Why you need to be excited about your life even when nothing seems to be happening for you………

Is there a reason to be excited about your life? 

 

That’s the question I have been meditating on for the past couple of days. My country has been

going through a tough couple of weeks and it has been hard to see a future when things look so dark.

But the darkness is not only in Zimbabwe, it’s all over the world. And the darkness wants to get us

off our game. It wants us so discouraged that we lose hope. But we need to keep trusting no matter

the darkness.

 

But it’s not just the tough times in my country that made me think about “what my life could be”

As I looked at my weaknesses, the things I am supposed to be doing that I am not doing, and

flaws that are too many to mention I got discouraged. I have messed up so much. I have blind spots

that I am relying on God to expose. With all those things against me I found myself asking,

Can I really be excited about my life with all the flaws that I have?

 

That kind of question demands an answer and an answer is what I got.

 

I do have a reason to be excited about my life because God is in it. 

 

Not only is He in it but He created it. He is the author of my story. I have every reason to be

excited about my life. I need to pump myself up, raise the expectation, because He is in control.

He has crazy things in store for me. His word says,

 

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this.

He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream,

and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power

constantly energized you.”

Ephesians 3:20, 21

 

 

You may think there is nothing to get excited about in your life but that’s not true. Because God

is at the helm you can expect an amazing life even though things may be hard now.

Nothing may be working for you at the moment but remember this,

Winters end!

Keep trusting God. Hold on to His promises. Expect Him to move on your behalf and yes,

 

You have a reason to be excited about your life….. because He is in it.

 

 

Blessings to you friends.

 

Rolain

Do you really believe Jesus can do the impossible in your life?

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“And it has thrown him both into fire and water, intending to kill him. But if You can do 

anything do have pity on us and help us. 

And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible)

to him who believes!”

Mark 9:22, 23

The father wanted his son to be healed but wasn’t too sure if Yeshua could do it. His statement

would have been totally understandable if he was asking anybody else but he wasn’t speaking

to just anyone. He was speaking to Yeshua.

Yeshua is more than able to answer our prayers. 

There is nothing too big for Him to handle. 

We don’t need to ever doubt His ability because He is able. 

No matter what you facing today He will help you. There is nothing 

that can overwhelm Him or overpower Him. 

“And Jesus said, [You say to Me] If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible)

to him who believes!” 

There is no limit to what Yeshua can do in our lives but it’s clear from this story that we can put

a limit to what we believe.

So let me rephrase what Yeshua was really saying to the father in that passage of scripture.

“Why do you doubt what I can do? I am more than able to heal your son and more if you believe 

in Me. In fact, there is no limit to what I can do for you if you put your faith in Me so believe!.”

Don’t entertain doubts and fears. Bring them to Him. Ask Him to help you when your faith fails.

I was so challenged as I read this scripture because there is so much I am trusting the Lord for

but at times I KNOW I limit Him. I limit Him when I doubt Him,when  I speak negatively but like

the father cried out, I want Him to help me with my unbelief.

He wants to help us where we are weak and when we weak. We just have to ask.

Trust Him for everything in your life!

Bless you friends…..

Rolain

When will the Lord answer us?

Is this the day?

Is this the day the door opens?

Is this the day my prayers are answered?

Is this the day I get my breakthrough?

 

The truth is I don’t know the day but that’s not the point. The point is to be expectant.

The point is to put your hope in the Lord. Today could be the day but if it’s not keep trusting,

Keep declaring, Keep doing, fully confident the day is coming.

The question is no longer, “will the day come” but “when is the day”.

 

The enemy will try to deceive you into believing the day won’t come. He will try to make you believe

the sickness is permanent, the lack is permanent, the broken relationship is permanent, the addiction

is permanent, the list goes on and on but he is wrong.

Your answer to prayer will come, it might be already here, the sickness will leave, you are healed,

what the enemy stole will be restored, poverty will be broken off your life…..I think you get the

picture.

 

Mephiboseth was a cripple and didn’t have much going for him. As a baby his nurse fled with him but

in her haste she dropped him and he became a cripple. He didn’t have a say in the

matter. (2 Samuel 4:4) Talk about an unfortunate circumstance.

But when all was lost something pretty amazing happened.

 

“The king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the [unfailing, unsought, 

unlimited] mercy and kindness of God?”

