Who can know what tomorrow will bring? Who can know what lies in store in 2024?
You wonder, you ponder, you predict what may come—the good, the bad, the in between. You try to prepare, you set your goals, your faith rises, hope soaring high.
But what if?
What if this or that happens? What if your dreaded fears become reality? What if the bad becomes the ugly, the ugly becomes worse, the worst becomes the new normal? What if,what if, what if?
Dwelling on the unknown produces anxiety. Dwelling on the all-knowing One produces peace.
God is with you in the unknown.
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Matthew 1:23 KJV
Immanuel—God with us.
With: accompanied by, in the company of, support, possessing something.
In other words, with describes a state of being.
God is with us. God is. Is—another state of being verb. Together, “God is with us” implies the omnipresence of God.
Yes, He was there from the beginning. Yes, He’s with you now. And, yes, He’s with you already in 2024 in your deepest, scariest unknowns.
He’s there in every place and every trial, lonely moment, sorrow, and difficult decision in every point in time all at once. Before you even arrive at a certain moment in time, He’s already there. He goes before you.
“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV
And we know that nothing catches Him by surprise, though we know not the future. Our understanding is limited, our knowledge finite. It is only through trusting in the One with infinite knowledge and who is always with us that we can step into the unknown with confidence and peace.
God is with us. God is faithful. God is.
As we close out 2023 and prepare for a new year, may we remember that God is with us already in everything we may face. And may we turn our worst “what if” scenarios into our best declarations of faith.
What if I get that job? What if I pass that test? What if God heals me? What if God restores my family? What if I’m delivered? What if God shows up like He never has before?
Follow and put your trust in the One who makes all things new and who turns bad situations around for your good. The same God who delivered, healed, and restored in the biblical age performs those same miracles today.
With describes a state of being, and we know that God never changes.
Our unchanging, holy, miracle-working God is with us right now, tomorrow, next year—always.
2023 isn’t over yet, but around Thanksgiving, I begin to reflect on the year – the ups, the downs, the good, and the bad. This year’s been a mixed bag for me, honestly. I’ve had a lot of wonderful times with people I love, and God has shown me things and blessed me in ways I never expected. And yet it’s as though every good moment has been countered with a tough and challenging setback.
You can get to the point where it becomes hard to feel genuinely thankful even in spite of the obvious blessings you know you still have and are thankful for. Weariness can do that to you. Burnout and being stretched thin can take the passion out of your spirit. And you find yourself just wanting to lie down instead of taking care of the million other things on your to-do list or instead of having to actually think about the issues that you’re facing.
I’m sure we can all say we’ve been there. Many wise people will remind us that when we place each anxiety-inducing situation into God’s hands and trust Him with it, then we’ll have peace, and things will be okay. And that’s absolutely true. I’ve reminded myself and others of that before as well. God will work things out in His timing. He takes care of His children.
But we’re all human, after all, and those problems often don’t immediately go away even when we say we’re trusting God with them. Sometimes they still eat away at you. Sometimes they still haunt you, and even when you think you’ve surrendered it, they plague your mind and drag you back into the mud. And there you are – covered in the grime of frustration, weariness, and anxiety once again.
I could go on and on about the ways stress and frustrating times make us feel, but I digress. How can one find a way to feel thankful in the midst of trying times? I’ve been thinking about this, and God reminded me of something so simple, but so good.
Two things came into my spirit: the God who hears me and the Lord my Sustainer.
All of the conversations I’ve had with God about what I’ve been facing this year, every question I’ve asked Him, every prayer I’ve prayed, every moment where I’ve just rambled about a dozen different frustrations, every single word and prayer and cry has not gone unheard. While I sat and wondered about how to write a post about thankfulness that didn’t feel generic, God simply reminded me of this.
He has heard you. He’s listening. He’s there.
“In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.”
Psalm 18:6 KJV
In every low moment, God heard me, and He hears you. In every moment when I wasn’t sure how I would make it, God sustained me.
“I sought the LORD, and he heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:3 KJV
Sometimes in life there are those situations that just won’t go away, but the Lord will sustain you. You’re not strong, but He is. You can’t do this, but He can. And with His grace and mercy He will give you the strength to endure.
