Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Joshua 1:9
Gigi was adopted as a child. Unfortunately, her adoptive parents abused her and her brother - also adopted - sexually, pyhsically and mentally. When she became a teenager even her brother started sexually abusing her. She felt trapped. The neighbours saw her parents as upstanding people who took their children to Mass regularly and provided for them. They chose to turn a blind eye to what was happening. One day, when she could take it no more she slit her wrist. She was taken to a seventy-hour hold for an evaluation. After high school, she moved out and lived with friends and on the street. She became addicted to drugs and alcohol. She turned to stripping to be able to finance her drug addiction. She was introduced to the owner who turned out to be a sex trafficker. She was in a relationship with him for a number of years. He provided the material things she could not afford. When he got tired of her, he kicked her back out onto the streets. While there, she was arrested and sentenced to a faith-based rehab program where she learned about God’s love. Unfortunately, when she left rehab, she went back to her life of drugs and found herself once again in sex trafficking. She had everything taken from her including her I.D., birth certificate and her money. She had nothing. One day, while begging for money on the streets, a pastor gave her money and invited her to church. He provided transport for her to the church and took care of her needs. She began attending church and was re-introduced to the love she had been introduced to years earlier while in rehab. The church members helped rescue her from sex trafficking and helped her find a job. Some time later, she finally surrendered her life to Christ. Today, Gigi’s life is full. She has a church family that loves her, a good job, a degree and she hopes to write the story of what Jesus has done for her. She concedes that no matter what you have been through in this life, Jesus is bigger; no matter what your story has been like, with Jesus your story is not done. “No matter what you have been through in this life, Jesus is bigger.” There is nothing we can go through that will ever be bigger than God. The reality is though, while we are going through it may seem and feel so overwhelming that we may wonder if we will make it, how we are going to make it, or even how long before the situation finally comes to an end. It can be difficult to see God in this season. Sometimes He may feel near but I think more times than not, He seems so far away. It’s in the waiting that we can choose to throw in the towel or we can choose to hold on to and trust God. When we choose to trust God, as painful and difficult as it may be, we will not be disappointed. King David went through a number of challenges yet, he chose to hold on to his God and trust Him. He chose to believe that God would come through for him. In Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV) David says: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” David was not saying this because everything in his life was going great. On the contrary, as he faced challenges, he chose to believe that he would still experience God’s goodness to him, his God would take care of him! We all have challenges to face. Unfortunately, we cannot choose the challenges that come our way. But, we can choose our response. We can choose to believe that God will come through for us, that He will work things out for our good in the end. As Gigi also said: “no matter what your story has been like, with Jesus your story is not done.” God still has the final say. Once you put your trust in Him and turn the situation over to Him, He will not disappoint. And, when you allow Him to write your story, it will be one that will be a source of encouragement and strength to all who read it. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Life will, at times, send situations that are beyond your control. Yet, when you choose to look to God and put your trust in Him, God will give you the strength and support you need to make it through.
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Geralyn was on a train on her way home to her family one afternoon when it derailed. She had just spoken to them after entering the train, letting them know that she would be home soon. Not long after, she sensed that the train was going too fast. The last thing she heard was her own scream. At home, her husband heard about the train derailment on the news. He was not sure that the train was his wife’s train but when he tracked her phone, he discovered that it was. He began a frantic search for her, while their son called various hospitals trying to locate her. She was finally found…alive. She had suffered severe injuries. Doctors were doubtful she would survive. The heavy impact of the train as it crashed caused her abdominal organs to be thrown up into her chest. Her chest and rib cage were crushed. As a result, she was on a ventilator because she could not breathe on her own. She had a number of other injuries yet, had not suffered any traumatic brain injury. Her husband considered this a miracle. She was in tremendous pain yet admits that the only thing she could do was pray. Even in her pain, she felt as if God was holding her. They were thankful that she was alive even though they were unsure that she would be able to walk again. After eight surgeries and five weeks in the hospital ICU, she was released to continue healing at home. When her son showed her pictures of her wrecked train car, she was reminded of God’s mercy and goodness. Over the last several years, she