Sunday, September 4, 2015

Comfort In Hard Times

Last night we watched a movie about some people in Israel. They were in what they saw as hard times. Through a series of events of walking away from God’s ways, and then turning back, they were able to see the hand of God in their lives. In the hard times, we can choose to see them as overwhelming, or we can choose to see them as Yahuah (Lord) working in our lives. Recently I had a friend who was in hard times himself. He and his wife and daughter were down to less than $100 and way behind on their bills. He told me that it was easy to become fearful of the inability to provide and the inability to pay his creditors. This guy works very hard at multiple jobs but his past debt is eating him up. When he looked at me he smiled and said to me that it would be easy to just give up, declare bankruptcy, and walk away. But he only wants to do what Yahuah (Lord) tells him, even if it gets tough. So, where is the comfort in all this?

There is a scripture that begins to detail these ideas a bit. It talks about our thinking.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…

Another scripture speaks to the plans of mankind.

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.
3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

This scripture ties thinking to outcomes. We see that we plan, but Yahuah (Lor) executes according to His will. Yahuah (Lord) looks at the heart. He sees the good and the bad in all of us. He is moving us toward the good at all times. This may mean He has to modify our plan to cause us to work through and eliminate those negative things within us. He also does it to teach us to trust in Him. Our comfort is that we are not alone. We do not have to rely only on our own abilities to succeed in life. If we will let go and just trust that Yahuah (Lord) loves us and will intercede on our behalf, then we can take comfort in waiting for deliverance. Praise Yahuah (Lord)!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our only King. Your Kingdom is where we desire to live. We want to be with You at all times, and to know You are there. We bless the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming blessing. Forgive us our sins. Heal us and deliver us from our enemies that seek to destroy, to steal, and even to kill us. Com quickly. Let us feel Your arms around us. Let us feel Your protection. Help us to have the courage to stand tall for You. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.