Have you ever come to a place where you said, “God what in the world are you doing?” Can you say, “Thank you Jesus” even when you don’t understand what God is doing in your life?
Maybe you had a plan in mind and things seemed to be going in the right direction (according to your plan), then all of a sudden… CHANGE. If that word scares you, then I’m happy to announce to you that you’re not alone.
At the beginning of this year, I set out to achieve some goals in certain areas of my life, career, finances and relationships, to be specific. Things were going super fine, so fine that at the end of January I was completely sure that 2018 was definitely going to be my best year yet. However, last week something dramatic happened that changed all that.
I felt so down. It was like God was against my progress. I felt like God was working everything out for my defeat like He was sitting on a huge golden throne in heaven just laughing at me. Scriptures like “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” started flashing through my mind. “Have I been proud?” I asked myself. Maybe I had been too confident in my own plans and God was trying to teach me a lesson… Many times, I tried to pray, but when I opened my mouth nothing would come out, just tears welling up from my heart. I was so frustrated.
This morning, I woke up, opened my eyes and the first words out of my mouth were: “Thank you, Jesus.” I can’t tell you that I know where those words came from or that I remembered something I should be grateful for. Although I was surprised at first I just closed my eyes and continued… “Thank you for the cross, for coming to take my place. I’m glad that you loved me even when I was deep in my sins and completely oblivious of your love for me. Thank you for the privilege of being called by your name…”
The words just kept rolling out like they had been locked up somewhere all this while, finally set free today. As they rolled off my tongue, I started to feel a great sense of peace around me, joy started to rise from the deepest recesses of my heart! I felt so alive in that moment, and then it dawned on me… “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
This is what the Lord was saying to me and to you reading this right now:
In your life, the core of your joy is going to come from your relationship with God. Joy is not something you can get outside of Christ. The devil is not concerned about your career fulfilment, or finances or the success of your relationships. No, his target is YOUR FAITH IN JESUS. He will throw as many distractions as needed to get you to the point where you doubt God’s unfailing love for you. This is why James 4:7 encourages us to resist the devil…
My friend, don’t allow the devil steal your joy. Your victory is not in your achievements in this world. No, your victory is in Christ. He redeemed you from the curse of the law and brought you to a place of undeserved privilege. This is where you now stand confidently looking forward to sharing His glory. Keep your eyes on Jesus, my dear, He is your shield and your exceeding great reward (Gen. 15:1). Hallelujah!