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:13 KJV
I’m reminded of the word God spoke through Reverend Victor Jackson at the UPCI General Conference in 2019 – the Forgotten Anointing. It’s endurance. Jesus saw those who followed Him were weary, and He was moved with compassion.
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36 KJV
If you’re going through a rough season this Thanksgiving, and your thanksgiving spirit feels a little stale, it’s OKAY. You’re human, and real life presents real problems. It’s normal to become weary and tired, but thank God for His compassion on us and that He sent His Spirit to dwell within us and bring us comfort and strength.
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
John 14:18 KJV
Maybe you’re still dealing with the same situation that you’ve been facing all year. Maybe it’s a years-long situation. Maybe you’re struggling with feeling truly thankful, and you’re weary of the same issues day in, day out. You cannot and will make it not by your own strength, but you WILL make it by the power of the Sustainer, by the mercy of the Comforter.
Let God sustain you. Pray His Word out loud, and let His Spirit strengthen yours. He hears your every cry. And let this truth reignite your thanksgiving this holiday season: Jesus is the God who hears us. He is the Lord our Sustainer.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
This blog post is adapted from the notes of a past Midweek lesson of the same title.
I had a lot of different plans for my life growing up. I wanted to be a vet, a photographer, an investigative journalist, a disaster relief specialist, a lawyer, a writer, an editor, a teacher. No matter what I wanted to be, I always had a plan.
In 2013, I was 17, and I was 3 weeks into college going to school to be an editor. But then I became very sick and was rushed to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. And all my current plans were thrown out the window. A couple years went by, and my life seemed to be getting back on track.
In the summer of 2018, there was a shift that happened that changed my life as I knew it. After some unfortunate events, about which I cannot go into much detail here, my family and I began to feel that God was pressing upon us to make a difficult move.
This was not an easy decision. It was a time of a lot of confusion, many rumors, and division. We were not the only ones who made this decision, and it split families. I lost friendships and connections that I’d spent my life building.
Over the next several months, I experienced the stages of grief in various order again and again. But all through this time, I found myself praying and reading the Word even more every day because I was desperate for help from God to get through this. I knew that He had directed us to this place, and so I knew that He must have a plan.
It wasn’t easy to maintain this trust. There were moments I wondered if I’d made a mistake in leaving. Maybe I was struggling with loneliness and depression because I had stepped outside of God’s Will. Maybe God was punishing me for something.
But we don’t have the capacity to understand the ways of God.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV
When you build your life upon the Rock, you can stand even when you endure situations that you don’t understand.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27 KJV
Those who know Christ and follow Him can withstand life’s storms. It takes a relationship with Him. Elijah had a relationship with God. Job had a relationship with God. This means that they knew God, and God knew them. They trusted God. They talked to God. They trusted His Word. They followed Him.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
John 10:27 KJV
Those who disobey and refuse to follow God stumble and fall.
“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”
1 Peter 2:6-8 KJV
See, the cornerstone in ancient times was the first stone laid in a building. It was the key part of the foundation. Those who reject Him don’t truly know Him. They don’t trust Him. They don’t have a relationship with Him. And He becomes a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense to them because they reject Him, and they stumble at the Word.
If I had given up on trusting God, if I hadn’t prayed and read the Word and tried to get closer to Him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. If I had chosen to ignore the leading of God’s Spirit and proceeded with MY plan, I would have missed out on the blessings, and the people, and the opportunities, and the relationships He’s placed in my life.
Do you have a plan for your lives? Do you trust God’s plan even if it’s different from your plan?
Daniel was taken captive into Babylon, taken from his home, but he still kept up his relationship with God even in the middle of an evil, wicked place. He prayed to God as he always did, and they threw him in a lion’s den. He trusted God’s plan. He had a relationship with God.
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
Psalm 63:1 KJV
What is the depth of your relationship with God? Is it strong enough that you know you can trust God no matter what tomorrow brings? Are you spiritually prepared for your next battle?
Disappointment is going to happen. Hard times are going to come. What will be your response when it happens? If it were to happen right now, would you stand?
