How are you doing? How is your future looking? If you’re like me and I’m sure a lot of other people, you’re probably worried about what lies ahead. After the quarantine, after the lockdowns and the closings what will the future hold? Will I still have a job? Will I still have an income? How will I pay the bills?
Like most of you I’m very concerned. I have three more years of medical school tuition, books and transportation to pay for Victoria to finish college. Andy and I have ongoing expenses for my mother’s care. My own rent, condo, utilities, health insurance… Stores may be closed and services limited, but those bills keep coming in and there’s no end in sight. Will I still have support six months from now?
This is a time of great doubt and concern for us all. I feel it as much as you do. But last week I heard a very encouraging word I wanted to share. On a weekly conference call with the ILI’s global training team, the founder Wes Griffin’s wife Joy shared a series of verses that were a powerful reminder of all that God is able to do in uncertain times.
I encourage you to read over these, meditate on them, and then pray to God. He’s the same God who let Joseph be sold into captivity in Egypt and who let Jesus be crucified on the cross. But God didn’t leave it at that. Our enemy intended them for evil and destruction. But God used them for good and for life. There are no promises that God will prevent pain or spare us loss. But God assures us down through the entire history of mankind that whatever comes, if we trust in God, good will come from it and He will take care of us.
Thank you for your prayers.
Grace, peace and health to all,
Dennis
John 1:5
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20
But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. Deuteronomy 23:5
Then he (Samson) became very thirsty, and he called to the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. Judges 15:18-19
David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 1 Samuel 23:14
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided… Genesis 8:1
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. But God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:1-6
But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. 2 Chronicles 32:7-8
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Daniel 2:27-28
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:25-26
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27
When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, Acts 13:29-30