2 Samuel 9:3

 

There is nothing Mephibosheth did differently to get the kings attention. No one went to the king and

appealed on his behalf, no. He was a nobody in one instant and in the next he was eating at the

king’s table! And that is why we must live a life of expectancy and faith.

I don’t think Mephibosheth had any idea his life would change so drastically. But as sons and

daughters of the King we can be expectant. A life without hope is death. What David did

for Mephibosheth is a picture of the Father’s heart I believe. We don’t deserve His goodness, grace

and mercy but He has given it anyway.

Like Mephibosheth the Lord can do the same thing and more. We need to be expectant always.

 

 

Expect YAH to move in your life today.

Expect an answer to your prayers.

Expect healing, expect deliverance, expect breakthrough.

The Lord is faithful. He won’t let us down.

Have a great weekend friends……

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Awakening…..

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord

and set me down in the middle of the valley, it was full of bones. And He led me 

around among them, and behold, they were very dry. 

And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, “O Lord God, 

You know. 

Then He said to me, Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear

the word of the Lord. ” 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

 

I was so encouraged by this passage of scripture this week. I can identify with the valley of dry bones!

I know what you are thinking, “don’t you mean you can identify with what Ezekiel was doing Rolain?”

No, I mean it, I can identify with what YAH showed Ezekiel!

I know there are dormant places in my life that are “very dry”.  There are dead areas in my

life that need awakening, what about you?

The prophet was taken to a land full of dry bones, very dry bones and was asked a question,

 

“Son of man, can these bones live?” 

 

I believe the Lord was speaking to me through this verse. “Can these bones live?”

“Can the dead areas in my life be revived anew?”

“Can the dormant things in my life rise?”

 

If you are feeling the same way and asking the same questions, the answer is yes,

These bones can live again!!

The dead areas in your life can come to life….

 

After asking Ezekiel the question YAH told him to prophesy to the dry bones.

Always remember that before YAH did anything, He spoke it out first. That’s the pattern

we see in the word. He always spoke what He was going to do before He actually did it.

Our words are powerful like we can’t believe. We need to learn to speak more, to prophesy

over situations in our lives. Complaining and grumbling about what’s happening in

our lives will not help our situation, it will only make it worse.

 

There is one more part to this story I want to share. Let’s look at another scripture,

 

“Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, 

they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 

Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open 

your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into

the land of Israel.”

Ezekiel 37:11, 12

 

Where it seemed like there was no hope, the Lord assured them He was with them.

There seemed like there was no way but they were wrong, the Lord would make a

way for them. They were not cut off as they thought. The Lord loved them and would save

them.

 

We have hope friends….as long as the Lord is with us, we have hope.

No matter how dead a situation is, the Lord can and will revive it. He is the God who

lets dry bones live again! It’s time to speak up. The enemy wants us silent because

he knows what our words backed up by YAH’s word can do!

Have a great weekend to you all!

 

Rolain

Take responsibility for your life……

 

Hi everyone!

I have a question I would like to ask you?

Are you responsible?

I would guess the majority of you if not all of you would say yes.

I too would like to think I am responsible. I pay my bills, I make

sure everything that is supposed to be working is working.

So to sum it up I think I am quite responsible.

But something happened a few days ago to make me question

that. Let me tell you about it…..

 

A few days ago…..

 

A friend asked me to go with him to get his car looked at by a

mechanic. My friend had a mechanic but he wanted a second opinion

hence his trip to a second mechanic.

The news wasn’t good. The mechanic told my friend about other

problems that needed immediate attention. The mechanic asked

my friend a few questions about some of the problems. From the

mechanic’s point of view some of the problems could of been

avoided if my friend took a little more interest in his car.

My friend defended himself. He told the mechanic he wasn’t good

with cars and didn’t understand them. That is why he had a

mechanic in the first place.

The mechanic asked him about another problem but my friend

had no clue how to answer.

Ever time he was asked something he would blame the mechanic.

 

After we left my friend and I started talking.

We drew a few crucial conclusions from what just happened.

 

Responsibility and accountability.

My friend didn’t know anything about cars but that didn’t mean

he had to give up responsibility to his mechanic. By doing that

he was giving up accountability. He was no longer accountable

for his car because he had given the responsibility to his mechanic

and that is why he had no answers for the second mechanic.

Crazy right!

 

Let me me take it a bit further. We do this in life.

It goes something like this,

 

I can’t be all that God wants me to be in my country because

of what’s going on. The government is not giving me opportunities

to succeed.