Are you building your life on the sand or the chief cornerstone? Are you building it on your emotions, your will, and your way, or are you building it upon a relationship with Jesus Christ and surrendering to His will and His way? The disobedient stumble. The disobedient reject God’s Word, His ways, His plan. The wise believe on Him. The wise build a relationship with Him.
I don’t know what is going on in your lives right now. Maybe everything’s going well, or maybe you’re going through something you don’t understand and that you don’t know how you’ll get through. But as someone who’s been there, I can say that there is a purpose to the season you are in, and every season has an end.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
I know what it’s like to have plans and then have them be erased in what seems like an instant because my plan wasn’t God’s plan. But you must trust God above all else, and the only way you can do that is if you have a relationship with Him. If you know Him, then you’ll be able to trust that He will guide you through every trial.
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”
Psalm 32:8 KJV
Do you know Him? Do you know His Word? Do you hear when He speaks to you?
Don’t waste your years thinking, I’ll get my relationship with God figured out later. He’s calling for you now. Now is the time to develop a strong prayer life and to plant yourself deep in the Word.
You have a choice to build your life on the sand or Stone. Build your life now not upon sinking sand, not upon what YOU want but upon Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone, and you will be able to stand.
It’s one of the first words we understand as children. From the moment we begin to understand the concept of possession, selfishness becomes part of our nature.
No, you can’t have that toy. That’s mine. No, I don’t want to share it with them. It’s mine.
Not to piggyback on a cliché, but — ahem — sharing is caring. We must give to others because we care. But this is a concept many struggle with throughout their lives, namely in the form of financial giving and sacrifice.
All that we have belongs to God, especially our money and treasures. He is the one who blesses us with increase, no matter how hard we may have worked for it. It’s the Lord who gives us abilities and opportunities to receive financial blessings. And when we refuse to give what He’s blessed us with back to Him, we’re stealing from Him.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”
Malachi 3:8 KJV
Not only are we robbing God when we refuse to give Him a mere ten percent of our increase, but we’re also depriving ourselves and others of blessings. The more we hold onto our money and treasures and say, “Mine,” the more we make idols of them. We cannot serve two masters.
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6:24 KJV
The love of money is the root of all evil. If you’re having a difficult time giving your treasures to God and His Kingdom, perhaps it’s because you love it more than you love God – perhaps it’s because you trust money more than God or perhaps it’s because you aren’t really invested in His Kingdom.
“Tithing is not a bill or tax. It’s obedience. It’s an act of faith.”
Tony Wyatt Jr.
You love God, you say, but you can’t do what He asks you to do. You love His Kingdom, you say, but don’t want to give to support its growth. You trust the Lord, you say, but when times are tough, you withhold more from God rather than let Him be your Provider.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19 KJV
I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread (see Psalm 37:25). It rains on the just and unjust, and we will all struggle with financial difficulty, but when we still give to the Lord what is His even in tough times, we’re showing how much we truly trust and love Him. And He will take care of our needs every time.
Loving money more than trusting God will lead you down a selfish path. If you withhold from God financially, chances are you’ll withhold from Him in other areas. Greed takes many forms. Treasure is more than just money.
If you refuse to obey God’s command and give to Him and His Kingdom, how else will you refuse Him? You can be greedy with your time. You can be greedy with your talents. You can be greedy with the blessings He’s given you.
“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:20-24 KJV
The greedy person reaps the refusal of God, but the giving person reaps acceptance into His Glory.
Give not just your money but your time, your talents, your blessings, your love, your abilities – give yourself to God, to His Kingdom, and to reach your community.
What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul? (See Mark 8:34-37)
Give yourself away to God, and He will provide for your every need and bless you with greater abundance in life’s blessings than the world could ever promise to give.
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over…”
Luke 6:38a KJV
BONUS:
Here are 7 good financial habits that we went over in our Sunday morning Hyphen/young adult class a few Sundays ago. Write these down and start working today on applying them to your life:
You’re wondering when something might come, if it even will, or what that something may turn out to be. And it isn’t easy to be there for a long time. Most of us know at least a little of what that’s like, and the longer you’re in the waiting room, the more it seems that the something you’re waiting for will never happen. You watch the clock, your mind on the deadline, but your miracle and answered prayer doesn’t appear to be any closer to becoming reality.
