Hi Faith Travelers!
I want to start this month’s blog post off with a question to you…
Have you ever hoped, prayed, and believed for something so deeply just to end up disappointed with the outcome? The job you believed God for didn’t work out, the situation you hoped would get better got worst and the ill person you prayed total healing for ended up passing away. That level of disappointment, unmet expectation and failed hope can be enough to rattle someone’s faith to it’s core. I know personally because I’ve experienced it and I am here to tell you, don’t lose faith because GOD ALWAYS HAS A PLAN even when the variables surrounding you don’t make sense.
Here we are only four months into the year and I find myself a few days post op from a 2nd surgery that didn’t yield the outcome I was really hoping and praying for; unrelated to the first surgery 1 had just two months ago. In addition, I am working the corporate job that the Lord blessed me with, yet its starting to feel life draining and joy stealing. Meanwhile, I have been seeing people I know and love leave this world in high numbers and I just don’t understand. I found myself hurt, frustrated, weary and disappointed. I told myself, “this can’t be it…this can’t be apart of God’s plan.” While I recognize there is a very real enemy (satan) who comes to steal, kill and destroy (See John 10:10) at play in this fallen world, I couldn’t help but feel like this is not how it’s supposed to be.
Coming back to reality of things, I remembered this world, we as believers live in, is a battlefield not a playground, so even when we give our lives to Christ, that doesn’t mean things will get easier. Honestly speaking, it sometimes means it will get harder because when you are living out God’s purpose and plan for your life, persecution and suffering comes in attempt to delay or halt that plan because satan doesn’t want to see the Gospel shared, lives saved or the line to hell shortened.
Let’s take a look at Paul in the Bible. Once a fervent persecutor of Christians who had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (See Acts 9:1-9), one that would lead to his radical conversion to Christianity. He went from persecutor to Apostle, sharing the Gospel wherever he went. Paul did great things for the kingdom of God but it wasn’t without its trials. Paul was whipped & flogged on multiple occasions by Jews, beaten with rods, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked multiple times, bitten by a venomous snake, deprived of sleep, food, water & warmth, betrayed by false believers, chained, imprisoned multiple times and dealt with a mysterious affliction he called a thorn in the flesh. Paul went through all of that yet his perseverance and walk with God led to the establishment of the Christian theology foundation; emphasizing salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He also expanded the gospel to the Gentiles and wrote 13 of the 27 new testament books. Though he dealt with constant persecution, attacks and trials, God’s plan for his life prevailed.
Now let’s look at Jesus, He suffered the ultimate persecution but His sacrifice wasn’t in vain, there was purpose behind even the last moments of the crucifixion. In Matthew 27:46, while Jesus was dying on the cross, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The NLT version states “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” Shortly after, Jesus cried out again and gave up His Spirit, dying on the cross. To the onlookers, this looked like the end. It looked like the Father had abandoned/forsaken His Only Son but God already had a plan. A plan of resurrection and ascension that forever saved us so that we could continue God’s will here on earth as it is in Heaven (See Matthew 6:10).
When we choose to go after Jesus, we have to give up our own way, take up our own cross and follow Him (See Matthew 16:24). If you have been going through trials and disappointment, much like myself, you may feel like you are on that very cross that you’ve taken up, uttering the very words that Jesus cried out to the Father, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” Here’s a fresh perspective for you, if the act of Jesus dying, being resurrected and ascending to be with the Father healed the brokenness of humanity, offering a direct path to God then that means the same way God had a plan for Jesus amid persecution, He certainly has a plan for us amid our circumstances. So don’t lose faith! God’s plan won’t always look like ours, but it will always lead us where we need to be (Romans 8:28).
Selah.
Until the next Faith Message…
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