Encounter @ the Chapel
Minister LaTisha McWhite
Peniel Baptist Church
John 11:1-17 (NCSB)
“There is a Reason Why”
Have you ever asked God why are you going through? You ask why, because you are trying to make sense of it all, sense of your current situation, trying to deal with the pain you feel or escape it. As a believer you ask the question why, when you have been working hard for the Lord, living out your purpose, and trials come out of nowhere to knock you off your feet. Asking when the past makes a comeback, dredging up old stuff that you thought you were done with. People will tell you don’t ask God why, but to grin, bear it, and trust God in the process. However, God made you inquisitive, and he can handle your questions. Even if God doesn’t reveal the why to you, there’s always a purpose and reason why he allows you to go through what you go through.
*God in his sovereignty orchestrates the events of this world, and he has complete control without complete chaos. Everything that happens is intentional and God has complete control over everything. What do you do when you have a promise, but that promise doesn’t match what you see or match what’s going on? You have promises from God, but things have yet to come to pass. When you walk with God there is going to be time between his promise and its fruition. Those times in between learn how to wait on God, learn how to hold on to His promises. You have promises of deliverance, promises of healing, and promises of better circumstances, but what you’re going through doesn’t match it, but you have to wait. You have a hard time holding on to the promises of God because you live in a shifty world. You have promises from leaders, politicians, and big businesses. They may not be good at holding on to their promises, but Jesus is good at holding on to His promises. There has never been a time that God made a promise that he never made good on. There’s never been a time where he said he would do a thing and it did not come to pass. No matter how long it takes, if God spoke it, it will come to pass. No matter what the devil says, what you say about your situation, or what it looks like, it will come to pass, because God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. Hold on, if all you have is a promise from God, it’s better than having a promise from other people, because it holds true. What you’re going through is bigger than you. Have you ever had a situation that you thought was dead? Where you closed the casket, had the funeral, buried it, but in the nick of time, God steps in and turns that situation around?
*Timing matters in the kingdom of God. You want God to move in a certain way, but he says that’s not the way he’s going to move. You pray for something, and you want God to handle it in 5 minutes, but it takes 5 years. Learn how to wait on God, even when it’s hard, trust his timing. Just because you love God, and God loves you doesn’t mean that you’ll never go through anything. Just because you follow after him, study his word, and work for him doesn’t mean that you will escape trials and tribulations, if anything there is a bigger target on your back. You’re going to go through, but you’ll never go through by yourself. Think about how you went through your trials and tribulations, they hurt you, but when you came out with your deliverance and healing, you have a testimony. Your testimony can help somebody else. It hurts when you have to go through something, and it hurts when you have to go through something for somebody else, but be encouraged that there is a blessing in the midst of it. Sometimes all you need is to talk to someone that has gone through what you’re going through. If you see somebody hurting, if you see somebody going through, do not continue to walk past them. Grab them, intercede with them, and encourage them. As the church, you have the answer and the hope.
*People won’t always be excited about your miracle or when God moves in your life. You will have people that rejoice with you, and those that will roll their eyes at you, but nevertheless it is the power of God that has worked in your life. Have you ever experienced an only God can do this kind of thing? You tried to work it out, figure it out, see how it was going to fit, you went to other people for help, to only return to God knowing he’s the only one that can.
*Strengthen your faith. There are some things that you will struggle with, but Jesus is always there with you, and there is a testimony waiting on the other end, or in the midst of it. You don’t have to wait until the test is over to give your testimony, but tell how good God has been in the midst of it. There are things that you will experience in your life meant to bring God the glory, and for people to be drawn to him.
How to get through:
*Closeness does not mean you won’t go through anything.
*Respect the timing of God, his timing is perfect.
*Be prepared to be a living, breathing witness to the glory of God.
*Know that you are never alone. There’s nothing that you ever go through that God is not with you in.
You have the hope to give to people, the hope is that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, the bread of life. What you’re going through is not uncommon.