Jonah 2:1-2. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. And said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Are you crying to the Lord my Friends in a time of desperation, and it doesn’t seem like He’s hearing or paying any attention to you? Well take heart. So am I. But the truth is that our God always listens and always hears. It’s just that His response and timing doesn’t always match ours. We want to be relieved of a problem now for now. But that’s not God’s style. The problems we’re facing might have a higher purpose that we don’t know about, and if He granted our request immediately, we’d lose the good stuff, the increase He has in store for us if we’d only ‘band our jaw’ and ride out the problem without too many complaints. Look at poor Jonah nuh. He refused to do the Lord’s bidding, then tried to run away and hide. But as the ole people say, ‘yuh could run, but yuh can’t hide.’ That’s so true people. And we know that our God has a tendency to do things in a roundabout way. It’s never as straightforward and simple as it seems. He allowed Jonah to run, then had the whale swallow him, just to teach him a lesson. And as Jonah ‘guttsily’ testified: ‘Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.’ Yes Friends, wherever we are, in whatever circumstance, good or bad, the Lord is always with us, and always hears our cries of anguish, or songs of praise, and we have to believe that we undergo certain things for reasons that He alone understands. And if we look back on some of the hard times we’ve been through, we’ll notice that almost always, we’ve come out better than before. The problems strengthen us; either financially, spiritually, emotionally and even physically. That’s how we grow and mature as Christians. And as I keep reminding us, it’s not an easy walk, this Christian faith we’ve chosen to follow, for even though we know deep down, that with hope, belief and faith in the Most High, we’ll come though with flying colours, it’s still difficult to drum up the necessary patience to wait on Him. However Friends, if we’re ever going to be successful in our endeavours, and hoping in the Lord to help us, then patience is something we’ll definitely have to acquire. And here I’m preaching to myself too. (smile) The Mighty One above says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Yes Friends, that’s what we need to do. So whatever unfortunate circumstance you might find yourself in today, remember the Lord is always there to help. Do the best you can, cry out to Him for help, then leave the rest to Him, wait patiently, with thanks and praise and faith. Like Jonah, He might just be trying to teach us a lesson, or testing us for promotion. But please don’t lose hope, cause it’s when things look the bleakest, that we’ve got to hold on the strongest. That’s the enemy desperately trying to hold us back from the good future he knows the Lord has waiting for us. Hope I can remember that too. (smile) Wish all the Bits flowed as easily as this one (wishful thinking) Guess that’s because it relates to me on a personal level also. Anyway Friends, as always, Much LOVE!…and remember…He’s always with us…we just have to stay in faith…and bide our time…
Are you crying to the Lord my Friends in a time of desperation, and it doesn’t seem like He’s hearing or paying any attention to you? Well take heart. So am I. But the truth is that our God always listens and always hears. It’s just that His response and timing doesn’t always match ours. We want to be relieved of a problem now for now. But that’s not God’s style. The problems we’re facing might have a higher purpose that we don’t know about, and if He granted our request immediately, we’d lose the good stuff, the increase He has in store for us if we’d only ‘band our jaw’ and ride out the problem without too many complaints. Look at poor Jonah nuh. He refused to do the Lord’s bidding, then tried to run away and hide. But as the ole people say, ‘yuh could run, but yuh can’t hide.’ That’s so true people. And we know that our God has a tendency to do things in a roundabout way. It’s never as straightforward and simple as it seems. He allowed Jonah to run, then had the whale swallow him, just to teach him a lesson. And as Jonah ‘guttsily’ testified: ‘Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.’ Yes Friends, wherever we are, in whatever circumstance, good or bad, the Lord is always with us, and always hears our cries of anguish, or songs of praise, and we have to believe that we undergo certain things for reasons that He alone understands. And if we look back on some of the hard times we’ve been through, we’ll notice that almost always, we’ve come out better than before. The problems strengthen us; either financially, spiritually, emotionally and even physically. That’s how we grow and mature as Christians. And as I keep reminding us, it’s not an easy walk, this Christian faith we’ve chosen to follow, for even though we know deep down, that with hope, belief and faith in the Most High, we’ll come though with flying colours, it’s still difficult to drum up the necessary patience to wait on Him. However Friends, if we’re ever going to be successful in our endeavours, and hoping in the Lord to help us, then patience is something we’ll definitely have to acquire. And here I’m preaching to myself too. (smile) The Mighty One above says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Yes Friends, that’s what we need to do. So whatever unfortunate circumstance you might find yourself in today, remember the Lord is always there to help. Do the best you can, cry out to Him for help, then leave the rest to Him, wait patiently, with thanks and praise and faith. Like Jonah, He might just be trying to teach us a lesson, or testing us for promotion. But please don’t lose hope, cause it’s when things look the bleakest, that we’ve got to hold on the strongest. That’s the enemy desperately trying to hold us back from the good future he knows the Lord has waiting for us. Hope I can remember that too. (smile) Wish all the Bits flowed as easily as this one (wishful thinking) Guess that’s because it relates to me on a personal level also. Anyway Friends, as always, Much LOVE!…and remember…He’s always with us…we just have to stay in faith…and bide our time…
SCRIP-BITS 