The story of Noah is a fascinating one (Genesis 6). At the time, the earth is so filled with corruption and violence that God regrets making human beings. Yet, God, in His mercy, is able to recognise at least one man who is walking faithfully with Him - Noah. He decides to destroy every living thing on earth except Noah and his family and two of every kind of living creature. He informs Noah that He is going to send rain on the earth and that he has to build an ark to safely house him and all that would be with him as the floodwaters covered the earth. 
    The interesting thing is that rain had never fallen on the earth before. God had used a mist to cover the earth to water the earth. But Noah trusted God and believed that He would do what had never been done before. Noah had also never built an ark before either but he trusted God’s direction and took on a mammoth task. 
    Noah’s obedience was wrapped up in his faith in God. He believed in God and he trusted Him. He did not expect Him to lie and so obedience to His instructions was not a problem for him.     
    But let’s add a little bit more to that. Imagine Noah building this ark and being asked questions about it by his neighbours and friends. He would have had to tell them the truth and may have even tried to encourage them to escape the judgement to come. They may have laughed at and ridiculed him because what he was doing did not make any sense. Yet, Noah believed in his God and simply obeyed. 
    There are times when God will ask us to do something that makes no sense to others or even to us. However, this is where knowing and trusting the God you serve is important. God will never ask you to do something that is not going to be beneficial to you and even to others in some way. Sometimes the obedience He requires of us is the key that unlocks the answer to the very prayers we have prayed for healing, for deliverance, for help in some area  of our lives. 
    I recall here the story of Namaan, a Syrian general and a leper (2 Kings 5). He goes to the prophet Elijah in Israel, seeking healing from his leprosy. He goes to him for help but Elijah, instead of coming out to meet him, sends a messenger to instruct him to wash in the Jordan river seven times. Namaan feels insulted that Elijah refuses to come out to meet him and on top of that instructs him to wash in the muddy waters of the Jordan river. However, after some encouragement, he obeys and he is healed of leprosy. 
    Had Namaan not obeyed Elijah’s instructions, he would have missed his healing. Sometimes we too may miss our answer to prayer because we refuse to obey God’s instructions. God will not always answer the way we would like, but He does answer and may ask us to do something that makes no sense or even makes us uncomfortable. Yet, obedience to God will always bring much needed blessings. When Noah obeyed, he and his entire family were saved. And when Namaan obeyed, he received the healing he wanted and in turn glorified the God of Israel. 
    What has God asked you to do that seems too difficult to do? God will never ask you to do something that He will not enable you to handle and it will work out for your benefit. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Whatever God requires of you will never be something He won’t enable you to handle. And your choice to obey Him may be the key that unlocks blessings, healing, deliverance, and answered prayer. Just trust Him!

    Brandy was on her way to work one morning when a pickup truck driving at 60 miles an hour, ran a stop sign and slammed into her car. Her car ripped in half. She was ejected and thrown over 160 feet from her car and landed in a field. She was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered she had bruising at the base of her skull suggesting a skull fracture and possible brain bleed. Her family and friends kept praying. Her father became filled with a sense of peace. He felt as if God was telling him that He had it under control. 
    Two days later, miraculously, doctors could find no signs of skull or neck fractures. She had no brain or spinal chord injuries. Her leg and foot were badly injured and doctors considered amputation. However, they opted instead for surgical reconstruction. Although successful, Brandy was told that she would never be able to run again or wear high heels and she would walk with a limp. In spite of this discouraging news, Brandy chose to be thankful that she was even alive.
    Today, Brandy is married and has a son. She has also become a nurse at the same hospital where she received her care. As if that isn’t enough, she is now able to run, wear high heels and walk without a limp, defying the negative prognosis doctors had given her. She is grateful for God’s love and for the opportunity each day, to live to see another day.
    When faced with impossible situations, it can be easy to give in to discouragement and despair. Brandy experienced what she did, yet, her father experienced a peace from God that did not make sense to him. He just felt as if God was telling Him: “I got this.” This part of the testimony is what caught my attention because when tragedy strikes or negative situations present themselves, it can be difficult to feel anything but fear, discouragement, despair. Yet, in spite of what he was seeing in front of him, Brandy’s father became covered with a sense of peace. God was letting him know that He was taking care of this for him. I think that’s what God always wants us to know, that He is in control. The reality is, though, that negative feelings and emotions usually take precedence to the point where, sometimes, we may wonder if God is still there. 
