 2016. The word I am about to share has really been

on my mind for some time. This word brought attitudes

to light, attitudes that were not of God.

 

Just because you think you are humble doesn’t mean

you are humble. This is the kind of erroneous thinking

I had. But this scripture blew that out of the water.

I thought I was humble but truth be told, I was proud!

I couldn’t see it because my pride was cloaked in a

false sense of humility.

 

But to walk in the plan God has for us we need to be

humble! The tax collector was a perfect example of

what it meant to be humble.

I think humility is being able to stay small in our own eyes!

It’s having the wisdom to see that God is in control and

understanding that without Him we are lost.

Humility strips every selfish thought and idea we have.

Humility puts off our own strength and puts on God’s.

Humility doesn’t take pride in it’s own wisdom but

looks to the Lord for true wisdom!

 

The Pharisee stayed big in his own eyes. He saw himself

as more in his own eyes, as very important, while the tax collector

stayed small in his own eyes!

Who are you in your own eyes?

 

Please understand what the tax collector did and didn’t do.

He didn’t talk negatively about himself. He didn’t tell

God how useless and pathetic he was. He didn’t tear himself

down. That is not humility.

He knew he was a sinner in deep need of grace and mercy!

I hope you notice the difference. Stop the negative self talk.

It’s not biblical.

 

It’s so important we stay “small in our own eyes”.

Let us look at another passage of scripture that will help

us understand this truth:

 

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and

he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s

name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as

his father Amaziah had done.

He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed

him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God

gave him success.

2 Chronicles 26:3

 

God had a plan for Uzziah. Actually, He had great plans for him.

Like Uzziah, God has great and amazing plans for us. But look

at how the story changed……

 

But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.

He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple

of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

2 Chronicles 26:16

 

The priests were the only ones allowed to burn incense but

because Uzziah was proud (failed to remain small in his own

eyes) he never walked in the full promises of God!

God had made Uzziah powerful but he failed to realise

that.

When I start thinking I can’t do certain things because they are

beneath me or I am too important to do them

or if I think I should

only do certain things because I am important, that is a good

indicator I have become

proud. God wants me to walk in everything He has for me

but pride will destroy that very quickly!

 

Let us be like the tax collector. He remained small in his own eyes

and because of that the Bible says he went home justified!

 

My desire and prayer is that I walk in true humility, that

I stay small in my own eyes for the rest of my life!

Stay small in your own eyes!

God bless friends……

 

photo credit: google images

 

Rolain