Abandoned Ship

"A man that hath many friends must shew himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

-Proverbs 18:24

I would say it's funny, but it's actually ridiculous how when life is great everyone wants to be around, but when the road gets a little rocky people take no thought when jumping ship. I didn't become independent on purpose, I became Christ-dependent in purpose. Life never gave me many choices. Would I prefer to go through this situation alone or would I like to invite God into my heart knowing that he will never leave me or forsake me? Is it worth taking a chance on (sometime/every now and then/ really never there) friends who celebrate when you're up and disappear when you're down or is it better to try God? As I look back and reflect on the past few years and I see the ratio of ups and downs the ups have it and I am so glad that I made Jesus my choice.

The storm of life is a metaphorically sensitive place for the body of Christ because it is where history says that things turn for the worst. The storm is a place in life where no matter what's going on around you, and how much maneuvering takes place on your part, you can not escape it until it's over. You've got to go through the storm to move on to the next move of God in your life. The body of Christ has accepted storms to be moves of God set in place to prepare you for what God has in store for you. Storms vary from person to person. For some, the storm could be substance abuse. For others, it could be a random situational happening that hit you hard physically, financially, emotionally, and mentally. It's a place where you feel as if you are at ground zero. You may look a certain way, act a certain way, and live a certain way, but storms have a way of leveling the ground around you and leaving you with literally nothing, but your faith in God. Storms tend to rob you of the things you worked hard for, and if you're not careful they will have you questioning your purpose, your function, your relevance, your direction, and whether or not God really loves you. Often times those storms come along to strengthen your faith while simultaneously allowing your friends list a chance to trim down.

As hard as this may be to believe, understand that not everyone around you is your biggest fan. Every now and then the people who tell you how great you are, are the ones waiting for you to mess up, slip up, and fall from grace in the eyes of your peers. From time to time when you're not around the people you call friend, they mistreat you in your absence and overcompensate with compliments in your presence, to balance out their act. Too many times friends will be present when you're receiving an award and leave you hanging when things first begin to take a turn for the not so great. Please, wake up and realize that some of the people around you are not praying for you their preying against you. They are jealous of what God is doing in your life. They are envious of the progress you've made, they hate your testimony, and can't stand the fact that you walk for God and mean what you say. It sickens them that your fall didn't effect your faith. They're moved to anger when you give God praise and they can not wait to see you in a situation of desperation again in hopes that you'll throw the towel in on your faith and subsequently fail. But don't get it twisted, when your faith is all you have to stand on, press and know that God has the final say.

There is no storm, trap, or bad situation that God can not handle. It is not too late to turn all of life's situations over to God. You can not handle everything on your own, you weren't built for that. You may start life on a cruise ship and end up on a safety boat, but praise God because you're still making it. You might've had everything that you would have ever needed once, but now you can barely rub two pennies together; worship God anyway. Trust, have faith, and believe that the same God that allowed you to enjoy such luxuries before is the same God who sits high and looks low now who's able to provide for your every need. After church, bible study, and your personal prayer time the bills will still be due, but know that God is able to make a way. It may look like you're alone, it may look like things are not good, but it's all working together in your favor that you might have a testimony and be able to encourage someone else to press on even when those around have abandoned ship. Some of us are headed towards a storm, some of us are in the eye of it, some of us are coming out of a catastrophic horror, but be encouraged to not give up. Not to prove anything to anyone but God. Show him that you trust him and that no matter what comes your way you understand that he is a present help, a shelter in a time of storm, a battle ax in the time of battle, a way maker when the storm gets so thick that you can barely see, a peacemaker when trouble has gone too far, a father to the fatherless, mother to the motherless, a doctor when your medical professional can't seem to get it together, a lawyer when things on the home front won't get right, a boss when yours doesn't know how to act, a co-worker when they've lost their mind, a minister when your spirit needs to be encouraged, a pastor when you need guidance, and your only true friend. God loves you so much that he planned your life down to the moment. When all else fails and you're in a state of emergency, remember that you have a friend and savior in Jesus.

Let us bow:

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the work taking place in our lives. We understand that the storms of life are meant to make us stronger that we might draw nearer to thee and so we say thank you for the strength on the way. Sometimes we feel alone Lord, so we ask that you help us to remember that you are always with us. Help us to remember that you are great and greatly to be praise. Help us to remember that you have the master plan, and that your will will always be done. We give ourselves to you Lord because we know that our lives are so much better when we submit ourselves to your way and your capable hand of mighty works. Guide us and grant us peace when those around us take no thought when walking out of our lives. Grant us peace when the spirit reveals the true intent of those around us. Grant us peace when our lives have come to a place of desperation. Help us to realize that you are the solution to every problem, and that you alone God are able to do anything, but fail. Have your way Lord in both our lives and our situations that you might receive all Glory and honor for it is in your name that we pray, Amen!