“In the waiting, we learn to trust God even when things feel like it is not working out for you.”

Shaunelius L. Sterns

Life is hard, it is never easy. There are things that will come and turn everything upside down. We try to understand it, but we can’t. We try to figure it out, but we can’t. Everything is not meant for us to understand, we just have to accept things the way they are. We have to know that things happen for a reason , not sometimes, but all of the time. If things did not happen how would we learn to have faith in the waiting? If everyday was perfect, how would we ever learn to be wise to make the right decisions in life? If everything was perfect, would we trust God to take care of things for us, or would we just forget God all together? What would we do?

Jesus never told us that there would not be trouble, and He never told us that we would never go through anything. He told us to take heart because He has overcame the world. We can overcome anything that we are facing in life. We can trust and have faith in Him. He will always be here for us, no matter what we face in our lives. He has all of the answers to the things that we do not know, and He has all of the answers to the things that we will ever face.

We are living in dark times now. We live from day to day not knowing what the next day will bring for us. We do not know what will happen from day to day, but we do know who holds everything together in the palms of His hands. Even though things of tragedy has happened in the world, we can still trust in God. We can still have hope that He will turn every thing around for the better.

We have to make the right choices everyday to make this world a better place for future generations. While we are in the waiting, we pray, we share God’s Word, we encourage one another, we lift each other up. We just cannot think about ourselves. We must think about others, such as the elderly. Some of them may not be able to get around as they once did.

While we are alive we must never give up on God because He will never give up on us. No matter what life throws at us, we will make it through if we do not faint while we are in the waiting. While we are in the waiting, we can focus on the things we want to do in our life, and we can think about what we want for our children. We can focus on continuing our education, or starting a business that we have been thinking about. There are a lot of things that we can do while we are in the waiting.

RESTORATION

Restoration-(Noun)-the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. (Synonyms: repair, repairing, fixing)

the process of repairing or renovating a building, work of art, vehicle, etc, so as to restore it to its original condition. (Synonyms: repair, repairing)

the reinstatement of a previous practice, right, custom, or situation.

the return of a hereditary monarch to a throne, a head of state to government, or a regime to power.(Synonyms: reinstatement)

Restored-(Verb)-(Past tense)* restored (past participle)

bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate.

(Synonyms: reinstate, put back, replace, bring back, reinstitute, reimpose

• return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position.
• repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition.
• (Synonyms: repair, fix, mend, refurbish, recondition, rehabilitate, rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, redecorate, revamp, make over, overhaul, put back into its original condition: redevelop, renovate, modernize, update, bring up to date, upgrade, gentrify, refit, re-equip, refurnish, bring up to code, do up, fix up, give a facelift to, rehab)
• Give (something previously stolen, taken away, or lost) back t the original owner or recipient.) (Synonyms: return, give back, hand back, take back, remit)

When we are at a certain place in our lives, we come to the conclusion that that some how we got off track. We wonder what happened to us that brought us to that place. We search in all of the wrong places to find that answer. Sometimes we do not pay attention to the things that we are doing, sometimes things happen to throw us off track, sometimes we get to the point to where we just do not care. When that happens, we need to get in a quiet place and meditate to clear our heads so we can think straight. That is when we go to the Word and seek the face of God. He can show us where we drifted, and when we drifted in our lives. He will bring us back and restore us so there will be restoration in our lives. We will only be restored when we go to Him. He is the only One who can restore us when we have drifted way from Him. Sometimes we are running and do not even realize it until we become afraid.

Life is scary when we drift away from God. It is like walking down a path with total darkness and no light at all. It is like being followed by death. Fear grips our heart and we just do not know what to do. Our mind becomes blank; that is what fear does when it takes over, and that is something we cannot let fear do to us, we cannot let it overtake us. Fear can be felt strongly when that is all is focused on. We can give that fear to God, or we can continue to let it break us down to nothing. Fear comes from the enemy to destroy our faith in God. Fear kills hope in God. Fear drains us of energy that we need to go to God. Fear is crippling.

When we are restored, we have restoration and things start to fall back into place. Life begins to look better. We start to see things in a new light. Our faith is restored in God, and there is nothing that we cannot accomplish with God on our side. We realize who is always there for us no matter what we are going through. We know who has our back. We may not always feel His presence, but He is always there. Sometimes He is silent, but He is always there leading and guiding us all of the way. Being restored and refreshed is refreshing. It is like feeling the coolness of the Holy Spirit breathing on us. We began to praise God for all of the wonderful things He has done for us, and for all of the things He is doing for us, and for all of the things He is going to do for us. We began to tell Him just how marvelous He is, how glorious He is, how majestic He is, how powerful He is, and how much we love Him, and most of all thanking Him for His Son, Jesus, and what He did for us. We began to tell everyone what Jesus has done in our lives, and how He has changed us from who we were to who we are now in Him.

