Apr 08
Today’s Truth
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen
Ephesians 3:20-21
Friend to Friend
A number of years ago, my friend and I sat face-to-face on the couch and talked about her journey through the wilderness. It’s been a slow and agonizing passage for her. She’s been weary in the waiting; she so wants a breakthrough; yet she’s so faithfully taken one obedient step at a time without any sense of when her breakthrough would come.
The thing is, she could take a few steps to the right and land herself on the fast highway to some kind of quick solution. But truth be told, that would be her way, not God’s way. She’d end up with a counterfeit version of God’s best desire for her life. And in the depths of her heart, she wants to lay hold God’s highest and best will for her.
My friend shared how the journey has taken its toll. I leaned in, grabbed her arms, and said, “Listen to me, friend. Your sacrifice of praise and your fierce obedience have not gone unnoticed by God. There is NO sacrifice you could make to Him that will not met with a totally disproportionate response of His great love, and grace, and provision! Any gift you give, any offering you make, any initiative you take to obey Him (especially when it costs you), is noted by God and He will respond to in ways you cannot imagine. He is a disproportionate God! Wrap your arms around who you are to Him! Embrace what you possess in Him. Though you long to have your breakthrough right now, get a vision for the harvest response He is preparing for you in the days to come. You can trust Him with your whole story because He cares deeply about you!”
And can I tell you this? Today, all of these years later, my friend is overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness for the way God broke through and answered her prayers. She’d tell you this herself: Wait for the Lord. He knows what’s best for you and He is more than able to answer when the time is right!
May these words encourage you today you as well.
Are you weary in well doing? Have you waited on God for what feels like forever yet feel frustrated by your lack of forward-moving progress?
Maybe it feels tempting to grab a quick solution or a counterfeit version of something He has promised you, but deep in your heart, you know it’s best to wait for God’s best for you.
Do it, my friend. Wait for God’s best and see if He won’t absolutely boggle your mind with His goodness, His grace, and His attention to detail.
If at all possible, get your eyes off of what you lack, and of what it’s costing you right now. Instead, lift your eyes to Jesus, the One who will finish what He started in and through you.
If you lack strength or perspective in this particular moment, get alone with God. Spend extended time in His presence. Open your hands to receive more of what He so lovingly wants to provide for you. Remind yourself of His Word and His promise to you. Speak to your soul the way my friend Ann Voskamp speaks to hers. She reminds herself everyday of this truth: God is always good. And I am always loved.
There is no gift you can give, no prayer you can pray, no act of obedience that you can initiate that will not be met by God’s overwhelming love, provision, goodness, grace, and power when the time is right.
You may not see its evidence right away, but the seeds you’ve planted have life in them; they’re affecting change, making a difference, and impacting circumstances in your midst. One day your eyes will see it, so know it now.
Stand on God’s faithfulness now.
Today.
Believe Him for big things.
Entrust your cares, your sacrifices, and your gifts to Him.
There’s no safer place for your hopes, your dreams, and the concerns of your heart than with Jesus. God is in the business of exponential, over and above, beyond our wildest dreams, kinds of answers. Every detail of your life is best entrusted to Him.
Open your arms wide. Look up. Trust Him. Obey Him. He is good and He is more than able to do in a moment what it might take you years to accomplish. God is able. You can trust Him.
Prayer
Father in Heaven, You are the One true God! I declare it with my whole heart! You put the stars in place and You care deeply about my story. Fill me afresh with faith today! Give me the courage and grit to stay the course and to trust Your Word. You are a promise maker and a promise keeper. I love You and I trust You.
In Jesus’ Name, I pray,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
If you’ve put a deep desire on the back burner or given up on it all together, bring it before God today. Ask Him to awaken a fresh desire in you to trust Him with all that’s in your heart. If you’ve grown weary in doing good, ask Him for a glimpse of what He’s up to in your life; just enough to encourage you onward. God is always up to something good. And one day, your eyes will see it!
More from the Girlfriends
Be sure to check out Susie’s book, Your Powerful Prayers: Reaching the Heart of God with a Bold and Humble Faith on her website at www.susielarson.com.
