Encouragement
A HURTING SOUL SPEAKS OUTPART 2
You may have to wait for many years to experience your morning breeze, which will naturally take you into the brightness of the day. Some individuals will find that it takes decades while others will have a much shorter time to endure the pain.
However long your night is, remember that God designed us and He knows our threshold. He alone knows how much we can bear and He promised that He will not give us more than we can bear. So know that the challenges you currently face, God has already granted you the strength to endure and He says, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’ The enemy of our souls will try to make us think otherwise, when things do not seem to be happening in the time that we expected it. But they were never going to happen within our timescale; God is always in control.
My husband and I are enjoying a period of morning in our personal and spiritual lives today. I pray that when the opportunity presents itself we will be able to share our story with others in a way that God will get all the glory and our sharing will help others to experience the power of God's love in their individual lives. If today you are struggling in your parenting, in your marriage or if it feels that the issues from your past seems to be holding you hostage, please let me encourage you not to give up. Please understand that you are not alone. Many have walked this path before and can testify that 'Jesus is my deliverer'. Know that God is able to bring you through. Ask Him to direct your path. Ask, believing that He is able to deliver [see James 1:6-8]. He will accomplish what he started in you.
Relationship was at the heart of God's plan for us. ‘And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helpmeet for him' (Genesis 2:18).
Unfortunately, due to the fall of man, our relationships are affected by our imperfect nature. For our relationships to survive, we must embrace the gift of forgiveness. 'For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses' (Matthew 6:14-15).
Romans chapter 12 teaches us about life in God's service. In this chapter we are reminded that love must be completely sincere. In verse 10 we are told to love one another warmly as Christian brothers, and be eager to show respect for one
another. In verse 21 we read, 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.'
Romans 13:1-2 reads, 'Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.'
It is hard to submit ourselves to human leaders who are not submissive to the will of God. Unfortunately, I have had to travel this path for a long time and for most of my journey I wasn’t able to talk about it. Spiritual immaturity meant that I had no knowledge of what to do about these cases. So I travelled through my teen years and young adult years always running. Majority of the people, under whose leadership I was placed, abused their leadership position in one form or another. I then watch them do the same to others and something inside me churns for the injustice I see taking place which others are seeing or experiencing yet choosing to remain silent. This is where most of my pain stems from.
It takes sacrificial giving to serve a disobedient leader. I make the sacrifice, painful as it may be because God requires that I obey my human leaders. In the past, I would run from these leaders, but as I experience growth on this journey I now feel sorry for them. I see them as lost souls in need of God’s grace and I pray for their deliverance. I then ask God to show me what I can do to help such a one to recognise the error of their ways, repent of their sins, and be restored into fellowship with Him.
It was hard to begin with but I find that being submissive to God makes it easier to remain submissive to my human leaders. What I find, is that God will either remove me from their path or bring them in line with His will. Sometimes the two intertwines. If you find that you are in this position, it is at this point, you have to embrace Romans 12:14 which says, 'Bless those who persecute you: bless, and do not curse (NIV).' There is life and death in the power of the tongue. So let us practice to bless our brothers and sisters at all times and speak life into their dead situations. Let us show true love and not just pray about a situation but seek God on His timing and confront these individuals about their inappropriate behaviour because while we are waiting or choosing to remain silent the next generation of leaders are being contaminated.
God created our human leaders and He also placed them in position, He alone can bring them in line when they are not operating in His will. Therefore, if we are obedient to God's instructions we can go through our painful journeys with more ease. Being obedient to God will find us living by His commands, trusting Him to work it all out and therefore we will stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He is God! He will fix it for us.
I have grown to understand that God knows best and that there is a greater purpose in our sufferings. The lonely road had its purpose in my getting closer to God. It had its purpose in bringing me to emotional and spiritual maturity. It had its purpose in bringing my healing to fruition. It had its purpose in equipping me for the ministry before me. It had its purpose in preparing me for the bigger picture of which I am just a link in the chain. So know that your suffering is not in vain, God has a plan for your life and it is greater than anything you can imagine.
Galatians 6:5 states, 'For every man shall bear his own burden.' Therefore, pain will reach all of us. There are issues and situations that will find us travelling a lonely path sometimes. For others, loneliness may be your cross to bear. God says that His grace is sufficient for you. Whatever the situation, be encouraged in the fact that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Put on the whole armour of God, according to Ephesians 6:10-18.
Galatians 5:1 encourages us to 'Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.' Ask God to open up your understanding when you read His word. His word is truth and if you know the truth it shall set you free. There is life in abundance for us if we embrace God’s truth. Live my brother! Live my sister!
If you are a leader who have fallen from grace, please join me in part 3 of this three part article.
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