But our God is the God of the eleventh hour. He is the God of the midnight hour.
I know a little bit about waiting.
I waited and waited and waited for a full-time job for over a year. I desperately applied at countless places. When I finally snagged an interview for my dream job, I believed the deal was sealed, and my miracle was in the bag. After all, it was what I’d been praying for and what I was hoping would happen for months.
I didn’t get the job.
When it seemed like I had no other options and all hope was lost, God granted me a midnight-hour miracle. And it was greater than what I had expected all because if I had gotten the other job, I may have thought that it was partly because of my “qualifications,” my “experience,” my “perfect” interview. God blessed me with a job I desperately needed, and He did so in a way that proved that it was only because of Him, not me.
Sometimes, we need to hang on to hope for a greater, midnight-hour miracle.
Lazarus was sick and dying, and Jesus could have healed him when he was just sick, but Jesus waited. And it was after Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days that Jesus arrived and raised Lazarus up (see John 11). Jesus performed an ever greater miracle.
When your miracle seems dead, He can resurrect the promise. He can bring back hope when it seems lost.
I love the line from the Elevation Worship song “Welcome Resurrection” (linked here) that goes, “He’s still the resurrection even when the tomb is sealed!”
This is why we can’t give up in the waiting room or even in the eleventh hour. And even as midnight passes, we must keep believing for a greater miracle than before. With greater miracles comes greater testimonies, greater praise, and greater faith. We are in need of a revival of greater miracles, but the good news is that our God is the God of greater. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think according to His power that works in us!
While you’re waiting, keep praying, keep living for God, keep fasting, keep giving, keep going to church, and keep giving Him your all.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
Most of us have lost loved ones or lost relationships once very valuable to us. Many have suffered financial hardship or emotional or physical pain. And there are those who are in a season of waiting for an answered prayer or who may be going through a spiritual valley. It’s hard to feel thankful sometimes when everything seems to be falling apart. When our thoughts and feelings dwell on our circumstances and on what seems impossible, we can lose a spirit of thankfulness. So, how do we maintain it or get it back?
Praise.
What is thanksgiving, after all? It is the expression of gratitude and showing appreciation. And what is praise? Showing admiration or great approval. When we offer praise to God, we tend to move into a spirit of thanksgiving. We praise Him for what He’s done. We praise Him for who He is. Praise and worship are the keys to maintaining a spirit of thanksgiving.
Job lost everything but still declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15a KJV). Job’s children were killed, and yet he could still bless the name of the Lord (see Job 1). In his season of loss, Job recognized the sovereignty of God.
When you focus on who God is instead of your circumstances, you will find that praise comes naturally. How can we not praise God for all He’s done, for who He is? Because no matter what we may go through, nothing changes that He is worthy, that He is faithful, that He loves us, and that He is good.
Our circumstances change; He does not. He remains.
There have been moments in my life in which I lost so much. Perhaps like many of you, I’ve lost loved ones and relationships. And I’ve dealt with anger, hurt, sadness, loneliness, and all the various emotions that accompany seasons of grief, depression, and waiting. The words “just be thankful for what you have” are not easy to hear or adapt to your life when you can hardly get out of bed in the morning and when grief muddles your thoughts and leaves you feeling sicker by the day. But as someone who’s gone through some of those seasons, I promise you that turning your focus from what you’re going through to who God is will bring some joy back into your life. It will allow you to feel more thankful because you’re no longer putting your focus on the natural but on the supernatural. You’re no longer putting your focus on the impossible but on the one who makes things possible.
And God is always a good God, no matter how trying times become. He’s never left me, and He never will.
I recently came across a song (linked here) that speaks so much to experiences I’ve had, and it demonstrates the faithfulness of God. Just look at the verses below:
“I have seen a lot of things, and I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve seen people come and go. I’ve been through a lot of changes. One thing I can always say, You’ve been here every step of the way. I have heard a lot said and sometimes believed the wrong things. I’ve made choices I regret, and I’ve doubted Your mercy. One thing I can always say, You’ve been here every step of the way. After all these years, You’re still good to me.”