Thank you for reminding me that God is faithful and His timing is perfect.
Dear Carole,
So grateful you found encouragement here today! May God give you a little glimpse of what He’s up to; just enough to encourage you onward. And may your breakthrough come suddenly, and very soon! 🙂 Bless you!
Hello Susie:
Thank you very much for this encouraging word. My wilderness have been dehydrating too, and when I’ve felt I have no strength to keep on or it’s no sense to continue when my heart is not in consonance with my will (my friends are praying for me and enouraging me too), God has given new courage, faith, inspiration and power to fight on! Halleluia!
Dear Indira,
I’ve SO been there! And I’m thrilled that you’ve found fresh strength to continue onward. I fear many people have given up just before they were about to break through. I’m grateful we have each other to lean on when we feel weak. God bless you, dear one!
Thank you for such encouraging words. I often forget how much we all mean to God, despite our flaws. He is always working for our good. My journey has been filled with hurt and pain, but I have renewed hope that God will share his infinite love, guidance, courage and strength.
Dear Daedonda,
You know? That’s exactly what the enemy hopes will happen when we’re weary and heartbroken: that we’ll forget God’s goodness and forget how ‘for us’ He really is. When it’s all said and done, we’ll find Him to be better than we thought and more committed to us than we could possibly understand. You are SO precious to Him! May your heart believe it today. Bless you, dear one!
Susie,
Thank you for your message. It was much needed today. I have lost much. I have tried to press into giving when the hole inside me felt big. I am at a place today where the “I don’t want to”s have set it. I fear depression is close by. I am empty with nothing to give. My waiting, my history of loss has taken it’s toll on me. I know right answers, I know from where the strength comes. But honestly I feel forgotten by God. Others may “have” but I may not. He hears me cry but still I am expected to wait/ do without. I fear it will never come. Please pray for me. Kind of treading water …
Hugs.
Oh, Dear Dee,
I truly have been there and I know that sense of despair that makes you feel you’re hanging by a thread. I’ll stop right now to pray for you. I pray God nudges someone to connect with you, to love on you, to give you a gift when you least expect it, and to speak words of truth that feel like fresh life within your soul. I do know God loves to do those things for His kinds. May you see all of these expressions of love in the days ahead. Bless you, honey.
Could you add me to the prayer for Dee? I need someone to connect with me so badly. Thank you so much!
Absolutely, dear Patty! Praying for you now! You’re not alone if when it feels so. Bless you, honey.
I have been in the hardest season of my life, and it feels like I’m traveling in the wilderness. It feels like the desert is so dry and that there isn’t water to ever be found, but this devotion has encouraged me that something is on the other side. Something good remains for me, and not because of what I deserve. But because, He who promised is faithful.
Dear Sweet Jada, I’m so sorry for the wilderness you’ve been in! Just so you know you’re not alone, I want you to know that for the past year and a half, I too have been in rough place health-wise and it’s feel even more spiritual than physical on some days. Just a desperate fight to keep the faith and keep perspective. But I’m coming out the other side (still have a ways to go health wise but I KNOW my Redeemer lives and He will deliver me…and you too!). Just this morning I read in Psalm 77 – and through most of the Psalm the Psalmist wonders if God has forgotten him, but then he calls to mind God’s faithfulness and declares he’ll see His faithfulness again. You will see the goodness of the Lord in your circumstance. May Jesus continue to encourage your heart today! Also, there are two songs that I’ve had on repeat for the past several weeks that have so buoyed up my faith. You can find them on YouTube. Look for Elevation Worship, “There is a Cloud” and “Do It Again” – SO good! God bless you, dear one!
God makes each of us after His imagine and He is our one true King. Be his daughter today, depression is so easy to slip into. I suffer from depression but I remember that I am a daughter of the King so that makes me a princess! You are his daughter, he does not want that light to go out. Today when you go to the store , give someone a compliment or just say hello to someone that may not have anyone. Lost both my parents and husband in 2 years at the age of 32. It was hard but God’s grace, love and abundance is far greater than anything I could imagine. It is too easy to look at others and think God has”forgotten” you but my friend he is there and working, just be patient. Thank you Lord for the gift of today. Thanks for the encouragement.
