Believe God
The life of a Christian requires one to be a believer. You believe because you have not seen it but you are convinced about it, otherwise, if you see it, then you know, no need to believe. Christians believe that Jesus came in the flesh, did miracles, died as sacrificial death, was buried and went up to heaven. None of us have seen Jesus in the flesh, but we believe. You are convinced about a thing you do not know.
Many are looking forward to being in heaven yet none have been there. So are our dreams. They are unbelievable. Society tells you what is possible and what is not possible. Unbelief is a killer of dreams. The miracles of Jesus are extraordinary. Some miracles in life are too good to be true.
When God told Abraham he would be a father on many nations, he believed, but still went ahead and had Ishmael. Substitute.
When God revealed to Joseph that he would be a ruler, he believed, but his brothers did not, and felt threatened and sold him to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt.
When God chose Saul and made him king, he did not last long before he would step off the mark because of lack of faith. Took matters into his own hands.
But when God chose David to be king, he went on to serve the king in office. He waited and believed he would ascend the throne.
There are many things that stand against your dream. Let’s look at three only:
1. You You can be your worst enemy. You might be criticising yourself too much, you look down on yourself, and you esteem others more highly than you. You may consider your circumstances far more than you consider God’s promises. You may hold on to past hurts and disappointments to the point of not wanting to move forward.
Saul did not believe he could be a great leader.
He was intimidated by David. He thought the men would leave him and not go for battle so he did not wait for Samuel to come do the sacrifice. Then he thought the men would leave him if they did not take the fattened calves.
Abraham believed, but he still accepted the idea of having a child with Hagar. Moses could not speak properly, he ended up having an assistant, Aaron. You may think you are not old enough, smart enough, on fire enough, anointed enough, powerful enough, but God says, believe on His word, He will seek it to fulfil it.
Don’t go around paying for what you already have, people promising you power that God has already said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
Don’t sit and expect others to lay hands on you when Jesus said “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore…” Matthew 28:18-19.
Do not remain poor when God has already said, “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17.
2. People People can be intimidated, jealous and envious of you and your success. People may sometimes rejoice in seeing you in a lower position than they, they will not encourage you to go for your dream. Sometimes people are used by the devil to destroy your dreams, they are called naysayers.
Joseph’s brothers did not believe he would rule over them.
David’s father did not expect David to be chosen as King, so he did not bring him initially to be chosen amongst his brothers.
Some people did not believe that Jesus the Son of Joseph was the Messiah, They did not believe that anything good can come out of Nazareth. They did not believe that the Carpenter’s son from Galilee could perform such miracles.
• They may tell you that you cannot achieve great things, but learn from Paul and say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.
• People may try to derail you by enticing you to sin against God, do like Joseph, run, don’t be like Saul and succumb to the demands of the people.
• People may make you to be so angry that you leave your dream, or you do something contrary to what God has told you, then you lose your opportunity like Moses who did not enter the Promised Land.
3. Circumstances
Sarah’s womb was dead, she was 90 years old, way past her child bearing age. That was her circumstance, it did not look good. She also did not believe the promise would come to pass, she eventually organise a substitute, sort of helping God. That substitute frustrated her till she got rid of him, Ishmael and Hagar.
Mary was a virgin, it was an impossible thing to have a child, Jesus.
The wine was finished, there was only water left.
The oil was very little, the flour and oil was only sufficient to feed the woman and her son.
The man Lazarus was already dead for four days, he had begun to stink already.
• Circumstances may dictate to you how far you can go, but believe God who knows the end of a thing before it even begins, He knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb.
• Circumstances may push you in the wrong direction and you end up taking a substitute because it all seems impossible, but believe God who says ‘Nothing is impossible with God’.
• Believe what God has said concerning you.
• Hold on to that, remain steadfast in the promises of God.
Dr Carol Nkambule
Author & Publisher Director – Kingdom Anchored