When something seems impossible, God makes it possible. There is an answer to every problem. God!
Acts 7:9-10 - And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
No matter what your enemy may think of you, or what others plan against you, God has a better plan. The plans that God has are always greater and more powerful than the plans of the enemy. The words spoken over your life by those around you have no effect, power or authority. They are like feathers trying to land on a surface and stay there in the midst of a storm. The wind is the power and authority of God over the plans of the enemy, those mere feathers withering in the wind. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. The envy of others led to the sale of his whole being into another land. He was moved from his place of residence to a different place, but God was in the midst of it all; provided him with all that he needed and even made him governor over Egypt - from rejection to authority; slavery to kingship; loneliness to honour. You may be rejected by people, but you never will be rejected by God. We know that "all things work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" - Romans 8:28. People may reject you, but God will favor you!
Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
Our God is our father, and he takes care of us. He will never abandon us nor forsake us. This statement of never abandoning or forsaking is repeated five times in the Bible; a powerful promise that identifies the intentions of our king, and made manifest for all believers in Hebrews 13:5. Its existence in Hebrews is assurance of its importance in the present time in which we live. That our God is our provider, our refuge and our strength. The start of Deuteronomy 31:6 says, "Be strong and of good courage," assurance from our King that he will, and when He says He will, it is not like the words of man, sometimes lacking truth - it is true that He will exhort the people to a point of magnanimity; power and firm standing. God is affirming and assuring us that his assistance, support and care that He promises us is so great that fear or trembling is an unnecessary act, not worth engaging in and simply a waste of time. Wherever we go, the Lord our God goes with us, not a friend that goes with us that can easily abandon us, but the omnipresent King, of eternal greatness and glory, is with us all our days. If we were, on the other hand, to depend and engage in actions, reliant on our own strength and physical abilities, we would do nothing more than move like headless chickens in our own imprudence, carelessness and impertinence. It is important for us to understand that we take the first step, the act of courage, but God goes with us. He is Lord! He is before us, behind us, next to us, above us and is omnipresent. Any exhortation on our behalf is not only ineffective but of little value, however, our actions are effective and of value when they are founded and grounded confidently, and with courage in the grace of God which is freely given to us. How can we doubt, tremble or fear when we know that every present moment we encounter and live within, as well as our future, "inclusive of welfare and not of evil, a gifting of hope" - Jeremiah 29:11, is blessed by the companionship of a never lacking, never forsaking and omnipresent God? How can we dare to doubt and live in fear? It is no longer a matter of scriptural application, but of common sense - we are blessed by the companionship of our Father in Heaven, therefore, to neglect his provision, live in fear and tremble is, for lack of a better phrase, of complete and utter stupidity. We have been provided to the brim, we are overflowing with his Grace, yet some struggle to live prosperously and with courage. How dare we live in fear?
"Any exhortation on our behalf is not only ineffective but of little value, however, our actions are effective and of value when they are founded and grounded confidently, and with courage in the grace of God which is freely given to us."
The word never literally means, of no time. There is not a time in eternity, not just your life here on earth, where God will forsake you. Not a single moment. "He will never leave you, nor forsake you." These powerful words of affirmative companionship were spoken to Joshua in Joshua 1:5; "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." In addition, these words were spoken to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:20; "Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." In Hebrews 13:5, Paul the apostle decided to refer to these same promises; he was authorised by the Holy Spirit to empower these words as important: words in Greek, Ου μη σε ανω, ουδ ' ου μη σε εγκαταλιπω which translated is, "No, I will not leave thee; no, neither will I not utterly forsake thee." These negatives are cleverly placed within this sentence, strengthening the meaning, resulting in greater empathy and energetic affirmation; that God in all power is unable and incapable of failing us or forsaking us. Many miss the power here; our God, the almighty King of kings, the creator of the heavens and earth is not able to forsake us. The only time that us mere humans are not able to leave someone is when we are madly, passionately and with intense focus, in love with someone. Our God loves us so much that he is not able to forsake us. We can't compare our challenges, our little fragile circumstances and struggles with the love that God has for us. It is impossible for someone never to forsake something or someone they do not love. If you do love someone, it will be easy for you forsake them, to leave and go elsewhere. Do you understand the magnitude of God's love for you? It is in endless supply. Yes, but I am facing lots of challenges - my response is, but God loves you.
