Faith

When You Don’t See Progress

“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us,
even though we cannot see it up ahead.” Hebrews 11:1

This table….old, used, abused, painted and re-painted…currently adorned with the three different colors.  A table discarded by my daughter because it no longer had purpose.

Yet I had hope for this piece of abandoned furniture, and wasn’t giving up. Not yet anyway. But after sanding and sanding and not seeing the results I’d imagined, my frustration grew and my determination wavered as a new purpose emerged:  chunk this unchanged junk!!!

That’s the moment the Holy Spirit whispered an important life lesson to me:
“When you don’t see progress, trust the process.”

We all have a “table” in our lives that needs a change. And we’ve all experienced that moment when we’ve decided to give up all hope when we don’t see progress…..when things don’t change. But I’m here to encourage myself and to encourage you: DON’T GIVE UP! Don’t abandoned the process.

The process of faith, of prayer, of hope, of releasing your situation to our All Powerful, All Knowing God! This process works because God never fails!!

Don’t stop Praying!!
Don’t stop Believing!!
Don’t abandon Hope!!
Don’t throw out your unchanged junk!!

Something IS happening even though you may not see it just yet. God does have a purpose and a plan when you don’t see one. So I continued the sanding ‘process’ and sure enough, I began to see the result I was looking for.

When you don’t see progress, trust the process. God IS moving on our behalf. He IS responding to our prayers.

 

Tell Your Faith To Believe Again

If you believe in the PAST moves and miracles of God,
why not believe in the FUTURE moves and miracles of God?

He has NEVER changed!
He is still God!

Stop reliving the old glory days, retelling the stories of God’s goodness AS IF it’s over……AS IF those days are gone…..AS IF God is dead!

GOD IS NOT DEAD!

He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow Hebrews 13:8. What He did back then, He will do again today!

Rekindle the flame in you! Hold onto your faith Hebrews 10:23! I dare you to trust in God again.

God NEVER NEVER fails Hebrews 13:5!
God NEVER lies Hebrews 6:18! Every word He has spoken, and every promise WILL come to pass Luke 1:37.

Tell your faith to believe again!! A man in the New Testament did just that. He brought his demon possessed son to the disciples of Jesus, but they could not deliver his son. Perhaps you have tried to bring your issues to the church, but nothing happened; you feel let down and disappointed; and maybe someone hurt you.

But then, he brings his son to Jesus. And although his faith was a bit shaky, he asked Jesus to help his unbelief, and He did. That man’s son was set free and healed Mark 9:14-29!

Don’t put your faith in church or man: anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ! He will not disappoint or hut you. Tell your faith to believe again!

Victory is in Returning to the Battlefield

Keep going back to your prayer room! It is where the battle is won! The Holy Spirit taught me this years ago.

Don’t give up!
Don’t give in!
Never Retreat!

The victory is in returning to the battlefield (Your prayer room).

Satan knows there is power in our prayers. Prayer is our defense AND our offense. No wonder his mission is to stop those prayers.

Like a raging battle, he is bombarding us with attacks to intimidate us and scare us into retreat. Satan shows us casualties of war, and tells us victory is impossible; but God says nothing is impossible (Mathew 19:26); and we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37)!

Satan will make you grow weary in waiting on answered prayer, in an effort to get you to give up; but God says they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

Satan makes us think we are outnumbered, and that we are fighting this battle alone; but GOD IS FIGHTING FOR US (Exodus 14:14)!  and He will never, never fail us or forsake us (Psalm 23:4, Hebrews 13:5).

Satan wants us to abandon all hope…he may tell you that there is no help for you or your situation; but God gives help just in the nick of time, and He gives us grace for every situation (Hebrews 4:16).

Satan wants us to feel like our prayers are useless and ineffective; but God says the prayers of the righteous avail much (James 5:16). AND we have been made the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus, so our prayers are mighty through God (Romans 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Remember: our enemy knows there is POWER IN OUR PRAYERS…..but do YOU  know there is power in YOUR prayers?. Stand on the truth of God, and rely on HIS promises. Every Word God has ever spoken WILL come to pass (Luke 1:37). No matter how bad your situation looks, no matter the odds stacked against you, no matter what…..always go back to your prayer room, it is where the battle is won!! You can’t take ground if you don’t return to the battlefield. Be strong! Be courageous! Do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9)!!!

