When you are afraid…God is for you!

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If there is one truth I want you to hold on to in times of fear, it’s that God is for you.

When fear, hopelessness, stress, and anxiety and so much more engulfs us we can hold on to the truth that God is for us. I think of David who echoed these very words. He was in one of the darkest and lowest moments of his life when he declared that God was for him.

“You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know that God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 56:8-11 ESV

David was in serious trouble when he wrote this Psalm. He was on the run from Saul who was trying to kill him. Saul was king which meant he had all the resources he needed to kill David. David on the other hand had nothing.

But things get worse for David, because while on the run he was seized by the Philistines who were Israel’s enemies! Look at what the intro of Psalm 56 says,

“TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE DOVE ON FAR-OFF TEREBINTHS. A MIKTAM OF DAVID WHEN THE PHILISTINES SEIZED HIM IN GATH.”

Things go from bad to worse for David. He had no resources and no mighty men to help him. He had no where to go and no one to turn to except God!

In that dark, fearful time David cried out to the Lord his God and declared,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

No matter what you are going through and no matter how bad it looks, know that God is with you. You are not alone in the storm. You are not alone in the fire. Even when it seems like there is no way for you, God will make a way for you. Even when people have abandoned you, God has not.

When David cried out to God, the Lord heard him and delivered him out of trouble. He delivered him from his fears. By faith David thanked God before the deliverance came.

“I must perform my vows to you, O God: I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”

Psalm 56:12, 13 ESV

The best time to praise God is now! It’s not when the victory and deliverance comes. It is now, when you are in the pit, in the miry clay, in the darkness. And it’s in those moments when God will come through for you. Remember, that nothing is impossible for Him.

As you go through what you are going through know that God is for you. And because He is for you, you can be guaranteed that your situation will turn around. So, trust Him. Don’t give in to the negative thoughts, to the fear.

Bless you friends

Rolain 

From Barrenness to Breakthrough

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What do we do when there are parts of our lives that are barren, that don’t seem to be producing anything, that seem to be dead? Areas that are supposed to be producing fruit, areas that are supposed to be alive?!

All throughout scripture we see what God did with His servants who were barren so the first thing we need to do is remind ourselves that our God is not the God of barrenness. He is not the God of lack. Instead, He is the God of abundance and the God of life. If there is an area of barrenness in your life God has a plan in the midst of it.

This is made very clear in the story of Isaac and Rebekah. There are many other stories and scriptures, but I want to focus on this specific one because I was so encouraged when I read it. In the book of Genesis there is a very detailed story of how Abraham sent his servant to find Isaac a wife (Genesis 24) and it’s very clear that God was the one who orchestrated them getting together.

But we also see that Rebekah was barren. This was not a mistake on God’s part. He wanted Isaac and Rebekah to trust Him completely. So, Isaac prayed for his wife for a really long time.

“And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”

Genesis 25:21 ESV

Pray over your barrenness and don’t stop even when it seems like nothing is happening. Isaac prayed for about twenty years that Rebekah would have a child and the Lord heard and granted his prayer. When there is barrenness in your life that is not the time to give up trusting God but to buckle down and trust Him more. God wants you to trust Him. Barrenness will only be overcome by faith in God and His promises. Isaac and Rebekah had to trust God to fulfil His promises. They wouldn’t be able to fulfil God’s call on their own – they couldn’t! So, we must do the same.

But there is something so interesting that I want you to see if we back track in Rebekah’s story. Her family obviously knew that she was barren so when the servant came declaring that God led him to Rebekah and that he wanted their permission to take her back to his master’s son they could have been discouraged because of her barrenness. It made her a “liability” because she couldn’t have children but that’s not what happened. Let’s read what they said to her.

“And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”

Genesis 24:60 ESV

They declared by faith that she would have children. Even though she was barren and it didn’t seem possible that she could have a child they trusted God and declared life, and the opening of her womb. And that is exactly what happened.

“Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.”

Genesis 25:21 NLT

Don’t be moved by your circumstances. Even though things seem bleak around you trust God to do the impossible. Keep trusting God for breakthrough, keep speaking life, keep declaring your faith in God.  Declare God’s promises over yourself. Speak life in the midst of your barrenness. Don’t let it silence you.