Hebrews 13:5 - "No, I will not leave thee; no, neither will I not utterly forsake thee."
These words are important; God will NOT forsake His people. The promise made to Joshua was not just intended for him, but for all, including you reading this blog right now. Many may have believed that the scripture was temporal in its intention, but God said never meaning all time - He will not forsake. God will not leave His people in the hands of their enemies, forsake them in those moments of distress or withhold good things from them when they need it most, but God will instead supply them with all that they need, for which they must show content for. There is a spiritual side to this scripture, that is often overlooked, and that is the spiritual battleground - God will not leave us; to ourselves; to our own selfish desires and corruptions, which will drown us; to our own power, which is weak; to our own worldly wisdom, which is folly; to Satan, and his temptations; to the world and the things that pertain to the world, which draws us away from the kingdom of Heaven. Most importantly, He will not forsake the good work within us, but God will "carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" - Philippians 1:6.
The first part of Hebrews 13:5 is, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have," just before Deuteronomy 31:6 is quoted by Paul - "He will not leave you nor forsake you," indicates to us that God's presence is more than enough. There is nothing else that we could possibly need. Contentment is a very important part that we must have in our lives before we can truly understand the never forsaking companionship of our Lord. Contentment is the inclination of the mind, at ease, regardless of the amount of things that pertain to life. It is a moment of complete satisfaction with that which is provided to us, by God. The reality is that the things assigned to us by God, have been assigned to us through the wisdom of God and His will. We cannot complain about the little or the much that God gives us, or live in envy of the more that God confers to others. What he chooses to confer to others, and chooses not to confer to us is none of our business, but God's business. His will cannot be compared to our will. It is far better, greater and beyond our imagination of what wisdom is. God has given us six days of the week to be industrious, to work and make money. However, we shouldn't pride ourselves on what we accumulate, nor should be boast of our abilities to accumulate such things which others are not able to accumulate with their own efforts. Such comparison is not of God, but is vanity; an attribute of weak men. See, a lack of contentment is a slap in the face of our King. When we are not content, we are saying to our King that his provision; His love for us, His grip on our lives, the never forsaking giant grip of God and His ability to never leave us and provide us with the desires of our heart is not enough; His provision is not enough for us, we want more. Do you see the disgrace of discontent? The rudeness of it awakened me, to cease my discontent and immediately turn to gratefulness. What could possibly be better than what God can provide for us? The moment we turn the other way and say but before anything else other than God, we let go of His grip; but my job; but my friend; but my girlfriend; but my house; but my feelings; but he/she offended me and any other but you can think of is completely irrelevant. Replace all your buts with But God. As it says in Luke 18:27 - But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” There are things in our lives, which when we try to do them ourselves, they may seem impossible, but God makes it possible. As soon as we move from self-action to God-action, our lives change - it can change in an instant. Self-action are those moments in our lives where we look for knowledge, wisdom and expertise that we might take action with the acquired tools. In contrast, God-action is when we spend time with God in stillness, knowing that he is God - Psalm 46:10, and learn from Him, hear from Him and then listen to Him - finding out what the will of God is, instead of our own weak and desolate will that lacks contrast as it embraces only temporal living; earth vs eternal reality - heaven. The only actions that lead to a life where all things are possible are God-actions.
"Contentment is the inclination of the mind, at ease, regardless of the amount of things that pertain to life. It is a moment of complete satisfaction with that which is provided to us."
Some powerful questions to ponder: What formed you? Was it God, or did the devil have a hand in it? Paul was able to say that the grace of God made him who he is; are you able to say that? How many deeds up to this moment right now have occurred because of you? How many because of God? Do you let God into your life? What has made you what you are? The grace of God, or nature, self-righteousness and the influence of the world?
If you want to learn more, simply browse these blog categories: