November 30th daily blog devotional by Keith Wayne Edwards
Read:
Philippians 4:11
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Also Read:
Psalms 138:8
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Have you ever felt like giving up on your dreams and goals in this life? God has put dreams and gifts' within every Christian, but we need to let God move us to that place we need to be to fulfill that which is within us. It can get so frustrating at times, but God sometimes has to deal with us about different things in our life so that those things won't become a hindrance down the road. I know from experience of great financial stress how discouraging it can get. Can I get a witness? You go through the Dave Ramsey course and drive an old "cash for clunker" type car, with the ceiling falling in your coffee on your way to work. Every time you push in the clutch it squeaks lol. You look up to God in your devotion and say, "Lord I just can't take it anymore!" I want to encourage us in our daily walk with the Lord to be content with what we have. Maybe you got to a certain place in your life and it has caused unnecessary pain. It brought your dreams and visions to a screeching halt. Don't give up. God promised in His word that He will perfect that which concerns us. He will open that door that once was open, and He will lead you to the fulfilling place that God has for us. The Lord didn't bring you where you are at to just let you go, and every step along the way is just as important as the next step He has for us. The greatest revelation to have on that step God has for us is the revelation that He loves us the same on that step than any other step we may be upon. Sometimes that door of our dreams and visions may only be cracked open to where we can only see a little bit of hope on the other side of that door, but we sometimes doubt if God is on the other side of that door. God is for us and not against us. Have you gotten to this place friend where it just seems like you are at a dead-end job? You failed somewhere and you find yourself settling for where you are at. Pray to God today to help you be content where you are at, but also pray to God that He will give us wisdom on how to pray for restoration in our life. The last thing I want us to see today is to have a good attitude where you are at. Attitude is very important. Attitude and being content go hand in hand, and our good attitude along with that content heart will allow God to open that door just a little further each day, until one day you look and see you are in a place that God wanted you to be in. A teacher at the bible college talked to us about when he graduated from bible school and went to his pastor and told him, "Man! I know what God wants me to do now. He's called me into full-time ministry!" The pastor looked at him with that serious grin and said, "Good! now go get a job!" God needs to shape and mold you before you step into the ministry." He did that and worked at a fast-food restaurant scrubbing toilets and cooking burgers. We'll not in that order..lol. Three months later God moved him out of there and put him into full-time ministry. I feel something right now for you and me as I'm writing this devotional. God didn't move him because of necessarily his calling. God moved him out of there into the place he had for him in ministry because of his attitude. Here is what I feel for us as we go through another day wondering why God hasn't moved us to that certain place here on this earth as Christians. It's all about attitude, and our attitude will affect our character, our character will affect our calling, and our calling will ultimately affect our destiny here on earth. We just have to remember that even when we are in that particular place that God has for us, we still have to be content in whatever state we are in. Sometimes we can get to a place where we feel like we don't need God. We have everything. This is a very dangerous place to be in. We need God in the good, bad, and the ugly.
Prayer:
Lord help us to be content with where we are at. Help us to be content even when we are feeling good. But we need you so much Lord in every situation. Lord help us to cry out to you in not only in the hard times, but good times as well. Help us to realize in whatever state we are in that we need you the same in any situation. Amen.