All good things are achieved through effort, faith, and courage; there will always be obstacles, opposition, and trials so that people can truly value what they have accomplished.
If evildoers put effort into achieving their evil, how much more should those who persevere in doing good take courage each new day.
Christ Jesus is the first one we must look upon: His effort, His suffering to go to the cross, to die and rise again after three days, and so that today we can have the forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life.
Noah labored for 120 years to build the ark, and thus he and his family were saved from the flood.
Moses put forth effort to be able to bring God’s people out of Egypt. Remember that Moses tried on his own by killing an Egyptian, but afterwards God sent him into 40 years of testing in the desert.
Later, that same Moses went to Egypt by God’s command, with the word of God in his mouth. He did not stain his hands with blood, but he exerted effort, and God miraculously brought the people out of Egypt.
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years imprisoned during his political career, but afterward he walked out of prison and became president of South Africa twice, and the whole world knows today that South Africa is beautiful because of Nelson Mandela’s vision.
When God wants to do something in our lives, there is nothing that can stop it; when a work is of God, it overcomes every obstacle because God is in the matter, and He will remove everything out of the way. Let us not forget what Job said to God in Job 42:2: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
We must raise our children with the necessary education to put forth effort to succeed in life, because material, human, and even demonic obstacles will always exist.
Stand firm and persevere, however, because victory belongs to those who do not faint.
Isaiah 14:27 gives us a life lesson by saying: “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can annul it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
In Jeremiah 32:27, the Lord reminds us all by saying: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
Anger and hatred are not works of God’s goodness; we must put anger and hatred aside and say, “Lord, forgive people, for they do not know what they do.” At that very moment, God steps forward for us, and we will see the hand of God move in our favor.
In Nehemiah chapter 4, Tobiah, Gesem, and Sanballat tried every way possible to hinder Nehemiah in the work that God had commanded him to do, but they did not succeed.
In the current world system, we can compare these three individuals to selfishness, envy, and hatred. But we know that those are bad influences, and a bad influence can never overcome the power of God.
Therefore, God’s word teaches us all in James 1:5, saying: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
This means for our youth that it is not a time to walk in anger and hatred against others because someone else achieved something and I did not.
Because God is there for all of us.
Sincerely,
Pastor Marcel Balootje