Many of you are going through very difficult times right now; some are stressed due to financial burden, job loss, emotional issues, illness, family crises, environmental destruction, or just waiting on God to move on your behalf; all around you are what seem to be “impossibilities!” I want to tell you about three men who were in the middle of impossible situations and I encourage you to follow up and read about them in greater depth.
Joseph is a man I feel faced great tests throughout most of his young adult life. From about 18 through to 30 years of age he spent the greater part of his time under house arrest or in prison. Yet, he never lost his faith in God and through it all God prepared him for his day of greatness (Genesis 38-48). My heart is moved when I read how Joseph treated his brothers who had wanted to kill him (45: 5, 7, 8) “…Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. o now it was not you that sent me hither, BUT GOD: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout the land of Egypt.”
Daniel is another man that God used greatly, but Daniel was also one who faced great “impossibilities” during his life as, basically, a prisoner of war. Daniel never once gave up his personal love relationship with his heavenly Father. God was with Daniel and He shone through Daniel when Daniel was going through great testing and trials. King Nebuchadnezzar and Darius had their personal lives greatly impacted by Daniel’s God (Daniel 3: 25 – 4: 37; 6: 1-28). In Daniel 10: 11, 19 the Lord paid a personal visit to Daniel to tell him what was to happen in the distant future. He said to Daniel in both these verses, “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved… .” God feels the very same about you, dear one.
The third example is Paul. Paul wrote the book of Ephesians while in a Roman prison. He wrote this incredible encouraging word while he was in the middle of his own “impossibility!” He encouraged us by saying in essence, “Now is the time, despite life’s difficulty, to consider the ABILITY, the GREATNESS, the GRANDEUR of my God!” Right in the midst of personal hardship he tells us about the “NOWNESS” of worshipping God. Friend, NOW IS THE TIME for YOU to experience the abundance and the fullness that God has come to give you in the face of your impossibility!
John 10: 10 tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy … what? The promise of what Jesus tells us He has come to give, “I have come that they (YOU) might have LIFE, and that they (YOU) may have it more ABUNDANTLY!” Do you ever feel that you’re waiting on your circumstances to change before you will feel like you can experience God’s abundance? Do you think, IF I can just get out of this situation and into the next one, I just know God’s abundance will be waiting there for me?
The “abundant life” is NOT when no impossible situations occur and you’re experiencing peace, joy, and happiness. While that is always a nice place to be; true abundance is really seen when you’re sitting in a prison circumstance; when you are facing eye to eye, an impossible situation and right in the heart of your impossible, you experience the fullness of God. It is when you can sing and worship God (see Paul & Silas in Acts 16: 22-34) right smack-dab in the middle of the worst time imaginable! You may be thinking that what I am telling you right now is totally impossible but, I assure you, GOD IS ABLE TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE for you; trust Him.
The LORD would say unto you this day…
“I am taking care of you. Trust Me at all times. Trust Me in all your circumstances. Trust Me with all your heart. When you are weary and everything seems to be going wrong, you can still utter these four words: “I trust You, Jesus.” By doing so, you release matters into My control and you fall back into the security of My everlasting arms. Before you arise in the morning, I have already arranged the events of your day. Every day provides many opportunities for you to learn My ways and grow closer to Me. Signs of My Presence brighten even the dullest day when you have eyes that really see. Search for Me as for hidden treasure. I will be found by you.”
As Peter said “where else are we going to go, You (Jesus) have the words of life, eternal life.
I was thinking this morning what our Jesus left to come to earth for us. the majesty, the loving relationship with those around Him, being the King of Kings and Lord of Lord, to come to earth to be rejected by those who should have known who He was, despised by them and near the end of His earthly ministry, after having thousands following Him to be rejected and deserted by them all.
Does He know how we feel? Certainly does!!! YET He will never leave us, forsake us, or fail us, we are safe in His arms
By: ken hilton ORACLE restoration ministries on December 30, 2014
at 3:10 pm