As I tried to decide what to write about this week, I went to different sources searching for inspiration. However, I found myself going right back to the Word of God as I had been doing for some weeks straight. There is truly a lot that can be gleaned from God's Word.
    I am presently reading the book of Nehemiah. I am somewhat familiar with the general storyline. Nehemiah was living in captivity in Persia and he was the king’s cupbearer. Some years before, at least two groups of Jews had been allowed to return from exile to Jerusalem. Some rebuilding of the city had taken place but it was not complete. Nehemiah was allowed to return to Jerusalem with a third group of Jews. This time, they would focus on rebuilding its wall which had been destroyed.
    It should have been a joyous occasion, as the opportunity had been given to them to rebuild their city. However, opposition arose to discourage them and to stop the building process (Nehemiah 4). Did they stop? No! Instead, encouraged by Nehemiah, they put their trust in their God. Nehemiah knew what God had sent him to do and he was not going to stop now. So, rather than give in to discouragement, he used strategy to get the job done. They did not just work on the wall. He divided the people into groups. While some worked on the wall, others were equipped  with weapons for battle, ready in case anyone tried to stop them by force. Nehemiah also encouraged the people in the Lord whenever fear presented itself. At one point, he told the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses” (4:14). At another time, he encouraged them: “Our God will fight for us” (4:20). It did not happen overnight but in close to two months, the wall was finally completed. 
    A few things catch my attention with this account. One, the Jews were not doing anything wrong when they started work to rebuild their city. In fact, first king Cyrus of Persia, then King Artaxerxes I, gave them permission and support to work towards rebuilding their city. Sometimes, opposition is going to come our way whether we like it or not. You can be doing your best to serve God and to please Him, yet challenges come to stop you, to hinder you, to prevent you from fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for your life. In these seasons, it will be tempting to give up, to give in to the enemy’s attempt to make you live a defeated life. But, when you are serving the true and living God, nothing can truly stop God’s plan and purpose for you. Once you run to Him and trust Him, like Nehemiah did, He will give you good success.
    Second, Nehemiah used strategy to complete the task. He did not just trust God and do nothing, he trusted God and put a strategy in place to get the job done. Sometimes we too need to put things in place, do what we have to do to get the job done. Instead of focusing on the challenges that are before you, choose instead to focus on the God who is with you while you face that challenge. And that’s the thing. You are not alone! God is with you and once you make the choice to keep moving forward, to keep going, God will stand with you and help you carry out His will for your life. When you and God work as a team, nothing and no one can stop His purpose for you! 
    I also want to consider something else. In Nehemiah’s case, his opposition was people. In your case, your opposition may be challenges with your health - that sickness, disease, infirmity that seems to want to stop you from accomplishing God’s plan for your life. Or, your challenge may be your finances - that money and / or resources that you need to accomplish a particular dream. Whatever, your challenge is, it’s still about trusting God, maybe even putting strategies in place to get the job done. At the end of the day, your challenge is not too big for your God to handle. It may be overwhelming to you but it’s not overwhelming to God. So, just do what you have to do and trust Him. You are not alone!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. We can’t always avoid opposition and challenges when they come our way. Yet, our God is more than able to help us successfully navigate these challenges in order to accomplish his plan and purpose for our life.

    At the age of thirteen, Jaedon was diagnosed with leukaemia. His parents were in shock and denial that this could be happening to their son. Treatment began immediately while his parents wrestled with doubt and disappointment. After all, Jaedon’s name means “gift of God.” He was his mother’s child of promise. 
    Chemotherapy treatments were severe. His skin peeled, his stomach lining shed, his organs began to fail. He became so weak, he was unable to stand and had to re-learn how to walk. He did begin to improve but unfortunately the cancer returned, stronger and more resistant. At this point, he faced various life-threatening issues such as sepsis, and his body being challenged to handle the treatments. What made it worse was that the cancer now spread to his brain. With this news, his mother lost hope and did not feel God so close anymore. They felt as if they had gotten as close to hell as you could get. 
