Category: Hope

FEELINGS: What Is In a Feeling…

07.05.2018

Author katiem

We all have days in which we are confident in ourselves and our abilities. Days in which we toot our own horn and feel invincible. And then come the other days. The days when we cannot even scrape together a positive attribute to express of ourselves.

On some days, confident like Elijah, we sit on our mountain top and summon our enemies in great numbers in order to witness the strength that is within us (1 Kings 18:19). On these days, we compete not against the weak, but like Elijah, call only for competition with the very best (1 Kings 18:19).

Elijah not only provoked his opponents when he was one against eight hundred and fifty, but in the end, he had all eight hundred and fifty killed (1 Kings 18:27-28; 40). And Elijah’s strength did not stop there! He also prayed and caused fire to burn and consume wood that was immersed in water (1 Kings 18:38). However, of the 850 killed, 400 were the prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table and resulted in Jezebel’s vengeance (1 Kings 19: 1-2). The very next day, after facing but a mere threat from one woman, Jezebel, for the killing her prophets, Elijah took her threat to heart, let it consume him, and ran. Even going so far as to ask God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4).

So what is it that caused the mighty man Elijah to waiver from roaring and boasting in the Lord’s confidence, to whimpering away like a mighty lion running from away from its prey?

Elijah let his feelings of the fear of the threat define his standing and cloud his judgement as to what power he truly possessed. Like Elijah, just because we think, feel or fear something, does not make it true. The enemy’s ploy, like Jezebel, is to instil fear in us to the point that we drown out God’s voice and allow the voice of the enemy and his lies to increase. The enemy’s ploy is to have us forget who we are and what we have achieved, and instead focus on the negative, allowing it to eat at us until we can no longer remember the identity and power we possess within.

By the time the enemy was done with Elijah, Elijah remembered not who he had been, nor the power he had in his corner, and the great miracle of yesterday had been all but erased from his thoughts.

Like Elijah, we cannot let our thoughts, our fears, nor our feelings dictate the ending of our setbacks of today. Those perceived setbacks are but in fact our set up for our future come up of tomorrow. Just because we feel or think a certain way does not mean that we should run with those thoughts and feelings. Negative thoughts and feelings which do not line up with what God says of us should be drowned out immediately with the Word of God. When negative thoughts and feelings creep in, we must remember that the opposite is true and speak out that truth to muzzle the lies of the enemy:

• I feel like a failure – I am not a failure. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35 –39). Though I may have fallen seven times, yet will I rise again (Proverbs 24:16). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
• I feel so stupid – I am not stupid. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and made in the very image of God with His likeness and intelligence (Psalms 139:14; Genesis 1:27).
• I feel so lost – Jesus take the wheel, I cast all burdens to You (Psalms 55:22).
• I feel so broken – God put me together and make me strong (Psalm 147:3; Joel 3:10).

The Word of God will tell you who you are. And who you are is a warrior! You are not the prey and therefore your thoughts and feelings should not dictate your identity. Just because you feel or think a certain way does not make it true. In the same way that you might feel like a Ferrari but that feeling will not make you a car, we are more than the sum of our feelings. We possess within us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. This is the truth we must hold to in our times of doubt and fear.

We can feel and think a lot of things, but the only thing that matters and holds true are the feelings and thoughts that line up with what God says about us as his children and friends.

©Katie Mliswa and MomentsbyKatie.M, 2018.

DISAPPOINTMENT: In The Wrong Place at …

30.04.2018

Author katiem

The one who found themself in the wrong place at the wrong time knew that they should not have been there, and would never have been there, but for the disappointment in their life. The disappointment clouded their judgement and drove them to the place in which they should never have been. And now in that place, they stand in the line of fire. But are they truly in the wrong place at the wrong time? Is there such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

In the spring time, at the time when kings go off to war – King David remained in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1) Four chapters earlier, God had promised to establish David’s house and give him rest from his enemies. At this stage David was already married, with at least four wives, Michal, Ahinoam, Abigal, and Maacah. Three chapters in from the promise, David sought to send his condolences to Hanun for the passing of his father the King of the Ammonites. Unfortunately, David’s kind gesture was not received well and instead resulted in a battle between David against the Ammonites and the Aramean’s.

Entering into chapter 11, in the battle against the Ammonites and the Aramean’s, the Aramean’s withdrew and David was left to battle against the Ammonites only. But instead of going off to fight for his country and finish off the enemy, David remained in Jerusalem. When David remained in the place in which he should never have been, he met Bathsheba and consequently committed adultery. Bathsheba became pregnant, which culminated in events in which David became a murderer when he ordered the death of Bathsheba’s husband. How did David end up at this point? Of committing adultery and ordering the death of another? I believe David found himself in that situation because of disappointment. David may have felt disappointed that God promised to give him rest from all his enemies (2 Samuel 7:11), but instead, out of a gesture of kindness, David now faced a battle which in his eyes should never have been.

If this is the case, then I believe that David’s disappointment was rooted in a great misinterpretation of what God meant by “giving him rest from his enemies”. I believe that what was promised to David in his lifetime referred to “rest” as the assurance of victory in every battle he faced. Prior to the promise of rest, the Israelites had been oppressed and defeated in every battle (2 Samuel 7:10), but immediately after the promise, (chapter 8), the Israelites had nothing but victory against their enemies.

While the disappointment may have led David to a place where he appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the place that should have been the wrong place turned out to be the right place, because after David repented, it was through his marriage to Bathsheba that they birthed King Solomon, who was known to be the wisest man to have ever lived. Furthermore, what is most fascinating, is that David had at least four other wives before Bathsheba with whom he had children, yet none of those children went on to play such an important role as Solomon. And not only did God fulfil his promise for complete rest from his enemies through the King Solomon era, God also fulfilled his promise to establish a house for David forever, for it is through the David and Solomon lineage that Jesus came!

So, if we embrace this new perspective, is there such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time? If it is indeed true that God directs our footsteps, when we give Him the reins of our lives, then there is no such thing as coincidences or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. While it may be true, like David, that at times we walk in a path that displeases God and leads to the wrong place, God in His omniscience omnipresence, and omnipotence, knows about the wrong path before we take it. He goes ahead of our path and turns it around for our good so that that wrong place that could have had devastative consequences, becomes the wrong place at the right time to work for our good!

Although we may not be able to understand the ways in which God works if we allow God to harness the mess which we have made of our lives by giving ourselves over to Him in faith, our disappointing situations will transition from the wrong place at the wrong time, to the wrong place at the right time.

©Katie Mliswa and MomentsbyKatie.M, 2018.