Thought for Wednesday, 11 January 2023

 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power

is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Hope and despair are both products of the imagination. Despair is often too readily embraced and the ill-fortune it predicts, many times becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We become so overwhelmed by feelings of looming catastrophe that we try to take our fate into our own hands, causing more worry as we go wrong, more often than not.

Despair is often the result of thinking that we are not good enough to ask for God’s help, this way of thinking only magnifies the despair we feel. When we feel ‘not good enough’ we need to look at the truth in the New Testament. Jesus Christ thinks we are good enough for Him to take all our sins to the cross, this means we ARE good enough, PRAISE GOD!

If God and His precious Son have decided that we are good enough, who are we to say different? All we have to do is ask Jesus into our life and accept the help He is willing to offer.

On the other hand, hope imagines the good that can be and in so doing creates the power to bring it about. Hope gives us the ability to trust God with our future.

I have said it once or twice, pray constantly. By praying we are letting God know that we trust Him with every part of our lives, no matter how small a part that is.

Share your good news with Him, He will rejoice with you. Share the not so good things with Him He will be in tune with you and give you solace. Not only solace but help with your problem.

God is waiting for your call and mine, when we think we have nowhere to turn we need to think again. Everywhere we turn God is there.

Don’t be saying God knows what I need, why do I need to ask for His help? He wants to know that you realise you need Him.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we need You more than we know. Help us always to turn to You with our news, good and bad. You have experienced everything we go through when You walked the earth in the flesh of Jesus, Your Son. There is nothing we endure that You have not endured before us. Lord God we also ask that You pour blessings those who are struggling with the worries of these days of shortages and the cost of food and fuel. We need Your help in every aspect of our lives and ask this in Jesus blessed name, amen.