    Jaedon endured further relapses, transplants and near-death experiences yet, in spite of it all, the family prayed and thanked God daily. God told Jaedon’s father not to inform himself about the symptoms but to inform the symptoms about who God is. Jaedon’s mother, in turn, felt God tell her that she would have a story to tell and she held on to that promise.         
​    Over time, however, they realised that Jaedon was getting stronger and improving and that his healing journey had begun. Jaedon admits that he always had the sense that God was there and felt reassured that He would get him through his ordeal. After two years in the hospital, Jaedon finally returned home cancer free. 
    He and his parents are thankful to God for all that He has done. Jaedon continues to thank God for His blessings for all He has done in his life. He is thankful for what He did for him while he was in the hospital and even during his recovery afterwards He is also thankful for the fact that he is now playing club volleyball. As far as Jaedon is concerned, it’s all because of Him.
    This testimony truly touched me because it’s a candid account of the brutal challenges that Jaedon went through, his parents’ doubts and fears and learning to trust God even when things were not always going the way they would have liked. Yet, God came through for them and turned this situation around. 
    I love what God told Jaedon’s father. He told him not to inform himself about the symptoms but rather to tell the symptoms who God is. I love this because it can be so easy to focus on what you’re going through. After all, what you’re going through may feel even more real than God Himself, yet, we need to shift our perspective. We need to speak to that negative situation and remind it of who our God is. He is not dead, He is alive. He is not powerless in the face of the challenge, rather He is all-powerful and able to handle whatever comes our way. God is not subject to our problem, in fact, our problem is subject to Him. We tend to forget this reality in the face of what our natural eyes can see or our body may be experiencing. But, the reality is that nothing that we go through will ever be bigger or more powerful than our God. God is still quite able to do the impossible!
    I also love how this testimony ends. Jaedon is thankful to God for His infinite blessings and for how God has brought him through. As far as he is concerned, everything he has been through and all that he is able to do now is because of God. He could not get through this ordeal without Him and he cannot accomplish the things he is accomplishing now without Him. It’s truly all because of Him and we need to acknowledge this even in our own situations. The fact that God gives us life to see another day everyday, the fact that He gives us the grace and strength we need to go through trials and challenges, the fact that we are able to accomplish things that we would have never thought possible, is truly all because of Him. So, let’s be thankful because it’s all because of His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His love for us. It’s all because of Him!
    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 we go through in life, God is always there. He gives us the grace we need to endure challenges, and He brings us through, sometimes when we least expect it. God is good and faithful and we should be thankful because it’s truly all because of Him!

    I recently completed the book of 2 Chronicles. It gave brief accounts of the reigns of the various kings of Judah and Israel. Towards the end of the book, however, we meet king Josiah who was eight years old when he became king. He was one of the kings of Judah who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (34:2). He made efforts to restore true worship and to keep the Passover. Yet, in spite of his efforts, God’s promised judgement would still befall Judah because of all the evil they had done in spite of God’s persistent and consistent warnings. He promised however, that Josiah would die in peace and not see the calamity that would befall his people.
    After king Josiah died, many of the future generations of kings who reigned in his place did evil in the sight of the Lord (Chapter 36) although God sent messengers to warn them time and again. Finally, God gave them into the hands of their enemies. The city was destroyed and those who were not killed were taken captive to Babylon just as had been prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah.
    Interestingly though, the book does not end on the destruction that befell God’s people. It actually ends on a note of hope. In the final few verses of chapter 36, we read that, many years later, while the children of Judah were still in captivity, Cyrus the king of Persia made a proclamation throughout his kingdom. He revealed that God had commanded him to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. He then invited those among God’s people who would willingly go to Jerusalem to carry out this task. The thing is, the prophet Jeremiah had prophesied this many years before and although destruction was imminent at the time of his warning, God promised to bring His people back home. 