    The nice thing is that, whether or not we can feel or sense His presence, He is right there. I recently experienced a frustrating situation, yet, I felt as if God was saying, “Give it to me.” Of course, I wanted to still try to handle it myself but all I was doing was frustrating myself even more. I finally just had to let it go, give it to God and let Him handle it. It’s usually a much more peaceful option, believe me. And yes, of course, God did work it out. 
    1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your cares upon Him for He careth for you.” There’s something about reaching the point where you can’t do it anymore and you just have to hand it over to Him. I know that at that point Jesus is able to step in and do what we can’t do. I believe that’s what happened to Brandy’s father. When he submitted to that peace from God, God showed up and showed out in a powerful and mighty way. 
    No matter what impossible or discouraging situation you may be facing today, God is right there, waiting for you to trust Him. He has the final say, He knows what the final outcome will be. Trust that He has your best interest at heart. Trust that He will do what He knows is best for you. Trust that He will bring you safely through.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Jesus specialises in taking care of His own. He will never leave you, never abandon you. He will always be there when you need Him.

    Last week I looked at the story of the Red Sea parting in Exodus 14. I focused on the reality that just as God was protecting the Israelites from their enemies while they waited for the sea to part, similarly, God is protecting and keeping us while we are waiting for our situation to turn around.
    In the case of the Israelites, the angel of the Lord and the pillar of cloud that was in front of them, guiding them, simply moved to the back of them. That way, their enemies who were right behind them could not touch them the entire night that the winds blew to part those massive waters. 
    However, something else gets my attention with this movement. Maybe God needed them to be confident that He had their back, that He was covering and protecting them so that they could keep their focus before them. He didn’t need them so distracted by what was happening behind them, that they missed the miracle that was taking place in front of them. Additionally, He had told them to move forward. He needed them to keep their focus in front not behind so that when it was time to move forward they would be able to do so. They would not be going backward trying to deal with what was behind them. 
    I think sometimes, we too get so caught up with what’s going on behind us, even around us, that we miss the miracles, big and small, that are taking place right before our very eyes. Just as the Egyptians were a distraction to what God was doing, in the same way, our challenges and fears can be a distraction to us. We miss being thankful for what God is actually doing. We may also become so caught up with feelings of discouragement and frustration that it is difficult to move forward into what God has in store.
    In Matthew 14:22-33, the disciples were on their way to the other side of the lake by boat. Jesus was not with them but up on a mountaintop praying. The winds became contrary and started to toss the boat around in the water. Jesus went to them walking on water. At first, they didn’t recognise Him but when they did, Peter asked to walk on the water also. Peter was doing fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused once more on the strong winds and rough sea. Immediately, he began to sink.
    Jesus was doing something miraculous but Peter had to keep his eyes focused on Jesus in front of Him and to keep moving forward. From the time he took his eyes off of Him, feelings of fear stepped in and he was unable to keep moving forward. He cut short his opportunity to experience the miraculous.
    We, too, need to keep our focus on God and on what He has done and is doing in our lives. With our eyes fixed on Him instead of behind or around us we will not sink, we will not miss the opportunity to witness and experience the good He is doing in the midst of our challenging situation. And, when it is time to move forward into what God has in store for us, we will be able to do so, not hindered by the distractions around us.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. No matter what is happening around you, God is right there working things out on your behalf. As you keep your eyes fixed on Him, you will be able to move forward into the beautiful things He has in store for you.

    Recently, I was pondering the Red Sea parting in Exodus 14. As a child, the cartoons I watched on the story showed an immediate parting of the waters when Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. But, when I examined the text, verse 21 says that when Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, during the course of the night, a strong east wind blew, drove the sea back and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided and became a wall on either side of the dry path.
    I found that interesting because the Bible also says that the Israelites could see the Egyptians marching towards them. They, of course, became terrified and began to complain to Moses. The Lord instructed Moses what to do and in the meantime, He did something interesting. As the people moved forward, the angel of the Lord and the pillar of cloud that was in front of them guiding them, moved to the back of them. These were now positioned between the Israelites and the Egyptians. As if that wasn’t enough, throughout the night, that cloud prevented the two sides from connecting with each other (vv.19-20).
    I love the image that comes to my mind as I recall this story. While the Israelites waited for God to make a way for them through that Red Sea, He protected them from their enemies. Let’s be real. Their enemies were literally right behind them. I am sure they could have easily reached out and touched them. Yet, God prevented that from happening. Think about it. While you wait for your deliverance to come, for God to make a way, God is protecting you, He is keeping you. We may panic because we feel as if the problem will destroy us and we will never make it. That’s how the Israelites must have felt. Their enemies were right there. Would they ever be able to escape and make it to safety? 
