Look back over your life
from where you
WERE
to WHERE you are today.
Would you have ever BELIEVED
that you got through __________
and ___________
and _________...
and you are still HERE?
Amazing isn't it.
What if GOD revealed to you
everything that you would experience
throughout your whole life,
before you would live it
(and I mean the NOT-SO-GOOD circumstances).
Would you have ever BELIEVED that you would have been able to
LIVE THROUGH IT?
But if you are BREATHING today,
you did LIVE,
not only THROUGH __________,
but have come out
on the other side.
Then that means~
You are COURAGEOUS.
You are VICTORIOUS.
You are BRAVE.
You are FEARLESS.
You are ALIVE!
Think about it.
Oh I think about it
when I have to face the
NOT-SO-GOOD
circumstances that spring up
in the
HERE & NOW.
As it makes me
LOOK BACK
to
THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
who
ALWAYS SHOWED UP
in the
NOT-SO-GOOD
circumstances,
so that I just don't get through them by the skin of my teeth,
but so that I became
a NEWER version of my OLD self,
because
I know that
I"N ALL THINGS GOD WORKS
FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM" (Romans 8:28).
Did you catch that?
GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR THE GOOD!
ALL THINGS!
And that means the
NOT-SO-GOOD things
that come into your life
Oh GOD is GOOD
because
GOD IS BEYOND GOOD
because
I wouldn't be BREATHING today
or
LOVING MY GOD
or
BE FILLED WITH THE PEACE THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING
if I didn't have to go
THROUGH the NOT-SO-GOOD.
Because
it is in the
NOT-SO-GOOD
where
GOD FOUND ME
so that
I FOUND HIM.
How would I know
PEACE if I never experienced ANXIETY.
How would I know
ACCEPTANCE if I never experienced REJECTION.
How would I know
FORGIVENESS if I never experienced BITTERNESS.
How would I know
BREAKTHROUGH if I never experienced BREAKDOWN.
How would I know
JOY if I never experienced DESPAIR.
Oh the list goes on
because
GOD DOES WORK ALL THINGS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.
So how would I know
THE LOVE OF GOD if I never
experienced JESUS?
I wouldn't have.
How about you?
How would you know ______________
if you never experienced _______________?
Therefore,
if you are living today in
NOT-SO-GOOD circumstances
or if you had experienced
NOT-SO-GOOD
circumstances in the past
that you are still holding onto,
LOOK at them
as
AN OPEN DOOR
to
EXPERIENCE
"THE GOODNESS OF GOD"
(listen to the song below)