For Us & In Us!

Romans 5:^3-4 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (ESV)

I know parents say to their teenagers, “Jesus is watching you!”, just to coerce them to be better behaved. I have seen mothers say to their children that they feel can be troublesome or have wayward tendencies, “God’s presence is following you everywhere you go. Jesus is watching you wherever you are”. So, many teenagers who absorb these words are coerced. I had my fair share of it while growing up and I have shared those stories with you. Sometimes, when I am about to get into trouble or orchestrate trouble I remember, “Remember the child of who you are”. Boom! I am delivered from myself. “Jesus is watching you’” has been and is still being used to coerce people into being well behaved.

But beyond that, when God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, it is to comfort you and not to coerce you. It is to empower you in times of trouble. Hebrews 13:⁵ “…I will never leave you; I will NEVER abandon you.” (NCV, emphasis added). Think about it; even in the trouble we get ourselves into, God is right there with us. Isaiah 43:² “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you! When you pass through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire…, you will not be burned up; it will NOT consume you!” (emphasis added). Say Amen. When you understand the grace that God has shown you, the plans that God has for you, and His promise not to leave you, you are grateful.

The fourth thing that fuels building a stronghold of gratitude is The Changes He Is Making In You. Understanding that no matter what you go through, God doesn’t just use it for your good as an outcome. God uses it to change you to be better. Beautiful! Everything the enemy has thrown at you, God will not only work out for your good, but God will also use it to make you better. Let’s say you used to keep malice, for instance, and the enemy wants to use that to destroy you, so he brings a challenge your way. God will not only make that challenge work for your good. By the time you come out of it, God would have delivered you completely from malice. You would have been purified. That is the beauty of going through the fire.

And you are grateful not just for what He is doing for you, but also for what He is doing in you. Even if circumstances and people are working against you, God is working for you and in you regardless of the situation you are in. It may be difficult, but God is working not only to bring you out of it. But also working in you so that when you are out of it, you are a changed person.

Prayer: Father, I surrender to Your will and Your way, in Jesus Name. Amen!