Today's "Sparkling Gems From The Greek - Volume 2" by Rick Renner is a very appropriate message for the days in which we are now living!
Do You Feel Like You’ve Hit a Brick Wall?
…we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch
that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,
that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead. — 2
Corinthians 1:8,9
Are you currently facing hard times in your life? Today I
want to encourage you from the Word of God and show you how to tackle these
difficult circumstances and emerge victorious. The devil will try to convince
you that you’re a failure, that your life is over, and that nothing good lies
ahead for you; however, this simply isn’t true. These emotions are
temporary and fleeting, and the enemy is trying to use them to hold you back
and keep you from experiencing the fulfilled life that God wants you to enjoy.
Although we don’t like to admit it, we all occasionally have
times in our lives when we hit a brick wall, so to speak. We don’t know what to
say, what to do, where to turn, or even how to pray. Sometimes it seems as if
we’ve hit a dead end and everything is finished, over, and done
with. If you’ve ever been in a place like that, you know what a hard place this
can be! These feelings usually arise when we think that we’ve failed, that
people have misunderstood us, or that we’ve been unfairly judged. However, even
when we’ve made serious mistakes, these setbacks are rarely as irreparable as they seem.
I understand that these emotions feel very real in the
moment. When others tell you that your situation is not as bad as you think or
that you need to remember to be grateful for all the good in your life, it may
even make you angry. Their comments may be right, but because you’re the one in
the midst of the trial, you still feel hopeless. Somehow you’ve found yourself
caught in a storm and you don’t know how to put one foot in front of the other
to make your way out of it. You may feel like nothing you do pleases anyone, so
you question why you should even try.
In truth, it doesn’t matter if the emotions you are experiencing
stem from real personal failure or from circumstances outside of your control.
It’s still your responsibility to get up, brush yourself off, and start moving
forward again in your walk with God! Think about it — your entire faith is
based on resurrection. The resurrection power of God is inside you, and it
can lift you up above all the jumbled emotions and turmoil — into a better
place than you’ve ever known in your life!
There have been many moments in my own life when I felt
overwhelmed by circumstances and challenges. Usually those are the times when
the devil seized the opportunity to whisper, There is no way out. You have
no way to crawl out from where you are. You’re trapped with no escape. However,
his words of discouragement and despair have never proven to be true!
Although it may have taken longer than I anticipated to reach my goal and
required me to grow to new levels of faith, there was always a way to do
whatever Jesus had asked me to do, and I ultimately found victory in every
challenge.
If we stick with our assigned tasks and keep moving forward
— even if it’s one step at a time — we will always win! And after we’ve
pressed beyond our struggles into victory, we’ll always be thankful we didn’t
give up!
When I am facing challenges in my life, I always derive
immense strength from Paul’s words in Second Corinthians 1:8 and 9, where he
wrote, “…we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we
despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead.” Paul wrote
these verses when he felt trapped by crushing ordeals in his ministry, and his
words tell me that he didn’t know if he would survive. How thankful I am that
God didn’t hide the apostle’s difficult moments from us!
Paul’s words in Second Corinthians 1:8 and 9 teach us what
to do when we feel like we simply cannot make it any further in our own
strength or that we’re no match for the challenges we’re facing. We
simply must surrender to the resurrection power of God! That’s what
the apostle Paul did when he found himself face to face with life-threatening
situations. When Paul wrote, “…we had the sentence of death in ourselves,” he
was at one of those dead end places that I’m talking about today. In fact, the
situation he faced was so acute that he compared it to a sentence of death.
That’s dramatic language!
The word “sentence” is the Greek word krino — a
word that usually referred to a jury who had just handed down their final
sentence in a court of law. You could say that it denoted a
verdict or a final sentence pronounced as the result of a court
trial. After all the evidence had been presented and the judge had examined all
the facts, a final verdict was issued by the court.
By using this word “sentence” or krino, Paul told us
that so many problems were stacked against him and his companions that, by all
appearances, it seemed like there was no way for them to escape or even to
survive. It looked as if they’d hit a dead end, as if everything was finished, over,
and done with! Paul went on to say that it looked so insurmountable that,
as far as he was concerned, it seemed there was only one possible outcome
— death!
But in spite of how bad things appeared, Paul didn’t die,
nor did he fail at fulfilling the job God had given him to do. It may have
looked like it was the end of the road for Paul, but it was really the
beginning of a new supernatural flow of divine power into his life. That’s why
he went on to say that through it all, he learned not to trust in himself, but
in God who raises the dead.
Paul had been under intense pressure, but right in the midst
of this horrible situation, God’s resurrection power was released inside Paul
and he was rescued! Paul said it was so dramatic that it was almost as if he
and his companions had been raised from the dead.
When you don’t know what else to do but turn to God, that’s
usually when His resurrection power can begin to operate in you in the greatest
way. You see, in God there’s no such thing as a hopeless situation. That
dead end place you may be facing right now can become a place of new
beginnings!
Let me tell you, people all around you are struggling right
now. The devil is telling them that they won’t make it. But they will make
it if they choose to turn their focused gaze to Jesus, and you will too! Your
victory may not come as you thought, but God is with you, and He will get you
through whatever it is you’re facing if you’ll surrender to the Holy Spirit’s
resurrection power inside you.
This is not the end for you! God has a marvelous
plan for your life, and the devil simply doesn’t have the power to hijack what
He has planned. Remember — if the devil has tried to tell you that you’re a
failure, that life is over, and that nothing good lies ahead of you in the
future, it’s not true! What you’re feeling will pass, and better days are
ahead. Just determine to lay hold of the resurrection power of Christ in
you, and let it lift you up above the storm into a brighter and better place!
AMEN! God's Word ALWAYS has the ANSWER to every situation, circumstance, problem or trial that we face! Spend time in God's Word, pray in the Spirit, rejoice in His presence and then fully EXPECT the answers to come! When they do, act on them immediately! Obedience always brings blessings and quick obedience brings them faster! Here is Hillsong with "Live Incense":
Shalom in Him!