has endured a difficult recovery with more surgeries and setbacks. Yet, she chooses to be thankful that God sustained her through it all. She acknowledges that her faith along with with the faith of others has helped her endure her painful ordeal. The life she has been given she sees not as a miracle but as grace, as an undeserved gift that she is willing to accept. This testimony is not about a miraculous quick recovery but a painful ordeal that has lasted many years. It is indeed a story of God’s grace, mercy and goodness. It is a reminder to us that some challenges are going to be resolved quickly but others will take time and may test our every urge to give up. As we live this life, we realise that we can’t always avoid negative situations. Geralyn was on her way home to her family. She did not expect that her journey would end the way it did. We can’t always dictate the problems that come our way or even how long they would last. Yet, through it all, God has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. He may not have promised a smooth journey without difficulties but He has promised to sustain and keep us no matter what comes our way. Sometimes, our testimony may be about a quick deliverance. Other times, it will be about God’s grace and goodness as we go through a difficult and lengthy trial. Yet, no matter what God allows us to go through, the one consistent and sure truth is that He is there with us, strengthening us and encouraging us every step of the way. Even in those times when He seems silent, He is there, carrying us when we cannot do it ourselves. Psalm 18:1-2 says: “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” God is our strength and our Deliverer. He will sustain us, He will keep us, He will help us to stand even in the most difficult of trials. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. We can’t choose our challenges but we can trust that God will give us the strength and grace needed to make it through. Tomekia, the daughter of a minister, was the youngest child with three older brothers. She was a natural on the basketball court and was able to enter college on a scholarship. Tragically, at this time, she lost her mother to cancer. In spite of her tragic loss, she successfully completed college and decided to pursue her dream of becoming a coach. At the age of twenty-five, she became an assistant coach at Jackson State University. Sadly, a year later, her brother, Robert, who understood and supported her dream, was murdered in his home during a robbery. She was devastated. Shortly after, she took another coaching job at a nearby university. While there, she had a son but the relationship with his father did not work out. She, therefore, turned to her father to help raise her son as well as to provide spiritual and emotional support. She admits that her faith was more in her father than in God. At the age of thirty-six, her dream finally came true when she became the head coach at Jackson State University. Her father was extremely proud of her. She confessed to him that she couldn’t dream of living her life without him. Sadly, however, three months later, her father died from a blood clot after a routine surgery. Tomekia admits that she lost her purpose, her meaning and her drive. She had done all that she had done to make her father proud. With him gone she couldn’t see the value in doing it anymore. Four weeks later, she sat on her bed with a loaded gun ready to end her life. She was consumed with grief. She asked God to take away the pain before she ended it all. As she reached for the gun, her son ran into the room and said, “Mom, what are you doing?” She hugged him and cried. She realised at that moment that she had greater in store and she just had to trust it. She started going to church and surrounded herself with people who encouraged her relationship with God. She had to develop her own relationship with God. It was finally her and Jesus! She returned to school after a three-month leave of absence just in time for the start of a new basketball season. They lost five games in a row and many believed that she was not the right person for the job. Through prayer and God’s guidance, Tomekia finally became the leader she needed to be. Her team went on to win the next eleven games and made it to the championships. They lost by four points but in Tomekia’s eyes, they were winners. Whenever praise is heaped on her for her success, she gives the honour to the Lord. She realises that she has a purpose that is bigger than her. She acknowledges that at times we will suffer hurt and that that’s okay but that we should not stay there. We have to get up and keep going, trust the Lord, put our faith in Him and stay mission-focused. All things work together for the good to those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28). Life is filled with unexpected and sometimes painful circumstances. We can never see around the corner and are many times totally unprepared for what lies ahead. Yet, the God who can see around any corner, wants us to trust Him completely. Tomekia faced tragedy after tragedy, yet, through it all, God was there and took her through each difficult season. He helped her attain her dream even when she was burdened by the tragedy in her life and she wanted to give up. Sometimes, we too can feel so burdened by tragic and difficult circumstances that we just don’t feel like going on. The temptation can be to give up, to give in, to even turn our back on the One who can and will see us through. But, don’t! Just when you may think or feel like it’s over, that God will never step in and help, He will. Tomekia reached the point of attempting to end her life but God stepped in. We may wonder why He didn’t step in earlier, why He didn’t stop all the tragedy in her life. Yet, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). We may never understand it all, but this one thing we know, according to Tomekia, we can’t give up, we have to keep going, we have to trust the Lord and stay mission-focused because at the end of the day, all things will work together for good to those who love the Lord! