Monthly Archives: September 2019

Are You Carrying a Problem that’s too Heavy for You?

The Easy Fix to My Difficult Problem

The other day, I was outside jogging when I got a text from my husband, Matt. “Hey love, I got that problem fixed on your blog. You’re good to go.”

I read the text and laughed out loud. Of course he did! I thought to myself. I have had a technical problem on my blog the last several months that has been driving me crazy. I’ve researched the problem, tried several things, and run out of patience trying to fix it. Matt sat down and fixed it in less than ten minutes. He’s like that. He is my go-to for all things related to computers, programs, and pretty much anything technical. I used to think I was so techy. I’ve realized. I’m not. At. All. Matt can spend just a few minutes and do something that takes me hours to accomplish or figure out.

Jeremiah’s Recognition of God’s Power

I was thinking about that experience when I was reading my Bible in my morning time this week. I have been reading the book of Jeremiah. In chapter 32, Jeremiah pours his heart out to God in prayer.

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: Jeremiah 32:17

As Jeremiah talks to God, he says, “I know that you made the entire world, and nothing is too hard for you.”

God Reminds Jeremiah of His Power

A few verses later, God addresses Jeremiah.

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

God and Jeremiah both agreed on God’s abilities. He is God, and there is absolutely nothing God can not do. In God’s hands, the most difficult problem becomes easy.

Our Problem in God’s Hands

Just as Matt can take something that is really hard for me and fix it quickly- God can do the same for us. The problems that are so big and unsolvable for us are nothing for Him. He created us, so He obviously cares about what happens to us. I wonder if the reason God doesn’t step in more often to help us with our problems is that He is simply waiting waiting for us to recognize His power and ask for His help. Peter gives us similar encouragement in I Peter 5.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:7

God wants us to give our burden to Him and let Him take care of it for us. When we do that, we no longer have to struggle under the burden. We can leave it with Him, and let Him worry about the outcome. When we do, we will have the peace we have been longing for.

What problems are you facing today that are beyond you? Could it be that God is simply waiting for you to ask His for help? Your problem is nothing for Him.

Choosing Hope- The Best is Yet to Come

Job’s Suffering

I am reading in the book of Job right now for my morning time. If you know the story of Job, you know the incredible trials he went through. In one day, Job lost his wealth, his ten children, and his health. We see the play by play in chapters one and two. Chapters 3-37 record Job’s conversations with friends, his questions to God, and his heartbreak.

He uses words and phrases like “without hope,” “anguish of my spirit,” “bitterness of my soul,” and “my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than my life.” We get a glimpse into the depths of his hurt and grief. Have you ever felt the kind of feelings that correspond to some of those phrases? I could guess that you have. I know I have.

God’s Response

What’s interesting to me is that God says absolutely nothing for 34 chapters. We don’t know for sure how long Job’s suffering lasted, but we do know God did not step in right away. Why? Why would God allow Job to suffer? We know the “right” answer to that question… “God was testing him, God was proving him, God was answering Satan’s accusations.” But behind those pat answers lies a broken heart, Job’s heart. He didn’t know the story as we do. His story wasn’t written yet. The book of Job didn’t exist. He didn’t know there was a happy ending. He only knew the suffering he was enduring in the here and now, and it felt like it would destroy him.

Being Without Hope

Have you been in a place like that? Maybe you are there right now- a place where you feel without hope, and phrases like “bitterness of my soul” describe you. That’s a really hard place to be; I know because I have been there and am still there at times. When we get to a place like this, there is only one way to keep moving forward. Hope.

I’ve heard the phrase, “You can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.” We absolutely can not exist and certainly not move forward without hope. Hope is believing that good is going to come. It’s trusting that things are going to work out, even though it may not feel like it right now.

Hope is a Choice

Choosing hope is a choice. We can choose to stay in the dark place of anguish and bitterness of soul, or we can choose hope. It’s not going to come naturally. Hope is like a muscle. Just as it takes time and repetition to build muscle, it takes time and repetition to build hope. The more we choose to trust God and hope, the stronger our hope will get.

David understood this concept of choosing hope. The Psalms are full of verses about hope. Here are just a few to think about.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. Psalm 39:7
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42:11
For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. Psalm 71:5

Satan can wreak havoc in our lives, but do you know what he can’t take away? Our hope. Do you know what Satan can’t stop? A woman who truly hopes in God, who truly believes that everything she is going through is just for a season. She knows God will get her through. That kind of woman is unstoppable because life’s circumstances can’t get her down.

Choosing Hope

My husband Matt just released his book, Breakthrough: Turning the Death of a Dream into the Birth of a Breakthrough. It’s our story interwoven with a study of the life of Joseph. It’s all about this concept, holding on to hope when your dreams come crashing down. If you are struggling to hold on to hope, I know this book would be a huge encouragement to you. You can grab the paperback copy here or the ebook here.

In his book, he uses a phrase that we have come back to time and time again. “This is a moment in your life; this is not the rest of your life.” When we get discouraged and feel like things will never change, we have to remember this is just a moment in our lives. Things won’t be this way forever.

Choosing hope is choosing to believe that God is not done with you yet. It’s trusting that he is working all things for your good and this breaking of you will be the making of you.

Choose to Take the First Step

Nehemiah’s Task

Nehemiah decided to take on an enormous project. God put on his heart to rebuild the wall surrounding Jerusalem. With the wall down, the inhabitants of the city were open to attack. Nehemiah knew the importance of the wall.

He gathered a team of men together and started the enormous project. He got the heart of the people behind him. The Bible says the people had a mind to work. They got started building the wall.

Critics Show Up

Whenever there is a great work for God, critics always show up. That’s exactly what happened. Four guys took it on themselves to try to destroy the work Nehemiah was doing. After continually being laughed at, critcized, and openly attacked, Nehemiah gathered the people. You can read what happens next.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. (Nehemiah 4:7-9)

Nehemiah Makes a Plan

If we look closely at verse nine, we see that Nehemiah and the people prayed. It didn’t stop there, though. After they prayed, they made a plan. One-half of the people worked; the other half stood guard.

Nehemiah understood that in this case, it wasn’t enough to just pray. They needed to pray and trust God to lead them; then they needed to use the skills and wisdom God had gifted them with to make the plan work.

Taking the First Step

Too often, we pray and beg God to intervene in a situation or answer a prayer; then we sit back and wait for Him to answer that prayer. I wonder how often God doesn’t come through on our prayer, simply because He is waiting for us to take the first step. He is waiting to see that we are serious, waiting to see that we trust Him enough to take the first step. The Bible is full of examples of God working miracles and answering prayers after somebody took the first step of faith.

David prayed, then ran towards Goliath with a stone and a sling. Joshua and the people walked around the walls of Jericho for seven days before the walls came down. Moses had to demonstrate God’s power in ten different ways, ten different times to Pharoah before God led them out of Egypt. In each of these accounts, God had promised victory; but His people still had to act. God couldn’t give the victory until they stepped out in faith and took the first step.

Maybe the reason God isn’t answering your prayer is that He is waiting for you to make the first move. For more encouragement on taking the first step, read Stepping into the Water and Waiting for a Miracle. What step is God waiting for you to take today?

Faithfully Stepping

Encouragement for Women on their Journey of Faith