Has Life Not Turned Out the Way You Hoped?
Do you ever find yourself looking back at the beginning of a dream and wonder what happened to it? Perhaps, dear friend, you are looking around you taking inventory, and something that started so wonderfully feels like it may be coming to an end? I know what this is like. Many times over the past year, I have brought God my disappointments and received His grace to keep going.
Sometimes the "grind" can feel awfully slow and, even worse, fruitless. Today I would love to encourage you with something the Lord spoke over me that really helped: "If what I promised has not happened yet, then it's not the end.You are in the middle."
Believe it or not, the middle is where the magic happens! This is where your strength runs all the way out and God's strength steps all the way in to fill your weaknesses perfectly. This is where you learn to trust God even when it doesn't make sense. This is where you get to personally experience just how sufficient God's all-sufficient grace truly is. The middle is hard, that's for sure - but because of it, the promised "end" means even more!
“The middle can feel like the end sometimes, but if God promised to do something and it hasn’t happened yet... then you aren’t at the end. Keep trusting Him!”
The enemy loves to whisper all sorts of lies when he sees we are growing desperate. Let’s debunk some of them now: ⠀
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Just because your excitement might have waned, that doesn’t mean it’s all over. You may just be tired. Rest. Ask God to renew your strength. ⠀
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"He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength. Even young people faint and get exhausted; athletic ones may stumble and fall. But those who wait for Yahweh’s grace will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles, run their race without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up."
- Isaiah 40:29-31 TPT
Being uncomfortable doesn’t always mean something is wrong. Growth is uncomfortable, but it’s also GOOD. ⠀
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"Now all discipline [throughout this passage the word discipline can also be translated 'correction,' 'instruction,' and 'training.'] seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it. [Or 'those who have endured its [gymnastic] training.']"
- Hebrews 12:11 TPT
The Author of Life does not lead His children to dead ends. You have a harvest season coming, an “everything falling together for your good” to see.
"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."
- Romans 8:26-28 The Message
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Receive this truth and let it encourage you today. Say with me: “God would never leave me at an end that is not what He promised. Back off, satan! He who promised is faithful! It’s not over until the Lord says it’s over! I am not at the end. My life is not over. I’m just in the middle. However long this season lasts, I am sticking with God and NOT giving up.
