I came across a sermon I heard several years back and just had to share it with you. Have you ever felt you had the perfect life? A wonderful husband/wife, beautiful children, wonderful job, home and all the wonderful things in life any person could possibly ask for, then all of a sudden it seems to you the rug has been pulled out from underneath you, your world seems to be falling apart and you haven't got a clue as to why.
It's all a matter of perspective...if you look for what is going wrong you can find it. But if you will look a little further at the opportunities that are availing themselves, there are so many doors of opportunity that God is opening and about to open. You cannot let what you see cause you to be in fear and be reluctant. I am not going to quit fighting until everything is under my feet because that is where the bible says it belongs, every bad thing is not supposed to have me I am supposed to have it. It's not supposed to be over me I am supposed to be over it. Somebody said "Well under the circumstances I am doing pretty good." You need to say,,, "What are doing under there?" You don't get underneath your circumstances and let them dominate you. And it's all a matter of whether you think you are supposed to be on top of it or it is supposed to be on top of you. I'm not saying I'm not afraid...I'm not saying I don't see what you see, but I will deal with things and not allow them to take root. There is a difference in having a fleeting thought and allowing things to take root on the inside of you, because once it takes root on the inside of you, it begins to dominate your thinking, once it begins to dominate your thinking, it begins to dominate your decisions. And you need to determine you are not going to allow it to do that. The fact is I belong to a kingdom, my daddy is God, I've got everything that is in the fathers house and I'm not living under this thing, and I'm going to speak it, I'm going to talk it, I'm going to worship it and I'm going to keep doing what I know to do until my situation turns around, and it will turn around.
Scarcity brings clarity....Whenever there is lack in your life, for a lot of preachers have preached that there is no Godly attribute to lack , but I can show you instances in the bible where God turned off the spicket because he couldn't get somebody to move. Not every time, you will need to discern, but sometimes lack is an indicator God is trying to bring change that you would not possess on your own. God told Elijah go to the brook Cherith, and I am going to send ravens to feed and you are going to drink from the brook. But then God told him, now I want you to go to Zeraphath, I have a widow who will provide for thee there. Elijah didn't leave...why? Because it was nice having the ravens come and drop food in his mouth and lay beside and brook and drink its water. So what did God do?? He caused the brook to dry up. Because he knew that the comfort level that had been created for Elijah was so great that he would never move unless lack was a motivator that would cause him to get up from that spot and obey Gods next command. You see some of us have not learned to obey the sequence of Gods commands we just got the first one. And you obeyed him one time and you are stuck in the last thing He said. The bible says that you live off every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Some of you are not living in a proceeding word you are living in a preceding word. It's wonderful that you did what God told you to do in the past, but what is he telling you to do now??
What if Abraham had only heard the first voice and not the second one? The first voice said "Give me your son and sacrifice him. The second voice said STOP...there is a wren caught in the thicket, don't kill your son, I was just testing you." There is your provision...the Lord Jehovah provides for you right now. What if he had just heard the first one? He would have killed his son and God didn't want him to. Why? There is another word on the way. And we have got to become people that don't just hear the last thing but hear the now thing that God is saying, because man lives off of every word that not only preceding but is proceeding out of the mouth of God. And for some of you the reason your life has been held up is because you haven't heard the next command or God is having to dry up the brook to get you to go. You may find yourself confronted with a new set of obstacles, things you have never had to deal with before, having to make decisions harder than you have ever made.
Lack forced me to make some very good choices. Because when there is a scarcity, scarcity will drive you back to what was originally important. It will drive you back to what was the original vision. Some of you, your families have experienced lack...what is God driving you back to??? Could God have turned off the spickets just to get you and your wife to fall in love again?? Could he have turned it off for you to take a step back, get involved in your children’s lives and take responsibility again or maybe for the first time? What is important?? What is the core value?? What are the non negotiables?? All those things start getting clearer. If I have a $100 bill, I can probably go just about anywhere to eat, but if I only have $5 I am going to have to be much more careful with the decision I make. Because I am going to have to be a lot clearer on how I am going to spend this money. And I know that God brings good out of everything and I know that everybody has been touched at some level with a hard time, everybody. But what do you do? Do you belly ache, do you complain, do you have a pity party?? Or do you say " You know what? God is giving me a moment to refocus, to retool, to look at things. Some of you are doing things that you don't even like doing, and God know it but he also knows that you would have kept doing it forever if he hadn't jostled your life up a little bit causing you to re-examine, refocus and just look at things. There is another thing that scarcity will bring about. There are things you used to be able to do on your own but now you need help. It's a thing called partnership. When things are going well you may not see the opportunities before you and then when things become difficult, you start to refocus, see things more clearly, go back to what is truly important in your life. When you are part of the kingdom, God give you advantages.
Jesus says, Luke 14, He who intends to build a tower, will he not first stop and count to see that he has enough to finish? Or he is going into a war, will he not first stop and think, with his 10 thousand can he go up against the one who has 20 thousand and if he decides he can't then send a delegation to make peace. In other words if you are looking at a battle and you know you can't win, then send someone out there and say I have changed my mind. In other words, Jesus said, approach life anticipating problems. And as you go through these problems conserve your energy, because you can't fight everything. I don't have time for regrets and some of you are spending all your energy on regrets. All you talk about is what didn't pan out and the deal that went bad. That's where your mind is, that's where all your energy goes. I cannot battle what didn't pan out because I can't change it. God said anticipate problems and then get ready to finish no matter what life throws your way. Be a finisher...I have had to learn some things I can't battle or respond to, it's just a waste of my energy. Plus what I respond to I am saying you are important to me. And I can't give critics and those who want to be baggage and weight I can't give them the credit to think they are important enough to earn a response. I've got too much tomorrow to look at to fight you today. And some people need to hear that, because they don't have anything going on in their lives they turn on each other. You begin arguing with people, begin finding all the flaws in each other, because your focus has been taken from what you have been doing, because now you have time on your hands. So you begin to pick people apart. I don't have time to pick you apart because I am afraid you may find what’s wrong with me and pick me apart and the bible says with the same measure that I use it will be measured unto me. And I don't like taking it, so I am not going to give it. While you are going through difficult times, let it bring clarity, let it cause you to refocus. Let it cause you to go back and find what is central to your vision and challenge you again to what is really important. Some of you are just busy, but you haven't been busy about what is important in your life. Next thing you have to conserve energy, chose your battles. Choose what is worth your fight. Someone once said I will not battle where there are no spoils. So before you battle you need to say, what is the end result of this. If I win, have a truly won? Or have I just got her not speaking to me for 10 days. What are the soils of this victory? And if it’s not a desirable spoil, DON"T Fight. You don't have to fight where there is nothing to gain. The bible says, he who runs , runs for the prize. If there isn't a prize, then why are you running? If scarcity brings clarity, then you have to go back to what is important, and you have to cut baggage off your life. Take time to build yourself and go higher with God.
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