Joshua 1:9 [NIV] ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
DAILY READING; Matthew 10:26-42; Leviticus 9-10; Proverbs 2
After serving in the Soviet Army during WW2, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to spend eight years in a labour camp for criticizing the Nation’s leader, Josef Stalin. He was imprisoned at the infamous Gulag labor camp where he had to work day after day, in rain and snow, throughout summer and winter. Backbreaking labor and slow starvation filled his days. After suffering many days of despair in the death camp, Aleksander fell into gross discouragement and decided he wanted to die. However, in that moment of agony, a fellow prisoner approached him. Seeing that Aleksander had given up on life, this man encouraged him to focus on the cross of Jesus and on the Word of God.
Drawing strength from Christ’s sacrifice, Aleksander was again filled with the hope to go on. Later, when he was released from prison, he committed himself to writing books that would encourage others in their times of despair, to give them the faith and hope to persevere.
Aleksander Solzhenitsyn ended up becoming one of Russian’s greatest writers and historian.
His books sold tens of millions of copies and in 1970 he was awarded the Noble Prize for literature, due to the great impact of his writing..
People often give up on the great destiny ahead of them simply through momentary discouragement. For instance, there were many who started this year with great zeal and passion and vision, but with the many unexpected challenges and obstacles encountered so far, despair has set in and they now feel deflated. Discouragement is a stopper of men’s progress. It is what the enemy uses to distort reality and try to keep people from moving forward. Today, many people instead of progressing with their dreams, are now stuck with their fears. But the truth is that, when you are filled with strength from God’s Word, you can always overcome.
Whenever you face intimidating situations, learn to look up to God. The study of God’s Word and persistent prayers will always impart into your heart the faith that you need to excel and triumph.
The force of God’s Word gives you an inner acceleration that pushes you forward, no matter the challenges you may face.
God’s Word is like fire and hammer, and when it resides in you it crushes problems to powder. Power from the Word causes you to run like a bulldozer over the obstacles on your path.
So if you are feeling any form of despair or discouragement today, just go for an encounter with God’s Word. Whatever is trying to hold you back from moving into the fullness of God’s plan for you this year, can be overcome.
The truth is that there will always be a Goliath between you and your throne. However, your conquest will be a function of your boldness, based on strong faith in God’s Word.
Deuteronomy 7:16 says “Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh…”
Remembering the mighty acts of God through meditation in His Word, releases in you the faith to overcome the world.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for granting me the victory over despair and discouragement. By Your grace I shall surely arrive at the glorious throne You have ordained for me this year in Jesus Name.
QUOTE;
God protects and shields us when we are being led by Him. – WORDBITE 222