Dear Emily, bless you for your words of encouragement! May God bless you for the way you bless others. You are a trophy of His grace! 🙂
Susie, Did God mention me to you and tell you to say these exact words of truth and encouragement because this spoke directly to my life and has really uplifted my spirit; it is God’s handcrafted message to me. I am spoilt by his notice and concern. Thank you for this message and God bless you and sustain you.
Dear Adanne,
I can’t tell you how grateful I am that God met you today through this post! He loves us so much. I love His attention to detail. May God show you the countless ways He’s intervening on your behalf. God bless you, dear sister!
Thank you for these words! Our home was destroyed by fire 4 months ago, 3 days after the fire we found out our beloved pet to cancer 1 month later. Praise God my husband and I got out and by Gods grace we are here. Rebuild efforts have been extremely slow, but we have a small temporary place to live. I try and look for the good and focus on Him everyday..can you please pray for his provision on our lives not only for rebuilding our home but for knowing His true purpose for me through all of this. Praising in the storm sharon
Wow, Sharon, what a story. So sorry for the loss of your home. May God open your eyes so you can see Him work as He brings beauty out of the ashes. May you be richer for this trial and may God take what the enemy meant to destroy you and redeem it in the most profound way! God bless you, dear one!
Oh Sisie, so often your messages, straight from the heart of God, minister to my longings, my anxiety-filled day, or my need to be so much more. But this message, this moment in time, has touched a place deep down there where I haven’t seen daylight in a very long time.
Thank you, ever so much, for listening for His whispered messages and for so willingly sharing them with His children. Many many fond wishes for beautiful blessings in your life.
Dear Carla, I’m so grateful you were nourished by this post! I’m learning more and more that we can trust Him in those times in-between and if we continue to embrace a sense of expectancy that any day now, He will speak to us…in due time He does. May Jesus continue to fill your heart with grace and peace. Blessings to you!
I am also feeling forgotton by God. I know He loves me & is my provider for all but I’m just not sure His will to send me a lifetime, Godly mate is what He has in store for me. Maybe I am to be single for the rest of my life. I was married once but in a very abusive relationship. I have dated several different men since then & none seem to fit.I realize that God has work to do in me to prepare me for my future & my possible Boaz but I’ve waited for so long. I struggle in the area of “remaining to myself” while I wait and I feel that is God’s way of punishing me for me not being obedient. I need prayer for self discipline & prayer to remain patient for who he has for me… if He actually has anyone. I sometimes believe He has waited so long because maybe I would not be able to do His work with anyone else involved in my life. I am a single mom of a 14 year old who I adore but it’s just not the same kind of love, if you know what I mean. She & I do remain very busy with extracurricular activities for her and we are very involved in church. I’m just at a place where I feel like giving up. I’m beginning to let myself go in my appearance & several other areas & that is not like me at all! I’m lonely at times & feel that I may be becoming depressed.Please pray for me to be content with God’s decision for my life.
Dear Jennifer, God bless you! I pray this encourages you. I want you to know that God is not punitive with His children (Jesus settled the justice issue for us on the Cross). But He does discipline us, correct us, redirect us…all out of love. And thinking of Boaz, if you remember, Naomi felt sure that God was punishing her when in fact, He allowed circumstances in her life that would compel her to run back to Him. And as she traveled back ‘home’ to the center of His will, He totally redeemed her story. As I’m walking through yet another health battle, I’m learning on a deeper level how much God wants me to cooperate with Him in this healing, restorative process. So maybe there are some emotional, physical, and spiritual adjustments He’ll guide you to make (there is for all of us), I pray you’ll never doubt His goodness and continue to trust His faithfulness. We don’t live in the valley, we pass through it. May He show you the way! Bless you, dear sister!
I too have suffered loss been in relationships that were not healthy l am now pass childbearing age and single. And loving yes it took a while the lord is still preparing me but l am at the contentment stage. Zero in on the goodness of our mighty GOD yes it takes time sometimes he uses circumstances to lead us to a closer walk