 

It’s my parents fault that I am where I am. They never let me do

anything.

 

My pastor never singles me out. If he did I would do better!

 

And so so on and so on……

 

We need to take responsibility for our lives.

God is our Lord and He wants us to take responsibility of our

lives. That’s why we have the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t want us giving

away responsibility to anyone else.

Remember, when you give someone else responsibility say for example

to succeed, you automatically give up accountability to that person.

 

It’s good to have mentors, coaches, pastors and teachers but they

are not responsible for who you will become. They have a say in it but

not the final say. You are the one who decides!

It has to start with you. You are the one who must take responsibility.

You are accountable for your life and no other man.

There is only one person qualified to be responsible for you

and that’s Jesus!

 

As I close I would like you to think about your life.

Have you given up responsibility for it to a system, government, or

people?

The only person you should be surrendering to is Jesus. He has an

amazing plan for your life. He created it!!!  Apart from Him there

is no one else you should be surrendering to. I am not talking about

revolting against leadership or refusing to learn from people.

That’s not what I am saying.

I am challenging you to take responsibility for your life.

You decide to learn, you decide to work hard, to go deeper into God, to

be all that God has for you. You do that. Don’t wait for someone

to come and do those things for you.

Bless you friends….

 

Rolain

 

An occupied heart.

As the new year fast approaches I want to touch on something.

Last week I touched on the importance of humbling ourselves.

If you missed that post you can read it here.

This week I want to touch on the heart. Does God have your

heart? Why am I asking such a seemingly “obvious” question?

Maybe it’s not really that obvious……

 

It all started when I was singing, “when I lost my heart to you

Hallelujah“from Hillsong United’s new album Empires.

There is a line I kept singing which says,

“You have my heart”

 

As I kept singing that over and over I thought to myself,

Does He really have my heart??

As I look back at the year I see how I have struggled in my

relationship with Him. My heart has not been entirely here.

I have ignored Him A LOT, got distracted, had times where

I didn’t talk to Him, worshipped other idols…..shucks!

It’s been a challenging year and I allowed the challenges

to come between me and Him!

So as I sang that line I realised my heart was very occupied but

not with Him. God doesn’t want a part of my heart…..

He wants my whole heart!

 

“I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned

incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelery,

and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot, says the Lord.

Hosea 2:13

 

This passage depicts where I was at. I was the one who forgot

the Lord, I was the one who chased after other idols……

My heart was far from the Lord.

When I had a choice to seek the Lord I would

occupy myself with something else but Him. It breaks my

heart thinking about that. My heart is reserved for God and I

want Him to have it all!

In His mercy and great love He still chases after me! He

hasn’t given up on me. I don’t deserve His attention. I have done

nothing to warrant it yet He still pursues me!

 

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

will bring her into the wilderness,

and speak comfort to her.

 

She shall sing there,

As in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

And it shall be, in that day,

says the Lord,

That you will call me, My Husband

And no longer call Me, My Master,

For I will take from her mouth the names of the baals,

And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

Hosea 2:14-17

 

Even though God’s people rejected Him and chased other idols,

He pursued them relentlessly. I am so grateful He chases

after me relentlessly! He is doing the same for you.

Don’t stop chasing after me Lord!

My heart is yours…..!!

 

Keep your heart with all diligence,

for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

 

I was supposed to guard my heart, I was not supposed

to let anything in but I failed, I gave my heart away!

When I think of this scripture

I think of a husband and wife.

A true wife will guard her heart from other men.

She will not allow other men in because she loves her

husband. She doesn’t have to be taught to do that but out

of a deep, unshakable, love for him she will protect her heart

with everything in her. Her heart is reserved for her husband

and him alone!

So it is with her husband. He will not flirt with other women,

he will not entertain the idea of being with another woman

because he loves his wife. He too will protect his heart because

of his love for his wife.

His heart and affection will be towards his wife alone, and

he will not compromise!

 

As it is with husband and wife it should be so with me. If my

heart is truly His I will do everything to protect my heart.

Yes, I am a sinner and yes I will fail at times but I will fight

to guard my heart because He loves me and I love Him!

I won’t entertain anything else. I won’t give my heart away

to anything else that would take me away from God because

my heart belongs to Him!

 

I should be complete at this moment and not looking for

something to complete me. He should be enough for me!

