19
Aug '20
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GOD TURNED IT AROUND
19
Aug '20
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God turned it around! But what does that mean? You can’t see it, nothing has changed, the bill is still due, your heart is still hurting, but God already turned it around…
If you have been or are in God’s waiting room, you know that it can be the most uncomfortable place to be — It’s the nighttime of our faith (Psalm 30:5). God is working things together for the good of our faith when it’s nighttime. Patience is a fruit of the spirit, not a skill of the flesh (Galatians 5:22).
Haven’t you noticed that when our faith is challenged, the light of hope tends to get dim — or goes out completely. Anytime we have a faith challenge bigger than before, or a challenge that we have not grown from yet, it’s a set up for our come up.
Why? Because God does His best work when we have to walk by faith and not by sight. God already knew what you needed before you needed it: “…For your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). When we’re waiting, God is working — on us.
Take it one step farther. God knew when you would need it and what you would need before you were even born: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).
Did you see that God wrote your need and the answer in His book before you were born into this life? We’re living in God’s history, our present is God’s past, today is God’s yesterday. God is not turning it around, God already turned it around!
God uses “It,” whatever our it is that challenges our faith, to grow our faith. It takes time and pressure to produce a diamond, and the only time we grow in faith is when our faith is challenged, resisted — the nighttime. When it’s nighttime, it’s growing time.
Put This In Your Spirit:
The Apostle Paul was chief among Apostles. As a requirement for the 12 Apostle’s in the new testament, one had to be taught directly by Christ. Unlike the other Apostles in the bible, the Apostle Paul was not taught while Christ was on earth. The bible tells us that while unconscious from a beating, Apostle Paul was caught up to heaven and revealed the word of God directly from the Lord. Now, imagine being caught up to heaven and God giving you a private, one-on-one faith study, and then finding yourself with a thorn in the flesh — a pain so intense, that all of your teaching goes out of the window. Nighttime — This is what happened to the Apostle Paul and will happen to us (2 Corinthians 12:3-10).
If you thought your faith had arrived, you would agree that the Apostle Paul should have been more than arrived. But he wasn’t, and neither are we. Faith does not grow because we have it, faith grows because we go through it with God. We don’t meet grace when we read about it, we meet grace when we cannot do anything about it.
The Apostle Paul tells us what God uses nighttime for: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
Did you catch it? Nighttime is God’s time to:
- Introduce us to grace on a new level
- Perfect the power of His word in our weakness
- Increase the resurrection power of Jesus on our life
- Turn our fears, weaknesses into supernatural strength
Victory in Christ is not just what shows up on the outside but also what grows up on the inside. Our victory in faith produces our victories in life. You’re not being delayed or punished, you’re being prepared and promoted. Have you asked God what He’s working on inside of you? What fruit is God growing?
Trust God, your prayer is already answered. You’re not waiting on victory, you’re growing to victory. God already turned it around!
Share and be blessed.
Pastor Patrick