Saturday, January 4, 2020

Discouraged? But God...

Today is January 4, 2020, and already I am discouraged.  During a lengthy period of insomnia last night I briefly scrolled through my Facebook feed to see what the Lord might have me pray for, since I was up already.  There was no lack of discouraging, disheartening news.  Honestly, it is hard to read a social media feed or turn on the news and NOT feel disheartened by all of it.  2019 was a hard year for so many, and from what I can see with my earthly eyes, 2020 is not shaping up to be an improvement.  But God...
"He knows the way that  I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold" (Job 23:10, ESV).
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV).
"By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:8, ESV).
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, ESV).
"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, ESV). 
As we step into 2020, we need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and immerse ourselves in His Word, praying each other through whatever may come our way.  Our very lives -- physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially -- depend on it.

We all have a choice -- to either be defeated and discouraged by the evil and tragedy in this world or to be transformed from glory to glory as we walk in total dependence on the great, loving God whose "divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire" (2 Peter 1:3,4, ESV).







Copyright © 2019- 2020 by Dee Dee Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com

What Next?

“Even when I am old and  gray , do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” ...