This life is full of ups and downs. I’d rather skip all the downs but those situations often produce growth.
It seems to always happen this way, for me anyway. Things are going good I’m happy, joyful, confident, feels like nothing could shake me & then BAM!!💥 Out of nowhere I get hit with something that knocks me over. If not right away, things seem to come one after another, after another until it feels like I’m knocked down and shaken. In that moment the joy, confidence and the nothing can move me attitude goes right out the window.
My how things can change so fast. I would catch myself say “I don’t know what happened I thought I was good, I thought I was stronger. I thought I was over this but here I am AGAIN feeling this way!!”
Now in those moments it doesn’t mean that you have completely lost your way or that you don’t know who you are in Christ. We just lose our focus when things get rough. Oh, it’s easy to be strong & confident when things are going good and your not in the midst of a situation or storm. But when your in it, you take your focus off God and focus on the things flying around at you. We are human it happens and God knows it does. But praise Jesus for His grace & mercy, loving us no matter what!
God showed me something about this very situation that I didn’t know I would need for the next several weeks to come.
I am so thankful for it!!
As I was preparing for a message that I was giving one Sunday, the topic “believing what God said no matter what things looks like” kept coming up. So I dug into that! That Sunday, January 14, 2018 as I was going over my notes & reading through scriptures I had for that night, one stood out that I had to stop & meditate on for a bit which was Ephesians 3:16-19. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
As I did, I closed my eyes and I saw a large tree that was big and beautiful and full of leaves. It’s roots spread out and went down deep into the ground. But then a wind started to blow through and the leaves all started to shake and rattled in the wind. In my spirit I heard “the leaves are like your emotions, your human nature, your flesh. When situations arise that are hard, like the wind it blows through your life and it rattles your leaves (emotions/ feelings) But when you are rooted in God nothing should move you.”
Aaahhh!! That hit my heart! Yes, when we are rooted and grounded in God we cannot be moved, our roots are deep in God like that large tree whose roots go far down into the ground. We are standing, believing, trusting in the solid foundation of God’s love which is our source of everything and gives us the strength we need to get through every situation.
So when situations & storms arise and blow through your life, even though your leaves shake (your emotions & feels) remember as you are continuously rooted in God’s love and you are focused on Him, nothing can move you because He is your firm foundation. His rest, peace and strength resides in you!
God knew what was around the corner and I believe that He gave me that vision & word so that it would be at the forefront of my mind. That next few weeks were tough, we were already dealing with several different things but they all amplified all at once. Unexpected news about our home that we have been trying to save from foreclosure, setbacks at our business and a number of other things. Yes, the wind blew hard and my leaves (emotions/feelings) were shaking, I felt overwhelmed & knocked down. But that was because I took my focus off of God and who He says I am and what I have through Him and focused on all the problems & bad news that was going on at that time.
Praise Jesus, things are better!! We received some good news about our home and a few other things that were going rough but now are smoothing out. See the enemy wants you to lose focus right before the break through. The vision of the tree & its leaves has been something I think about on a daily basis. It has helped me re-adjust my focus, moving my eyes from the problem to the solution, which is trusting God. No one is to blame, it was me & what I was choosing to focus on and amplify at that time. But God is always faithful & He shows us the way through any situation, it's our choice to listen & trust Him.
We all don't have it together & we lose focus sometimes, but God loves us regardless! I share this in hope that it will help & encourage someone going through rough times. Remember as you stay focused and are constantly rooted in God’s love, nothing can move you. He is the source of everything & He resides you!
Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT) And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
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