It’s Not Over Yet!

The great baseball player, Yogi  Berra, had a saying that became famous and is one of my favorites “it’s not over yet!” How true is this statement when applied to God.  The Lord Jesus Christ was constantly teaching his disciples that there is nothing impossible with God if we only believe, and that is still a lesson that many Christians have yet to learn. All things are possible with God, and because God has everything under His control, there is and will always be hope.

Jesus was told that a dear friend of his, Lazarus, was ill but he did not immediately go to his bedside.  Jesus spent two additional days where he was because he knew that Lazarus’ sickness would in the end bring glory to God.  Even after being told that Lazarus had died, Jesus still believed that there is nothing impossible with God.  Jesus did go to see Mary and Martha and found them and the whole village in mourning.  Their pain touched him so that the Bible tells us that ‘Jesus wept.’  Jesus wept for their unbelief and not because Lazarus had died. Jesus glorified his Father by praying for Lazarus in the presence of the family so that they would know that what they were about to witness was because of the power of Almighty God.  Jesus called out to Lazarus to come forth and he did. God knew that raising Lazarus from the dead as opposed to healing him of his sickness, would have a greater impact on the faith of all concerned and it did.

You might feel like it is all over for you – your job situation, your family concerns or it could be a health issue with you or with someone you love, but you must believe that God has everything under His control.  From your perspective you might experience a delay but God knows the exact time to show up and He will never be too late.  Never stop believing and never stop hoping no matter what the circumstances might look like.  Stand on your faith and tell Satan that “it is not over yet!”

Be Anxious For Nothing

Jesus has told us that in this world we would have trouble, but He also told us not to become anxious about our trouble because He has overcome the world.  Every Christian knows that Jesus has said that but yet, they worry – about everything.

Worry does not solve our problems; nor does the lack of worry take away our problems, so how can we obey Jesus and at the same time solve our problems?  God is the antidote for anxiety.  Instead of focusing on the problem, we should focus on the one who can solve all problems for nothing is impossible with Him. Worrying robs us of our strength and our peace.  God has promised to keep us in perfect peace if we focus on Him but we must be close enough to God to hear Him speak to us.  God does speak to us in whispers, and if we are not still, we could miss hearing God’s voice.

Trusting God is the answer because some problems that we experience will be beyond our control and to some, that alone is a problem.  We want to be in control of everything but that will not always be the case.  God loves us and He wants us to come to Him with everything that concerns us.  God has always been there for you; He has always taken care of you and He cannot stop being who He is.  God has a different perspective on our problems than we do, so it is to our advantage to take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there.  It all comes down to trusting God with not only our lives but the lives of everyone we love in this world.

Be anxious for nothing should be written down every where you go as a reminder that your problems are now God’s problems and in prayer, supplication and thanksgiving you are to take your problems to God and walk away with such peace because the one who created all, has you in the palm of His hand.

Jehovah Jireh

God has commanded us to have no other gods before Him because man cannot serve two masters.  Each of us must be mindful to make God number one in our lives. Any person, place or thing that we allow to usurp God, God will test us in that area.  Nothing we own really belongs to us; everything we have came from God, and we should never worship the creature more than the creator.

God will point at things in our life that are very important to us and test us to see if we love those things more than we love Him.  When God commanded Abraham to offer his son, Isaac as a sacrifice, God was really testing Abraham’s faith, but Abraham showed us that if we put everything that we hold near and dear on the altar, and acknowledge that they are gifts from God, God will show us mercy and provide everything we need.  Abraham had faith that God could raise Isaac from the dead if that were necessary, but because he did not hold back and obeyed God completely, God provided a ram to be offered as the sacrifice.  God always provides the right thing, in the right place and at the right time for His children.

God will make a way for you when there seems to be no way if you allow Him to be first in your life, but He wants you to obey Him before you can see His provision just as Abraham did – that is faith.  If you ever find yourself at Mt. Moriah, trust God as many saints before you have done.  It doesn’t matter what the test, put your faith into action and look for your ‘ram in the bush.’

When You Are At the End of Your Rope

What do you do when you feel like you are at the end of your rope?  The first thing a Christian should do is to turn to the Lord.  It is natural that we first turn to our family and friends for a solution; but at some point in your life you just might run into a problem that only God can resolve.  Instead of God being our last choice, He should be our first choice.  God’s love for us is so great that He knows the very number of the hairs on our head, and because He gave his only begotten Son to us, we have no reason to believe that He does not care about the challenging situations we face.

If we really believed that there is nothing too difficult for God, why do we leave God out of our daily lives? More importantly, God knows where you have been and where you are going.  God knows what is best for you and He alone knows what will hurt you or help you in the long run.  No one can counsel you or give you direction like your heavenly Father.  Life can be problematic and we can become anxious and worry because we don’t have the answers we need, but when you are at the end, God is just beginning.  You must first go to God in prayer and ask Him for His help, and if you seek Him with your whole heart, He promises that you will find Him.  What is also important is that you must be willing to do whatever God tells you to do regardless if you agree with Him or not because obedience is better than sacrifice.

Turn to God when you are at the end of your rope and watch Him get involved in your circumstances.  You will find that there is more rope available to you.  God will extend His hand to you so that your rope becomes longer and longer and you will not fall and you will not fail because if God is for you, who can be against you?  If you feel that you must be in the driver’s seat all of the time, you will miss God’s best for you.  Don’t be afraid to become a passenger.  Wouldn’t you rather be assured that you will reach your destination safely than take the risk of driving around without a map hoping that you will end up where you want to be?  Fasten your seatbelt and relax for God knows how to get you where you need to be and when you need to be there.