Claiming What Is Good

            I don’t know what you think about people who jump out of bed in the morning with a smile on their face and a sunny disposition, but that’s not me.  My body doesn’t want to get out from under the covers, and it seems to be slow to wake.  I have rumblings and stirrings as if my whole system groans at the idea of a new day.  Like my old jeep on a cold winter’s morning, my body just doesn’t want to turn over. It can affect the outlook of my day.   But slowly, as the cobwebs disappear, I reflect on the truth that God has given me.  “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Lam 3:22,23.

            Living in victory is about claiming the promises that God has given us and living in the reality of that truth.  Though my flesh dreads each new day, God shows his lovingkindness, and says that I have victory over my day and not the other way around.  This comes in handy, not in just getting out of bed, but when I face each day’s trials.  Sometimes getting out of bed means facing a contentious spouse, a feisty youth, a frustrating boss, poor health, loneliness, fear, etc.  Yet, as difficult as these obstacles are, they do not have to define my actions or my thinking.   

            Joshua stood at the cusp of his past (Egypt) and the future (the promised land).  His trials were countless, and God gave him this command, “arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.” Joshua 1:2.  The land was his to claim, it was promised to his forefathers, it was preserved for the children of Israel, and it belonged to him and to the generations that would follow.  He had to do one thing – claim it.  God’s admonition was, “Be strong and courageous. Don’t let the obstacles and your fears keep you from all that I have given you.  I know it will be hard, but it is yours, and I will never leave you.  Trust me and obey me.”

            Often times we can’t see how God is going to execute his good pleasure and will.  There are so many obstacles; the economy is bad, we are fighting wars around the world and at home, our politicians can’t decide on anything, skeptics decry my faith, and I want to share the gospel but my friends won’t listen.  We feel weak against the onslaught of the enemy’s arsenal, and it can cause us to shrink away and hide in the crevices of what is familiar and safe.  This is when we need to stand tall and claim God’s victory over the world and say in a loud voice, “If God is with me, who can stand against me!”  I will not let temptations, addictions, mediocrity, laziness, self-perseveration define me.  I am Christ’s and in my weakness he is strong!

            Today is a victorious day, not because of my circumstances, but because of God’s lovingkindness that work all things for good, to those who are called according to His purpose.  I’m just saying….