After everything I’ve been through, God is still with me. After the things we’ve all endured these past few years, God is still present with us. When we remind ourselves of how good He is every day, we can maintain a spirit of praise and thanksgiving even through hard times.
The circumstances in your life may seem to grow worse or more complicated year after year, but hold to the promises in His Word. He will never leave us, He will never fail, He works all things for our good, His promises are “yes” and “amen,” He will provide for all our needs, and His mercies are new every morning.
We have much to be thankful for.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.”
You’re going to make mistakes. God doesn’t hate you for that.
This is what I should have told myself years ago when I was starting out in college.
It was the spring semester of 2016, and I was taking a mix of online and seated classes at a community college while working part-time as a tutor at the writing center. One of my online classes was a world history course with my history professor from the previous semester—Mr. Z we called him. He was the fun, quirky professor always eager to chat with his students. I met with him multiple times to discuss my papers and upcoming exams, and during one particular meeting, we discussed a paper I was writing for another history class that he was helping me perfect.
As I settled into my seat across from him, I gazed in horror at his marked-up version of my draft on his desk. How could I—I have made that many errors?! Mr. Z sensed my panic and quickly explained.
“Relax, it’s not terrible,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m pushing you harder because I know you’re at the level where you can handle it.”
It wasn’t much of a comfort. I wanted my work to be near-flawless, and he knew that. I always wanted to know all the answers, and if I didn’t, I didn’t want anyone else to know it. When I explained my (admittedly) flawed mindset, Mr. Z said something to me that I’ve never forgotten.
He said, “You don’t want people seeing the chinks in your armor.”
“No, I don’t!” I said (a bit surprised that he hit the nail dead center). You see, I believed that if people saw the chinks in my armor, it meant they would see me as weak, vulnerable, incapable—human.
Sometimes, you just don’t want to be that real with people. You’d rather just go through life with no one knowing anything about what you’re going through or how you feel deep down. That way, when you mess up, there’ll be no one to judge you and no one to know that you don’t always make the right choices.
Making mistakes is for weak people, I told myself, and weakness is wrong.
Yes, weak people make mistakes, but as humans, we are all weak by nature, having an imperfect and sinful nature by default. Weakness isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s just natural. That’s why we need God. Through Him, we receive strength to overcome our flaws. What I failed to understand then was that it is OKAY to admit that you’ve made a mistake. You are only human, and God doesn’t punish you for that.
Our sinful nature and inclination to make mistakes doesn’t give us license to make whatever mistakes we want just because, but it does mean that our mistakes should come as no surprise to ourselves. God isn’t surprised that we fall and fail and make bad choices, and He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. There is none perfect but Him. He doesn’t beat us up when we make a bad choice, and neither should we condemn ourselves.
No matter how many times we mess up, if we truly repent and seek forgiveness, then God is faithful to forgive us of our sins (see 1 John 1:9).
When you realize that God’s grace extends to you no matter how many mistakes you make, then you’ll be able to extend that same grace to others.
It was when I learned how to release the self-condemnation that I felt for the mistakes I’d made that it was easier to forgive others for the things they’d done wrong. They were only human like me, after all. I could see my own flaws, my own imperfection in others and knew that if God didn’t hold my mistakes against me, then I shouldn’t hold others’ mistakes against them.
If you don’t forgive yourself, how can you truly forgive others?
You are not perfect. You will continue to make mistakes. But guess what?
It’s not the end of the world if you do. God’s grace is sufficient to cover your sins (see 2 Corinthians 12:9), and His strength is more than enough to help you overcome your weaknesses.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the tempation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)
There is a way to escape the consequences of our weak nature—salvation in the name of Jesus and doing our absolute best to live as He has instructed us to live. God created us to be imperfect beings in need of our perfect Creator.
Lean into that.
Give your flaws, mistakes, and all your baggage up to Him.
It’s okay if you fail. Just remember that God never fails.
It’s okay that you’re not perfect and what you do isn’t perfect. Just remember that His love is perfect.
If you fully surrender to God and trust Him with all you have and all you’ve done, He will take care of you, and you’ll be closer to Him than you were before.
