I still have outdoor chairs that belonged to my parents. They’ve been painted and repainted but they are still sturdy and able to be used. How old are they? At least 50 years old. I also have the folding type lawn chairs, at least the newest ones my hubby has bought. They are not so old because they weren’t made to last that long.
Oh beloved, God speaks to my heart. You were made to last. This season is rough. It’s like a hurricane in many ways. It has blown us around. It has turned things upside down and crushed some hopes, expectations and plans. Your confidence may be loosened. You may be thinking that all is lost in many ways. Focusing on the devastation, one can’t help but wonder what will remain when it’s all over?
But you beloved, you are not the sum of what’s happening around you, nor what’s happening to you. This won’t last. But you were made to last. You’ve been born into a Kingdom that won’t perish. And God has promised that through Christ, you won’t perish either. This life and all its false promises, commercialized dreams and mechanical hopes may perish. But the Kingdom of Life and those who are members of it will never succumb.
God wants you to know this morning that people prayed. And while the hurricane promised was devastating in many places, it didn’t produce all the horror that was prophesied over this land. And beloved, what’s been prophesied wrongly over you hasn’t happened either. You are more sturdy than those antique lawn chairs of my parents. You are more sturdy than the storms of life. In fact, you are becoming stronger because of them! Your gift and your calling are secure. Your joy is returning. Your path is being cleared and you are going forth wiser, stronger and more sure of God’s plan for you!
God loves you and He’s for you. The enemy can blow fierce winds, but He can’t take the plans of God from you. Stop prophesying doom over yourself. Start living with the high praises of God in your mouth and the sword of the Spirit as well! Rejoice that you can live with a view to heaven as you fulfill God’s plan and find satisfaction in Him today!
Proverbs 31: 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.
Psalm 97: 11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart.
Hebrews 4: 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.