He should be all that I need….because HE IS all that I need!

Because of the price He paid I am complete, I am

whole!

 

Where are you at? Does your heart fully belong to God,

or is it occupied with other things?

Have other things crept in and taken His place?

In this coming year make a decision to consume yourself

with Him alone. He is our Savior and He wants all of us,

not part of us!

He pursues us because He loves us.

 

He has my heart! When I surrendered my life to Him all those

years ago I surrendered my heart to Him. What I need to do is

consistently check myself. I need to constantly check the state

of my heart because the truth is that the enemy wants my

heart as well. he will do everything in his power to have it but

it’s taken! My heart belongs to God and I must guard it. But

I am not alone because the Holy Spirit is with me. He will help me, ‘

and He will help you if that is your desire. And that is so

encouraging!

 

 

Prayer

I am so sorry Lord for occupying my heart with other things.

I am so sorry for chasing after idols.

My heart is Yours so I ask for Your help.

Help me to guard my heart.

help me to keep my heart set on You and You alone!

Take this occupied heart and fill it anew with You….

Just You Lord!

I love You.

Amen…..

 

Rolain

 

 

Why am I going through this???

 

Ever feel overwhelmed with life?

Ever feel like everything is too much and you just want to tap out?

 

I was reflecting on my life this week (I have been doing a lot of

that lately). A lot has happened already this year good and bad.

Its easy to get discouraged these days. It’s easy to think God has

abandoned you! It’s easy to give up. I say that because as I was

reflecting on my life and the plans I had for this year, things I

want to do, places I want to go to, eveything felt so overwhelming!!

I cried out to God in that time. I asked Him to help me! I looked

to God for some sort of answer to the craziness I was feeling…..

Then it came, the answer,

 

I realised God is in control, He knows exactly where I am. Not sort

of or a bit confused but He knows EXACTLY where I am!

 

Then another thought came to me,

 

God intentionally allowed me to be here because He knew the

next opportunity, the next door will only open when I am here! No

matter how hard it is, how hopeless it seems this is the place that

will make it possible for the other door to open!

I need to be in this space if I am to walk in the next amazing door

God has for me! This place is preparing me for the next place where

ever that “place” is!

 

Think about Jabez:

Jabez was honorable above his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, Because I bore him in pain. Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request. (‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭4‬:‭9-10‬ AMP)

He was in a difficult situation. His story is not just about being named

Jabez. From the day he was born he was called Jabez. Who knows

the ridicule he went through as a teen. All we know it got to a point

that he had enough! He cried out to the Lord!

He needed to be there for God to move on his life!

He needed to be in that place for the next door to open!

Did he enjoy being ridiculed and the struggle?

Did he feel helpless and hopeless?

I would like to think so but dispite all that,

GOD HAD A PLAN FOR HIM!

 

What about Joseph?!!!

He had a dream but he was sold into slavery! After things seemed

to turn around he was then  thrown into prison!

And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison. (‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭20‬ AMP)

But as we all know, Joseph had to be in Egypt!! Joseph didn’t

understand at first but he needed to be there! Yes it seemed like

God abandoned him, yes it seemed like God was cruel and heartless

but the truth is, God was with him every step of his way!

For the next door to open Joseph had to be in Egypt! For

Joseph to accomplish God’s call on his life he had to go to

Egypt!

 

What does all that mean you might be thinking?

You might be in a place that is hard, a place where nothing

seems to be happening, a place that seems like a dead end but

that’s not true! That “dead-end” is where the next door is going

to open! It’s where that next big promotion will come through!

It’s where you will get to know God more!

It’s where breakthrough will come through!

Don’t quit, don’t tap out, but trust in the Lord.

Your promotion is around the corner, amazing things are in store

in that hard, frustrating place!

Things may seem dead and inactive but that’s not true! There is a lot

happening in the background! God is busy, He has gone ahead

of you to prepare the way!

 

So to end my story, after realizing all this I realized I don’t need

to worry! My life is in God’s hands. He knows everything I am

going through.

He has an amazing plan for my life.

I just need to trust Him consistently!

Where I am is exactly where He needs me to be because

the next door will open here and no where else!

And that is the same for you if you will trust Him!