Things you tell yourself when the going gets tough and your resolve is wearing thin.
Sometimes, life can be just too much, you know? Your finances are tight, there’s not enough time in the day or the week to get things done, and your bones begin to ache from all the stress. Maybe you’re tired from work, family drama, or just life. Maybe you’re tired of hearing about all the negative things in the news. Maybe you’re tired of waiting for things to get better.
Sometimes, you just want to lie down, escape, forget about all the stress, struggles, and negative news. Sometimes, you wonder how you’ll get through this.
When will I get to the end of this situation? When will things finally get better? How does one endure to the end?
Whether it’s life issues you’re struggling with or anxiously awaiting the day when the Lord calls us home so we can finally be free from this sin-sick world, here are three keys that may help you in unlocking your ability to endure to the end.
1. Though you may be tired, maintain your walk with God every day.
When I was without a full-time job for over a year, the waiting was getting pretty tiresome. There’d be days where I’d feel more confident than others, but on the days where I felt the deadline getting closer and the fear of being jobless with no insurance setting in, I often just wanted to take a nap, watch or read something, or do ANYTHING to take my mind off my fears.
What I discovered was the only thing that gave me peace and strength to overcome that situation was when I met with God each day and dove deeper into the Word.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (KJV)
Keeping up our prayer time then allows God to fill us with His peace that, in turn, keeps us going.
When you’re waiting for a blessing or just trying to get through a trial, perhaps the most important key to enduring that time is keeping up your relationship with God every day. It seems simple, but often our flesh needs simple reminders to get us back on the right track.
Often, my flesh wanted a quick and easy distraction, but those quick and easy distractions didn’t give me strength. They didn’t increase my faith in God. So, I studied Job. I read through the epistles. I made a point to set my phone aside and out of sight during my prayer time in order to get closer to God. And during that time, I grew. I developed my relationship with God.
Through prayer and reading the Word, we increase in the strength we need to endure.
2. Though you may feel overwhelmed, keep up your church attendance.
As my childhood pastor and lifelong spiritual leader Bishop Eddings has always said, “Church attendance is critical to survival.”
God never intended His church to be made up of scattered saints who never congregate together. It isn’t His Will for us to go to church only when we feel like it and to skip service and stay home when we “just can’t deal.”
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
As we get closer to Christ’s return, we must be committed to attending church even more.
Sure, we’re human. I’ve certainly woken up on Sunday mornings and wished I could sleep in and not have to dress up and go anywhere that day. For many people, when they have a lot on their plate, attending church is the first thing they bump off their list.
But as the song says, “I need you, you need me. We’re all a part of God’s body.” We need each other to survive. When we fellowship with the saints of God, when we worship together, pray together, and glean from the Word together, we increase in strength.
Instead of skipping church when life has you overwhelmed, get to church early to pray with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes, going to church and fellowshipping with your church family can be the healthy distraction you need to get through a difficult situation.
3. Though you may want to isolate yourself, confide in a friend or mentor.
Trying to endure financial, personal, or spiritual struggles alone will deplete your strength and wear thin whatever resolve you have left.
We must talk to God and read His Word, yes, but God doesn’t want us to be without His church. We must keep up our church attendance and fellowship with the saints, yes, but even that may not be quite enough to help us endure a trial.
Tell someone you trust what you’re going through and ask them to help pray for you about it.
This doesn’t come easy to introverted people like me who prefer to “suffer in silence,” as they say. The longer I was without a job and the more rejection emails I received, the more desperate and miserable I became. Though I was keeping up my devotional time and attending church, I needed a bit more help.
Finally, I mustered up the courage to reach out to a trusted mentor and spiritual leader whose advise and kind words and prayers encouraged me. Suddenly, I had a new confidence and assurance that everything was going to be all right. I believed again that I was going to make it. I would endure.
Find someone–a friend or mentor–to support you. If you have no one else, you should definetly always go to your pastor for guidance and prayer, and even if you do have someone, don’t forsake the importance of seeking wise counsel from your pastor.
So, if you’re reading this and feeling weary of an internal struggle or external pressures, you will endure if you do not give up.
Pray. Study the Word. Go to church. Talk to someone.
