No amount of problems can stop God’s plan for you. Nothing can cancel God’s purposes. God’s will WILL fight through every adversity, through every affliction, through every trouble and prosper on the other side. Every time. Guaranteed.

God is undefeated. Victory is forever in his right hand.

But, as God’s people, we will go through our fair share of problems. We will face adversity. We will endure affliction. Trouble will come our way. We live in the real world and there are no faith bubbles to protect us from real life. HOWEVER – we are promised in Romans 8:28, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them.” That means God works in every detail of our lives into something good.

It may not be good in the beginning, but it will be worked into something good. Just like baking powder in a cake, you don’t want a teaspoon of that in your mouth, but it’s a detail worked together for good in your cake.

Maybe what you’re facing right now is a teaspoon of baking powder. Singled out, this situation is unpleasant and undesirable. But nothing in your life is a stand alone event – ever. All things are working together. One thing always leads to the next thing. Some things just don’t feel good in the unfolding, but you haven’t seen the full picture yet.

You know who has seen the full picture? God. God says in Isaiah 46:10, “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” God has a plan, we’re promised it’s a good plan, and it absolutely WILL happen. God already knows it, sees it, holds it, and is making a way to it.

After finishing our study of the book of Genesis last week, we see the unfolding of tremendous affliction for God’s people in the next book, Exodus. Remember Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery and ends up in Egypt. 22 years later, Joseph has risen to the 2nd in command of Egypt and controls the only food in the country during a famine. Joseph’s brothers come to him from Israel, begging for food. He graciously saves them and their families. This is how the Israelites move to Egypt. They’re starving and Egypt has the only food during the famine.

Now, several generations later, the Israelites are still in Egypt and they have greatly flourished. They’ve been prosperous, multiplying, spreading out, and gaining power. And now, generations later, there’s a new king in Egypt, and this King sees a great problem with these successful Israelites in his land. They have done so well, they could take over his land if they wanted to. The King is afraid, so the oppression begins.

Fear makes us do stupid things. Fear turns us into people we don’t want to be. This King was afraid, so he began to do horrible things. I promise you this – fear could drive you to do the same.

Fear will have you twisting truth, creating sides, and stirring fights. Fear will bring out the ugliest side of you.

My sister, where has fear been growing within you, causing you to act in ways you hate? Fear turned the mighty and blessed King Saul into a crazy man on the warpath. Fear can do the same to you.

When my daughters were teens, I allowed my own fear to cause me to parent in a way I’m not proud of. My mind became filled with fearful thoughts and I went into overdrive trying to control everything and everyone. Rather than leading from love, I lead from fear. It wasn’t the best me.

Can you see how fear has caused you to do some stupid things? Can you see how fear is turning you into someone you don’t want to be? Bring that fear to God now and ask him to lift it from you. It is not God’s will for you to operate out of fear. His word tells us hundreds of times to NOT FEAR – why is that? Because fear changes who we are and what we do, and it’s never good.

The new King of Egypt was filled with fear, so he became an evil man with evil orders. Don’t ever assume unchecked fear couldn’t do the same to you. You were never created to be fear driven – you were designed to be faith driven. Anywhere you have fear, there is an invitation for faith. Faith that God is good. Faith that God is for you. Faith that God holds it all. Faith that God is working.

The new King says in Exodus 1:9-11, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are strong than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor.”

Was that fair? Absolutely not! But did it cancel God’s good plans? No – In fact, it furthered them!

As the people of Israel face horrible conditions and unfair treatment, they continue to grow. The more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread. There was growth in the face of affliction! The more God’s people are afflicted, the more they grow.

That’s God’s plan for you too, my sister. Right here in this affliction – in this problem – in this trouble – YOU GROW!

Problems are like a wave that comes against a ship and looks like it will destroy it – but the ship catches the wave and uses it to speed along. Girl, CATCH THE WAVE.

There may be a wave of problems coming against you right now. It may feel like these problems will destroy you – but God’s plans are not to harm you, but to prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11). These problems are like that wave. Catch the wave. Ride this out. It will speed your progress into the good life God has for you.

This wave against you is not to destroy you, it’s to carry you in the direction God has planned. Catch it.

The Israelites were not destroyed by the cruel Egyptian King. That wave carried them into a plan of exodus. A plan of freedom. A plan of growth like never before.

There’s a wave here for you. A wave of problems. But you will grow in these problems. You will get better through this. And if you catch that wave rather than sit here and be beat down by it, it will speed you along to God’s purposes.

No amount of problems can stop God’s plan for you. Nothing can cancel God’s purposes. God’s will WILL fight through every adversity, through every affliction, through every trouble and prosper on the other side. Every time. Guaranteed.

God is undefeated. Victory is forever in his right hand … and guess what – that’s where he forever holds you too. In his right hand of victory!

Problems are like a wave that comes against a ship and looks like it will destroy it – but the ship catches the wave and uses it to speed along. Girl, CATCH THE WAVE.

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