Isaiah 44:8 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'"
Psalm 144:1 “Praise be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
My dear friend,
As your friend and sister, I desire to breath as much wisdom into you as possible. I want to help in your walk with the Lord and I want to encourage you to seek out His truth on your own.
I want nothing more than to see you walk with Jesus all the days of your life. I desire so much to see you continue to grow and blossom into the woman of strength that God has made you to be. I want to see you serve Him faithfully, walk in His steps in the good and hard times and to never let go of the hope you have in Him.
I want nothing more than to see you walk with Jesus all the days of your life. I desire so much to see you continue to grow and blossom into the woman of strength that God has made you to be. I want to see you serve Him faithfully, walk in His steps in the good and hard times and to never let go of the hope you have in Him.
But I must warn you, it's not always going to be sunshine and roses. Sometimes, life is going to get you down. And I mean really really down. In those moments it is so easy to wonder and ask “why?”. Your faith can and will be shaken up on days that the winds of life blow hard. Waves will come, can you stand?
I recently returned from visiting my aunt, uncle an cousin in Okinawa, Japan. While I was there, I got to experience lots of cool stuff but I also got to experience the power of water in the form of a wave. Let me tell you, its powerful, and its almost impossible to stand up in a wave on your own.
The water was beautiful, but as it surprised me by turning itself into a powerful wave, it hit my body, pushed me under and slammed me into the coral reef, leaving me pretty scraped up.
The thing is, if I would have chosen to stand just 10 feet to the left, I could have leaned up against a rock, so that the waves wouldn't have been able to push me under.
The thing is, if I would have chosen to stand just 10 feet to the left, I could have leaned up against a rock, so that the waves wouldn't have been able to push me under.
Let's say the water represents life. It is quiet and peaceful until a wave grows and pushes you under.
Let's say that the coral that the wave pushed me into is the result of my selfish pride, believing I can stand on my own.
And let's say that that rock to my left, is Jesus.
Our choices in life and how we handle our circumstances can have a huge impact on the results.
I thought I was strong enough to stand in the wave, but I wasn't. I could have chosen to stand on the rock, which would have provided so much protection.
Instead, I was knocked under, hitting the consequence of my choice, which hurt a lot worse than if I had trusted the protection of a rock.
My point isn't only to go to the Rock when your scared, hurting or sad.
Listen carefully, when we begin trusting the Rock of Ages BEFORE the wave hits, then is when He will sustain us in our walk the most. If you continually are crying out to Jesus in the good times, your relationship with Him will be strong and prepared for battle in the hard times. If we wait until the wave hits us to cry out to Jesus, then we have to walk that extra 10 feet to get to Him. Though not impossible, our battle will be harder, and our human flesh will be more weak and will be more likely to fall and get washed away.
Friend, if our love for Jesus has already sprung root, if we already are standing on the Rock of Ages, EVEN WHEN the wave surprises us, we will be prepared!!! Even if you don't see it coming, you will already be sustained and know His glorious power to get you through!!!
The truth is, life is going to knock you around sometimes. But I stand here to tell you this:
Choose the rock.
Choose the One Who is faithful, Who always has been faithful, and Who will always be faithful.
I can tell you this because I know this by experience. Jesus won't leave you. He will be your guide. He will be faithful always.
His power can move mountains and stand up against the most gigantic waves.
He will absolutely never fail you. Even when life hits you, you will get to enjoy an enormous amount of comfort in Jesus, knowing that you are trusting His will, therefore, you know all things will work out for the glory of God.
There are going to be times when you're hurting, but choose to cry out to Him. Choose Jesus every morning when you wake, and every night before you sleep.
Trust in knowing that even when you feel He is silent, He is still there.
After all, our relationship with Him, and His faithfulness does not rely on our feelings.
We don't get pleasure of only going to Jesus when we “feel” like it.
We have to choose Him daily, feelings or no feelings, because our feelings change so much. We, especially girls, are prone to follow our emotions... but that is not the way your relationship with Jesus gets to work.
When you choose Jesus, your trust and faith in Him is what is going to bring you through each and every day, leaving you with indescribable JOY!
My prayer for you is that you will continue to seek out His Kingdom in your heart every day that you have breath. Love Him, serve Him, and always trust Him. He deserves all of your praises!
Now GO, warrior of God, and serve Him until you see His face and walk on streets of gold and can be with Him for eternity!