God is faithful and He will come through for you. Keep praying bold faith prayers. Keep speaking right. God is not a man that He should lie. He loves you and cares for you and wants to bring abundance to your life. He wants you to be blessed and to be a blessing. It can be hard to hold on to God’s promises in the midst of a drought or a storm but in due time God will come through for you. He will do the impossible in your life if you believe in Him.

Amen and blessing to you friends.

Rolain

God Knows What You Are Going Through

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“Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.”

Exodus 3:7,8 ESV

“I know their sufferings”

What a glorious truth for us to hold on to, that God knows what we are going through.

He knows your sufferings. He knows the hard things you are going through. He knows every single struggle you face. He hears every cry you make. There is nothing about the difficulties you face that escape Him. Even when people around you don’t understand what you are going through, He does. He knows every single detail.

Your prayers have not been ignored. Your pleas for help have not gone unnoticed. Your tears have been seen and bottled up by Him. God sees and hears everything. And like the Israelites, God will deliver and help you too. You are His precious child who He cares for beyond words can describe. He will breakthrough on your behalf.

So don’t stop praying, don’t give up hope, don’t throw in the towel. Your situation will change. Things will get better because God is faithful. Your prayers will be answered. You will come out on the other side because He is with you.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Moving Forward No Matter What

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Hi friends.

I hope your year has started off with a bang. Happy new year to you all!

The new year brings new opportunities for us, new experiences and also an opportunity to make more ground on what we have been working on last year or the past years and to see things completed that we have been working on.

As we keep moving forward with the things God has put on our hearts it can be really tough especially when we don’t seem to be moving, or what we have been working on, the things God has given us don’t seem to be getting any traction. It just seems hard and every step is a grind which has left you discouraged and hopeless.  

I want to encourage you to not give up. Keep trusting God because He will get you through what you are going through. The enemy doesn’t want you to succeed, he doesn’t want you to walk in the amazing call God has on your life so he will do anything to stop you.

Look at Jesus before He started His ministry. He was in the desert, and He had to endure temptations in the wilderness which were designed to discourage Him and even stop Him from starting what God had called Him to do. But with each temptation, what did He do?

He met each temptation with a Scripture that addressed that particular temptation! So, when you feel discouraged and it seems like nothing is working, and the enemy’s voice of discouragement is loud, recall what God has told you. Remind yourself of His words to you. Declare God’s word over your situation instead of speaking negatively.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

Don’t go by what you see in front of you and by what is happening around you. Walk by faith. When you walk by sight you will quickly be discouraged and like Peter you will begin to drown. But as you keep your eyes on Jesus, believing that He will make a way for you in the wilderness, that He will give you victory even when you are surrounded by many opposing adversaries, you will receive what He has promised you.

Even though there are many adversaries and many negative voices against you, God will bring you out victorious. He will fulfil what He promised you. He has opened amazing doors for you. And like Paul you need to keep standing.

“But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide door for effective work has opened for me and there are many adversaries.”

1 Corinthians 16:8 ESV

There were many adversaries in Ephesus and Paul could have just left. But he saw the great door that God opened for him and he decided to stay. He wasn’t going anywhere. He would trust God as he kept doing what God told him to do despite the adversaries he faced. He knew that God was with him and that was all that he needed.

Keep moving forward, no matter what. God has opened amazing doors for you and the only way you go through them is in His strength. You won’t make it if you rely on your own strength. Trust God to turn things around in your life. Trust Him to fulfill what He has promised you. Declare God’s promises over yourself daily and keep moving forward!

Bless you friends

Rolain

God is Writing a New Story for You

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The year is nearly over and God wants you to lay aside the old narratives that you have been living by to this point. We all gravitate to the strongest picture in our minds so if that picture is negative that is what we will gravitate towards. But like I said, God has a better picture for you, He is writing a much better story for you but you must accept it. You must resist the negative story that the enemy is trying to get you to believe.

