When we begin to think about things in our life that we’re waiting for, remember this scripture.
Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
We have those encouraging words, and yet we get discouraged in our wait. We get weary waiting for gainful employment, green cards, and other things.
“Wisdom for Success” presents you with scriptures and testimonies. A good testimony is not about testing and moaning. It’s about when you went through a hard time, sickness, poverty, or other situation, and you called on the name of the Lord that He delivered you out of those situations that were so trying.
This trying of your faith makes God happy because it strengthens you, and it strengthens me.
We need some people to encourage us along the way.
I want to encourage you and let you know how special and how precious you are to God.
Talking about overcoming, Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
The word of our testimony is so important to us that we tell others about what God has done for us. How we prayed, how we believed, and the next thing we knew was that we had answers. Those kinds of testimonies build faith and bring honor to God.
The most successful thing you can do is trust God.
I cannot find a place in the scriptures, in the Old or the New Testament, that says we’re to trust people. Nowhere does it say you are to trust your fellow man. It says you are to forgive him, and you are to love him. That makes things a lot simpler when you come to that realization.
Before, you may have thought, “I’m never going to trust him/her again. It’s too long to wait.” Hold on before you make those kinds of judgments.
Are you aware that all human beings are extremely flawed except for the redemptive work of God? He has created us to be new creatures, heavenly species created to stand in the stead of Christ, to administrate the estate of God from the revelation of a finished work. Now, that sounds like a big mouthful.
God is breaking it down, making it simple. He is creating a hunger in our hearts not only to teach but to reach other people with the goodness of the Lord.
I got a wonderful letter from a lady named Carol. Carol wrote, asking me to pray for her. She had been in the United States for about 15 years and could never get a green card.
Carol said, ” I prayed and prayed and prayed for it. It seemed like it was never going to happen.”
We prayed about it. She wrote to me again, saying, “God bless you, Dr. Fluitt, because you chose to stand with me in prayer.”
What’s the big deal about a green card? It’s a big deal when we are in a situation now where immigration is going crazy all over the place. Let’s put a little mercy on our opinions in this day and time.
What would you do if you were in that circumstance? Well, Carol was in that circumstance. She thanked me for standing with her in prayer and said that it was just important to me as it was to her.
This testimony is absolutely mindboggling. When she wrote to me, she said, “It’s beyond a pleasant surprise this morning. I woke up, and there was a message from the United States department of immigration that I had been approved for my green card. Oh, my goodness, I had forgotten that my late mother had applied for me in 2015.”
All that time had gone by, and she had had no results at all. Then she called and said, “Would you pray for me?”
Delay is not denial.
When we find people to pray with us, to pray for us, to set their faith in agreement, it adds such strength to our prayers. It’s really powerful. And it’s an incredible gift.
Our Lord on the Via Dolorosa path carried his cross as long as he could. Crucifixions, during that day and time, were very commonplace. Simon was waiting to cross the road. He had no attachment to Jesus. Suddenly, he was selected, and the cross was thrown upon him at that time.
There is something that happens when God begins to place somebody else’s burden on you for a little while, and you help to carry their cross. It creates grace for you, strength for you, integrity for you, and hope for you. God says, “He’s not slack concerning the good things we do for others.”
God sees it all. He keeps a wonderful account of what’s going on. He’s got a book. He keeps all this good stuff in it. That’s very important.
Well, Carol got her green card. “Oh, my goodness,” she said, “I had forgotten all about it. What doors it has opened for me. I’m not a slave. My God is so powerful. That was so fast. All glory to God. Jesus reigns.”
She thanked me for praying for her, but she gave all the glory to God. That’s what we want to do. In everything we do, we’re getting the opportunity to assist in the Kingdom of God. That makes God happy that we reach out, that we extend our prayer for our concern and for other people.
Habakkuk 2:3-4 says, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end, it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry, Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.”
Has the Lord put something in your heart that you really want to do or want to accomplish? And you say, “Well, it’s just been so long. I don’t know if I can wait any longer.”
Not too long ago, my husband and I built a new home and moved in. We lived in the same place for 50 years. We took all the furnishings and pantry items to our new home when we got ready to move.
We had our pantry packed full of all kinds of good stuff. One night the Lord spoke to me and said, “Do you know what an expiration date means?”
I said, “Yes.”
He said, “Go look at all the stuff you hauled over to this new place. Go look and find out how many things are expired.”
I discovered that about 80% of everything I had moved from the old place to the new place had expired. I also realized that potential has an expiration date.
Your potential to do what you desire to do has an expiration date.
You have to put pressure in the heavenlies. It has to be important to you. You have to pray with vigor. You have to believe God for wonderful things. The vision will not tarry.
My friend wrote an incredible song called, “God’s time is certainly certain and surely sure.” God’s time is certainly certain and it’s surely sure.
You and I are being prepared for incredible, wonderful things. Little things come into our life. We think, is this really important to God that I get a green card? Is it really important to God that I get a job where I have gainful employment? Is it really important to God that I am able to attend classes and go to school and do the things that I want to do?
If it’s important to you, it’s important to God.