GOD'S COUNSEL

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Jeremiah 29:11(AMP)

For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.

Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG)

It can be funny.  Not funny ha/ha, just “funny” how GOD will allow familiar passages of scripture, ones I “go to” a lot in this line of work do all of the “counseling” for me when those times arise.

2 good friends.

One a supremely successful mentor at a critical, I mean critical, crossroad.

The other a dear soul reeling for purpose and a plan.

Both needing encouragement not from me but from the Father.

And these were the Words.  GOD gave them to me FOR ME a long time ago and He inspires me to share them.  

A lot.

And GOD didn’t stop there.  A couple more needed them too.

A phone call on the return back from another planning session needed to hear that GOD had a plan for her addicted and hospitalized friend, that she could with assurance go to the hospital and reinforce her “help” with supernatural truth.  

A desperate string of texts from a CHAMPION helping a husband/dad remove his emaciated and confused wife from a crack house was needing the assurances that GOD had a plan, that this present pain would not be the end of the story.

I believe GOD has assigned me to almost daily remind folks of the hope and future that is Him; to remind folks daily that as bad it things may seem, they won’t overwhelm (1 Corinthians 10:13). To remind them that these challenges do have purpose and truly pale in comparison to WHAT GOD has at the end of the seemingly endless and currently dark tunnel.

To remind them that:

The fog will lift.

The pain will lessen.

The confusion will subside.

The hope will emerge.

The lesson will appear.

Lucado simply says:

“You'll get through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don't be foolish or naïve. But don't despair either. With God's help you will get through this.”

And that is true!  GOD said so.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. (Isa. 43:2 NIV)

For my old mentor, the thought of “applicable” scripture is still a little foreign, not to mention pausing to pray in a Panera, but I believe GOD showed up and reminded him that He loved Him. 

For my other dear and desperate friend the possibility of new mercy today, the prospect of a CHAMPIONS group tonight, the opportunity for renewed community and investment was enough to re-energize her. 

The friends on the phone? 

Both have doors opening with CHAMPION'S partners for drug treatment today.

So those hopes are NOT just words. 

GOD backs them up.  

All the time He backs them up.  We just need to remember them, use them, believe them, and then trust them.

“The difficulties do try to take much away. But there is one gift troubles cannot touch: your destiny.” Adapted from Lucado.

Be blessed!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)