We live in a world that is always trying to tell us who we are and what our lives should be and without knowing we have listened to and accepted some of those voices. The voices are not loud and brash but subtle and mildly imperceptible. A passing thought that we didn’t scrutinize enough. A word from someone that we just accepted.

How do you think Gideon came to believe that he was the least in his family and that his tribe was the least of all the clans?

“And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

Judges 6:15 ESV

It was what he heard daily from his friends, or people he respected, or from his elders. Maybe it was said jokingly but after some time it became his truth. Even as the angel of the Lord stood before him, showing him a new story, a better story, he clung on to the strongest picture which wasn’t from God. But the great news is that God didn’t leave him there. He helped him to change that negative picture into the one He had for him.

Gideon eventually accepted the new and better story that God had written for him. And He will do the same thing for you. Ask God to show you what false narratives are in your life right now. Narratives like I am not smart enough, I am not qualified, I am not handsome, or pretty, I grew up in the wrong part of town and on they go.”

Release them all to God. Accept the new story that He is writing for you.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

Be careful what you listen to. Be vigilant about the thoughts that come to you. Don’t accept just anything. Be skeptical of the negative voices that are constantly bombarding you no matter how “accurate” they seem. The truth is that God is writing a new story for you. It’s so much better than what the world is telling you. So trust God who is the author of your story.

Bless you friends and Merry Christmas!

Rolain

Remember Me Lord

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Have you ever felt forgotten, ignored, put aside?

This is a rhetorical question off course because we have all felt this or something like this at one point or many times in our lives. But people are people, we are not perfect, so it is quite normal to feel this. People will forget us, ignore us, put us aside and we have done the same.

But this is not the case with our Lord. He doesn’t forget us even when it seems like He has. You may have prayed, and no answer has come, leaving you feeling like God has forgotten about you, that He doesn’t care about what you are going through. But that’s not true.

As I was reading the story of Noah something jumped out at me that I couldn’t shake for days.

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

Genesis 8:1 ESV

As Noah was in the ark, we are told that God remembered Him. The note under that scripture says,

“When the Bible says that God “remembers” someone or that He remembers His covenant with someone, it means He is about to act for that person’s welfare.”

So even though it may seem like God has forgotten you, He really hasn’t. He sees what you are going through. He sees the pain you are experiencing, the loss you have endured, and so much more. You are His son or daughter, and He will never forget you. Don’t believe for one second that you are not on God’s mind.

I think of the Israelites when they were under slavery for 400 years. They cried out to God for help and for 400 years it seemed like God didn’t hear them. It seemed like He had forgotten them. But this is what it says in Exodus 2

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.”

Exodus 2:23-25 ESV

Don’t give up praying to God for help. Don’t stop crying out to Him because He knows what you are facing. There is nothing that you are facing that He doesn’t see. And He is about to act on your behalf. Be patient. Stand steadfast in faith.

Hannah is someone else who comes to mind. She was going through a tough time because she couldn’t have children. She was being ridiculed because of it. But she went to God with her request and pleaded to Him to not forget her.

“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

1 Samuel 1:10,11 ESV

God heard her prayer. He did not forget her. He answered her prayer by giving her Samuel and more children!

“They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”

1 Samuel 1:19,20 ESV

The Lord remembered her and in DUE TIME, He gave her a son. We need to patient. Don’t throw in the towel in your trouble. God will come through for you. He will not forget you. You are always on His mind. He remembers you always!  

If you forget us the enemy will be victorious over us. God remember us, do not forget us.

Amen

Different Victories

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Hi Friends

I was on a kids camp a few days ago and it was fun being one of the facilitators. We had never been at this camp site before and there were a whole host of new and challenging activities for the kids to do. It was great to see the kids have fun. But when it came to the different activities we did there were some kids who excelled and some who didn’t. There were some kids who were fearless and completed the “death defying” obstacles and some kids who didn’t.

But as we went through the day and helped the children overcome their fears to do the activities, I realised something. We are all at different levels. We all have our own races to run. For some children it was a win to even attempt an obstacle and get part of the way and for some it was a win to finish the course. There was cheering when a child completed the course and there was cheering when the scared child decided to attempt the obstacle.