We all need restoration at some point in our lives. We go through things that we do not understand, and we face circumstances that we have never had to face before. It is sad when things like that happen to us, but we know who is on the Throne watching out for, and over us everyday. We do not have to worry about anything, but we are only human, so we do worry about things from time to time; God does not want us to worry. That is something we all have to work on. We all are guilty of worrying about things. People who came before us worried about things; Jesus, while He was in the Garden was praying about what was about to happen, blood like sweat fell from His forehead, so what does that tell us? Things happen that will cause us to worry and stress, not that we want to, but it is life. I know that worrying about something will not change what is, but praying about it will, because prayer changes things. Prayer changes us, but we have to want it to. We will never change until we ask Jesus to come into our hearts to be our personal Lord and Savior. How and why would anyone want to live their lives without Jesus. He laid down His life for us, no one took it. He laid it down because of the love the Father had for us so we could be free from sin.

Everyday is a gift from God. Everyday is given to us to share the Word of God. We are to share and show His love to a dying and dark world. He is the Light of the world, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Darkness represents sin, Light represents Jesus, Love represents Jesus, Forgiveness represents Jesus, Eternal Life represents Jesus, we who are called by His name represents Jesus; we are the image of God; His righteous reflections. We are righteous because of Jesus and what He has done for us. Why is it so hard for some to accept Jesus and the love of the Father? It brings tears to my eyes to know that there are people in the world who are blind to the fact that Jesus laid down His life for every human being who will ever walk on the face of this earth! We all are going to have to stand before Him one day, even those who did not believe in Him. Time will be completely up to ask Him to come into your heart to be your Lord and Savior; all chances will be gone. It will be the day of judgement for every soul. It will not matter what color our skin was, or where we were from; we will all be the same, but we all will not reside in the same place for all eternity. Only the righteous who did the Will of the Father will enter the Kingdom. Others will be cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth; where their thirst will never be quenched, where their souls will burn in a lake of fire for all eternity. Just so you know, heaven and hell are real. Where do you want to spend eternity? If Jesus came and appeared right before you and said, “Let us go, would you be ready?” Would you be ready to take that journey with Him, or would you tell Him NO? This is why I always say to do it while the blood is still running warm in your veins, because we do not know when our time on this earth will be coming to an end. Choose this day who you will serve, because as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. All praises be to God, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who was and is and is to come. Amen. Thank you all for joining me on my journey with Food for the Soul.

JOURNEYS

When we are reading a book that we like to read, we go on journeys through the pages that we read. We do not know where that journey will lead us to, but we are always excited to find our as we turn the page to read the next chapter. We hang on to the suspense to see what is going to happen to the characters in the story. Sometimes there may be a twist to the plot of the story. Things may not happen like we expected the to. We continue to read until we come to the end of the book. When we are ending the last chapter, what was learned from the story written? Was it so good that you would read it again? Would you pass it on to a friend, or put it back on the shelf? Books takes us to far away lands and places that we have never been before. We experience new things through the pages that we read. Sometimes when we read books they make us cry, scream, or maybe even laugh out loud.

When we are reading the Bible, we go on very long journeys that we have never been on before. We get to experience feelings, emotions, laughter, crying, and miracles that we have never seen before. We experience tragedy on every level, and we experience births of new life being born, as well as death and sorrow, and grief. Not only that, we gain wisdom and understanding, and knowledge about things that we did not know beforehand. Sometimes we may see something that God is trying to show us about ourselves. When that happens, we must pay attention to what God is showing us. Everything that He shows us about ourselves is something we need to change about ourselves. Even then, God showed them things about themselves that they needed to change. He talked to them in many different ways, such as in their dreams, through people, through music, and directly to them with His voice. Not only that, He would visit them in person; just as He visited Abraham when He was on His way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He will speak to us in the way that pleases Him.

Our life is a journey. We may not think so, but it is. We do not know what we are going to do from day to day, we just go with the flow. While we are going about our day, let us remember the journey that Jesus took for us, and what He done for us. Don’t forget to tell Him just how much He means to You, and how much you love Him. Thank you for coming along with me on my journey with Food for the Soul.