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Life can be so filled with dark moments and tragedies that we need a God who is big enough and powerful enough and loving enough to help us successfully through it all. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us and He knows it’s because we can’t do this life alone. We need Him, we need His strength, His wisdom and His guidance to make it through. Trust Him. Tasha’s father died in prison when she was seven years old. She lived with her aunt and uncle because her mother was addicted to drugs. They were devout christians. She enjoyed going to church as well as her connection with God. At around the age of fourteen, she lost her purity and at the same time got involved with drugs. She continued going to church and lived a double life. Over the next few years, her life steadily spiralled out of control. She got more involved in drugs, was in and out of jail and had four children along the way. She was filled with self-hatred and shame wondering how she was managing to do the same thing to her children that had been done to her. She wanted to get out but couldn’t. She admitted that she was a slave to her situation. One day, while in jail, an elderly woman told her that she needed to go home and take care of her children. She needed to call out to God before it was too late. She knew that what she was saying was true. She allowed the woman to pray with her and she felt the Holy Spirit step in and wash over her. From that day forward she experienced conviction and was awakened to the things of God. She no longer found satisfaction in drugs and began to turn her life around. She, however, struggled with thoughts of suicide and battled to attend church consistently. One day, she met a pastor at a festival and admitted her struggle and asked him to pray for her. He encouraged her to pray in the name of Jesus when she felt tormented. She tried it and got her breakthrough. She realised that there was truly power in the name of Jesus. She is now working with women who went through the same struggles she once had. Now, she is excited to serve God. He has restored her children to her and as she helps others, He is helping her live the reality of Genesis 50:20 - what the enemy meant for evil God turned it around for good for the saving of many lives. I love the fact that no matter how far gone we are or think we are, God always has a way to reach us. Tasha met God in church but along the way lost her connection with and her desire for Him. Yet, it was while she was in jail that He chose to reach out to her … and get her attention! We can’t always tell God where, when, or how to reach us. We can’t even always decide who He should use. But God knows exactly what and who would get our attention. I would like to think that even when we think it’s over and it’s too late, God is still watching, waiting for just the right moment to come to our rescue. With Him, once we are alive, it’s never too late and even when the enemy is doing his best to destroy us God will use our failures and disappointments to help others and to bring glory to Himself. Tasha ends her story with the words of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 50:20. After all the hurt and pain Joseph had been through because of them, Joseph realised that God was in it all along. They may have meant their bad treatment of him for evil but God used all of it to save their very lives many years later! How like God to turn what was meant for evil into something that helps even those who tried to destroy us! Only God! I know it’s hard, I know it’s downright discouraging at times but God’s silence does not mean His absence. He is right there, working behind the scenes, putting things in place to bring good out of a terrible situation. It can be easy to get angry with Him, wondering why He is taking so long to answer, so long to deliver, but as I have said before in different ways, it’s all about His timing. God knows exactly what to do and when to do it. Sometimes we just need to let go of our control and allow Him to take charge and do what He chooses to do. We could never be unhappy with His final result. And, when He steps in, we can be sure that every evil He will turn around for good! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. As bad as things may seem at times, God is still good and He is still very much present! He has not gone anywhere and He will show up and work on your behalf in His perfect timing. He may seem slow but He is never late and He will surely take that impossible situation and use it for your good and for the good of others. Be encouraged! Days before Michael’s wedding, he contracted the Covid virus. Doctors had little hope for his recovery and encouraged his fiancée, Melanie, to inform his family about how hopeless his situation was. His oldest son, however, chose not to see it that way. He and many others were at the hospital praying for his father. Unfortunately, things got worse. Michael developed pneumonia and sepsis and even his kidneys started to shut down. The medication just did not seem to be working. While setting him up for dialysis, one of his lungs