Charm Devotions

God has a purpose in everything He does and permits. The Lord is sovereign. We can be sure that nothing happens by accident or coincidence. He has a purpose for even our most painful experiences. We have this promise to cause all things to work together for good to those who love God. The Father’s handiwork appears through all your pain, hardship and loss, turning mourning into gladness. Believers must accept that God won’t always make sense to us. His ways and thoughts are higher than our own. He sees the completed big picture. We can rely on the fact that God is in control no matter what.

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 20

   

GOD IS INTERESTED IN YOUR PROBLEM

Whatever problem you are facing, no matter how big or small, no matter how impossible, unpredictable or painful, God is interested. If you are a Christian, you are assured that God is concerned about your problems.  

Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”          - John 14:6

 We cannot direct our problems to God without Jesus Christ. As a follower of Jesus Christ, God personally takes interest in every aspect of your life no matter what it may be.  

 

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.           -Psalm 68:19

 

Trust in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.     - Psalm 62:8

 

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.      - Psalm 55:22

 He is interested in what’s defeating, depressing and disheartening you.

GOD IS GREATER THAN YOUR PROBLEM

Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 

- Jeremiah 32:17

 Do you think that what’s going on in your life is bigger than God? If that be true then God cannot be sovereign

“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too difficult for me?      -Jeremiah 32:27

God does not only reign all over the universe, He is so awesome that He can make himself known to a little child. It doesn’t matter what you are facing, God who loves you unconditionally, will get your through it.

 God loves us unconditionally. He is all powerful. He knows us by name and by heart. God knows the number of hairs upon our head.

 

 

OUR FIRST RESPONSE TO PROBLEMS SHOULD BE TO SEEK THE LORD

We should come before Him in any situation to show us direction. We should ask for His will and His peace.

 When you seek the Lord it means you want Him in your life. Any believer has a deep longing desire to know God better. It isn’t enough to just know Him as Savior and Lord. We want to know Him as a practical God who is involved in every single area in our life.

 When you encounter a problem in your life, you must take your position as a child of God. You have the right and the power to call upon Him because of your relationship to Jesus Christ.  

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.           

- Matthew 7:7

          We have the awesome promise that God will do something about our problem. There is not one single promise in the bible that did not or will not come true.

         When you begin to seek the Lord, your problem becomes smaller and smaller for the simple reason that God becomes larger and larger in your thinking. God knows exactly what to do to solve your problem. Make a choice to seek first the awesome, great, omnipotent, omnipresent God.

         It is interesting to know that people will go to all kinds of extremes to find a solution. As a last resort (which should be a first choice) they finally go to God.

         When a problem hits us, the first word that comes out of our mouth should be “Father”. Invite God into your life to deal with your issue.

         Don’t let any other people confuse you. They’re not in your shoes. Nobody has your emotional make up. Nobody knows the will of God in your life or the plans He have for you. He may have a plan in this particular problem for you to go through suffering and pain to clean you up and get your life right.

         If you haven’t trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot come to the Father. You cannot reject Jesus Christ and have the blessing of Almighty God.

         God loves everybody but He doesn’t overlook sin, rebellion and pride. To reject His Son is to reject Him.

 

  

GOD MAY WANT TO INVOLVE OTHER PEOPLE

          Oftentimes, the things that affect us also affect our families, those who we love and the people around us.

         One of the treasures in our life are friends who love God, who know how to pray and talk to the Father. God may also want them to be part of the solution. God’s people should be involved in each others lives to strengthen everyone’s faith.

           We grow by watching God deal with other people’s lives. For example, when your children hear you praying about something and then God answers that prayer, notched into their thinking “The God of my parents answer their prayer, will God do the same thing for me?

           Children must learn early in life that when they have a problem they must go to God. It will make them confident to go through life because they know God is with them and will take care of their needs.

 

 GOD WILL GIVE US THE SOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEM

          If God is willing to give His only Son for us to die on the cross, will He not also be willing to give us an answer to our problem?

          One of the reasons why God delay answers to our problems is that He is more interested in you becoming a Godly person, learning to trust Him and to walk in His way, than He is in solving your problem. He looks on the inside of our hearts. He is interested in what you’re becoming. God predestined you to conform to the likeness of His Son. Sometimes when God looks beyond your request and see the pain in your heart, He also sees something that should not be there.

          He may delay the answer. It’s not because He doesn’t care. He loves you too much to give you what you want too quickly. God’s timing is ALWAYS PERFECT. He loves you too much to give you what you want if you’ll miss what He wants to give you in return. He is an all wise God who knows exactly how to deal with your issues.

           God delays answers because sometimes He is purifying our life, changing our thought patterns, and dealing with our motives.

           If you’re not willing for a little self-examination, you may pray and pray but He’s not going to solve your problem and be an accomplice to your sin. If He makes everything right, you just forget about it and move on. He has allowed you to get by with that and give you what you want. God is too good, too gracious, too loving and too holy to do that. That’s who He is.

 

 

OUR PRAYERS SHOULD BE GOD-CENTERED AND NOT PROBLEM-CENTERED

The wisest thing to do when praying about a problem is open the word of God. You would want to know how God thinks and how God operates. When we are talking to God proclaiming and confessing His power, love, wisdom, and knowledge the size of our problem becomes smaller.

 God transforms our lives often in the midst of problems.

 

 

 GOD’S SOLUTION USUALLY REQUIRES AN ACT OF FAITH

Sometimes in order to accomplish His full purpose in our life in a given problem, God’s going to ask you to do something totally unreasonable. When God tell’s you to do something, the battle is already won. God will never lead you to defeat.

 

 

 

GOD’S SOLUTION IS ALWAYS THE BEST

We can never solve a problem the way that God does because we don’t know the in’s and out’s. We don’t know what happened before or what’s going to happen in the future. Our knowledge is limited.

 A good problem get’s us back on track.

Praise the LORD.^[a]

   How good it is to sing praises to our God,
   how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
   he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
   and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
   and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
   his understanding has no limit.
The LORD sustains the humble
   but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with grateful praise;
   make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds;
   he supplies the earth with rain
   and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
   and for the young ravens when they call.

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
   nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the LORD delights in those who fear him,
   who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Extol the LORD, Jerusalem;
   praise your God, Zion.

He strengthens the bars of your gates
   and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders
   and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

He sends his command to the earth;
   his word runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool
   and scatters the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
   Who can withstand his icy blast?
He sends his word and melts them;
   he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

He has revealed his word to Jacob,
   his laws and decrees to Israel.
He has done this for no other nation;
   they do not know his laws.^[b]

   Praise the LORD.