One of my favourite characters is Victor Meldrew who of course coined the famous phrase “I Don’t Believe It”.
I suppose I like it probably because there is a hint of me in it!
Quite often I make plans that we talked about yesterday and they just don’t come to pass, very frustrating isn’t it?
There is a true story that happened thousands of years ago about a nation that went out to fight against another nation that was so inferior to them that they couldn’t be bothered to send everyone out so they sent a few.
When the remaining soldiers came back the rest of the platoon could not believe it. They had been so heavily defeated.
This caused a major dilemma in that nation. Their confidence had gone and they wondered what on earth was going on. Quite simply I don’t believe it was true. They had been heavily defeated.
So what do you do when all the plans with coming out of this pandemic are not fulfilled? Are you pessimistic to the point of giving up because you’ve suffered so much? Will you be like that nation and pray?
As a church here in Pype Hayes as we continue our journey from lockdown we are planning by praying. Let’s read that again planning by praying.
So back to the problem of this nation. Why had they so badly been defeated?
Someone had broken the rule from their last battle and unknowingly it had a consequence not just for the person who did it but for the whole nation.
You see this nation served a God who, like me, believe He is the creator of the universe and He is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-seeing.
He also gave instructions that had to be obeyed.
There are lessons for us who follow Jesus. Let us make sure we are following Him and not allowing any distractions from doing that. Read His word to know how to live in the way He wants us to live.
Let our lives imitate Him. As Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will follow. Yes, to gain victory is not what we want first. It is what God wants first. Hard to swallow? I don’t believe it. Well, it has to be true.
As I conclude remember what I spoke about yesterday, the second chance. Well, this nation (Israel) received just that. They prayed. God answered and dealt with the problem. They then received the victory the second time around.
You will too pray, asking God is there anything to stop my planning? You do that by praying, listening and obeying. Be encouraged God wants you to win. Plan by prayer for we have great confidence that He knows our situation now but also our future situation. I’m sure you’ve heard of the old hymn “what a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer”.
Let me conclude with this quote from Warren W. Wiersbe,
Never permit one failure to rob you of future victory. When God sees that we have obeyed His Word and sincerely dealt with sin, He comes with encouragement and guidance for the next step. It has well been said that the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings. (See Psalm 37:23–24)
I don’t believe it, well I do, if God is for me who can be against me.
Stay safe and Blessed