collapsed. Outside in the parking lot people continued praying. Inside, his youngest son asked God for a miracle. His oldest believed that God has the final say. Within an hour, he no longer needed a ventilator and his kidneys began to improve. He did not need dialysis. On top of that, the sepsis became a thing of the past. Not long after, doctors brought him out of sedation but he was not waking up. Doctors warned the family about raising their hopes up. They feared that the stroke could have long term serious effects on him. However, Melanie told God that although she did not understand, she trusted Him. When Michael did finally wake up, his first words were to his fiancée. He told her that she would look beautiful in her wedding dress. He said that because he knew he would see it because God had shown it to Him and he wanted to encourage Melanie. It took months of rehab for him to recover from the effects of the stroke. He, however, made up his mind that he would walk down the aisle to marry his wife…and he did. Thanks to prayer and rehab, Michael has fully recovered. There are a number of lessons that can be gleaned from this testimony, but what stands out to me is the comment made by his oldest son. He said God has the final say. Although he acknowledged the doctors’ efforts, he also acknowledged that they don’t always have the final say. This reminds me of a verse God brought to my attention recently from Proverbs 16:33. It says: “We may throw the dice but the Lord determines how they fall.” Simply put, no matter what is done, God is still the One to determine the final outcome. The doctors did everything they could and even came to the conclusions they came to. At the end of the day, however, God determined Michael’s fate. For me, this is encouraging because the best of experts can give a discouraging report, but we can trust our discouraging situation to an all-powerful God. Man may say “no” while God may be saying “yes.” I recall the story of Jairus (Mark 5:21-43). While seeking Jesus’ help to heal his dying daughter, she died. It did not even make sense anymore to ask Jesus to still come to his house. Yet, Jesus paid no attention to the words of the messengers who came to give Jairus the news and instead invited Jairus to focus on His own powerful words, “Don’t be afraid, only believe” (v. 36). You see, God still had the final say and when Jairus chose to believe and trust in Him, he was not disappointed. God still has the final say. Yes, it is very easy to go by what we see and hear. It can be difficult to muster faith when “sight” is so powerful. Yet, just like Jairus, God wants us to go not by what we see or hear but by His promise, His Word to us. God is still able to do the impossible. As Jesus Himself said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). So, be encouraged today…God still has the final say! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Life will at times send us discouraging news, fearful situations, all designed to cause us to give up hope. Yet, no matter what comes your way, God still determines what the final outcome will be - good or bad. Trust your life, therefore, in the hands of the God who can handle any situation. Trust Him with every mess, with every challenge, with every hopeless situation and remember … He still has the final say. Travis and Rachel awoke one morning to a fiery inferno. Their house was on fire. Rachel’s parents lived close by and when they arrived, her mother told them to jump out of their second story window. Rachel was thirty-six weeks pregnant. She was able to get out but by that time, the fire had reached the window and Travis opted to run back through the house trying to escape. When he got outside, Rachel’s parents were pulling her unconscious body to safety. Feeling his skin burning, he immediately ran to their house next door and into their shower. When they got to the hospital, it was discovered that Rachel had suffered a brain bleed from a fractured skull and third degree burns from her legs to her torso. Doctors decided to do an emergency C-section to remove her baby. Fortunately, the baby was fine. Travis, on the other hand, had to undergo emergency surgery for the extensive burns he had sustained. Doctors were able to stop Rachel’s brain bleed and so saved her life. They both underwent various surgeries to address their injuries - Travis, three and Rachel, five. Their recovery process was a painful one and Rachel had to undergo therapy because of the extent and location of her burns. She had been in the hospital for twenty-nine days and one of her surgeons told her that her healing was where it should have been at four and a half months! Travis realised that it was a miracle they had survived considering the intensity of the fire which destroyed their home. He acknowledges that God truly stepped in and by His grace saved them. Only a bible, a photo and the shirt Rachel was baptized in, survived the fire. These were framed. They truly believe that God delivered them so that they could share His goodness to the world. They don’t see it as their story but as an opportunity for them to share who God is as well as His goodness and faithfulness through what they went through. The three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in the book of Daniel come to my mind (Daniel 3). In their case, they refused to bow to a golden image set up by king Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, they were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. While there, God stepped in and when the king looked he was amazed to see the three boys, free of their bonds, and in the company of a fourth man