He has only good things in store for you! Amen  😄

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflecting on trust……

 

I have been reflecting on one of my favourite scriptures this week. As I read it

I could not move from it. I just kept reading it over and over. With that said I am starting a new category. It is based on Psalm 119:9 which talks about how we are supposed to conform our lives to the word of God. A lot of the time we try to make the word conform to what we think and the way we live but that is wrong. The word is not supposed to conform to our beliefs. It will NOT conform to us. We are the ones who need to conform to it. We are the ones who are to align to what the word says.

My goal in this new category is to hold up the word of God against our lives and see how we can apply its truth. This is what Psalm 119:9 says,

 

Psalm 119:9 (Amplified) says,

How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking head and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it].

 

Let us start. The scripture I was reading that I couldn’t move past is found in Proverbs 3: 5-7 (The Message).

 

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,

everywhere you go;

He’s the One who will keep you on track.

 

Here are my reflections…..

 

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;” –

 

In the things I am seeking God for, am I trusting Him completely?

This is not a weak undecided trust but a deep confident trust. The word says,

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart”! This kind of trust realises there is

no one else I must depend on. It realises everything else cannot be trusted. This kind of trust realises there is only One it can look to.

 

The question then is, do we trust God from the bottom of our heart? If not, what is stopping us? Is it fear, is it doubt, unbelief, previous failures??? What is it?

God wants us to trust Him from the bottom of our heart. No matter what you are going through, no matter how impossible it seems, He wants you to trust Him from the bottom of your heart!

 

“Don’t try to figure out everything on your own” –

 

We were not made with the capacity to figure out God. He is too big and too awesome. He is TOO MUCH….!!!! His ways are beyond our comprehension. The

more we try to figure Him out the more confused we get. We are TOO SMALL….!!

Don’t miss this please. We are too small!!!!!

Our understanding is too limited to go down that road.

Does that mean we are broken? Did God make us with a defect then? No!

He made us like that so we could learn to look to Him! He wants to be the One

we depend on. There should never be a time where we are enough for the storms we face. ( I hope you understand what I mean here)

Trying to figure everything out in your life by yourself is not trusting God. It is you saying you are enough for this life and you don’t need the Saviour!

 

In your life where have you tried to figure out things by yourself?

What areas in your life have you not allowed God to take the steering wheel?

 

“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

He’s the One who will keep you on track” –

 

There is so much I am seeking God for. There is so much clarity I need. There are so many major decisions I need to make concerning my career, relationships, and life in general.

In all those things am I listening for God’s voice to lead me?? Are you?

Am I taking the time to hear what He is saying? Are you?

Do I depend on His voice in every decision I make? Do you?

 

Why is it important to listen for His voice in everything we do?

 

Because He is the One who will keep me on track. He is the One who keeps you on track!!

As I end this post I would like to leave you with this thought – He is the one who keeps us on track! Trust Him, depend on Him, seek Him because,

 

He is the One who keeps us on track!!

 

Rolain

The “Gifts” God gives us…..!

I don’t know where to start and I don’t know how to begin this post. All I can say is that the word “gift” has

taken a whole new meaning for me. A few months ago I found out my friend, was leaving the country for good! We were first friends, then he became my boss, then pastor, then mentor, then family!

My world turned upside down that day. I had people leave before and it was painful but this, this was a whole new level.

My pastor’s wife called me and sat me down as she told me the news. I was devastated and confused. Why God I asked?

This can’t be happening I thought. I had known my mentor’s family for over 10 years! I knew them when they

had their first son. They have four boys now and I love them to bits.  Anyway I remember going to God and

crying out to Him for answers to the question why. Nothing came. Instead revelation came……

 

God showed me how they were gifts from Him. I met my mentor when I had just met The Lord. I am a sinner

now but back then I was much worse. If there is a word worse than sinner I was it. I was truly lost. I had no

direction and no plan. I had crazy issues I was beginning to work out. I had just became a Christian and this new

life was still…..new! I was dealing with a lot of things. I had no confidence and I had no self esteem. When he

employed me a year after meeting him I stole money from him! It was that bad. I WAS that bad! But thank God he never fired me or called the police. He gave me a second chance…….

 

I didn’t trust anyone back then and when he tried to help me out I would think he had some evil intension! When he disciplined me at work I would take it personally. When he made a joke about me I would get extremely angry. My stuttering was so bad back then which didn’t really help things! So believe me when I say, things were bad back then, really bad!!!

But God used him and his wife to mold me into who God wanted me to be. They taught me so much. They stood by

me when I had family issues. They helped me out financially countless times. They sat down and taught me so much

about God and life. In one of the darkest times in my life they were there.

