Be encouraged!

Wow, am I the wrong person to be saying "be encouraged" right now. I have really been discouraged of late. Since we have been home from California I have been in a funk that I just can't seem to shake. I don't want to go into details so I will just say it has all been a result of a lack of finances. It is especially hard this time of the year. It seems like every time I pray and ask God to give me strength, Satan blindsides me with another financial problem. No matter how small, they all seem gigantic at that moment. I have decided after the latest disappointing news that there is nothing that I can do about it, that God has total control of the situation and I need to let Him handle it. So, if you are like Taylor and myself and have received a letter saying that your support level has dropped due to a lost check deposit, take heart. God IS in control of this. Taylor and I both lost over 5o% of the money that we had raised to date and as hard as that is for me to understand I just have to believe that God is allowing this to happen for a good reason. I may never understand what it is but I need to trust Him just the same. Satan is doing his best to get me discouraged, I'll have to admit that I have been allowing him to get to me to. I say "Be Encouraged" because Satan attacks the most when we are walking where God wants us to walk. So be encouraged that Satan doesn't want us to go to France, he knows what good things we will accomplish there. Paul wrote these words of encouragement to us in Romans 15:13, May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This verse is my prayer for the team and myself, so that when we arrive in France we will be overflowing with the power of the Holy Spirit and that the people of France will see the Holy Spirit working through us. Isaiah 41:10,11 says: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. I am so glad that I am a child of God and that I can claim these verses as promises from my Father.

So once again BE ENCOURAGED that Satan is opposing us.

This blog is kind of like therapy for me, I hope it helps those of you who read it as much as it does me.

Photoman