The end of the story...

            My last post was entitled "He's in the boat". It was a reminder that no matter what we are going through, God is in the boat with us. We are not going through alone, He's right there reminding us that we are going to make it, He's got it.
            Here's the problem. When we are going through, before we actually get to the end of the problem, we have to remind ourselves many times that God is in control and that He will bring us through victoriously. So many times we take our eyes off of Jesus and look at the wind and waves raging around us. We put our eyes on Him and then a fresh splash of water hits us and even gets into the boat. When that happens fear steps in again and we take our eyes off Him...again. Sometimes we wonder, "How long Lord, how much longer again?" We start to get weary, we start to get discouraged. By now we are so soaked and saturated with the waters and the storm, we feel like we've had enough. "No more Lord, no more!" we cry as we look up and see no break in the storm clouds. We're still seeing black, no blue skies and we wonder how much more of this storm we can take...
            As I go through another storm in my life, I have felt moments of hope and then moments of hopelessness. There were times when I felt I couldn't go on and I wondered when it would finally end. I have even told God, "Lord how long, how long?" But recently out of the blue, after a fresh wave doused me and I wondered if I would ever make it, I felt the Lord reminding me that the end of this story has not changed... I still win! Now, here I am going through the storm, the wind and waves hitting me, sometimes I'm getting a break and other times there seems to be no end in sight. And yet God is reminding me that just because something else pops up that seems to put a spoke in my wheel does not mean that it can change what He says the end of this story or rather storm will be. Before the foundations of the world He knew what the end result of this situation would be for me. It doesn't matter what happens at the beginning or in the middle ... at the end I still win in Jesus' name!!!
            So let me encourage you as the Lord has encouraged me. No matter how tough things seem at times, it cannot change the end result of the situation. The only condition is you HAVE to obey God's instructions as He guides you through. Obedience is key. And once you do it God's way at the end of that season the result cannot change ... YOU WIN!!!