The Lord has spoken to my heart to write a message on faith and trusting
the Lord no matter what our circumstances look like. I have been meditating
on God's word lately and for some reason I have been thinking about the
faithfulness of God's servants. I began to think about the disciples that
were with Jesus everyday and how they saw the miracles that Jesus did, and
yet even though they saw such great things the disciples at times wavered
in their faith. I hope this message on faith and trusting the Lord will
be a blessing to you and strengthen you in your walk with Him.
When Jesus was raised from the grave and word was brought to the disciples
that Jesus was alive, the apostle Thomas said that he would not believe
that Jesus was raised from the dead unless he put his finger into the
holes of Jesus' hands and put his hand in the side of Jesus where He was
pierced. Suddenly Jesus appeared in the house before each of the disciples
again and this time Thomas was with them and Jesus told Thomas, "Put your
fingers in my hands and put your hand on my side so that you may believe."
The words that Jesus said next should be a comfort and encouragement to
every believer. Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you
have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet have
believed." (John 20:19-31)
We know there is a devil loose in this world and he is always trying to
make us question our faith and encouraging us to quit our work unto the
lord. I know that we can be successful against the enemy just as God's
servants were throughout the Bible. I began to think about the saints of
old who were faithful to the Lord even though there were many people
trying to discourage them and mocking their efforts.
Concerning faithfulness I think about Noah. God told Noah to build an ark
giving him detailed specifications on how it should look and it took
Noah more than 100 years to build that ark on completely dry land with no
signs of rain coming. It takes faith and trust to continue with such a
large task and not lose heart. Noah was faithful to the Lord even though
there were no signs of rain coming. In more than 100 years there were no
thunderstorms, no hurricanes and no other signs that God would be faithful
to His word, but Noah stayed faithful in completing the task that God told
him to complete. There were many people mocking Noah and telling him to
quit because there was no way that rain would come down. Noah continued
to stay faithful ignoring the mockers and because he did, Noah and his
family were the only humans saved from that watery destruction.
(Genesis 6:6-22) (Genesis 7 and 8)
I also think about King David's faithfulness to the Lord when he was still
a young shepherd boy taking care of his father's sheep. When Goliath came
into King David's town, everyone was worried over who would fight Goliath
because he was such a great and seasoned warrior. David with faithful
fervor said I will defeat this enemy with the strength of the Lord and feed
his flesh to the birds of the air. David was a young seventeen year old
shepherd boy with no experience in combat, but he knew with God's help
nothing would be impossible. David came against the great warrior Goliath
and killed him by throwing one stone at Goliath's forehead. David knew
that it was not his battle, but God's battle and the Lord was faithful in
defending His own. (1 Samuel 17:1-58)
I encourage you today to stay faithful to the Lord no matter who is trying
to discourage you or mocking your efforts for the Lord. God will be
faithful to those who are faithful to Him. God faithfully brought down
rain when Noah completed the ark and only Noah's family were saved from
the destruction the rains brought. God faithfully directed the stone that
David threw with his slingshot and killed that great philistine warrior
named Goliath. Faithfulness brings forth great results, even if it does
not look like it in this natural realm.
Just as the saints of old were faithful to the Lord even though they did
not see the signs of victory right away, I encourage you to have that same
faithfulness and do not waver in the work that God has called you to.
Even though signs do not look favorable; you stay steadfast in your job
unto the Lord. God has never failed a faithful heart and as long as we
stay focused on Him, God will never fail us.
I encourage you to read these two stories in their entirety and allow them
to strengthen your faith in the Lord because that is why God has made them
available to us. (Genesis chapters 6 - 8) (1 Samuel 17:1-58)
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
1 Peter 5:8-10 "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your
great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim
to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.
Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are
going through the same kind of suffering you are. In His kindness God
called you to His eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have
suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and
He will place you on a firm foundation."
Proverbs 2:1-8 "My child, listen to me and treasure my instructions. Tune
your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight
and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden
treasure. Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and
you will gain knowledge of God. For the LORD grants wisdom! From His mouth
come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of good sense to
the godly. He is their shield, protecting those who walk with integrity.
He guards the paths of justice and protects those who are faithful to Him."
Ephesians 6:10-14 "A final word: Be strong with the Lord's mighty power.
Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against
all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against
people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and
authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness
who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so
that after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground,
putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness."
All scriptures can be found in the New Living Translation.
I thank the Lord for His continued leading and hope you are being blessed
and encouraged by these messages that God leads us in sending you. As
always, to God belongs all the Glory, Honor and Praise.
In Christ's Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |