If You Pray For Rain, Be Prepared To Deal With The Mud!

Rain (verb): to offer, bestow, or give in great quantity
Mud (verb): to cover, smear, or spatter with mud

In the natural, when it rains, there is usually going to be some mud left behind. Things work similarly in the Spiritual realm. However, we cannot allow our Spiritual mud to take us down like quicksand; instead we must understand that it is preparing us for the greater things in life. We must learn to endure, for after all, we're the ones who prayed for rain! It’s not up to us to decide what comes along with that rain.

A long time ago, I had a family member who prayed and asked God for a way out. Their spouse had a serious drug problem, to the point where they had become afraid for their life. It was also a bad environment for their two kids. The spouse would wake up at night saying he saw things climbing the walls and he thought there were snakes in the bed with them. My relative became a nervous wreck and began praying for a way out (or in this case, the rain). Wouldn't you know it, but nearly two weeks later their house burnt down (can somebody say MUD). As many of us would, she began asking the Lord why He would allow their house to be burn down. She then heard a voice that said, "you asked me for a way out." What she didn't realize was that burnt house was just step one in the process of her getting out of that rough situation.

Isaiah 49:15 says, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." My friends, the Lord won’t forget his children. Just remember that when you pray for rain, you had better be prepared to deal with some mud!

Ladies and gentlemen - if you are praying for a mate, you might as well put your boots on RIGHT NOW! I don’t think I need to say any more on that particular line of thinking... I'm sure that we all know what time it is in regards to that!

Even on the job, we might pray for a promotion or for another position. Our God is so faithful and will bless us with it in His time... but look out, because there is likely to be some mud coming right along with it. Mud in the form of longer hours, less freedom, and possibly less family time. You might find that people who used to be your coworkers will now try to take advantage of your relationship or that the boss seems to be harder on you than they are with Jim or Jane. And that’s just a bird's eye view; there are so many things we have to deal with. Just remember, "... promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalms 75:6-7). Both the rain and the subsequent mud all comes from the Lord.

So here's the good news - God is too Holy, too Righteous and too Good to allow anything to cross our path that is not for His Glory and for our good. He allows the mud to show up so we can learn to trust in him and not in others and to help us grow. The Lord wants us to get to a place where it doesn’t matter if we're knee-deep in a pile of mud; we simply accept His headship with thanks and praise.

With all that said, let the Church say amen… and AMEN!             

Rest In The Lord!

Rest: to stop work, peace of mind or spirit, free from anxieties.

There is nothing like being one of His - just a sheep in the pasture where we don't have to worry about providing the way. We don't have to worry about providing the pasture (food), or providing the stream (water), or anything else. When we learn that we are just a sheep in His pasture, we are free to feel rested and secure. That's the way it should be - we don't have to worry about what's going to happen today or what's going to happen tomorrow. All that is in God hands. Now, if we were the boss, we would have to worry. I'm so glad that I can turn it all over to the Lord and just rest as I walk along with Him. We should be enjoying our journey, not trying to control it.

God promised to give us rest - we don't have to buy or borrow it - we just receive it as a gift. Matthew 11:28-30 tells us, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

We can't burn the candle at both ends - either we are going to rest in God or we are going to try to fix things ourselves. The Lord will let us wear ourselves out to the point of total exhaustion on the inside until we finally see the light and give that situation to Him. Once we do that, He will give us rest and He will refresh and comfort us.

When our children are doing things that we know they shouldn't be, we have to give it to the Lord and rest in what He has said in His word. If it's our spouse, our job, or anything else, we must learn to cease from our actions. God said in His word that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Isn't that awesome?!

I don't know about you, but if I could fix things on my own - I would start with myself! But I can't fix me or anyone else. I'm not in control and it's not my responsibility. It's imperative that we learn to trust God to fix things and that we learn to rest in Him.

Our responsibility is to sit still, in quietness and in confidence, and believe that He can help, save, and deliver in our most urgent need. Remember - we are not the boss, nor are we in control. Psalms 37:7 says, "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him." If we don't see our prayers answered today or even tomorrow, that doesn't mean it's never going to happen. Again my friends, I say wait on the Lord and rest in Him!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!                   

Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Joy!

Joy: a source of happiness, gladness of heart

In our day-to-day existence, there are just so many things that can steal our joy if we allow them to. The fact is, there will always be situations and circumstances, but it's important that we refuse to allow those situations and circumstances to steal our joy. You see my friends, Satan knows that if he can steal our joy, we will walk around in anger, depression, and even fear. And then before you know it, those things will try to consume our lives to the point that it feels like there's no source of happiness and no gladness of heart... no matter where we are or what we are doing. This is the reason why we must refuse to let anybody steal our joy.

Nehemiah 8:10 tells us: "Then he said unto them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." You see, true joy is not the things of this world - it's not because we get a new house, a new car, or a fat bank account. If it were that simple, the suicide rate wouldn't be so high, and we wouldn't see or hear about so much bad news. We simply cannot allow ourselves to lose our joy - because we don't control ANYTHING! Our job is to put and keep our focus on the one who can give us true joy and peace. The world didn't give us this joy, so why should we let the world take it away??

Of course, every day won't be filled with ice cream and cake. Let's face it, our children, our spouses, our co-workers, our finances, every pain in our bodies, and even some of the people right next to us in the Church will try to get the best of us. But I'm here to tell you that we must count it all joy and turn it over to the one who has all the answers... and is truly the only one who can fix it. When we give it to Him, He will turn our sorrow, our anger, and our distractions into JOY. But first, we need to do our jobs - refuse to let anyone steal our joy!

Let's stay focused on our source of happiness - He wants us to have gladness in our hearts. You don't have to take my word for it - you can read it for yourself! "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalms 16:11).

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

Stay Connected To The Source!

Source: The beginning, origin, starting point, foundation

Jesus is the source of everything, period. He is the beginning, the end, and everything that goes on in the middle. He is our source of life. The Word says in Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." That alone is enough to let us know that we are not the source - the Lord is.

Jesus is our source of power, strength, energy, love, peace, forgiveness, and joy. Let's use an iron as an example. In order for that iron to get hot, it has to be connected to a power source. We have something in common with that iron. If we want to have power, peace, love, etc. we also need to get connected - and stay connected - to the power source; the source of everything, Jesus Christ.

As John 15:5 tells us, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Just as the iron when it gets disconnected from its power source, if we don’t abide on the vine, we have no power.

Have you ever felt like praying about a situation is a waste of time? Let me assure you that it’s by no means a waste - instead, it’s an investment that pays big returns! Let me share a situation with you: 1 Samuel 4:1-2 tells us what happened to the children of Israel when they did not get connected to the source before they went to battle against the Philistines. Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. The children of Israel were so confident in themselves that they didn’t bother to go to the source first. What a big mistake!

Jesus is the source of everything; He’s the origin, the beginning and the starting point. We must always remember to stay connected to our source of power - that can change us from useless to useful; from death to life; and from defeat to victory!

With all that said, let the Church say amen...and AMEN!