Life-Giving Words of Hope & Encouragement

If you didn’t get a chance to hear Pastor Tommy’s message on Sunday, I highly encourage you to watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4HGgu7XQ4o. One of my favorite parts of the story of Abraham taking his prophesied son Isaac up to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice is picturing the miracle of the ram coming up the other side of the mountain as they ascended. Our steps of faith and prayers set miracles in motion that we can’t always see right away.

Isaiah 45:2 says, “God goes before us and makes our crooked places straight.” This means that what may seem impossible to us is possible with God. When things appear complicated and unsolvable, suddenly, they fall into place. You may go through seasons of struggle where you don’t see anything happening, but your miracle or breakthrough may be coming up the other side of the mountain you are climbing. God has already gone before you. He has already worked out what you’re worrying about. Quit dreading it; quit losing sleep over it.

This is what happened with the Israelites. They were by the Promised Land next to the Jordan River, contemplating whether to enter it. Their parents and grandparents stood at that same place 40 years earlier, but they talked themselves out of it. The people living there were the Anakites, descendants of giants: huge, strong, powerful people. The Israelites’ parents thought they were too big, turned around, and wandered in the desert for 40 years. This was a critical moment: would they do the same thing?

When they approached the Jordan River, it was harvest season, so it was over a mile across. God told Joshua, “As soon as their feet touched the water in the Jordan River, the water flow would be cut off upstream, and the river would stand up like a wall.” He then instructed Joshua on what to do with the Ark, the priests, and each member of the twelve tribes. When they entered the water, Joshua 3:16 says, “The water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam.” Like Abraham and Isaac, Joshua’s obedience set the Israelites’ miracle in motion upstream.

You may encounter situations such as work challenges, medical diagnoses, legal issues, or overwhelming odds. You might think, “How am I going to handle this? It’s going to be too difficult.” But just as God helped others before you, He is already paving the way for you to overcome these obstacles. Things are not as they seem. Your miracle is already happening upstream or coming up the other side of the mountain.

God gave Nehemiah a dream to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls had been down for many years, leaving the people living there unprotected. Nehemiah worked as a cupbearer for the king a thousand miles away. He wasn’t a builder and didn’t have the resources, funds, or crew to accomplish this task. God will often ask us to do things that seem beyond our ability and put dreams that seem too big in our hearts. Even though it may look impossible, and we don’t see how it can happen, if we take steps of faith, we’ll discover God has already gone before us, and our miracle is in motion. All the odds were against Nehemiah. Thoughts telling him he didn’t have a chance, but Nehemiah chose to believe. God is seeking individuals who will not be discouraged from pursuing their dreams and who are undeterred by the size of the challenge.

Nehemiah went to the king. Scripture says the king said, “Nehemiah, how can I help you?” When God puts a big dream in your heart, he’s already lined up the people to say, “How can I help you? How can I be good to you? Where can I show you favor?” Nehemiah asked the king for permission to take time off to rebuild the walls. There was no reason for the king to agree; the walls being down didn’t affect him. But for some reason, the king said, “Fine, you can go, Nehemiah.” Nehemiah said, “Thank you, but I need another favor. I don’t have any materials. I don’t have the funds. I need rocks, stones, mortar, supplies.” Now, he’s asking the king to fund his dream. You would think the king would say, “Excuse me, this is your project. I’m giving you the time off; don’t expect me to pay for it.” Once again, the king said, “Yes, I’ll give you the supplies.”

God has already arranged the provision you need. Like Nehemiah, God has put people who will fund what He promised in your path. He controls the universe and knows how to get you what you need. God will open the windows of heaven and pour out resources to bring to pass what He promised. God puts dreams in our hearts that are bigger than we can afford. This is where faith kicks in, where you have to pray boldly and believe for uncommon resources and out-of-the-ordinary increases so you can rebuild the walls and accomplish what God put in your heart. The king granted Nehemiah all his requests because of the gracious hand of God upon his life, and Nehemiah rebuilt the walls in a record time of 52 days.

During World War II, an American bomber flew a mission over the Pacific Ocean when it ran out of fuel. The pilot had to land on an island controlled by the Japanese. He and his men knew they would soon be captured and taken as prisoners. With their plane sitting on the beach with no fuel, they had all given up, all that is, except one man. It just so happened this bomber was carrying a chaplain. He believed God could make a way where they didn’t see a way. He began to pray and asked God to protect them, give them favor, and help them return to their base. The other men thought he was delusional. They were on a deserted island with no boat or food; it was just a matter of time before they would be captured as prisoners of war.

Early the following day, one of the men couldn’t sleep, so he decided to go to the beach for a walk. Looking out at the waves, he noticed something strange bobbing up and down. It was a large canister, about five feet tall and three feet wide, with the words “Aviation fuel” written on it. He couldn’t believe it. He shouted to the other airmen, and they came to help pull it out of the water. They hurried onto the plane, refueled quickly, and within minutes, they were airborne, their lives spared.

Later, it was discovered that this canister was one of hundreds on a large cargo barge headed to the air base. On the way, the barge was destroyed when enemy forces attacked it. All the other canisters were lost, but this one floated over a thousand miles, past 25 different islands. It just so happened to wash up on the island where the plane had run out of fuel. Until the soldier went out early in the morning and saw the aviation fuel container, it seemed like an impossible situation: a deserted island in enemy territory with no airport or gas. However, God never runs out of options. He had the solution before the problem arose. The canister had been floating in that direction months before the plane ran out of fuel. It could have sunk, gotten lost, or washed up on another island, but God had preordained it to be there at that very moment.

God already has healing, promotion, freedom, abundance, and the right people on the way for you. Even if it seems impossible to escape your situation or achieve your dreams, you don’t know what God has already set in motion. It won’t be as challenging or take as long as it seems. God is ahead of you, smoothing out the rough spots. You’d be grateful if you could see what’s coming and how God will turn things around. God is in control, fighting your battles, and His plans for you are good. He’s bigger than your sickness, greater than your trouble, and more powerful than anything trying to stop you.

You may be facing a challenge that seems insurmountable. You may feel outnumbered, your sickness or addiction may seem overwhelming, or the people opposing you may appear more powerful. However, I want to encourage you that God will do extraordinary, uncommon, and unusual things. Things you couldn’t make happen on your own, God will go before you, making crooked places straight, defeating giants, bringing promotion, favor, and victory. Keep taking steps of faith, be obedient, pray boldly, and get ready for God to show up and show out. I hope that speaks to you, and I pray you have a blessed day!