He knows when you're riding higher!

Have you ever noticed that of any morning in the week, getting your family ready to go to church on Sunday morning is harder than any other day? In a normal week day, we all roll out of bed, follow a usual routine of showering, dressing, eating breakfast and climbing in the car off to work and school. Most of the time, it is routine and pleasant. Sunday mornings it is usually an entirely different. How many Sunday mornings have resulted in heated arguments in the family and a ride to the church with tears and gritted teeth. Many have come to realize that the evil one doesn’t fight nearly as hard to keep you from a normal week day routine as he does when you are going to worship the Lord.

Over the years I have worked on planning various church activities and have found the same phenomena. When a particularly successful program or activity is being planned, as the event approaches evidence of the evil one begins to stand out. Programs are delayed from the printer. The speaker gets sick. Key committee persons have a family crisis. There is infighting among the ranks. Important registration information is “lost” in the computer. The list goes on and on. With a little experience, I have now figured out that these are tail tale signs that a mighty work is immanent.

This pattern is also evident on a personal level too. I have seen many Christians with prayer and hope for so many dreams: hope that a child will turn around, hope that a loved one will leave alcohol or drugs, hope that a child will conquer dyslexia, hyperactivity, or other learning disability, hope that a husband overcome being consumed with work, or hope that the family will rediscover unity and peaceful co-existence. In many of these instances, I have witnessed that the darkest hours happen right before the dawn. Some have compared these hopes to giving birth. In the beginning stage of pregnancy, not much has changed. The mother looks the same and feels the same, but in only a few months, morning sickness presents. Over the months the body becomes more and more uncomfortable but as the stress begins to take a toll on her back and legs, the hope and excitement of the victory increases. As the anticipated date draws near, just existing becomes unbearable. Sleeping, walking, and even getting out of a chair becomes nearly impossible. On the day of delivery, pain is excruciating. That mother has one thing on her mind, “Get that baby out of there and stop this pain.”
Once the child is born, joy and love prevail and all of the pain is forgotten.

Breakthroughs and answered prayers are a lot like that. Many times it becomes very dark before the dawn. Zechariah 9:12 says, “ Come back to a place of safety, all you prisoners of hope. I promise that this very day that I will repay double blessings to you.” The Lord knows the pain we are enduring as we hold our faith of the promised joy. He promises to give us double blessings for our steadfastness. When adversity begins to set in, are you a prisoner of hope in your journey or do you become a prisoner of worry, negativity, self-pity, or business? During these times of attach, we can take up the sword of the scripture and proclaim, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” Joshua 24:15. Let the wind of His Spirit breathe new life into your dreams. Let the Creator of the Universe direct your steps. Let the difficulty bring new energy into journey. Recognize that Satan acknowledges a mighty work about to be born and he doesn’t like it. The reality of your dreams must be closer than ever before!