God is with me in the fire

• By candidasullivan
• March 15, 2023
• No Comments

All the great things in life are born out of faith. To please God, we must walk by faith. Ignoring the fears and doubts in our minds can be so hard. With every moment, our brains scream at us to return to safety. Walking by faith doesn’t always feel safe. Sometimes it can be terribly uncomfortable. The enemy doesn’t want us to grow or follow the Lord, so he continuously puts doubts and fears in our minds. Faith is dismissing the doubts and fears and following the guidance of the still, small voice of our Lord. God has a plan even when we don’t understand the next step and even when it seems impossible.

Right now, I feel like I am in the trenches of life, and the devil is kicking me. I can’t catch my breath from one attack until another one surfaces. Sometimes fear emerges, and I wonder how I will get through this trial. Will this be the one that finally breaks me? One night as I was sobbing into my pillow, I felt God. In the middle of my storm, He was there and reassured me that it would all work out to my benefit (Romans 8:28). I have to trust Him.

Friends, I hate going through the battles of life. My only options are surrendering to the enemy or fighting with my Lord. Even though I may feel bloody and bruised from all the attacks, I am still fighting. The enemy cannot defeat my Lord. He is my leader. As long as I stay behind Him and follow His instructions as we go through this battle, He will protect me. The shield of faith can withstand the most brutal attacks. My misery increases when I try to fight it on my own and get ahead of Him. I bring the majority of it upon myself with my doubts and fears.

Whenever doubt or fear sneaks into my mind, I want to release it immediately and remind myself that the Lord is my Shepherd. He will not allow the enemy to destroy me. This trail is preparing me for great things. The blessing is always more significant than the heartache. The strength, wisdom, and understanding I will obtain from this hardship outweigh the pain.

Following and serving the Lord comes with hardships. The more I do for my Lord, the more the enemy fights me. I can negatively look at this and think that the enemy is causing me grief, or I can see that every trial brings me closer to God, increasing my good gifts from above. Without hardships, there is no wisdom. When we increase our knowledge, the Bible tells us, we also increase our sorrow. So the more I endure for my Lord, the more He will bless me.

When I change my thoughts about the hardship, then my feelings change. I can go from thinking, God, why must I go through this trial? To being grateful, and saying, thank you, God, for giving me this opportunity to walk with you and obtain the good gifts you have for me.

I would rather crawl on my belly in the trenches with my Lord than hold hands with the enemy and enjoy one moment of his pleasure.

Have a beautiful day!