© 2021 Chip Kawalsingh / Harvest City Church
These are the words that the Lord woke me up with a few weeks ago. I’d had one of the hardest weeks of my life and I felt hopeless and at my wits’ end. Yet God impressed in my spirit that we ought to look with eyes of faith. We know that God can work all things for good in the most difficult—even impossible—situations, but we are all still prone to seeing our circumstances through natural eyes.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The Bible is packed with stories of God turning situations around: from the Children of Israel fleeing Pharaoh’s armies; to Daniel in the lion’s den; to Jesus dying for us, yet rising to life on the third day. He is the God of the turn-around!
Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)
Understand this: God desires to do a new thing in our lives, but before this new thing can be manifested other things may need to be removed to make space. Sometimes this can include certain friends.
‘God never removes something from our lives without replacing it with something far better. It might not seem so at the time, but we later marvel at God’s wisdom and goodness’ – Billy Graham
I’ve learned over the years not to mourn those whom God removes. In order to fulfil His ultimate plan for our lives God has to deal with anything that can hinder our progress. Of course, each situation must be subject to biblical truth. Nonetheless, in order for God to do what He desires in our lives He must make room. Don’t look at what you don’t have, but look at what you do have in God. Something better is always around the corner.
You might be looking at the new year coming with the eyes of lack, thinking about the things you still need or want. Jesus knows all our needs, He hears our heart’s cry, He knows what we desire, and in due time He will grant our requests—once they’re within God’s plan and will for our lives.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. (Psalm 20:4)
Many years ago the Lord asked me, ‘Can you wait?’ I was going through a season where things weren’t coming together. No matter how hard I tried nothing worked and I had to let it all go, and in the process I learnt the meaning of ‘let go and let God’. It’s all about waiting for God’s timing. When we let our feelings and desires cloud our mind we make wrong choices. Waiting is God’s way of strengthening us. We may not like it, but it’s God’s way.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Faithlessness is everywhere—even amongst men and women who are called into leadership positions in church. No matter how much we preach faith, sometimes we can live and behave faithlessly. Christ’s disciples proved this: they looked Jesus in the eye and saw His miracles first hand, yet they doubted when the wind and waves rose as they crossed the lake. They exclaimed, ‘Don’t you care we are about to die?!’ Of course, Jesus was asleep, seemingly without care, but He never left the boat (Matthew 8:24-27).
This is a moment when all of us—including leaders, elders and pastors—are called to examine our heart and check our faith barometer against God’s Word. Do you see tomorrow with eyes of faith? Do you function as a faith person? Or do you make judgements with natural eyes? I want to ask you: What do you see?
Then he said to his servant, ‘Go and look out toward the sea.’ The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, ‘I didn’t see anything.’ Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, ‘I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.’ (1 Kings 18:43-44)
Without faith and prayer the cloud of God’s provision will never form. This challenge rests squarely on our shoulders. See with the eyes of faith! After all, ‘whatsoever is not from faith is sin’ (Romans 14:23).
