By: Crystal Harkless
Isaiah 25:1-5 The Message (MSG)
God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you. You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders, well-thought-out plans, solid and sure. Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble, the strong city to a pile of stones. The enemy Big City is a non-city, never to be a city again. Superpowers will see it and honor you, brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence. They’ll see that you take care of the poor, that you take care of poor people in trouble, Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather, provide a cool place when it’s hot. Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert. But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun, shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.
This scripture really spoke to me this morning! Not many of you know what I have been going through and I will not go through it on here, but I will say that I feel like I have been attacked in just about every area of my life these past few months. There have been days when all I wanted to do was cry. There have been days when all I wanted was to be alone with God. I needed him desperately and nothing or no one else could help.
As I went through my storm, there were times that God didn't say a word. He was silent! I had no clue how long I would have to go through this or what the outcome would be. I had to walk by faith and not by sight. Now this is easy to do for a short period of time, but it becomes difficult as the months drag by and there seems to be no end in sight. It was especially hard for me since I had to be still and rest.
It's easy to take your eyes off of what you are going through when you can fill your calendar up with different activities and run from one event to the next. You don't have to focus on the elephant in the room. This time, I couldn't run from my issues. I had to face every last one of them and it was overwhelming to say the least. I knew there was no way I could fight this battle alone.
I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I am so thankful!! As I look back, I can see how God has carried me through it all. I can see how He was using my trial to lead me to my purpose. He used what I was going through to bring about divine connections. He used what I was going through to build my faith and increase my prayer life.
It was through reading the Bible, praying, and just being quiet in His presence that He began to reveal more and more of himself to me. I learned that there are some battles we have to fight and there are some that only He can fight for us. I am learning to rest in Him and pay close attention to what I think and say. I am so thankful we serve a God that knows how to take care of all our problems whether they are people or situations! Those things I once thought I would never overcome are defeated!
Those voices that taunted me and told me I would never make it are now silenced! God has protected me and proven to me that He is for me and not against me. He has been my shelter from the storm. He has caused the enemy of my soul to behave. Over the months, God has come through for me in a big way and the beautiful thing about it is the best is yet to come!
Today I want to encourage someone to prove the doubters wrong! I want to encourage someone to trust in the name of the Lord! He is doing wonderful things and I challenge you to praise Him in spite of everything that may be going wrong in your life right now! I encourage you to stay focused on the promise God made to you! Everything you have been going through is serving a purpose! In the end you will see exactly why you had to go through what you went through! It was PREPARATION for a season of RESTORATION AND MANIFESTATION! Receive it!
God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you. You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders, well-thought-out plans, solid and sure. Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble, the strong city to a pile of stones. The enemy Big City is a non-city, never to be a city again. Superpowers will see it and honor you, brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence. They’ll see that you take care of the poor, that you take care of poor people in trouble, Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather, provide a cool place when it’s hot. Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert. But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun, shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.
This scripture really spoke to me this morning! Not many of you know what I have been going through and I will not go through it on here, but I will say that I feel like I have been attacked in just about every area of my life these past few months. There have been days when all I wanted to do was cry. There have been days when all I wanted was to be alone with God. I needed him desperately and nothing or no one else could help.
As I went through my storm, there were times that God didn't say a word. He was silent! I had no clue how long I would have to go through this or what the outcome would be. I had to walk by faith and not by sight. Now this is easy to do for a short period of time, but it becomes difficult as the months drag by and there seems to be no end in sight. It was especially hard for me since I had to be still and rest.
It's easy to take your eyes off of what you are going through when you can fill your calendar up with different activities and run from one event to the next. You don't have to focus on the elephant in the room. This time, I couldn't run from my issues. I had to face every last one of them and it was overwhelming to say the least. I knew there was no way I could fight this battle alone.
I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I am so thankful!! As I look back, I can see how God has carried me through it all. I can see how He was using my trial to lead me to my purpose. He used what I was going through to bring about divine connections. He used what I was going through to build my faith and increase my prayer life.
It was through reading the Bible, praying, and just being quiet in His presence that He began to reveal more and more of himself to me. I learned that there are some battles we have to fight and there are some that only He can fight for us. I am learning to rest in Him and pay close attention to what I think and say. I am so thankful we serve a God that knows how to take care of all our problems whether they are people or situations! Those things I once thought I would never overcome are defeated!
Those voices that taunted me and told me I would never make it are now silenced! God has protected me and proven to me that He is for me and not against me. He has been my shelter from the storm. He has caused the enemy of my soul to behave. Over the months, God has come through for me in a big way and the beautiful thing about it is the best is yet to come!
Today I want to encourage someone to prove the doubters wrong! I want to encourage someone to trust in the name of the Lord! He is doing wonderful things and I challenge you to praise Him in spite of everything that may be going wrong in your life right now! I encourage you to stay focused on the promise God made to you! Everything you have been going through is serving a purpose! In the end you will see exactly why you had to go through what you went through! It was PREPARATION for a season of RESTORATION AND MANIFESTATION! Receive it!
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