Standing Strong

Matthew 7: ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

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Watching my car get towed away was the “last straw.” I no longer had transportation, I no longer had money and I had plenty of bills. I simply wanted to just sit in a corner away from everyone!

• There have been some rough times when I just wanted to give up.
• There have been some difficult times when I felt like nothing was going right.
• There have been some extreme times when it seemed like I had no help and “everything” was crashing to the ground.

Years later I took a leadership course giving me several habits to believe in “me.” Up to this point I had already relied on my intuition so this course was a natural fit. When I completed the course I still felt empty. What happens when a problem occurs that is much larger than the power of “me?” GOD had an answer.

• GOD says to me “Listen to MY words and put them into action.”
• GOD says to me “Build your fortitude on MY promises to protect you.”
• GOD says to me “When you place your trust in ME you will not fall.”

Slowly I stopped depending on my wit and started placing more trust in GOD. I began walking down the scary road of not always needing to know what the future had to hold. When the difficult times came I began to ask GOD how HE wanted to handle the situation rather than springing into action.

Prayer began to pop into my head as the answer rather than the question. GOD is a firm foundation for which I place my trust!

• Are you being blown around by life?
• Do you feel like you have reached your wits end?
• Do you feel like giving up?
• Will you stop relying on your own power and start looking at GOD for your answers?

Refining Process

Job 23: ⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

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Even when I don’t see GOD, HE is at work. I mean sometimes I can clearly see HIS hand on me. Like that time when I slid in front of the bus just before it began moving and it stopped. Or the time when I hit a huge puddle of water and the car spun sideways on the expressway and no one hit me. But what about the times I don’t see HIM?

• Sometimes I can’t see what GOD is doing in my life.
• Sometimes I wonder if GOD is even there.
• Sometimes I think GOD has moved on and is helping someone else who has more needs.

When I pray and don’t get my wish in minutes I cry like a baby, but what if I have been praying for years? I mean certainly GOD has ears doesn’t HE? What if HE told me to do something and that something seems endless?

• GOD says to me “I will fortify your steps.”
• GOD says to me “Keep going for I am with you.”
• GOD says to me “Pray without ceasing and I will make you strong.”

My strength comes from GOD not the item I yearn for. HE walks with me day by day, step by step. HE is loving as HE tests me with fire and refines me to shine like gold. HE is the one who I can trust.

• Are you going through the fire?
• Have you been waiting for years for deliverance?
• Can you take off your blinders and recognize what GOD “IS” doing in your life?
• Will you tell someone about GOD today?