“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
On the morning of Friday, May 27th, at 3 am, I received a phone call from my secretary letting me know that our beautiful church building was on fire. When I arrived at the scene, the fire was much worse than anticipated. It had already destroyed much of the complex. As I stood there numb in disbelief, tears rolling down my cheeks, I watched the labor of love of my family and hundreds of members of our congregation go down to ashes.
What do you do when tragedy hits your life in unimaginable ways?
Do you cave in and give up?
Do you blame God for it?
Do you go into depression and despair?
People who don’t have God in their lives perhaps respond to tragedy in such ways. But born-again believers respond in faith.
Things that you need to remind yourself when tragedy hits your life:
1. Be of good cheer.
Don’t allow yourself to get weary from battle. Remind yourself…THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD.
You will get through this with God as your guide.
God will never call you to something you can’t do.
If He has called you to it, He will see you through it. Keep your faith renewed day by day.
It is vital to start your day off with positive, faith-filled, life-giving routines to prepare your heart for the challenges ahead.
2. Trouble is inevitable, but misery is optional.
Just because you are going through trials and tests does not mean you have to give up hope.
As the Lead Pastor, our church and I have an enormous challenge ahead of us to rebuild our House of Worship, if not bigger, for sure better.
The enemy wants nothing more for us than to lose hope, faith, and endurance amid our trial. He is banking on us giving up, but we will not give him the satisfaction. Instead, we will stand firm in faith and trust God will do the impossible again and again.
3. Every day is an opportunity for God to show Himself strong through you.
So ask yourself, “Is my faith making room for God to show up?” Then, wake up every morning with reusable faith ready for the day.
Be the kind of person that wakes up saying, “Good morning, Lord!” Not “Good Lord, it’s morning?”
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
I Peter 5:8,9
Have a blessed week,
Pastor (Rev. Elias Limones)
Comments