    When you think about it, the Lord took hours to part that body of water (v.21). He could have taken minutes, I am sure, but the Israelites had to wait some hours before deliverance could come. To them, those hours may have seemed like an eternity. Isn’t that how it feels to us at times while we wait on God to come through for us? “How long Lord?” is probably a common cry for many. We wonder when will the pain end, when will the trauma end, when will deliverance come, when will complete healing take place. Waiting is never easy for anyone and although the Israelites had to wait some hours, those hours must have felt like an eternity. What made it worse was that their “problem” was so close to them they could probably pretty much reach out and touch them. Maybe some of us can relate?
    Yet, no matter how close their enemies were, God was even closer. He was the one preventing any actual connection between the two sides. I believe that was a miracle in itself. The Red Sea parting was one miracle, but God preventing His people’s enemies from being able to even reach out and touch them while they waited for Him to make a way of escape for them, was another miracle.
    Believe it or not, even though it doesn’t seem so, God is protecting and keeping you while you wait. Sometimes, you may feel as if you’re not going to make it but you will. God seems to be taking so long to answer, so long to deliver you, that you may feel that the “Egyptians” will certainly be able to reach you and destroy you. But guess what? God did not allow that to happen to the Israelites, He will not allow that to happen to you. Just as He literally had their back while the Red Sea was being parted, He will also have your back while you wait for your season of testing to come to an end. While you wait, you are safe!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is very much a present help when you are in trouble. However, He isn’t just present, He is right there protecting and keeping you while you wait for your salvation, for your deliverance to finally come.

    I love the story of king Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah (2 Chronicles 20). Combined armies were coming against them and they were dreadfully afraid. Yet, Jehoshaphat resolved to turn to the Lord his God for help. He did not turn to man, he did not turn to another nation but to his God for help in a situation that was way bigger than them. He laid his claim before God and ended his prayer acknowledging that he had no idea what to do concerning the vast army coming against them but they would keep their eyes on Him. In response, the Lord assured them that the battle was not theirs but His (v.15). They would not even need to fight in the battle. All they would have to do was stand still and see how God would deliver them (v.17).
    The next day, as the army went out, Jehoshaphat put a group of singers in front of the army to sing praises to the Lord God. Believe it or not, this unusual strategy worked. As they praised, their enemies began to fight against one another until they were completely consumed. Not a man was left alive! By the time the children of Judah reached them, all they saw was dead bodies. It took them three days to remove and carry away all the valuables and jewellery they found on the dead bodies. God had come through for them big time!
    What catches my attention among other things, is the fact that as the army of Judah went out to meet their enemies, they went out with songs of praise to the Lord.  God was ultimately their King and they would do battle the way He directed them. They did not praise God after the battle ended but before the battle even began! God had told them not to worry, He would handle it and they chose to trust Him. He did not disappoint.
    Can you remember times when God told you not to worry, He would handle it and you chose to praise and thank Him instead of worry? Maybe it was a seemingly tiny insignificant instance or something major that happened in your life. The reality is that praise and thanksgiving are some of the most powerful weapons we have. When we choose to praise God and be thankful in the face of dire circumstances, even before a situation actually works out, it shifts our focus from the problem to God. He, in turn, has a way of using that attitude of gratitude to turn things around for our good. 
    I am reminded of the story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:16-40, when they were thrown into prison simply because they cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl. Her owners became angry because they were making money through her fortune-telling. While in jail, however, Paul and Silas chose to pray and sing hymns to God. As a result God delivered them out of their prison and salvation was brought to the jailer and his entire household. They did not wait to get out of prison to praise God. They praised Him while there, when they did not even know what their fate would be. 
    God wants us to trust Him enough to praise Him and give Him thanks because at the end of the day, He still has the final say on our situation. Yes, things may look as scary and as discouraging as that combined army that came against king Jehoshaphat and Judah. They were outnumbered just as you might feel outnumbered at times. But, when God is on your side, you truly don’t need to worry. Like Jehoshaphat, fix your eyes on the One who can solve the problem, and who is bigger than the problem facing you. Choose instead to praise and be thankful, instead of worry and complain. There is truly power in prayer but there is also power in praise and thanksgiving. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. You know the battle you are facing, whether it be external (outside forces) or internal (inner struggles). Yet, God is bigger than what you are facing and when you choose to fix your eyes on Him and praise Him even when it doesn’t make sense, God will come through for you. He will not fail you.​