 

God showed me how that was not an accident.

He knew all the change that needed to happen in me. He saw all I was going through and because of that He sent them

into my life. They were gifts. We serve a God who is the giver of gifts but the mistake we make is thinking gifts come in the form of money only. That’s not true. God’s gifts are so much more than money. They are deeper than that. During that time I never thought of them as gifts. We had our good times together and we had hard and difficult times.

 

The fact of the matter is this. God sent me gifts in the form of my mentor and his family. I just didn’t know it at the time and I never gave them the honor they rightly deserved. I wish I never took them for granted. I wish I honored them more and thanked them more for all they had done for me. I can’t put into words all that they did for me. A lot of who I am is because of their input in my life.

They saw so much potential in me and stood by me patiently. They are my family. I am telling you all this because….

…….they left on Wednesday this week! It’s been a hard week I must admit. They had my back. But in the midst of the pain God showed me how He will bring other “gifts” into my life after all; those “gifts” came from Him. He is the giver of all gifts. My mentor and his family never willed or planned to do all they did for me. God was behind it all. My mentor never knew the kind of impact he would have in my life but God did because He planned it. God was behind it all……

Yes, I am sad and broken at them leaving but I am also at peace because God has some amazing “gifts” in store for me.

I pray I be a “gift” to someone else as well. Would God use me to be the kind of “gift” my mentor was to me……

 

Have you acknowledged the “gifts” God has put in your life? There is a reason He has placed them in your life.

Don’t take them for granted. Thank them for all they are doing for you. It is not easy for them. There is always a

sacrifice on their part. May we always appreciate the “gifts” God has given us, always!

 

 

* This post is dedicated to the Stewart family. *

The Stewart family!

 

Rolain.

It’s not God’s fault….!!!

What do you do when things don’t go according to plan in your life?

What do you do when what you were trusting God for doesn’t happen?

What do you do when it feels like God has abandoned you?

Do you think there are some instances where God is to blame for some of the
things that have not worked out in your life?

I have had to deal with these questions in my life. There have been times I
have blamed God. These are hard questions but questions which need to be
answered. As I had these questions God spoke to me through Joshua.
He had just come from the defeat of Jericho. God had given them a big victory. The
next town they had to attack was called Ai. It was a small town. Joshua 7:3
says,

And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Let not all the men go up; but
let about two thousand or three thousand go up and attack Ai; do not make
the whole army toil up there, for they of Ai are few.

It was supposed to be a sure victory but it wasn’t. They were defeated!
They had never experienced defeat before. They even experienced death which
was a new thing! Joshua 7:5 says,

And the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, for they chased them
from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and slew them at the descent. And
the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

To top that off, all the surrounding nations would now try and attack
Israel. They heard about all the miraculous things God did for them but if
they heard about the defeat at Ai they would surely come to destroy them!
Joshua acted quickly. He went up to God. Joshua 7:6-8;

Then Joshua rent his clothes and lay on the earth upon his face before
the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they
put dust on their heads.

Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, why have You brought this people over the
Jordan at all only to give us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?
Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!

O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned to flee before their
enemies!

Joshua blamed God! There is no other way to put it. I am not going to try
and be euphemistic here. He blamed God…..But I understand, I have been
there. When things have gone so bad that you feel like God has abandoned
you, when you feel like God deliberately did something to hurt you. Have
you been there, or maybe you ARE there! I want you to know,

Joshua was wrong! God was not to blame for what happened. God did not want Israel to
be defeated. That was never in His plan. God is a good God who only has
good in store for us. The fault was in Achan. He went against what God had
told him to do. (Joshua 7:11)

This story raises a very important point. God is not to be blamed for what goes
wrong in our lives. His plan for us is ALL good. ALL GOOD!!! Yes that may entail
trials, and tribulation, and tests and so forth but God is not the author
of the pain, brokenness, disappointment we face in life. He has a destiny
for us. He has a plan for our lives and that plan is good. HE CAN BE
TRUSTED!!!

I don’t write this for the sake of writing a good post. This is what I believe. God is not

to blame. His plan for my life is good. Trials and tests will come but I must remember

that He is good and He is with me every step of the way. That goes for you as well.

No matter what you going through, He is with you and it is not His fault. He loves you

and He is only good. Everything He does stems from that!

God bless…

Rolain