“Come”

God is so good and merciful! He gives all of His children what we need at the appointed time.

I have gone through a very turbulent storm for some time now. To be very honest, it is by the grace of God that I am still standing today. I owe it all to the supernatural grace, supernatural faith and supernatural strength that God has equipped me with. I know that every storm and trial in our lives are never wasted. God has personally promised to work everything out for the good of those who love the Lord.I should feel encouraged and not experience life with any fear. Right? Well, yes and no…

I am personally standing on several promises from God regarding my marriage, my home, my family and my life. I have waited on God for several years now and I have recently grown anxious because of several unexpected developments. Lately I have noticed a small knock on my door and an unwanted enemy named ‘fear’ trying to creep in and steal my peace and joy. I still have faith that God will deliver, but due to the fact that everything around me is contradicting what God has promised, I cannot help but waver in my faith sometimes.

But, thus says the Lord! Let me show you how good God is! My church had a women’s summit in September of this year, and during praise and worship I heard the Lord say “Come” in my spirit. I made note of it and placed it aside. Well, I felt troubled earlier today and I knew that I needed a specific word to renew my faith, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. My spirit recalled “Come” and I took out my Concordance and Bible and began to search frantically for “Come” in the scriptures. The only problem was I found so many pages filled with scriptures highlighting “Come” that the effort began to feel hopeless.

I reluctantly laid my head on the sofa with my eyes closed and immediately felt a nudge in my spirit to give up. I knew that was satan and I refused to give up. I needed a word from the Lord and I was determined to find it. Suddenly the image of Peter walking on water towards Jesus came to mind. I immediately got up and began to look through the concordance for that scripture. And I found it…

Matthew 14:27-32 says, ‘But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.’

I realized that God is calling me to “Come” to a deeper level with Him. He wants me to step out in faith and walk on water. God wants to guide me, but I am growing hesitant because of what the world is saying about my situation. The world is wind and it is blowing every negative word, result, situation, thought, vision, and dream my way. I am so busy focusing on the cares and thoughts of the world that I am losing grip of God’s strong hand.

But satan is a liar! I need to ignore the wind and focus on God. The only way He can guide me is if I let go of my fears, inhibitions and the cares of the world. He is holding out His hand for me to take hold, just like He did for Peter. I simply have to believe Him completely and continue to walk on water. I cannot look to the left or to the right. I can’t even look at the water as I walk across. I need to focus on Him and continue to hold His hand. He will not drop me. He will not let me fall. He is my Daddy and He cares for me intimately.

The world will say what it wants to say and believe what it wants to believe. God, however, has all power in His hand and He can personally work out a miracle in the blink of an eye simply by saying it into existence. He is that powerful and mighty!

So, after thinking it all through, I have personally decided to go ahead and walk on water. I have nothing to lose but everything to gain. I can’t go back because there isn’t anything worth going back to. But boy! Just imagine! If I simply continue to walk on water and live from faith to faith; the things that I can gain from God are limitless! My mind can’t even comprehend all of it!

Yes, Lord, I will follow you completely and without reservations. I will walk on water. Guide me, Lord, as I follow You. Take my hand and lead the way. I trust You with all my heart.

God Will Meet Your Needs

Are you having difficulty making ends meet? Are you worried that you may not be able to make your next payment? Do you have mouths to feed and bodies to clothe, but you are unsure if you can do it? You are not alone. Everyday, especially in today’s economy with the rising cost of health care, housing, food and other necessities, there are people just like you who are unsure of what tomorrow may bring. They do not know if they will have a job, a house, utilities, food, clothing, money, or even some form of transportation to help them get to a job. In fact, worrying about everything appears to be the only thing that makes any sense right now!

The dictionary describes worry as “mental distress or agitation resulting from concern: torment.” Just think about it. Worrying is nothing but distress and agony on the soul. It causes nothing but mental anguish and physical illness. We all know that experiencing worry is a natural part of life and everyone encounters it one way or another. However, what people fail to understand is that although there are many reasons for people to worry, they honestly do not have to put up with it. People can actually choose to confront and handle any problem without having to resort to worry!

I believe there are two things that anyone wishing to overcome worrying must do:

1. Know that God will meet your needs. In the Bible God reminds us that He will always meet our needs (see Matthew 6:25-34). Worry often leads us to ask ourselves all sorts of questions that can’t be answered, such as: What if I cannot make my payment tomorrow? What if I am always struggling like this? How am I going to get to my destination tomorrow? What if I become sick? How am I going to provide for my family? How am I going to make ends meet? How…how…how? These questions can linger for days and chances are you will not have the answers to any of them. But as long as you know that the Lord is with you, you can be assured that He has all the answers you need.

2. Increase your faith in Him. The Bible tells us that we should have faith in God (see Mark 11:22). If we have even a little faith in God the size of a mustard seed (see Matthew 17:20) He will give us peace through our storms (see Numbers 6:26). Having this kind of faith means that no matter how bad or extreme a problem is in our lives, we can withstand it because God is with us. This may be easier said than done, but when you honestly look back over your life and see just how far God has brought you, it really isn’t at all difficult learning how to develop faith in Him.