Daily Devotional – 5/15/12 “You might be the reason for your storm!”

Nawl, no, no ma’am, no sir; God isn’t the reason for the storm you’re in! Have you stopped to realize that all the encouragement you’re receiving isn’t working because you’re still in and holding on to the same mess? You pray to God to get you out of the abusive relationship and then you go bail him out of jail. You ask to God to be the lawyer when you’re in court and then when he gets you off with just a warning, you get in trouble again. You’re praying to ask God to give you rest but every time somebody calls, you say yes instead of simply saying no because you’re tired. You allow your friends to get you in some mess and then they run off and leave you when the crap hits the fan but you go again. You pray for forgiveness when you sin, God forgives you and you commit the same sin again. You’ve got to stop getting yourself into places that you need help getting out off, all the time. Yea, I can give you God’s word all day long but if you keep causing the rain to pour in your own life, they’ll be meaningless to you eventually. Why, because you’ll stop believing in God’s power if every time you turn around there’s trouble, when God isn’t the cause of all of it. Yes, he promised troubled on this side but he didn’t say all your days would be. That’s why Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Stop allowing the enemy to reside at your home sucking all of the life out of you, make a change. If your grown child is the cause of your stress because they are still staying at home running the house like it’s their domain when they can’t even buy tissue, put them out instead of allowing them to sleep all day when you’re out working day in and day out. You’ve done the job God gave you, which is to raise them up to be an adult. You are not responsible for taking care of him/her, the children and their baby momma/daddy. When your adult children have a family of their own, it is their responsibility to take care of them. No, I’m not saying don’t be there when your help is needed but stop allowing them to control your life. You can’t even go out because they’ve already filled your weekend with babysitting. If you got extra folks staying with you who only needed help for a few weeks that have turned into months and you don’t see them even trying to help themselves, give them a timeframe and put their butt out. You have a right to have a stress free home when the world you live in is stressful enough. Your home should be a place of refuge after you’ve toiled with worrisome coworkers, road rage drivers and attitude having children at the fast food places. Yea, this stress storm you’re in can be handled but you’ve got to cut off the source of the rain and don’t feel bad when you do.

God is an umbrella in the time of most of our storms but how can he keep up when as soon as he stops one you go right around the corner and start another one? You do know that mouth of yours is a big cause too, right? You always cry that God won’t come see about you when you’re so busy bragging about yourself that you don’t even notice you’re blocking your own blessings. Let me explain. You see in the Sunday program that Pastor Joe put Sis. Ruth in charge of Women’s Day and as soon as church is over you go running to his office to tell him how much better you can do it because you’ve been doing it for 5 years. God isn’t pleased with that! John 5:31 says, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true,” but you’re so busy raising yourself up that you don’t even allow God the opportunity. Then you get mad when man knock you down so easily and you have to wonder why the job you’re doing isn’t succeeding, well it’s because you’re the only one that thinks you’re great at it. Step down off the pedestal you’ve placed yourself on, take the cotton out your ears and listen sometime. Folks may be aware that you’ve been doing this job for years but they also notice the same problems that come along with it every year. If you can’t get anyone to sign on to help when you’re in charge, you might be part of the problem. Haven’t you heard that you should let your work speak for you? John 10:37 says, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.” You get a position on your job that gives you a little authority and you act like no one can touch you and you wonder why you can’t be promoted. You’re so busy looking down on others that you don’t see your own self falling and then you don’t understand why no one is there to catch you. You fix a problem or issue that nobody else could and now you want everybody to know and then you wonder why no one asks for your help anymore. You got a little extra money in your pocket and when someone ask to borrow something, you tell everybody and their momma and now you wondering why your money is funny & change is strange. Child, shut up sometime! The bible says in James 4:16, “As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.” When you brag on yourself who knows this to be true, really? How do we know that you can do all you say you can? All we know is that you like the way your voice sounds because you’re always talking but if you let others boast of your good work, then we have a chance to know that you’re capable of doing this and that. This is why the bible says in John 5:32, “There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.”

When you learn to keep your mouth you’ll give someone else the opportunity to brag on your talents and good works and you can keep your foot out of it when you’re bragging about yourself to the wrong person. Most times you are bragging to folk who want to see you fail, knocked down and being drug to hell and back but you’re so busy talking that you don’t even see it and now you’re surprised when your job is phased out and they are still working. You didn’t lose your job because God is opening up another door for you because you didn’t give him a chance too, but you lost your job because you couldn’t close your mouth. Yea, you’re the reason for the storm this time. When you are doing all that you should be doing and the work that you do is of great standing, it’ll speak for itself. You won’t have to say a word when your boss comes with the promotion you didn’t even apply for because your work has already claimed it for you. You won’t have to say a word when God starts to open up the doors for the career you always wanted because your work is speaking for you. You won’t have to say one thing when you realize that your raise was double what it should have been, but because you allowed your work to speak for you so God has already worked it out. You wonder how the VP of the company knows your name out of 500+ employees when you’ve never met – Your work introduced you. You’re wondering how the HR person at another company knew about the talents that you have – your work spoke for you! You’re wondering how you got the interview when there were 3 other people who had degrees and more years of experience – your work spoke up for you! If you are as good as you think you are, someone is noticing and you don’t have to say a word.

Stop putting yourself so far up that you’re too far to reach when you need help. Stop having your nose so far in the air that you can’t even smell when stuff starts to stink around your own house. Stop getting in other folks business and then cry when you get your feelings hurt. Stop wishing sickness on yourself just because you need a few days off. Watch what you say, the things you do and the folks you hang out with because it may play a part of the storm you’re in. God gave us the power to speak things over our life and if you keep saying you’re sick, broke, unhappy and miserable; these things become true. Speak sunshine when you see the clouds starting to form, speak joy when you see the hell coming and speak to God when you’re down. You got enough trouble promised without adding to it. When the devil knocks don’t go asking who it is but tell God to get it and watch him work it out. Plus, keep your mouth because he doesn’t need help.