Gianna Gonzalez, GFC Carrollwood
Have you ever heard the saying, “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers?” Well, what about when we’re tired of being strong or maybe we feel like we have been fighting all these battles with no end in sight. What do we do when we feel like we want to give up? I have been there... Many times. When we go through life independently, the battles we fight, we fight alone. Sometimes we feel like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders, and we can’t catch a break.
Perhaps we didn’t get that job promotion, or we're fighting a health battle in solitude, maybe our last single friend got engaged, and the daily hassles are just endlessly piling up. I am here to declare that no matter how big or small our problems are, God wants each of us to lay our burdens at HIS feet. We are not meant to be the heroes in our own story. God is our only hero!
When we feel like giving up, let's be reminded that God loves us and he wants us to live the fullest life, even when it feels impossible. DO NOT GIVE UP - There are better things to come. In Galatians 6:9 it reads, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Let's keep fighting and take inventory of how we are battle ready. Have we asked the Holy Spirit to lead us, speak to us, and to fill us so we are equipped with His supernatural power and not going it alone? Are we staying in God's word? Connected to a Godly community? And, have accountability in place? These, my friends, are our holy arsenal! We are not alone. God is with us and as His children we have access to His promises and power.
This past week I was reminded through Emme Z's message at GFC United that GOD IS OMNIPRESENT. God is everywhere, all the time, all at once. Later that night, during our small group time, I asked my 7th grade girls what that looked like to them. One of the girls answered, “A man with 8 billion pairs of eyes.” I had to chuckle. How can one person watch over each and every one of us?
While I can't answer this, God just is. He is everywhere, all the time, all at once.
God will NEVER leave us or forsake us and I promise He is working on HIS will for us. We can do hard things and we will get through these battles. We just have to lean not on our own understanding, but trust God will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6)
In the song so many of us know and love, "Waymaker", there is a lyric that says, “Even when I don’t see it, You’re working. Even when I don’t feel it You’re working. You never stop, You never stop working.”
That is the beauty of God our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. He never stops working. God loves us so much, so much to sacrifice his only Son, Jesus. When we put our faith in HIM, we not only get a perfect life in heaven after death, but we gain a protector, a counselor, and a HERO forever and ever.
My friend (and note to self), DON’T GIVE UP!
Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for GOOD, for those who are called according to his purpose."