No if, ands, or buts about it, but this is the Bible verse I go with:
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. IN THE WORLD YOU HAVE TRIBULATION AND DISTRESS AND SUFFERING, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]” – John 16:33
That’s why I am so grateful to my brother, Ceri, who has Ceri’d (carried) through some of my toughest days! No shame guys, I would lock up in our restroom at work and relisten to his messages. Even some days just to get out of bed, I would relisten to his messages just to remind myself that I’m not going through life alone and that God Himself was with me. THIS LIFE GETS HARD AND OVERWHELMING, BUT THAT’S WHERE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD COMES SWEETLY IN. Here is one of my fav Ceri messages:
“Habakkuk 3:17-19 says:
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”
Today, I am just grateful for the opportunity that God gives us every morning to be here and live as righteous kingdom citizens. This particular verse stood out to me, and I bookmarked it in my Bible app and wanted to say it to you guys because the end part of it where it says, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”
So, growing up in Cat Island, one of the things that if you know about like goats and those kind of animals is that like you’ll be coming on the boat along like a tough cliff or edge right. When you look up, you will see hundreds of goats standing like on these tiny rocks. I mean, their forefoot would look like you have clasped your hand and just stood on the rock. It always fascinated me because I wondered what these goats were doing out there. It’s almost as though they were so confident that they wouldn’t fall and would climb these rocks. That’s what it means to be surefooted, to be confident in knowing that God will provide. God is going to fulfill his promises.
In this particular verse it reminds us that even when nothing seems to be going right, like you may wake up this morning and you may have no money today, you may not even have food today, but your faith can provide and let you know that before the end of the day, you will eat; before the end of the day, you can have money; before the end of the day, whatever it is that is promised to you, will come to pass. You can’t miss it even if you wanted to because it was written in the bells and courses of history before you came around. It was a part of a big, huge plan you just happened to be a part of. From the time you were put on this planet, you were a part of God’s plan. You can’t change that, and whether or not there’s something bad, or if you may think that it’s bad, but whether or not something good, it’s still a part of a greater plan.
Sometimes, the slight misery that you may be going through might be a lesson that could save somebody’s life. Sometimes, the fact that you may have to swallow your pride and ask somebody for something may uplift somebody to know that they could help you. Sometimes, the littlest things that God puts us through give us just gives a little more strength to know that we could make it to see another day because we often look at life and say to ourselves, I don’t know how I can make it. But you know who knows how? God knows how.
But the righteous shall live by their faith. Once we know that God will be faithful to his promises, he will do what he said He’s going to do. And through any adversity. Through any famine. Through any crop fails. If the fields lie empty and barren, you will continue to rejoice in the Lord. And you heard what he said in this particular verse? He said, “I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.” That means that no matter what you go through, be happy because at least you are here on this planet to go through it. Dead people don’t go through anything. I thank you again for the opportunity to speak. God is good y’all, and I’m just so happy to be here. Let the righteous continue to live by their faith.”