Sir Edmund Hilary was the first person ever to reach the top of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. But, even he didn’t succeed on his first attempt. Remember the words of Jesus today; “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:15)

I was sitting in the shade of a maple tree on the front lawn of our new home watching the children ride their bicycles today. My beautiful wife was preparing a fabulous dinner. I had just had a great day on the job, followed by a productive workout. Suddenly, it hit me, “It just doesn’t get any better than this!” ”These are the good old days,” I thought to myself. I am now legally ordained with my own ministry. I have a good, stable job with benefits. I have opportunities to tell everyone about the great things God has done in my life everywhere I go.

I remember a time however, just a few short years ago, when things weren’t quite so “rosy”.

 I read something back then that has really stuck with me. It said something to the effect of , “no matter what you’ve been through, or how impossible your situation looks, the good news is that God wants to restore everything that has been stolen from you. He wants to restore your mariage, your family, and your career. He wants to give you peace and happiness like you’ve never known before. “

When I first read those words , I had to accept by faith that this was the case, because there was certainly no outward sign of it in my life at the time.

My mind wanders back to the Summer of 2006, when I was living in a small apartment my sister had rented. My marriage had ended in divorce, my family was in shambles, I had lost my job, my health was failing, and in one fail swoop my ministry folded and I lost all my friends. (whew!)

Even in that dark hour, I refused to give up on God. In fact, I grew closer to Him than ever before, and that has made all the difference in my life!

I began boldly claiming the promises of God, and making faith-filled statements about the life I intended to live, and slowly , but surely, this inner conviction has become an outward reality.

I am now living in my “promised land” in many respects. However, I still have much land to conquer, but with God’s help, I know I will succeed!

The street address of our new home is #952. Just for fun, I wanted to see if this number had any spiritual significance ( an odd habit, I know) so, I looked up Psalm 95:2 and I was amazed at what it said. “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with songs of praise.”

The most sincere form of praise is when you thank God in advance for what you know He is going to do, even when there is no outward sign of it. 

Gratitude brings God’s power onto the scene faster than anything. Even if you never received anything else from God, salvation  throgh Jesus Christ is more than enough to be thankful for every day of your life. This attitude is the key to unlocking God’s blessings in your life as well.

So the next time you feel like “giving up”, try “looking up” instead. In time, those trials and troubles will give way to shouts of praise for answered prayer.

We all have things that we would like to accomplish at some point in the future.  We get negative and upset when we can’t see exactly how it’s all going to work out, or when it’s not happening as quickly as we would like. But the scripture says “ We walk by faith, and not by sight.”

God wants us to live by faith. And it wouldn’t be faith if we could see everything in advance. Faith is the belief that a God-inspired vision will come to pass.

Sometimes, God asks us to simply trust Him.

Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t depend on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your steps.”

The Bible says there are certain things about God that we CAN”T figure out.  If you wait until you get everything figured out, you’ll never get anything done. In Ecclesiastes 11:4 it says, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant, and if they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” In other words, If you are always fearful about what might happen, and you can’t make a move because you’re paralyzed with fear of the unknown, you’ll never do anything of significance because everything will never be just right.

In verse 5 it goes on to say, Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind, or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in it’s mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God who controls all things.”

This scripture is telling us that there are things about God that we can’t understand. There are things about our natural world that we will never understand or that we can’t understand.

Don’t worry if you don’t see everything from God’s perspective. God has a plan. Why don’t you trust Him?

Jeremiah 29:17 says “I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

God’s plans for us are so much better than anything we could imagine! But, you can’t make them happen anymore than a tree can produce fruit by sheer willpower!

God doesn’t expect us to be passive, but He does expect us to be patient!

There are seasons for the accomplishment of every dream and desire God has placed in your heart. The secret is in the willingness to surrender your heart to God’s plan and God’s timing. If you do this, God has promised He will give us the “desires of our heart” (Psalm 37:4)

So this week, relax! Trust God to fulfill His promises in your life and take one more step towards becomming everything He created you to be!