Written By: Crystal G.H. Lowery
Look How Far You Have Come!
You’ve made such great progress! Aren’t those words so encouraging?!? I’m sure you are like so many that look at where you want to be and see such a distance or perhaps the hurdles that stand between you and that place. It can be daunting if you look at your goals and dreams that way. However, I have some encouraging words for you today…LOOK HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME!
You may be at a crossroads, sitting and wondering which path to take. You may have just finished a sprint to a certain section of your road. Perhaps you have looked up for a breath of fresh air and found a pile of things that seemed to come from nowhere and they are weighing you down. Don’t despair. Don’t choose the option of being overwhelmed, but instead choose freedom. Freedom allows movement. An overwhelmed state succumbs to stagnation.
Jesus came to set the captives free. That doesn’t necessarily mean physical prisoners. It means spiritual prisoners. Are you feeling like you are in bondage to your current situation? Do you feel chains and shackles weighing you down? Do you feel like it is a struggle to put one foot in front of the other to move forward to where you know God told you to go? However, you just seem to be lacking the strength, energy, and ability to do it?
One key is Joy. Scripture tells us that the JOY of the Lord is our strength. If you need strength, don’t let the enemy steal your JOY! That sounds so easy and it is. However, sometimes, we just need a reminder of simple truths that will set us free.
Joy. It’s not just a word that we see at Christmas. It is for every day of the year. I think about David, who was called of the Lord. He was anointed by Samuel to be King. Yet, he found himself in a place where the current King, Saul, was chasing and pursuing him, literally running and trying to find a safe place to save his very life. He could have given up. He could have stayed in a place under the weight of the forces against him. However, he didn’t.
What did David do? He encouraged himself in the Lord. He didn’t call for someone else to come and help him feel better. He didn’t read a self-help book. He didn’t cry and complain about how great or how many problems he faced. He was pro-active. He simply, yet powerfully, encouraged himself in the Lord.
How do we do this? We can do this in any number of ways. We can spend quiet time with the Lord, reading His Word, or singing and worshipping the Lord. We can do it by remembering all the good things the Lord has done for us, memorializing every time He has brought us through to the other side. We can thank God for every moment He has been with us in this journey called life. When we do this, we call up JOY in our spirits – the JOY of the Lord.
It is simply challenging and impossible to move from where you are to where God wants you to be when you have no strength. Even for the most motivated person, there is no way to do this by your own frail strength. However, when we have supernatural strength that only can come from the JOY of the Lord, we will mount up as eagles and soar.
People will ask us how we can accomplish so much in the face of adversity. Family and friends will take notice that something is very different about you than other people they are watching. The difference is that you have un-natural, super-natural strength that comes from the One who Loves us! God has provided us all the strength, all the energy, all the fortitude, and all the ability to do everything He has called and planned for us!
That is comforting. There is nothing He hasn’t already provided for us, His children. Renew your mind to this wonderful truth. It doesn’t matter how small the challenge is or how hopeless the battle appears before you. Close your eyes to the natural and open your eyes to the supernatural. You WILL see and know that God truly has a plan for you, has already provided what you will ever need, and that He loves you with an everlasting love.
God has done his part. Now, it’s time to do yours – with the JOY of the Lord as your strength!
Crystal G.H. Lowery, Esq. is a Christian Estate Planning Attorney and is the owner and founding attorney of Law Office Of Crystal G.H. Lowery, LLC. She is also an ordained minister who has a passion for sharing Jesus. Based on Faith is an organization whose vision is to become an international resource that increases biblical knowledge of faith within the Body of Christ through comprehensive teaching, discussion of law, and the prophetic.
Copyright 2023 ©, Crystal G.H. Lowery and Based on Faith. All Rights Reserved.