whom he described as looking like the Son of God. When they were told to come out of the furnace, they were completely untouched by the fire. As a result, the king blessed the God of these three boys, acknowledging that there was no other god who could deliver like Him. At the end of the day, the true and living God got the glory and showed Himself as God above all others! Just like the three Hebrew boys, Travis and Rachel went through a fiery experience, but God delivered them. They did experience burns and discomfort and pain, but what God did for them and through them was as amazing as what He did for the three Hebrew boys. Rachel was still able to birth a perfectly healthy baby girl who was totally untouched by what her parents had been through and during their healing process, God came through for them time and again. Many have been and some are still going through fiery trials and, like Travis and Rachel, the season is a difficult and painful one. Yet, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He could have prevented the fire but He did not. The reality is, we will not have a testimony if we don’t go through some fires. We won’t know or fully experience God’s goodness and faithfulness if we don’t go through difficult times. We won’t know comfort unless we experience pain or tragedy. We won’t know strength unless we experience hopelessness and weakness. The enemy may send challenges to destroy us but God allows them to enable us to see who He really is and to tell others about His goodness. So, be encouraged. God is still a present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). He has not left or forsaken you and He never will. Just trust Him. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is not untouched by what we go through. He does care and allows both good and bad in our lives to show His goodness and faithfulness to us. In turn we get the opportunity to share our experience and be an encouragement to others. Gail, an associate pastor, was actively involved in ministry overseeing the church’s food pantry and leading global missions trips. One day, after helping unload one of their trucks, she jumped down from the truck and damaged her right knee. When she visited the doctor, she was advised to use hot and cold packs. She did not want to undergo surgery so, for the next ten years, she was content to use over-the-counter drugs and a knee brace. This enabled her to continue her volunteer work at the church even though it took her a longer time to get things done. Gail continued praying for healing so that she could continue doing what she wanted to do for the Lord. By the end of 2022, at the age of 81, Gail accepted her situation, believing that things might not change. She was getting older and decided that she would have to live with it especially since she had asked God a number of times for healing and she had not been healed. On the night of December 30th of that same year, she returned home exhausted from a full day at the church. She was watching christian television when she heard a word of knowledge about someone with problems with their right knee. She believed that she was that person and began moving about, as instructed, doing what she could not do before. The pain was gone! She began praising the Lord thanking Him for healing her. Six months later, she went to the Middle East on vacation. They had to do a lot of walking and she believed that she would not have been able to do that much walking if God had not healed her. God had healed her just in time for that trip! The delay in her healing meant more to her because had God healed her the first time she prayed for it, she would not have kept on praying and believing. What I like about this story is that God is not hindered by our age or time. We may be concerned with the fact that we are getting older and we may wonder when God is going to fulfil certain things in our life. Gail’s testimony, is a reminder that once we are alive, and no matter what age we are, God is able to do great things in and through us. It may take a few minutes to get some things done or it may take many years but God’s timing is not ours. For Him, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day (2 Peter 3:8). His Word also says: “At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen” (Isaiah 60:22). Furthermore, as much as we don’t like delay, what may seem like a delay to us, God sees it as perfect timing. The things that He is teaching us while we wait may be even more important to Him than giving us what we ask for when we ask for it. With God, there will always be a bigger picture. It’s about trusting God, trusting that He knows what is best, trusting that He has our back and that He will never do anything to intentionally harm or discourage us. If we have to go through our situation longer than we had hoped, He will give us the grace and strength needed to make it through. We can still have hope, we can still be encouraged, we can certainly still have peace, even though things are not what we would like them to be according to our timing. God will never leave us in a situation uncovered. