GOD WANTS YOU TO SUCCEED

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Life has a way of overwhelming us.  We are walking merrily down a smooth path and suddenly we approach a boulder, a curve, a sharp incline or step in a deep hole. By the time we get up from our “stumble,” our teammates are so far ahead that we know we will never catch up, so we give up. Or we limp along immersed in our little solo “Pity Party.”  YEP, we couldn’t even get anyone to accept that invite.

The crowd is always cheering for the other guy.  Everyone else seems to “win the prize,” and we are left with a “participation ribbon” or sometimes just empty hands and a red face.  And we wonder…Are we standing in the “ring” all alone? Is there anyone in “our corner?”  YES!!! God is FOR YOU, but you cannot see Him or hear His, “you go girl,” until you get your eyes off your failure and fix them on the One who wants you to succeed!

God wants you to succeed!!! Many Holy Ghost filled people live their lives in fear that God is just waiting to pull the rug out from under them or slap them upside the head at the slightest provocation.  Lip service is given to God’s amazing grace and His infinite mercy but we seem to think those attributes only apply to salvation and do not include our continuing faith journey.  Is it because we don’t really know God or don’t believe God?  2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If we believe this verse, perhaps we just have a hard time substituting “I” for “any” and “all”. 

I am the oldest child in a family of six children.  My dad was a hard worker and provided all the necessities of life and as many extras as possible for his family.  I enjoyed a wonderful childhood and never felt poor or underprivileged.  I always felt loved and had built-in playmates; something was always happening at our house.  Many of my friends, however, enjoyed some of the luxuries that I was well aware were not available to “people like us.”  My best friend in high school would spend weekends at her cottage in Baraboo, WI and she had a beautiful brick fireplace in her living room.  We lived in a 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch, 4 bedrooms, counting the one dad fixed up in the basement.  If I ever attained “COTTAGE” or “FIREPLACE” status, I thought, I would have made it because “people like us” lived in 1200 sq. ft. ranch homes with 1 bathroom and gravel driveways.  Many times, I have needed God to reassure me that, because of His grace, I AM “one of those people.” God wants ME to succeed!

The book of Exodus relates the saga of the deliverance of the Children of Israel by the hand of God.  The Israelites had come to Egypt during the days of Joseph to escape a great famine.  They had lived in the land of Goshen for 430 years and were now enslaved to the Egyptians.  Their tasks became more and more burdensome until they began to cry unto the Lord for deliverance.  God raised up Moses to lead them to freedom and deal with Pharaoh. It was God’s desire to deliver his people then just as it is today.  This verse in Exodus illustrates how far God will go to deliver and protect us even when our hearts aren’t exactly true. 

Exodus 13:17 “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”

 God wanted freedom for His people so badly that he led them in a way that would not tempt them to return to a foreign land and live as slaves.  God wanted them to succeed!

You are one of God’s people and He will go to any length necessary for you to be successful in your journey with Him.  When He filled you with the Holy Spirit, He endowed you with the necessary power to walk into liberty.  If you will follow the path God has laid for you, He will lead you out of the reach of the pull of Egypt and into freedom.  You can live a wonderful, fulfilled life today and be assured of eternal life tomorrow.  God wants YOU to succeed!