As believers, we can know in our hearts that God is Sovereign and strong. We can believe that His plans for us are for good and that He has blessing in store as we follow after Him.

Yet often, when life presses and things feel stressed, when problems overwhelm, and hardships come our way, our focus gets blurred. We somehow start to believe that it all depends on “us.” Like maybe we blew it, messed up and got ourselves off the course from “the road to “success.” We spin our wheels trying to find a fast way out of difficulty. We feel like it’s up to us to make things happen. Stirring up action. Trying hard to get one foot into an open door, or wondering why a closed one shut. We start thinking that if we’re not “able enough,” “talented enough,” “brave enough,” that maybe God can’t quite use us.

We forget, that the very God who created this entire universe, who holds the stars in place, and knows the exact number of hairs on our head, also knows our way. That His favor rests on us as we seek after Him first, and He holds the power to cause things to happen in just a moment, that would otherwise take us years to do. He can line up our pathways to cross with others He wants us to meet. He can open doors that leave us surprised at how they open. He can close doors that He knows are not the best for us. He has a plan, in the good, and in every hard thing we face.

And often the greatest blessings come after the greatest times of testing.

Over and over in God’s Word, we see those whose lives He most powerfully used, after they had endured many hardships and trials. Their lives were not defined by the suffering or testing, but by God alone, who moved through the trial and brought greater good, blessing, and favor from it all.
Joseph.
David.
Moses.
Abraham.
Paul.
Job.
So many more…

Joseph says in

Originally published September 09, 2016.