♥ Do you doubt yourself; think you don’t know HOW to pray?
♥ Do you have negative associations or ideas about prayer?
♥ CLICK HERE if you feel like: My Prayer Isn’t Good Enough!

It’s Never Too Late. Don’t Give Up!

We’ve all found ourselves in a situation that requires nothing short of a miracle. At some point, we have faced a harsh reality; some devastating news; or an impossible circumstance in which we were powerless to change. Perhaps all options have been exhausted, and it feels like it’s over; feels like time has run out.

I’ve got some great news:  it’s never too late to expect a miracle!!

God is not limited by time or severity of your circumstances. It doesn’t matter how permanent your situation may seem. In Acts 3 we meet a forty year old man that was crippled since birth. Yet he was instantly healed: walking and leaping after forty years of immobility. In John 11 we meet Lazarus who came back to life after being buried, and dead for four days.

None of this holds power over our God!

Nothing is impossible with Him!

It is never too late for that miracle you’ve been praying for.

God is not held to the limits of this world. He can reach beyond your disease; beyond your barrenness; beyond your finances; and beyond your broken family. God is saying to you today, “With man this is impossible, but WITH GOD all things are possible” (Mathew 19:26).

Be encouraged that God is not restricted by the passage of time. There is no situation that is irreversible or permanent in the eyes of God. Nothing on this earth is beyond His scope of power. DO NOT GIVE UP! It’s never too late to expect that miracle.

The Smallest Things Can Have The Biggest Impact

For those of you that don’t know me, I love coffee. I love the taste. I love the warmth. I love the smell. I love it in the morning. I love it in the evening. I love it here and there. I love it anywhere. I would not, I could not, go a morning without my coffee. And yes, I would drink it with Green Eggs and Ham!!

Are you ready for this?  I am not drinking the thing I love so much. I’m currently fasting coffee. I’ve been on strict fasts before, but this one has been a challenge. Not only because of my coffee addiction, but because my daily habits and routines have come to a crashing halt. My motivation to…..well….to do just about everything plummeted below sea level. The first few days I thought I might actually wake up in Heaven! Cause of death: coffee withdrawals.

While I take a light hearted approach to the narrative of my fasting woes, my heart was heavy with sadness regarding a personal matter…the matter I have taken to fasting and prayer. But I was still foreboding over the potential for an undesirable outcome. My mind was diligently trying to prepare me for ‘What If’ this, or ‘What If’ that. The issue I am praying about doesn’t seem like it will have a desirable outcome: not according to what I am hearing or feeling. So my husband says something I’ve heard a billion times before: simple yet profound; short and sweet.

“So stop looking at what you see, hear and feel. Look at this situation through the eyes of Faith.”

This resonated with me!! This commonly regurgitated notion of living by faith and not by sight was exactly what I needed to catapult me to freedom (2 Corinthians 5:7)! It was this small, simple sentence that has had the biggest impact on my mindset. Being anxious about it was bringing me lower than my coffee withdrawals, and worrying won’t change one thing. But faith will!

Faith gives me hope that no matter the outcome, God is in control; that He loves me and my family more than I do; that He has good plans for us; that all things work together for my good; that He knows the desires of my heart. THIS is faith speaking now. No more what ifs.

I don’t know what the outcome will be, but seeing my situation through faith gives me peace about an unknown future.

Don’t be afraid to share some short and sweet spiritual encouragement to someone. It’s bigger than what you might think. And don’t underestimate the ‘small’ sacrifices you make. Let’s get back to my coffee, shall we? I’m only fasting coffee: nothing else. To you, this may seem small: but to me it’s huge, and God knows it. Regardless of the outcome of my circumstance, I know that great fruit will come forth out this time of fasting, prayer and reading His Word. God recognizes and honors our sacrifices, no matter how small.

Don’t overlook the small things anymore: a listening ear, a compliment, a word of encouragement, a text of appreciation or simple spiritual reminders……$5 in the offering plate, one home cooked meal for a sick friend or fasting coffee.

“Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Mathew 13:32  Remember, smallest things can have the biggest impact!