Endurance requires daily commitment to resisting distraction and defeat.
So, then, how committed are you to enduring until the end?
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks as I roared down that road in that little red car.
“Jesus, why am I so broken?” I uttered as I felt as though I couldn’t be put together again. I felt like I was damaged beyond repair.
But Jesus.
As I sobbed, I felt God’s comfort wrap around me, and I heard him say, “Yes, you may be broken, but you’re in the best place you can be. You’re broken, but you’re in my hands.”
Just these past few weeks, I have been broken. While life spun along around me, I stayed in the hands of the Potter, the very best place to be. When it feels as if everything in life is breaking us down, when life feels as though it’s completely and totally spinning out of control, you very well may be on the Potter’s Wheel.
Rest assured, dear friend, that even on the Potter’s Wheel, you are still in the hands of Jesus. Perhaps sufferings come not as a thing meant to break us, but to reshape us.
Sometimes, things that we have picked up in life, calloused wounds, and attributes that we are not meant to have are broken off of the jar known as “us.” We often misinterpret the surgical knife in the hands of the most knowledgeable surgeon as a knife murderously held at our throats. We mistake what was meant to reshape us for something that will break us.
Sometimes, some things come so that the glory of God might be revealed. As 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of power may be of God and not of us.”
Moving on to verses 8-9, we read this:
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (KJV)
Rest in this, dear friend.
“Perhaps sufferings come not as a thing meant to break us, but to reshape us.“
Camrie Houck
You may feel as though there is something wrong everywhere you look. You may be perplexed, persecuted, and cast down, BUT you are not destroyed, you are not in despair, you are not forsaken.
You ARE in the hands of the man who loves you the most. The God of the universe who desires to commune with us.
Remember, even in the breaking, even in the shaping, even on the Potter’s Wheel, you are in the hands of Jesus.
*****
From a young age, Camrie has loved to write. Starting a blog has been a long-time dream of hers, so she finally took the leap and started her blog, Camrie Writes, in September 2021. On any given day, you can find Camrie working on her first book, teaching, or talking with family and friends about teaching or writing. Camrie is also a full-time public school substitute teacher and is studying to teach middle school. Be sure to follow along with her blog on Facebook or Instagram (@camrie_writes)!
Recently, I came to understand the significance of persevering in prayer when God fulfilled a great need in my life. And with it, He increased my faith and gave me a testimony that I hope will bless and encourage whoever who reads it.
******
Lately, I’ve been singing the song “Jireh” a lot, but it has taken on new meaning for me ever since August 23rd. On that Monday, God blessed me with the full-time job I’d been praying about for over a year.
You see, I graduated college in May of 2020 and still had not found a full-time job. God blessed me with a part-time job as an online writing tutor last summer, and in the meantime, I had applied for hundreds of jobs in writing, editing, teaching, marketing, communications, clerical work, and the like.
Until about spring of this year, I never had a call back. Zilch. Nada. Nothing but rejection emails. I desperately needed a job.
As a diabetic still on my mother’s insurance and who will soon turn 26, my mind kept going to worst-case scenarios in which I wouldn’t be able to afford insulin and would end up back in the hospital. I went through cycle after cycle of applying for a round of jobs, believing God would open the door, hearing nothing back, getting discouraged, and taking a week or two off of applying until the pang of fear motivated me to search and apply for more jobs.
2021 came, and I set a deadline. God would bless me with a job by June. Come late spring, promising opportunities started to arise. I got calls back and emails that said employers were interested. Come summer, I started getting interviews. Still, nothing worked out.
June passed.
Then, I landed an interview for my dream job as an editor for a Christian company. I was the only candidate, so I was SURE this was the job God had for me. The interview went very well. The lady and I talked for an hour. I knew I could handle every job responsibility we discussed. She seemed very pleased. The following Wednesday, I received the rejection email:
“Thank you for your interest. Mrs. __ is declining to extend an offer at this time, but she wishes you the very best.”
How thoughtful of her.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t crushed. The news hit me harder than I expected. The following day, I hardly left my bed.
What was I going to do? Where else could I apply? I’d tried everything else. All I could think was, God, help.
