Daily Devotional – 4/23/12 “Everything is not what it seems!”

Don’t you know the way you are viewing your situation isn’t the way God sees it? Yea, you see a problem but God sees an opportunity to praise. You see sickness but God is giving you a chance to shout. You see bills but God is showing you a blessing. You see friends that have walked off but God is cleansing your life of enemies. Stop thinking that everything that happens in your life is an attack by the devil or your enemy because sometimes God has to send a storm your way in order to remove some things that are hindering your walk and work for him. See, God has to sometimes shake you in order for you to put things back into perspective. You have to wonder why God allowed your boo to leave when you used to go to church on Sunday but now when you get up to get ready, he/she pulls you back in the bed to cuddle and now you’ve missed church. You have to question God about why he allowed your friends to be backstabbers when they designated Mondays as girls night when you used to teach bible study on Mondays. You used to be dependable and could be counted on when someone needed your help, your ear to listen or your shoulder to cry on but now your life is consumed with your new friend who always seems to have an emergency when someone else calls. Do you honestly have to ask why it seems like your prayers aren’t being answered when your fellowship with God is interrupted by somebody else who seems to have all of your time? You do know that God will allow a flood of tears to come in order to wash away the dust that has settled on your eyes in order for you to see things clearer? He will allow the wind of tribulation to blow hard in order to blow out the folks that are blocking your path to him. He will even allow a tornado of suffering to come in order to wipe out all of the unnecessary things that have taken his place in your life.

We’ve become so accustomed to allowing folks to be a priority in our lives and then God trailing far behind but don’t you know that when everyone is gone and the dust has settled, God will be the only constant that remains? God doesn’t run when the money runs out but so called friends do. God doesn’t talk about you when you’re going through trials but the folks on your job might. God doesn’t laugh when you cry, he doesn’t wish sickness over your life and he won’t knock you down just to see you bleed but your enemies will. So why is he at the end of the line? God should be first in everything you do because whatever goes through him surely won’t hurt you. It’s like going through the security checkpoint at the airport. They make sure your pockets are emptied before they move you through the metal detectors and they make you put your bags through this x-ray machine to ensure you don’t have any weapons or anything harmful that can hurt the others around you once you’re on the plane, it’s for your safety. Well, God is our metal detector and x-ray machine but how can he show you what’s harmful to you if you never make them go through it to see? You wouldn’t know the man you’re with is a cheater and low down dog because you didn’t make him go through the x-ray machine to check to see if his heart was capable of love. You wouldn’t know that women you’re with is crazy and will bust every window out of your car because you didn’t have her remove the stuff from her pockets and go through the metal detector. You wouldn’t know the friend you’re confiding all your business too is the one spreading your business because you didn’t let security check her out. You’ve got to have God as the head of your life, as the metal detector to your heart and the x-ray machine to your soul because he will be the only one the keeps you from getting hurt by man of this world. Stop looking at the things in your life as an attack to take you out but look at them as a learning lesson in order to keep you from making the same mistake again.

Yea, I know you thought this was the marriage for you but God didn’t and had you listened you wouldn’t be fighting the divorce battle now. Yea, I know you thought this was the job for you but God didn’t and had you stopped and look you wouldn’t be fighting the crowd at the unemployment office or temp service. Yea, I know you think this sickness is your death sentence but stop and let God show you the real reason he is putting you through it. If you would just take a moment and let the noise level go down, your mind to stop racing and your heart to stop beating so fast, God will tell or show you what he wants you to know. I used to wonder why my grandma would be up so late at night cleaning after everyone else was gone or in the bed but then I realized that while she is sweeping she is singing and talking to God because it was during those moments the house was quiet and she could concentrate fully on him. See, she didn’t have to worry about folks calling her name, asking her questions or interrupting her and God’s fellowship because everybody else had already went to bed. Then she could talk to him and tell him all about her problems and once she was done, she was rested enough to get rest. When you’ve given all of your problems over to God he releases them from your heart and the burdens from your shoulders in order for you to be able to stand in the midst of adversity without being tired, walk in the midst of the fire without getting burned, dance in the rain without it drowning you and love again without you being scared or hurt. When you allow God to be the head of your life, he’ll allow you to go through the storm but it won’t destroy your foundation. God will allow folks to walk in your life but he won’t let them walk all over you or over stay their welcome. God will even allow things to happen but those things will end once their season is over. God has to be the head of your life, the leader of your band, the CEO of your business, the head doctor and the top attorney on your case. He doesn’t need help and he won’t even charge you by the hour but you need to consult him first and the good thing about it, he can be paid in praise and worship.

So stop rushing God, will you? Say a prayer and leave your worries and burdens at the altar and wait. Don’t you know the bible says in Isaiah 40:31, “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary?” See, in your waiting your strength is renewed and in this renewing process your weary soul is restored and in your restoration you received rest for your shaky spirit that has your faith wavering and once you’ve rested; you’ll be ready to work and when you work you plant seeds during your harvest in rich soil that allows your harvest to be plentiful once it is time to reap. But you have to wait and let God work because even when it seems like he isn’t there, he is because 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 says, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”