God has a race for you to run. Don’t compare your race to someone else’s. Or to say it in another way, stay in your lane. When we try to be like someone else that is when discouragement comes, dissatisfaction comes, even a hatred of self. Be patient with yourself. Go at God’s pace not someone else’s pace. Focus on what you need to do, on what God has given you to do.

God made you unique, one of a kind for a reason. The journey God has put you on will reflect that so don’t despise where you are at on your journey. I think of the parable of the talents that Jesus taught. Three men were given a different number of talents according to their ability.

“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.”

Matthew 25:15 ESV

When the master came back to settle his accounts, he didn’t expect the men with the smaller number of talents to get the same number as the man who had the greatest number of talents. He rewarded them all except for the man who buried his talent in the ground. (Matthew 25:20-24)

God wants us to be faithful with what He has given us. So don’t waste your time trying to be someone else. Celebrate your victories no matter how different they are from the next person. Our victories will always be different but that’s okay.

Bless you friends

Make Room for God to Move!

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We all face challenging and impossible situations. But in those times how do we respond? Do we respond with fear and doubt, or do we respond with faith, believing that God will make a way? What do we believe in our heart of hearts as we stand before a seemingly unmovable mountain?

The truth of the matter is that nothing is impossible with God. No matter how great the storm God is greater. Don’t be moved by what is happening around you. Don’t let your circumstances damper your faith in God. When your outward circumstances look hopeless that is the time to dig in and hold on to your faith in God. No matter how hopeless it seems we need to always make room for God to do what only He can do.

That’s what Ezekiel did when the Lord brought him to the valley of dry bones. In the valley of dry bones, the situation looked hopeless.

“And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.”

Ezekiel 32:2 ESV

The bones in the valley were not just dry but were VERY dry which speaks into the hopelessness of the situation. There was no hope of life, no hope that the bones would live again.

Are you in a situation like that today?

You may be in a situation that is beyond hopeless if there is such a thing. Your situation seems impossible and dead and as you look at it you are depressed and wondering how it will ever be changed. You have tried everything and nothing has changed, the mountain hasn’t budged an inch. But because of who God is your immovable mountain will move, your impossible will become possible, but you need to believe it. You need to have faith in God that He will move on your behalf.

As Ezekiel was looking at the dry bones, God asked him a question and his response caught my interest.

“And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, you know.”

Ezekiel 32:3 ESV

Ezekiel could have gone by what he saw, the hopelessness of the situation and said no, the bones would not live. But instead, he declared, “you know.” In essence he was giving God room to move. Even though it didn’t look possible he was leaving it to God to do what only He could do.

By saying “you know” he was giving himself the opportunity to believe in God even if it seemed impossible and because he gave God room to move, God did the impossible and brought the bones to life!

“Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”

Ezekiel 37:5 ESV

Are you leaving room for God to move in your impossible situations or are you letting your circumstances dictate what you believe? Don’t let what is happening stop you from believing in God. Declare the breakthrough you are trusting for. Declare life instead of death. Keep on believing that God has heard your prayer and that He will act. The enemy would like you to believe there is no hope, but he is wrong because with God there is always hope!

Amen

Hold On A Little Bit Longer

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Is there something you have been waiting on God for for a really long time?

Are you at the end of your rope and about to give up because nothing seems to be happening?

You have prayed, you have waited and waited and waited and still nothing. But I want to encourage you to hold on a little bit longer, to wait a little bit longer. There is something I have been praying about for a really long time and nothing seemed to be happening. It was becoming harder to continue believing, to continue trusting. “Did I hear God wrong?” “Was I following my own thoughts?”

These were some of the thoughts I was having so I went to God for answers, for clarity and I remembered the story of Joseph. We all know his story. He had a great call of God on his life but was betrayed by his brothers. They sold him as a slave and he ended up in Egypt. He was in an unfamiliar place where he had no one to turn to. It seemed like it was over for him but that was just the introduction. Part 2 of his story continued in Egypt. God was with him and gave him favor. It wasn’t easy for him in Egypt especially when he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Imagine that. Being in a foreign land and then being accused of sleeping with Pharaoh’s wife. Things were not looking good for him.

