Have you ever gone through trials in life and thought, “man, the enemy is really attacking me!” Sometimes we are so quick to assume that the enemy is the one putting roads blocks before us. While this is true because the enemy comes but to steal, kill, and destroy, this isn’t always the case. The Lord sometimes positions us to go through storms for different reasons. It can be to increase our faith, refine our character, show us His glory and how great He is, etc. One thing to understand is that God is not surprised by anything that happens to us. He sometimes allows these storms to come our way. But one thing you can know for certain the Lord’s word never comes back void. Let’s look at scripture.
Matthew 14:25-31 NKJV
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost! And they cried out of fear.” 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
If you read a couple of verses before, you will realize that Jesus positioned His disciplines before the storm hit. It was no surprise to Him. Jesus had a purpose for all that to happen. This goes to show that nothing we go through is a surprise to God.
We go through various tests which can come in the form of a storm in life and too often we are quick to blame the enemy for them not realizing that God could have been the one to position us for that storm. We get so distracted by these storms, we forget the promises God told us, our faith starts to waiver and we begin to doubt God. When Peter began to walk on water, scripture says that once he noticed the wind was boisterous, he got scared and began to sink. He took his focus off of Jesus. Just as Jesus pulls him up, He asked him, “why do you doubt?” Have you been doubting what God has spoken to you lately?
I know there are promises Jesus has shown you and maybe it’s been “too long” according to your time clock or it just seems too impossible to happen. Maybe you’re starting to question if it was just your imagination. I’m sharing this with you to say God has not forgotten you. He knows the storms you’ve been in. He is not surprised by them. Our problems are so small compared to how big He is. Don’t focus too much on the storm, turn your attention to Jesus. His word does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11).
Ashley Atkins
Whew I needed this tonight!
HerWisdomPersonified
Praise God! I’m happy to hear that this blessed you!