Today we continue our series “God is faithful!” The Lord led me to 2 Corinthians 4. In this passage, we are looking at what it looks like to believe God is faithful. Because of God’s faithfulness towards us, we can withstand and overcome anything!
(2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-13, 16-18 TPT)
1 Now, it’s because of God’s mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. And we will not quit or faint with weariness.
7 We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
8 Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
9 We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.
10 We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
11 We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
12 So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.
13 We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in the Scriptures when it says, “First I believed, then I spoke in faith.” So we also first believe then speak in faith.
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
17 We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison,
18 because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Maturity should be your goal.
Paul said, “We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison” (1 Cor 4:17). It takes a mature believer to see challenges from that perspective, which is God’s perspective. Maturity, like patience, has to be produced. It is not given. God won’t just grant you patience or gift your maturity. These only come through the process of time and through the testing of your faith.
(James 1:2-4 TPT)
2 My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!
3 For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things.
4 And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.
— In order to truly mature, you must be willing to be processed to be able to carry the weight of the anointing associated with your divine assignment.
— Growing older does not automatically equal growing more mature.
— The fact that you have been walking with God for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or more, means nothing if you are not growing, developing, and maturing in Christ.
— Are you growing in faith? Can you believe God greater than you could in the past? Is your heart open to believing what God believes about you?
— Are you growing in patience? Are you able to hold on long enough to see what God said about you?
— Are you growing in love? Is God’s heart on display in your life and living? Or are you selfish, self-centered, and prideful?
*** I know a lot of Christians today are focused on getting a big house, driving nice cars, and having nice things. God is not opposed to any of that. But don’t mistake those things to be a sign of maturity. God looks at your heart. Are you growing? Are you truly maturing, or are you simply getting older? Beyond the “stuff,” maturity should be your goal! You want to get to the point where you have been transformed into God’s image on this planet! You are a carrier of the GLORY! You are the earthen vessel, and God’s GLORY lives in you. The more you mature, the more you will die to self, and the more Christ will be revealed through your humanity. That should be your goal.
2. You must resist frustration while you are waiting on the Promises of God!
I know what it is like to say:
— God, why is this taking so long?
— Why is this so hard?
— Why is this happening to me?
— Maybe I did not hear from God like I thought I did.
— Maybe it is not going to happen like I want it to happen.
— Maybe it is not going to happen at all!
— Frustration will make you focus on the wrong things. This is why I was teaching you about JOY vs. Happiness. Don’t chase happiness. Your external circumstances may not always be pleasant. But you can still have JOY. Allow the JOY OF THE LORD to be your strength.
You are not the only person who has struggled to operate in faith, who has wavered between faith and frustration, who has prayed in faith and then turned around and spoke failure. Just about everyone has done it. The key is shaking off your mistakes, receiving forgiveness from God, forgiving yourself, and getting ready for what is next. Greater is coming for you when you develop the mindset Paul had. Paul said, “We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison” (1 Cor 4:17).
3. As you mature in Christ, you will learn to trust God’s timing.
(Ecc 3:1 ERV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.
— While it is true that every earthly thing you need to complete your divine assignment has already been prepared, it will not manifest before its time. This is why you must develop both patience and discernment. You need the discernment to know when it is God’s timing and the patience to wait until that time comes.
— If you discover something that God wants to do in your life, and it is clear to you that He has promised to do this thing either FOR YOU or THROUGH YOU, then you may not know WHEN it is going to happen, but you can rest assured that it will happen. You may struggle with the timing of it, but you should never struggle with the fact that it is going to happen.
— You should always take God at His Word and trust His timing. You can question the timing, but you should never question the promise!
— It takes trust to truly wait on God. For you to set your watch of expectation to God’s clock of manifestation, when you don’t have any idea WHEN God is going to do it, it requires faith and trust. You have faith that He will, but you must trust His timing. If you trust God, you will enter into God’s rest concerning it.
4. God is preparing you for what is next.
— There are some things God wants to do in your life that you are simply not ready for. So God has to help prepare you for what He prepared for you!
— Sometimes in the low-tide season, things don’t seem like they are working because seasons of testing are not about bringing in the harvest. Instead, they are about the fact that God is preparing you for the harvest. He just cannot release it to you before you are ready to handle it.
When you “zoom out” a little and you look at the bigger picture from God’s perspective, you get a better understanding of how God operates. Here are a few things about this:
a) God does not have to wait until you are ready to walk in His dream before He reveals the dream. He will give you the revelation of it BEFORE you are ready to walk in it. (God speaks to your TO BE stage from your RIGHT NOW stage).
b) God then expects you NOT to dismiss the dream just because you are not ready for it. He needs you to believe it in your heart, even though it is something you are not presently ready for. He needs you to open your heart to it.
c) Once you believe it, God will allow you to experience whatever you need to experience in order to be processed. You must be processed to be able to CARRY the WEIGHT of the anointing associated with the assignment! Notice that God will never grant you or gift you maturity. Maturity comes as a result of processing. This processing often requires challenging and painful situations.
d) You must develop patient endurance. Without it, you will not hold on long enough to SEE what God SAID. During your season of testing, you must remind yourself that God will REVEAL THE DREAM, but He will not REVEAL THE PROCESSING. Because if He did, you would RUN FROM IT! So you are left with a choice. Either you ENDURE the processing, so you can receive what God revealed, or you can quit and miss out on God’s best. The choice is yours!
e) Your season of harvest is coming, but you must believe that God is preparing you for it. God has chosen you, you are anointed for this season, and God is preparing you for what is next! Greater is coming for you! You will receive the GREATER if you don’t give up!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me! I LEVEL UP by embracing the fact that You are processing me for my assignment. You prepared for my arrival on this planet. You prepared everything I would ever need to fulfill my purpose. You are now preparing me for what You prepared for me! Everything You promised SHALL come to pass. It just does not have to happen when I want it to. It will happen when You planned for it to happen. Therefore, I develop faith AND patience. I build up my faith, meditating Your promises, and I develop patience as my faith is tested, over and over again. Living this way, I will get to the point where I am mature – with nothing missing and nothing lacking in my life! It is from this mature mindset that I boldly declare: GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
