I had seven charts to write, and if I wanted to have time for a lunch break, I only had an hour to write them. It might have been a possible task, but when 50 minutes had gone by and I had only finished four charts, I knew that my grumbling stomach would be disappointed: There would be no lunch break today.
That’s when I remembered: I was looking at things from an Earthly prospective. But that prospective isn’t reality! “Father,” I said, “It’s such a little thing, but I would really like to have lunch today. It’s an impossible task. There’s no way I can write three more charts in ten minutes. Lord, I give it to you, and I ask that if it is Your will, You would do the impossible and slow down that clock!”
Exactly ten minutes later, I placed the seventh and final chart on its rack. My charting was finished, and I had time to eat my lunch.
Most of you reading this are currently experiencing far more than a simple problem of desiring a lunch break. Is this power available for the big problems, too?
The Children of Israel were also facing something much bigger, something far more comparable to what each of you are facing. They had the task of driving out the inhabitants of the Promised Land. Forty years earlier their fathers had been so afraid of these self-same inhabitants that they refused the task. Now Moses stood before them, urging them to not follow in the footsteps of their fathers, and Moses’ words to these people are powerful:
“GOD, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them.” (Deut 31:3, MSG)
Notice the two parts to this plan: 1) God crosses over ahead and destroys the nations; and then 2) The people are to dispossess them.
In other words, the inhabitants would still be in Canaan when the Israelites crossed over, but their power would already be gone. And this is exactly what happened. Israel experienced victory after victory as walls came down, daylight hours were extended and their enemies fled before them. God had already defeated the enemy, Israel’s job was to “sweep” them out.
This same power is available to us today, no matter how little (three charts in ten minutes) or how large (Insert here the problems you are currently facing!). God crossed over ahead of us when He sent His Son to the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection “destroyed” all of our enemies. It may look to us like they are still there, but their power has been stripped from them.
Remember these words today, my friends: God, your God, has already crossed over ahead of you! He has already destroyed the things that try to conquer you. Rise up today in the name of Jesus, keeping your eyes fixed upon Him, and possess your Promised Land!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.