As life continues to change, continues to throw me off guard, God is reminding me of how faithful He is. Always has been and always will be. I think we all sometimes forget to look back and see where He has already taken us from.
This past Sunday night I attended a worship service at Austin Stone and went needing something and praying hard that God would reveal Himself to me. It had been a few days of feeling like I had been praying to a wall, like God wasn't listening to the desires I had been laying before Him, like He didn't want me to budge. My thoughts stayed the same, my worries, my fears, my heart. I guess I just felt as if I were at a stand still. I wanted to feel something. I wanted to be moved my Him, in ways I had been before. I could tell Satan was having a field day in my head, I have been working hard at controlling thoughts and feelings that I know are not from Christ, but from the enemy trying so hard to ruin and rob any type of joy from me.Its been and will continue being a process, but I know the God I Love and serve is bigger than the lies and deceit satan is made up of. I will continue fighting that battle.
I had been reminding myself daily, that God loves me, that He does have a plan for my life, that I will not be forsaken, that He created me with specific and divine purpose, that He is bigger than me and that His ways are better than my own. HE IS FAITHFUL.
These truths are who He is, but I was NOT feeling it. I was still allowing those doubts, the "what ifs " , the " had not " moments creep in and out of my mind.
As I sat down at church I prayed hard that God would reveal Himself to me. That He would stir my heart for more of Him and that He would help lighten the load that I had been carrying. He was faithful : )
Here are some notes on the sermon.
In Genesis 12 we watch as doubt seems to ruin everything for Abram, but we see that in the midst of his failure, God is faithful. Here are some questions to help you think through how to apply the sermon:
What is your famine? Abram trusted God's promise initially, but when a famine came into the land he panicked and began to doubt God's provision.
- What are the circumstances that are making it hard for you to trust and believe God's promises? What things make it hard to believe He is working everything for your good?
What is your Egypt? Abram ended up losing his wife in Egypt and making such a mess of his life that it seemed impossible for God's promise to be fulfilled.
- What are some ways you have ‘messed things up' so bad that it's hard to see how God's promises can still come true? If you are not there now, reflect on a time in your life when it looked like you had blown it.
- Make a list of some promises of God that you are tempted to doubt. What behaviors, emotions or thoughts do you have that reveal that you are not trusting in God?
What is your Bethel? God rescued Abram from Egypt and blessed him in spite of his unbelief. Abram then returned to Bethel to reflect on God's faithfulness. He let his past inform his present and future by letting it build his faith.
- What is a time or moment in your life when God's faithfulness has been clearly visible? What are the ways God has provided for you and rescued you in spite of your mistakes?
- Find one or two stories in Scripture where you see God clearly displaying His faithfulness in the midst of failure. Thank Him for these 'Bethels' that are recorded to build your faith.
- Send some time praying and asking God to let His past faithfulness fuel your future faith.
I pray you can see how He has deemed Himself faithful time and time and time again. His faithfulness is all over scripture and all over your life. I hope this blesses you in the way it did me. Seeing that the God I love and serve will always work out my messes, will never let me fail, will never give me something that I can not handle, that I cant mess His divine plan and purpose up if I am seeking Him about it, and trusting Him with every step. That He has been faithful before and he will be faithful again : ).
Come Away My Beloved:
" There is a life ahead for you into which you could not have entered into before. There is a work ready for you, and I have prepared you for it. It is too wonderful to miss. It will be silent but powerful. I will cause the veil to drop, and you will enter a new area of experience. You will be given knowledge in My Spirit that is not found in books. I will share with you my thoughts, and who can tell the sum of them? You will partake in the mind of Christ and of the Holy Spirit of God. His eyes go throughout the whole earth seekingout the thoughts and intents of the hearts of men. YOU WILL SERVE ME IN WAYS YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE. IT IS MY WORK. I HAVE LAID IT OUT BEFORE YOU. KEEP CLEAR OF MANS WORK. STAY FREE TO DO MINE. YOU WILL NOT MISS IT IF YOU KEEP CLOSE TO ME AND STAY SENSITIVE TO MY SPIRIT."
Amen to that truth.
Many blessings,
W
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