“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).
One of the most striking experiences in life is chancing upon a mirage. Explained; a mirage is an illusion sometimes seen wavering over hot pavement that looks like a pool of water or a mirror in which distant objects are seen inverted. A mirage often shines brilliantly, and one can be lured to it, in anticipation to draw some water or see himself better. Yet the thing is as one comes closer to a mirage that is when the picture becomes clearer. It was but an illusion.
Our lives can also be moved by these illusions. For instance we can worry that out our future and our situation is but doomed due to what we see. Based on our understanding of reality we forge “concrete plans” to be in charge. However, as events in our lives unfold, so often we are astonished to find how little we knew or had control of the future. And this is because our understanding of reality was limited.
Worry is one of those most unfortunate experiences because so often it is based on illusions. At a distance it might seem we have everything in our sight and our fate is already sealed. So we what else, but worry! Thoughts of worry do not move in solitude but once given in welcome a troop of other worrisome thoughts. The victim freezes down with worry of how he has been abandoned and the world is going to crush all around him.
Do not give in to worry for so often our worries are based on mirages and are but illusions. If we talk of the future it is all in God’s hands. The Psalmist says, “You, LORD, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands (Psalm 16:5, GNT). And where there are circumstances affecting us, and we think are beyond our control, Psalm 118 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” !
Around us there are illusions of all kinds. Let them not trouble us and paralyze us with worry for nothing.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, faced with events that I do not understand let me not give myself to needless worry but believe in you as you have always delivered, this I pray in the Lord Jesus’s name!
Related upcoming events
-
18/05/2024 - 19/05/2024 All day“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15)
Perhaps one of the most inspiring passages in the Bible with enduring lessons is where Moses pleads to Pharaoh to let the Jews go. Instead Pharaoh dared Moses if he had the power as that of a king. Challenged to “perform a miracle” Moses turned to Aaron who threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs (Exodus 7: 9-12).
What we see here is the presence of occult powers in high places, as is true even today. A common mistake by some is to deny the existence of the occult behind certain thrones or power centers, especially in instances where we find those putting on a genteel manner of social respectability. There are also those who through their education and confined exposure to the spirit realm of things, doubt the existence of occult powers. The reality is that in the world we live in the enemy is much at work. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
In this passage we see that while Pharaoh did release his snakes the staff God had placed in the hands of his messenger, Moses, was far greater and swallowed all. Here is the point. As believers we do have a far greater and mighty power to protect us from any attacks of the enemy. It is the blood of the lamb. As it is written, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony...” (Revelation 12:11).
Today whatever snakes you may encounter from anywhere be assured that you have a far greater power than of the enemy. It is the blood of Jesus. As His word says, “call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me” (Psalm 50:15).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray for protection from the attacks of the enemy by the blood of the lamb, this I pray in Jesus’name.