    The thought that came to mind when I read this was that no matter how bad things look, there is always hope in God. God has the ability to bring light to the darkest situation and hope to the most hopeless circumstance. He knows how to make a way where our eyes cannot see a way. When the children of Israel were faced with the Red Sea (Exodus 14), it seemed like it was the end for them. The only recourse seemed to be to return to Egypt and to a life of bondage. But, that was not God’s plan. When they did not know how or where deliverance would come, it did. God made a way for them to escape their enemies. God was their hope, when hope seemed impossible. 
    It’s the same with us. As bad as things may look at times, as hopeless as they might seem, God is still our hope. Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” When you’ve lost all your hope and don’t see a future, remember, God is your hope and your future. For the times when my back was against the wall and I couldn’t see any hope or future, God reminded me that He is my hope and He is my future. He restored Israel when restoration seemed impossible, He will do the same for you.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. When things look dark and you can’t see a way, remember, God wants to be your hope and the future you think you don’t have. Just trust Him!

    There is so much to glean from the story of David and Goliath. Last week, I looked at the fact that David boasted, not in himself, but in his God. He boldly acknowledged what his God would do to this uncircumcised Philistine. He knew that this battle was going to be won, not by his might or ability, but by God’s.
    But among other things, something else catches my attention this week. After delivering his bold words, as Goliath came towards David, David ran towards him, put a stone in his sling and struck Goliath on his forehead and Goliath sank to the ground. I admire the way David did not cower in fear like his Israelite counterparts. Instead, he boldly ran - not walked - towards his opponent. David expected a victory. He did not hesitate but ran towards his enemy expecting a victory. 
    Many times when we face challenges, it can be difficult to see a victory. What we most likely see instead is the reality of the situation. As we battle fear, anxiety, uncertainty and a sleuth of negative emotions, it can be hard to picture a victorious outcome. But David did, because he knew his God would be the one to fight and win. 
    But there was something else. David was confident because of his perception of the situation. David was facing a giant who was bigger and more powerful than he was and who could easily kill him. The thing is, he had met ‘giants’ like that before in the lion and the bear who had come to take away his sheep. On those occasions, he had witnessed God defeat those beasts and protect his sheep. This human giant was no different. While the entire Israelite army saw a giant that was bigger than them and more powerful, David saw his God who was bigger and more powerful than this giant. He chose to see it from God’s perspective rather than his own minuscule one. David was so God-focused that this “giant” problem was actually small in the face of his God.
    It doesn’t matter what your giant looks like, it will never be bigger or more powerful than your God. In Jeremiah 32:27, God asked Jeremiah if there was anything too hard for Him to do. He had told Jeremiah of an impossible task He was going to perform. It truly did not make sense and seemed virtually impossible, but, then again, God specialises in performing impossible tasks - impossible for man, but very possible for Him.
    It’s about perspective, how we perceive a situation. If the perspective is wrong and based on our ability, then defeat will be imminent. But, if our perspective zooms in on God, who is able to do the impossible, then we can be at peace knowing that God will take care of it. 
    Recently, I had to go on a trip. As the day for the trip drew near, various challenges, popped up. At one point, I actually began to wonder if I should even bother to go. Yet, as I trusted in God, I watched God sort out every problem that presented itself. As I told a few people, God made every mountain that came before me a level plain. The mountains may have been bigger than me and certainly impossible for me to handle, but God levelled every one and made a way when things seemed impossible. In this season, I learned to trust God to do what I could not. I chose to see Him as the only solution to whatever I faced. He was bigger than what was bigger than me!
    Sometimes, we just have to change our perspective. Yes, the problem may be bigger than you and of course intimidating, but your God is even bigger and certainly capable of handling every giant that comes your way. Just as I watched God level every mountain I faced regarding that trip, just so God is able to level and bring to nothing whatever giant comes your way.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. There is nothing that you face that is too big for God to handle. Your biggest problem will always be tiny before your God. There is truly nothing that is too difficult for God.