“This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’ But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!” Isaiah 30:15-16 NLT
Have you ever made a wrong decision that you thought was right? Have you ever made an investment that you thought would surely give you a return; only to lose the money you invested? What did you do the day after you realized what you had done? Did you beat yourself up mentally and tell yourself how stupid you were for doing it? Or did you call upon the Lord for help and ask Him to deliver you from the sure calamity that awaited you? Did you condemn yourself for being so foolish and allow a spirit of heaviness to overtake you? Or did you remind yourself of God’s promises and begin to praise Him for His faithfulness?
Most people wake up the day after a dumb decision or a bad investment and beat themselves up! They think things like, “How could I be so dumb? I should have known better? No wonder my days are full of troubles because I can’t make a good decision to save my life!” They play the event over and over in their mind until they adopt a mindset of defeat and begin to manifest a defeatist words and actions. They cannot be comforted because when someone comes to encourage them; they shut them down and say things like, “You don’t even understand. I should have known better. Don’t tell me it’s going to be okay, because it isn’t!”
In times like these it is important to remind ourselves that God is bigger than our dumb decisions and He is always faithful to His people! But we have to make the decision to go to Him for help because He is the only one who can deliver us from the pending calamity. If we go into a defeatist mindset, we lose! If we go into a state of depression, we lose! If we go anywhere except to the Mercy seat of Christ in times like these, we lose! God is waiting for us to come to Him, but He will not force us. Isaiah 30:18-19 says, “So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.” Isaiah 30:18-19
God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL and He NEVER CONDEMNS US! He takes delight in delivering His people! He takes delight in showing Himself strong in our times of weakness! We have to remind ourselves that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! We have to go to His Word and read the stories of the times He delivered His people when they went astray or made wrong decisions or bad investments. We have to read Scriptures like Isaiah 46:8-13 which says, “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it. “Listen to me, you stubborn people who are so far from doing right. For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and show my glory to Israel.”
When we make a bad decision or a poor investment it is because we were not following the leading of the Holy Spirit, plain and simple. We were being stubborn and doing things our way! Guess what? He knows this! He knew we had a bent towards rebellion before it ever happened! He is not caught off guard in times like these and He doesn’t shake His head and try to figure out what He is going to do next. We do that, not God! God didn’t cause it to happen, but He makes a provision if it does! He will save us from pending calamity but we have the responsibility to seek Him and ask Him to help! For Him, our failings give Him an opportunity to be the God of miracles! For Him, our bad decisions give Him the opportunity to be our mighty deliverer! For Him, our poor investments give Him the opportunity to be our supernatural provider! He loves us and He waits for us to call on Him in our times of trouble!
This is why it is so important to have the Word of God treasured up in our hearts! I hear so many people say that they have a hard time reading the Bible and an even harder time meditating in it. This is a tactic of the enemy because he knows that if God’s people have His Word treasured up in their hearts, they will be able to defeat him in his attack against them. In the Desert of Temptation Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the devil and we have to do the same! We have to let God be true and tell the devil he is a liar! This is when we will wake up the day after dumb and have the mind of Christ operating in us and when we will hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us! And this is when we will see God perform His Word in our situation!
Prayer: Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand what You are telling me today through this word. Let my mind be fixed on the truth of Your Word and not on my own thoughts or actions. When I make a bad decision or a poor investment remind me of Your faithfulness! I will praise You in the day of my distress and I will cry out to You for help. I refuse to adopt a mindset of defeat and I will tell the devil he is a liar when he tries to condemn me. You and You alone are God and I will see my day of deliverance in the land of the living! Amen
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