Have you been through storms in your life, or been waiting on a dream come true or an illness to cure, and it seems like God's not there?  I have been and at the time, it seems like God is saying no to my prayer request.  When, in reality, our timeline is not the same as God's.  You've heard the cliché, "things happen for a reason," when in reality, they happen on God's timing. God is never late and He's never early.  His timing is always right on time.


This concept may be hard to understand, especially if you don't have a relationship with God.  But trust is the key to all of this.  If you don't trust God in His timing, then you're going to be impatient and worry because things aren't happening on your timeline.


Isaiah 40:31 - "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." 


I couldn't agree with the verse above had it not come true in my life.  Wait on God.  It's totally worth it.  It may not be pleasant, but you can trust that what He says He will do, will come to fruition.


God's delay will cause your faith to strengthen and your trust in Him to blossom!

Have you had anything happen to you recently that had you scared?  I'm not referring to 'monsters in the closet scared.'  I'm referring to bad news of an illness, broken heart of a relationship or a tragic fatal accident.  Your instinct is to crouch down in fear.  You worry about what's going to happen next; thinking about how you might be able to alter the situation.


But, all throughout the bible God tells us to not fear.  God speaks of not giving us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.  God wants us to run to Him when we feel fearful.  It's at our weakest moments when God steps in and performs His mighty miracles.  He wants us to trust Him with the situation.  


It's taken me a long time to learn this lesson.  As these seasons of life pass, I realize that letting go, giving the control over to God is so freeing.  I had to get to the point when things started falling apart, or spiraling down, I replaced my fears with God's words. I replaced my anxieties with scripture verses that soothed my soul and got my mind on God instead of myself.


Let God be your shelter in the storms of life.  These storms will always come, but we have the King of Kings that has already won the battle.  God's our shelter!


Proverbs 18:10 - "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."

The world offers many kinds of peace, most of it temporary at best.  There are false teachers roaming around the earth, people who claim to be Christians who are not, and are offering people a 'peaceful, stress-free life' if they just follow them.  Be careful friends of these type people and religions.  


Jesus has already commanded that He has overcome the world.  There will never be true peace that we will share unless and until we confess our sins and give our life to Christ.  That's when a peace that passes all human understanding will be a part of your world.


Don't get me wrong, world peace is a beautiful idea, but one that will only come to be when Jesus returns.  


Our job until then is to convince our family and friends to give their life to Christ; be borne again and live a life that God requires.  And someday soon, we will bask in the glory of God's goodness and everlasting peace.


John 16:33 - "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world."

There is not an area or detail in your life that God will not be willing to help you with.  You may think that the issues in your life are small or trivial, but God doesn't.

I've spent so many years of my life miserable because I was depending on my own plans; my own goals.  Once I realized that God is in control and has already won the battles ahead, I was then able to rest, knowing that the burden lifted.

God guides our steps daily.  He knows where we will be next month, next year, etc.  He knows when to shut doors and when to open them.

It may seem that you're going in the right direction, and then something happens that changes your course.  You may feel confused or even angry that you didn't get what you wanted.  If the door was closed, it was closed for a reason.  God didn't want you to go down that path, but another path that He has already designed for you and for your good.

Stay faithful, even in the isolated areas; the dry spells.  God's got this!

Deuteronomy 20:4 – "For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

Some of us spend time daily to exercise.  Some want to get stronger; some to maintain what they have.  If you're like me, you know when you've missed your daily work-out or you didn't have time to work-out altogether.  And, you know that the longer you go without this routine, you can feel the difference.

The same is true with faith.  The longer you go without using your faith, the greater the danger of forgetting how to use it altogether.

So, faith is like a muscle.  It needs to be exercised.  It needs to be used daily.  Faith is God's gift to each of us who believe in Him.

I aim to get stronger in my faith because I know that faith factors in the ability of God to go to work in me.  If we try to figure out life on our own initiative, then we're likely to get discouraged and give up.

God never promised us a happy, stress-free life.  We need to be strong in our faith to face the storms of life.  We need to trust that God is in control.

Stay in faith.  Grow stronger in your faith and watch your life change for the better.

Ephesians 2:8 – "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,"

God actively seeks people He can use to do His work.  Have you ever thought about this?  It could be you or me.  All it takes from us is a willing heart.  


After my first mission trip last year I want more than ever to be used by God.  I'm saying, "send me, I'll go!"  He did send me and that trip changed my life forever.  I'm more determine now to be the Hands and Feet of God!


Who wants to be used by God?  Are you willing to step outside of your little world and go do God's work?  This doesn't mean you have to travel halfway across the globe.  He may want you to visit a neighbor; reach out to the clerk at the grocery store, or go visit the elderly in a nursing home.  


We need God, and He needs people like you and me who will be bold and step out in faith and do His will.


Seek God and you will find Him.  God has already gone before us and done what is necessary for our salvation.  It is now up to us to follow Him.  

Be found by God today!


God is seeking each one of us today.  Be available.  Be ready.  He sought Adam
Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Most of us are guilty of going around, daily, looking for miracles and fast remedies to their solution.

The Bible tells over and over how many believers waited on God and trusted in His plan.  They held to their faith when all hope was gone.

I've found in my Christian walk that waiting on God is a necessity.  Our patience in waiting shows God that we trust in His plans.

Waiting is hard work, and often tests our faith.  News that we may be waiting on, a miracle that we want to see happen, can even tempt us to be impatient and discouraged.  We even wonder if God cares.

I've learned over the years that when I'm waiting on an answer to a prayer, or a shift in my current situation, to wait with expectancy.  This is often hard to do, but trust me, it works.

Thank God today for future blessings and answered prayers that are just around the corner.

Isaiah 40:31 – "but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint"

We've all messed up in life.  Some more than others, including myself.  But, thank God I serve a God of second chances.  

Throughout the Bible, God proves over and over again that He is a God of second chances.  Now, this is not to say that we can deliberately commit a specific sin every day and God will gives us another chance tomorrow, or is it?


Think about this.  If you were working for a company that required you to perform a specific task every day and you repeatedly didn't do it, do you think they'd keep giving you another chance?  Probably not after the first few reprieves.

God has a way of giving you a second chance, yet allowing you to learn and grow in relationship with him.  You see, if we are a child of God, then we love to please God; we live to please God.  So I know that if there is something that I'm doing over and over again that is not pleasing to God, I need to stop.  Why?  Because I love God and I know He loves me and wants nothing more than to please me; give me the desires of my heart.


Just as God is patient and forgiving to us, He also wants us to be patient and forgiving to others.


A second chance is giving a person another chance to earn their trust.  Reach out to someone that has done you wrong and offer mercy; another chance to entrust them with your heart.


1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."