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. We all have set times for when we would like certain things to take place. Yet, in God’s perfect timing, everything will fall into place exactly as they should and when they should. God is never late, His timing is always perfect and He is quite able to use what we see as a delay, to do beautiful things in and through us. Be encouraged! I was inspired by the story of Sydney, an American Olympic Gold medalist, who, for years, struggled with anxiety and fear as she battled with the need to be perfect. Sydney started running when she was only six years old. While in high school, she performed well and became one of the top hurdlers in the country. At the age of sixteen, she qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. However, in spite of her success, she struggled with anxiety and fear. She felt that this was borne out of her need to be perfect in everything. She unfortunately did not medal at this Olympic Games and returned home to critical comments on her failure to receive a medal. From that point on she realised that she had to deal with the fear because she did not want to go on living the way she was. Her failure to win first place in any race proved difficult for her. At the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in 2019, she placed second. She was devastated. Although she grew up in a Christian home, she never truly trusted God. These failures forced her to cry out to Him. She realised and acknowledged to Him that He was the only One who could help her deal with the anxiety and fear. During Covid-19, she took the time to seek God. She discovered through the lens of His Word that she herself had nothing to offer Him but that the righteousness of Jesus covering her life is what is presentable before Him. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, with a new focus on God, she finally succeeded in achieving gold medals in the 4x400 relay and the 400 metre hurdles. She has learned that God has not failed her and that even when she may lose she still wins because she is able to learn from the experience. She used to cross the finish line and feel empty inside but now she has joy no matter the circumstances. She is now running with a new purpose, a new goal and the goal is not to win a gold medal but to run the race of the christian life well. It’s about setting her mind on things above and wanting to honour God. Many of us can probably identify with the fear and anxiety that Sydney felt. In different areas of our lives we may feel the need to be perfect, believing that perfection equals success. However, as Sydney learned, true success is found in Christ and in a relationship with Him. He does not expect us to be perfect. In fact, He willingly works with us to help us become someone we can be proud of, someone who honours God in both failures and successes. Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us to run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We can’t run this race alone, we were never meant to. God has promised to be with us every step of the way. He is the only One who can help us to truly succeed - not according to the world’s standards but His. Jesus chose twelve disciples and none of them were perfect and none of them would have been chosen by human standards. Yet, Jesus chose them because of purpose, His purpose for each of them. God does not need or choose perfect people - there are none anyway. He chooses willing hearts desirous of pleasing Him; He chooses according to what He has planned for each of us. I believe that Sydney discovered that God’s standards were a lot less stressful than her own and that she did not have to do life on her own. He would be with her every step of the way to help when needed. That’s a powerful and liberating lesson to learn. God loves us just as we are and is able to do beautiful and powerful things in and through us … just as we are. He is not looking for perfection, just a heart willing to please Him. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. We don’t have to be anxious about not having it all together. God loves us in spite of our shortcomings and failures. He doesn’t expect from us what He knows we cannot give. He only wants us to hand it all over to Him and watch how, with His help, we can live a life of peace, joy and fulfilment in spite of our limitations. As a young girl, Leslie’s life was filled with abuse, rejection and violence. She became angry at God because He didn’t stop the abuse. At the age of fifteen, she was kidnapped by her boyfriend, an older man, and forced into sex trafficking. She was told that if she tried to get out, various members of her family including herself would be killed. She reached the point of taking pills to numb her pain. When her pimp was arrested ten years later, she continued prostituting herself. She went on to harder drugs and became addicted to crack cocaine. She simply wanted the pain to stop since the older she got the stronger the pain became. She finally tried to end her life by taking pills with alcohol. As she felt herself dying, she cried out to God and felt something hug her tightly. She saw it as the hug she never got as a child. At that point, she realised that God was real and that He cared. The next day she enrolled in a thirty-day detox centre and was able to stop using drugs. She then went to a Christian women’s shelter where she spent the next year learning from the Bible about her identity and purpose and how to love herself. She learned her purpose was to take care of other people so she got involved in home health care. While there, one of her patients who had Alzheimer’s disease and who never spoke, unexpectedly told her one day that she had to pray for them. She knew exactly what she meant. She had to forgive those who had hurt her in order to release herself. She also had to ask God for forgiveness. She has gone on to help other women by launching a program for sexually exploited women. She realises that God allowed her to go through all that she went through so that she could in turn help other women get out. She is now married and understands who she is. As she put it: “When I look in the mirror I see a powerful woman of God. I see a warrior, I see a fighter, I see me, and I know who I am. I love this story because it speaks of the fight that we all go through at some point in time or another. The fight may not be the same as Leslie’s but it’s a battle nonetheless that seems overwhelming and may cause us to feel trapped. We may even wonder: “How long Lord?” as the battle may seem never-ending. In Psalm 13:1 David says: “How long Oh Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Sometimes we may feel that God is taking a long time to answer. We may even resort to other sources of help in our desperation. I like the fact that Leslie said that God allowed her to go through so that she could help others get out. Maybe God even allowed her to go through for as long as she did so that, as she put it, she could understand the fight and so be able to help others. When we go through we are in a better position to help others. Our fight, our negative situation is not in vain. It has a purpose. Her fight also helped her understand her identity. It taught her that she might be knocked down many times but not knocked out. With God’s help she understood and appreciated who she is and that God does indeed care. Whatever you might be going through, your fight has a purpose, you have a purpose. The enemy may mean for it to destroy you but God will use it to strengthen you and define you, to make you into a powerful vessel He can use for His honour and glory. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. There is no battle or challenge that you will face that God will not enable you to handle. No matter how long it takes, God will answer and He will use that battle for good, to fulfil His purpose for your life. Sophie and her husband, Joe, desired a large family. However, she discovered she had stage four endometriosis, a disease in the uterus which causes cysts, scar tissue and infertility. She would have this disease her entire life. They were devastated. She had laparoscopic surgery to remove the cysts. This would help make pregnancy a possibility. The surgery was successful. Four months later, Sophie became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The entire pregnancy and process were uneventful. They attempted a second pregnancy but were faced with a series of miscarriages. When they returned to her doctor for an exam, they discovered that the endometriosis had returned and was worse than before. She now had cysts and a blocked fallopian tube which would make pregnancy impossible. She was disappointed. She went before God and gave the problem to Him. Her focus now shifted and her desire for God and what He wanted became greater than her desire for a large family. They planned to have in vitro fertilisation done. This would require the removal of her fallopian tubes thus preventing her from being able to become pregnant naturally. They requested prayer from friends and family. At this time, a friend shared with her a dream she had had. In this dream both Sophie and her sister were pregnant at the same time. This dream gave Sophie hope and she felt that maybe the IVF would work the first time and she and her sister would indeed be pregnant together. They went ahead and scheduled an appointment to have the procedure done. However, the night before, Sophie felt the urge to do a pregnancy test. She had had many failed tests and expected this one to be negative as well but she just wanted to rule out the possibility. She was shocked when the test was positive. At the next ultrasound, the doctor reported that everything was okay and normal. The cysts were gone! Months later Sophie delivered a healthy baby girl. The main point of focus for me is the fact that, when met with intense disappointment a second time around, Sophie finally handed over the problem to God and chose to let His will become her own. She still wanted more children but chose to have a greater desire for God’s ultimate will and purpose for her life. I believe this is when the shift in her circumstances took place even though she did not know it at the time. Just like Sophie, I believe that God wants us to desire Him more than our own desires. It isn’t that He doesn’t want to give us what we desire, but He doesn’t want our desire to become more important than our desire for Him; He doesn’t want our desires to become an idol in our lives and replace Him, the One true and living God. Sadly, without realising it, many times that does happen and we find ourselves frustrated when things don’t seem to be working out our way. Maybe what God is looking for is a shift in our focus. When He becomes our main desire and focus, when we can reach the point where if we don’t get what we want, we would still love Him anyway, we would still serve Him with all our heart anyway, I believe that is where our true victory will come. It is not about getting what we want as much as it is about being within His perfect plan, purpose and will for our lives. God will never give us anything less than His best. And, maybe, when we give God our greatest desires, He will give us in turn more than we could ever hope, dream or ask for. Sometimes we lose when we hold on but we gain when we let go, releasing it into God’s capable hands. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. You will never lose when you give to God. He will always ensure that when you do, He will give His very best to you. |
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March 2024
AuthorThis blog provides inspirational nuggets inspired by the Word of God and serves to encourage and motivate Christians in their Christian walk. |