I sought counsel from trusted spiritual leaders, and when God helped me get back up again, I applied for more jobs the following week.
July passed.
The deadline to enroll in private insurance was getting closer. I needed a job right away, not in a couple of months, not by the end of the year. NOW. Unfortunately, my options were limited. It may sound picky to say, but I knew I wasn’t cut out to work in a customer-based role, and the thought of working a job that had nothing to do with my degree and that I wouldn’t be able to use my skills in nearly defeated me.
I knew what I’d prayed for so many times.
God, I need a full-time job with good pay, that I can use the skills I have in, and that will give me good insurance so I can keep my doctor.
I’d prayed that prayer since the beginning, and after all my worrying by the end of the day, I knew that God knew exactly what I needed. And He would supply. Somehow.
My sister put me onto an opening at an insurance company where she works. An associate underwriter job. I looked over the job description. Not exactly related to my degree, but unexpectedly, the description of the role and duties fit my experience as a writing tutor perfectly. Put very simply, I’d be working from a queue and reviewing documents for changes and accuracy. Nothing I wasn’t familiar with as a remote essay-writing tutor. My sister also checked the available doctors through the insurance the company offered and found all of my doctors were in-network, which was very important to me.
In that moment, I thought about my specific prayer for God to provide me with a job that would allow me to utilize the skills and experience I had and that would provide me with good insurance. Then, I applied. After a day or so, a recruiter contacted me to begin the process of interviewing me.
Take these tests. Set up a phone interview. Set up a video interview. Video interview went well. Oh, but you won’t hear from us for at least a couple of weeks while we interview others.
Great. And here I’d been praying that they’d call me the next day to hire me.
A week went by. The insurance deadline passed. All the while, I kept seeing posts on social media about a 12th hour miracle and that God was about to open doors for someone.
So, I claimed it and did everything I could to squelch fear.
God will provide, whether it’s with this job or another. He knows what I need, I kept reminding myself.
Sunday, August 22nd. I heard a minister in my church talk about speaking in faith in pre-service prayer. He told the story of a man who needed a job and prayed for one in a Sunday service. After the service, a woman came up to the man, offering him a job.
I wish that would happen to me, I thought.
That night, I prayed again in faith that the company would call me the next day to offer me the job. On Monday, I was out with my mother at Walmart when they called me.
Oh, no. This is it.
Worried, I let it go to voicemail.
Whatif it’s a rejection call? What if they just want another interview?
I’d been through so many interviews, I could hardly stand the stress of going through another.
I got home and called back right away, and the hiring manager said the words I’d been praying to hear for a long time:
“I’ve got an offer for you.”
I sat down on my bed and just listened as she detailed the job. Though I wouldn’t have expected it, it was exactly what I had prayed for all along.
This was taken the day before I got the good news, but this was 100% the face I made when I heard the recruiter say those wonderful words!
You see, even though there were many moments when I worried, doubted, and even feared that God might not fulfill my need on time, I did not quit praying for my miracle. As a wonderful mentor reminded me during a low point, we have to pray past our nothing—that moment when you’ve prayed until your body is limp, and yet nothing seems to change.
God is faithful. God will provide for you. He knows your needs, and He will never fail you. He knows your desires and wants to bless you with them if you will first delight in Him.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by feelings of disappointment in the waiting, but don’t let your emotions make you forget God’s neverending love for you. As a father loves to see the light in his child’s eyes when that child opens up gifts at Christmas, so does our Heavenly Father love to bless us with good desires that bring us joy.
David described an example of God’s endless love for us and of His goodness in Psalms:
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
Psalms 37:3-5 (KJV)
David also said several verses later that, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalms 37:25, KJV).
If we are ever going to see a victory, we cannot give up in the waiting. Continue to pray. Don’t underestimate the power behind speaking in faith and declaring your victory in the Name of Jesus. Live for God according to His Word and Will and walk forward in righteousness.
He fights our battles for us and wins the victory. All we have to do is praise Him for it in advance. Our Jehovah Jireh is enough.
He has never failed me and never will. My God came through for me, and I know He will do it for you.
Don’t stop praying!
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Breathe. Pray. Repeat. 