What's Next

I have not written in my blog for awhile. I had been sick with problems with my heart but God has seen fit to heal my heart thank you Lord. I decided to share a devotion I gave 3 years ago about how I trust and set my mind on God even in trying times.


Romans 5: 1-8
1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through whom we have gained access by faith in to this grace in which we now stand And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance: 4 Perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(NIV)

These verses tell us that we can rejoice when things are wrong and that we have power to do so because of God’s love and that love is shown from Christ dying for us even when we didn’t deserve it. So when troubles come along this is how I look at things.

WHAT’S NEXT!
This statement can be meant in more than one way. It can mean, so what else can happen to me, OR, it can mean, alright I am done with this so what next needs to be done. It’s all in the way you choose to look at it. It’s all about choices we make. We can choose to have a good day or a bad day even in the midst of trying times. We can either look at things that happen as a challenge or a tribulation. It’s all in how you choose to go through it.

The easy way is to look at what you are going through as a tribulation and throw a big pity party, sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and complaining all the time. Or, you can put your faith to work and look at it as a challenge that you are going to meet head on with God’s help. You have to put you’re faith in action. Faith takes what is a big problem, and through our faith with God’s help, they are turned into smaller challenges, as long as we trust in God and let him lead us.

Which are you, an ostrich or and eagle? You can choose to be either an ostrich or an eagle. Do you stick your head in the sand, waiting and moaning and groaning about everything God is letting happen to you, or do you, like the Eagle overcome the difficulties with strength and cunning with God’s help?
I don’t mean that it isn’t difficult at times, but nothing is too difficult if we go through it with God. Phil. 4:13 says, "I can do all things (not some things) through Christ who strengthens me."(KJV) The key to any problem is not worry, anger, pity, or questioning, even though these are normal feelings. The Key is GOD and our trust in him.

It’s easy to say I trust God, but then when the sickness or troubles come along we crumble, we stumble, we complain, we think God’s forgotten about us or is mad at us, and we just know we aren’t strong enough. We think How could God let this happen to ME or Why ME! Or, when those troubles and illness come we say God is going to see me through, but, then we never talk to God or even if we talk to him we don’t listen to him because we are too busy worrying.
Is it a mountain or a hill?
Something Impossible to overcome or something we can overcome with God’s help.
Tribulation or challenge?
We have to set our minds on God and the mountains will be hills, the tribulations will be challenges and we will overcome and the peace and joy of the Lord will be ours.
In Nehemiah 8:10b it says, "The Joy of the Lord is our strength."(KJV)
Is it easy to think this way? Not always, but it can be done. When I became sick I remembered how important prayer is and believing that God has a perfect plan and to draw on my faith. This helped me to never question, Why me? But I said, Why not me. I just say thank you Lord for trusting me enough to use me in this way and help me to be able to be a witness to others for you.

We can know that God loves us and like it says in the song I like so much “Sheltered in the Arms of God” “So let the storms rage high the dark clouds rise, they don’t worry me for I’m sheltered safe within the arms of God. He walks with me and naught on earth can harm me, for I’m sheltered in the arms of God.”
God shelters us from whatever we have to face. Being sheltered by God’s arms goes beyond God just putting his arms around us. It’s more than just a hug from God. It is protection, strength, and love. The best thing is it’s for each and every one of us. We are sheltered and God is our strength. We can make it through anything if we choose to face it with God’s help.

So I say
Hill not Mountain!!
Challenge not Tribulation!!
Winner not Loser!!

So in closing What’s Next? I say it should be us as Christians overcoming, with God’s help, in everything. So we can say this is finished what now do you have for me to do Lord! We need to be on fire for God in all aspects of our lives including the hard times. Remember there is nothing to big or too small for God to see us through. Let the world see that we are believing and living for God in all parts of our life’s, hard times or not. Let’s live by the faith we all have. Remember in Ps. 121:1 it says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, my help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth.”(KJV)

Written by Deb Forbes
Copyright 2008