Written by Pastor Tim Wynn
Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
Habakkuk 1:5
Imagine a tree in the middle of a park during the coldest winter months, buried in snow and frozen all the way through. If somehow the tree could speak and think, it would probably share a few of these complaints:
- This is so uncomfortable.
- I’m weak from all the kids climbing on me in the summer.
- I’ve lost all my leaves and/or fruit.
- I feel like the next gust of wind is going to just knock me over.
- I’ve been in this same spot for years and years.
- Will I even live to see another summer?
As a church planter, I’ve had those exact thoughts sometimes. Life, ministry and its different situations and circumstances can seem to be so burdensome. The weight of trying to pull my own load and serve others can be overwhelming to the point of lamenting. This lamenting can soon turn into complaining and bitterness.
You try to stay a float by pressing into all the things that you know to do, but…nothing! The whispers of the Lord are faint, but they get your attention.
Do you have faith to stand when all you can do is stand?
You’ve prayed, you’ve fasted, you’ve read, you’ve done all these things…. You’ve encountered the Lord, you’ve seen the miracles, signs & wonders but it’s seems as if things are still the same and they have not changed. Sporadically you get some breakthrough but every time you turn around you’re back in this whirlwind of a fight. Somehow you haven’t won but you also haven’t been knocked out and your still alive! What do you do?
Most of our situations and circumstances should be credited to God and not the devil! Yes, the devil might be behind some of the tribulations, but God is still sovereign and has full control of the outcome.
Habakkuk had two major complaints in His plea to the Lord:
1. God isn’t doing anything.
2. God is doing too much.
In the midst of the storm, do you have fresh faith? Have fresh faith; God is doing a work in our days.
Fresh faith will help you keep standing in the face of adversity. It will keep you believing that the next step you take won’t be the last step you take. Fresh faith will give you confidence that God still hears your voice when you cry out, or when you pray or sing songs of faith. And finally, fresh faith will reignite your vision and passion to serve God!
With fresh faith, living blessed replaces waiting for a miracle.
Everything that’s happening in your life becomes a blessing. So even when giving up or complaining starts to surface you can stand on this kind of faith. God is still doing something!
Pastor Tim Wynn planted CityReach Church Tampa Bay in 2015 with his wife Jeneva. Tim and Geneva’s vision, with their two kids, is to be agents of God’s love by walking and leading people into their God-given destiny.
