Doubt

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9

When was the last time that you had doubt? 

You are not alone my friend.  I have doubt every single day.  That doubt is Satan working his crafty magic.  The same as the Egyptian magicians worked their magic when Moses talked to Pharaoh. 

Satan loves to make us doubt God’s plans for us.  He loves to make us have doubt in ourselves.  He loves it when we give up because we get discouraged. 

Here’s the good thing.  God still loves us.  He loves us so much that he continues to give us support, even when we doubt his plans.  There is one thing that you can count on, God never gives up!  No matter the cost. 

A few things that you can do today to help keep your courage is to believe that whatever happening right now, IS happening for a reason.  If you just lost job, God has your back and is going to open a better door.  If you just got a promotion, give that credit to God.  No matter what is happening God deserves credit for it. 

What if Joseph would have lost his courage when Potiphar’s wife all but begged him to sleep with her?  Would he have been able to save his entire family throughout the famine?  What if Daniel’s friends would have doubted God’s ability to keep them from burning to death in furnace?  A whole kingdom would have not been able to see how mighty and powerful our God is. 

Life if full of “truths” like these.  If you look back at your life, can you see any?  Do you find any times where you wanted something other than what you received but still didn’t loose courage.  You continued to persevere God’s knowledge and wisdom.  A time where it cost you so much, or so you thought, but in the end it really happened so that you would be in the right place. 

I remember in the past I applied for an awesome job.  It had great pay, great benefits, great work environment, and to top it off it was local.  God knew that if I had gotten that job then I would have not been motivated to move to where we are today.  I would have never started writing devotionals.  We would have never created the God First, Life Next website.  www.GodFirstLN.org  He knew where I needed to be.  All I had to do was trust in him and not lose courage that he should guide me to where I really needed to be. 

The next time you start to get discouraged, take a moment, and look around.  What has God given you? 

I encourage you to stay strong and not loose courage.  Don’t doubt God’s plan for you. Don’t let Satan win.

Lord we come to you today asking for help.  We ask for your help to keep us strong, help us to have courage, and also to help us to not have fear.  Lord, we know that YOU have a plan for us.  We know that you knew us before we were ever born.  We know that you are awesome.  Help us to know that we are awesome too.  God we pray that you would help to open our eyes, heart, and mind to know that your plan for us is so much bigger then we could ever imagine.  We thank you for never losing sight in us.  We thank you for giving us the strength and courage to move forward, throughout every situation.  Lord we thank you for the sacrifices that you have made for us.  Thank you for everything. 

Amen