That was until in prison he interpreted the dreams of two prisoners, the chief cupbearer and the chief butler. One of them would be released from prison and that is when he pleaded with the chief cupbearer to help him get out of prison.

“Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

Genesis 40:14,15 ESV

But the cupbearer forgot about Joseph and we learn that for two whole years he was forgotten. And even though it seemed like it was a bad thing it was actually good. If he was released at the very time the chief cupbearer was released he probably would have just returned home and missed what God had for him because all he wanted was to be released from prison. He missed his father and mother and Benjamin (I am not sure about his half brothers).

He needed to wait a little longer. And the “little longer” for Joseph was two years. He didn’t know it would be two years till the chief cupbearer remembered him. I don’t think the chief cupbearer forgetting him was just one of those things. I think it was God’s way of helping Joseph because He knew Joseph would have just left back home, missing the fullness of what God has in store for him, and God will help us as we hold on a little longer.

And that’s what God spoke to me about as I remembered Joseph’s story. I needed to hold on a little bit longer which I am doing right now. I believe God will come through for me if I am just patient and I wait on the Lord.

And that is what I want to encourage you with today. Hold on a little bit longer. Wait a little bit longer. Trust God for your answer a little bit longer. I don’t how long “a little longer” is but God knows. A friend told me something this week that really resonated with me in regards to waiting. They said, time is your friend. And I really love that. It may not seem like it now but waiting a little bit longer is the best thing you can do, the best way to show God that you trust Him fully.

Bless you friend

Rolain

Hope is Lost…

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There are hard situations that we encounter that have the potential to take away our hope. Maybe you are reading this and you are on the brink of losing what little hope you have left. But take heart because when hope seems to be gone the Lord is your hope. When it seems like there is no reason to hope I want to encourage you to keep hoping. Remember that the enemy WANTS you to abandon hope. He wants you to give up hope and accept the outcome of your present situation. But as sons and daughters of God we live by faith.

In the book of Acts we read of Paul who was on his way to Rome. He was been transported with other prisoners on a ship but then they encountered a terrible storm. Even though Paul warned them that they would encounter trouble if they kept going the centurion paid more attention to the captain of the ship. They tried everything to get out of the storm but all their efforts came to nothing. And after all was done the word said they abandoned hope!

“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.”

Acts 27:20 ESV

With the continued beating of the storm their hope was being chipped away at until they got to a point when they abandoned their hope!

And that is the goal of the enemy. He wants you and me to get to a point where we crack under the pressure of the trouble we are going through, that we make a decision that we can’t keep holding on to our confession of faith. But no matter how bad our situation looks we must not give up, we must not abandon hope because the Lord is our hope. No matter how hopeless your situation seems God can and will make a way.

So Paul’s situation looked hopeless but in the midst of hopelessness the Lord appeared to Paul and gave him hope!

“Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar.”

Acts 27:22-24 ESV

So even Paul had lost hope. Even though the Lord had told him he would stand before Caesar the storm made him doubt God’s word. But the Lord told him to not be afraid and that is what He is saying to you today. As God has spoken to you, He will fulfill what He has promised you no matter how hopeless your situation appears. Just don’t abandon your hope.

There is another story I want to direct your attention to. Abraham was in a situation where it seemed like he had no hope. The word says it like this,

“There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping. And that is why he became the father of many nations.”

Romans 4:18 ICB

Even though God had told him that he would have a child in his old age there was no hope that God’s word would come to pass. But Abraham did not give up because of his impossible situation. It says that he believed God and kept hoping and because he held on to his hope he received what he was hoping for!

Don’t abandon hope in the Lord. No matter how difficult it is right now keep believing in the Lord. Keep hoping on to Him. He will fulfill His promise to you. There is no maybe in that. It’s a “He WILL bring to pass what He has promised you.

Ask Him for strength to keep holding on. Don’t try to do this on your own. He wants to help you friend. He is good and faithful and He loves you.

Bless you friends

Rolain