Circumstances Get Hard

Read: Zechariah 4
“9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” Zechariah 4:9

Examine:
There is always a time when it feels unlikely that God will do what He says. There is a season of labor that often feels unproductive and unlikely. During dark times and seasons of fruitless labor God calls His chosen to look past their pain and emotions and cling to the truth of what has been spoken.

Apply:
There are a lot of passages in the Bible that speak to taking courage, enduring challenges, fighting fear, and holding firm. There would be absolutelutly no reason whatsoever for God to put those words in the Bible unless He knew with certainty that the circumstances of my life would get hard. Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death. Moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. Mission courage is the ability to hold fast to the promises of God even though all logical wisdom says it is time to abandon ship. Completing what has been started is God’s promise and His responsibility. Being a man of physical, moral, and mission courage is my part of the deal. He is faithful, but I must endure to the finish.

Pray:
Your wisdom led me to this place. As I trace back over my journey here I cannot find a single time that this mission fed my flesh. There was never a time I wanted any of this for myself. From the beginning it has been about Your purposes for my life and seeing the glory of Your name radiate in the homes of the orphans, widows and poor living in Sweetwaters. The vision You gave me came at a time when everything in me said it was time to quit. Every time I have acknowledged defeat and confessed that I felt I missed You, You have countered with a word that told me to push those thoughts aside and keep my fist clasped tight to wheel and hold my course. From where I am, as best as I could I have held on in the midst of a storm that has tested me unlike anything I have ever encountered.

So, today I stand firm. The storm has intensified against my prayers for calmness. The need has grown in the face of my prayers for Your power to overcome them. The resources have heard me claim Your provision and still they have shrunk. So, today I take courage and hold fast. You have promised me countless times that You have called me here to do what You laid on my heart to do and I will see it through. I call on Your power to give me the physical, moral, and mission courage I need. I call on the stirring of You, Holy Spirit, to give me the faith of the cross so that I may not grow weary. Above all Father, I confess that I am grateful to You for this task. I do not resent it. I do not feel like it has cost me anything. I thank You for the glorious privilege that it has been.