Silverwind, 1980s: “My prayer for you is that you will stay with the Lord long enough for Him to remove all your fears.”
Several decades ago, Annie and I visited with my grandma in California. At the time, we were living in Oregon and experiencing defeat after apparent defeat. I remember us telling my Christian grandma that the devil is stronger than God because we were living without any hope and struggling so hard to want to keep our marriage and family together, and wondering if we really would continue to follow Jesus. It appeared as though we weren’t having any spiritual victories and nothing we did, even bargaining with God, altered our condition.
The other day, I heard a popular preacher say that many in the body of Christ are expressing the same thing. They’re voicing that satan is stronger than God and that they’re losing all hope.
When we believed satan was stronger than God, it was all lies. It was what the devil wanted us to think. And, he’s the father of lies. There’s NO truth in him. (John 8:44)
Saints, I can honestly tell you that God is in control. That’s why, even though I thought we were not going to make it through to victory, God told me I didn’t have to worry one minute in Oregon. Later, He told me I could have had His joy the whole time. His joy is not dependent on circumstances just as the Apostle Paul learned. This is how Paul discovered that God can give us supernatural contentment whether we have much or nothing.
I want to encourage you by telling you that you can have joy even when nothing “seems” to be going your way. I’m speaking about God’s joy and yielding to it no matter the circumstance. To be praising God and celebrating His faithfulness in the midst of adversity is a high calling and supernatural weapon when used against the enemy of our souls.
No, you’re not going under, or down. Just the opposite. You’re journeying to the High Places. God’s wooing you to Himself. He’s calling us close to Him and making us depend on Him for good reasons. He loves us and wants to protect us from any and all evil.
Keep seeking Him. Keep praising Him. Keep reading His Word and saying it out loud. He’s bringing His faithful ones to live with Him on Mount Zion, to dwell in the shadow of the Most High. In His dwelling place, there is supernatural contentment calm, peace, rest, and joy that is not found in any other place.
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Matthew 28:20 “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Joshua 1:5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
What have Annie and I discovered? That in the wilderness, God was teaching us His ways. That just like the children of Israel when they left Egypt, God was wooing us in our wilderness. We weren’t going down like satan wanted us to believe. Instead, God was betrothing us, calling us to His side to be His bride, forever. ☺
Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”
He’s removing all our fears…
God bless,
Mark