The last few weeks I have been in a fog. We have been really busy with our different ministries and time to process struggles and challenges has been minimal to none. And for someone who is an introvert when it comes to processing things in this life, no time to chill and process makes following Christ and being focused really hard. Now praise God in those times Jesus never leaves me, but it does make obeying Him and finding peace in His presence difficult. But something I found while searching the word this week has been really encouraging.
I was reading in 2 Chronicles 20 yesterday (Monday) and saw several interesting aspects to the story, but one in particular stood out. In this chapter Israel is faced with three different armies coming up against them and they seek the Lord to see what He would do in this situation. But what stood out was the fact that after God took care of the battle, it says that God gave them rest from their enemies on every side. Now I’ve seen this verse many times before and it didn’t entirely stick out until later that day because I read a similar verse in Acts. This verse is directly after Stephen’s death, the persecution of the church and Saul’s conversion and it says that God brought a time of peace and encouragement to the believers and added to their numbers daily and grew them in the fear of Lord. And I was reminded that God always brings times of peace after a storm. He knows that we are not strong enough to fight, fight, and fight some more with no times of rest in between. So He is faithful to give us times of rest and encouragement. What a faithful God.:)
Anyways, I know this is short, but I just want to encourage you like I was encouraged. Life may be hard, you may be going through times of hardship, struggle, famine, trial, etc. But know that God always brings times of peace. Just continue to seek Him and trust that He is going to bring peace and encouragement. God loves you more than you know, and He hears your every cry.
“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14
Peace!
