Are You Going

Are you going through a hard thing? 

Do you feel like no one knows or understands; that you are all alone?

Many times in our life we are propelled headlong into an insurmountable struggle! We all face storms and trials. Some are a short lived tempest!  The length of others seem to have no end in sight!

Storms are intended to stop us dead in our tracks and bring us to God! 

The fiery trials believers encounter are meant to purify us like silver in the furnace! To cause the removal of dross (sin) so that the Master's face is seen in us when completed! 

Both are hard things, but oh so worth the outcome! Easy to talk about after the fact; seemingly unbearable in their midst!

The duration of the trials is dependent on our pliability! The longer we fight the process, the longer the fight!  Being an overcomer of the process is more likely when we understand our role!

First, we have been told a lie from the beginning; that we have control over our destiny. Even when we set realistic goals for our life, we encounter obstacles moment by moment; day by day. That anyone ever achieves anything in this life is amazing because of forces bent on sidetracking or completely derailing our dream! Understanding that the dream is a gift from God and achieving it requires PROVIDENCE, is wisdom. 

The life we pick out for ourselves (or our children), sometimes is not what God has chosen for us, and the battle is on! Such is the case when we encounter adversity! Major illness, traffic accidents, birth defects, untimely deaths are all life changing events, for good or bad, depending on your relationship (or lack of) with God!  

If you like to play games, then you understand "rules". The creator of the game sets the rules, and the players follow the rules. The game ceases to be fun when players break the rules, and of course there's no game if no one will play with you. Well, can you imagine if the "piece" you are playing with says, "No, I'm NOT moving there!" And refuses to budge!  You, as the player, see the big picture - the best way to achieve the goal of winning the game, but your obstinate little "piece" is flat out refusing to cooperate! It has ideas of it's own, on how to get to the finish line! It doesn't matter that "it is not the one in control"! It doesn't matter that "it is just a pawn, expendable if necessary in achieving the end result! Sometimes in the game, the seemingly insignificant ends up being the most valuable piece; 

the one that is sacrificed first!

Okay, O know I've mixed my metaphors and destroyed all rules in grammar, but hopefully you understand what I'm saying! 

God has a BIG PLAN! He sees the end result and this life you are living is not about how much you earn, whether you have a big house, how many goals you get in the game on Saturday, if you marry the man of your dreams, or if you get a shiny new car! It's all about where you and the ones you love spend eternity! And time is running out!  The Creator could at anytime decide to put the pieces back in the box and put the game on the shelf! 

Again, you are not in control!

But you can know the ONE Who is! 

Knowing Him, The Creator of ALL THINGS, makes life exciting, interesting, and worth living! All of the things you are striving for are ONLY found in Him! Everlasting  happiness, security, peace, love, joy; only obtainable through Him; not the immediate, momentary, short lived, gratification like you've experienced before!

You can have everything you have ever dreamed of, but only through giving up all control and humbling yourself, submitting to The One Who loves you best! He has always known you and has been waiting for you to turn to Him, to show you who you truly are, His! 

“Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭9:19-21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭29:15-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Stop fighting! Surrender the game! It will be the best move of your life!

Even so - MARANATHA! 

From 6/24/14