Today, this is not a maybe, but it’s a guarantee. You can put your money in the bank and bank on it; when God says something, you don’t have to second the motion because it is a done deal. He doesn’t operate by the majority, he IS the majority! For Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent. Has he not said, and shall he not do it? Or has he not spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
We all have learned that, when the truth is told and God speaks, we are all told to say “Amen!”
Well, we had better get ready to say “amen,” because God is talking to all of us this morning. Somebody reading may say, “well, Pastor Ellis, God is not talking to me, because my situation is too complex; you must be talking to somebody else!” But no, this message has your name on it! And you ought to say “amen” anyhow.
Readers, this is all of us, you me and everybody in between. God is saying ‘We’re going to make it!”
I hope somebody will really grasp the heart of this message. I didn’t say “there’s a possibility that we are going to make it” … I didn’t say “Maybe, we’re going to make it” … I said, “We ARE going to make it!” — because ya’ll do know that there were times when we thought that we were not going to make it; that we were not going to survive; didn’t look too good.
You can say, “I’m here now and thank God that I am — but in sincerity I doubted whether or not I would be here; things were so bad; things got so tough; pain got so bad; storms got so rough; losing close relatives literally led me to believe, that I wouldn’t be here today; in fact I was barely holding on!”
But you know, community friends, this confirms this message this morning. It’s because God said, “you were going to make it.” Here you are! But we haven’t made it to heaven yet.
Oh yes, we’ve got a few more battles to fight; a few more trials to go through; we’ve got some more prayers we’ve got to pray … because our loved ones need us here to pray for them, especially if they don’t know Jesus Christ. And then we’ve still got to go through the refining process; a few more fires to go through and a few more rivers to cross. But know this: Our survivor and success does not depend on ourselves.
There’s a song we sang at church that says, “I’m out here on God’s word” … it says, ”My soul is anchored in Jesus name, out here on God’s word!”
Remind yourself friends, that you are out here on God’s word. Because sometimes that’s all we are going to have to hold on to. “Lord, I don’t know how this thing is going to turn out, but I’m out here on your word!” and remember, everything is going down but the word of God ( Matt. 24:35).
The Apostle Paul was on a ship with other prisoners heading to Italy. Along the way a storm came up and sailing became very dangerous (Acts 27:14). Despite what they did to lighten the ship it went from bad to worse; some of us reading know about that. Just when we think that it can’t get any worse, it up and does!
In this scene, when the sun or moon didn’t appear for many days, and the storm did not let up, all hope that they should be saved was taken away, so they gave up (Acts 27:15-20)! “This is it … the party is over!”
I wonder, friends, have any of us ever thought that? And I wonder is there anybody thinking that today? Because you don’t see an end to your situation; despite much prayer from you the pain is still there, the sickness has not left, your loved one still passed away and your money still looks funny; no letup and no deliverance in sight and you’re on the verge of giving up.
Now community, here in Scotland County we remember Hurricane Florence from fall of last year; some of us will never forget it — the torrential rain, the wind, the devastation that lasted so many days. We remember the power outages that shook the core of our county and surrounding counties. Homes were destroyed and to some it looked like all hope was gone. And some are still recovering.
Perhaps somebody, like the prisoners with Paul, said, “we’re not going to make it!” But an angel appeared to Paul, saying, “be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you (verse 22).”
What Paul was saying was (paraphrasing), “despite the fierceness of the storm; in spite of how dark it looks right now, be of good cheer “WE’RE GOING TO MAKE IT!” The ship did wreck and was broken up; but the Bible says they all made it safely to land … some on broken pieces …(verse 44).
Somebody reading today is holding on to the broken pieces of God promises … things don’t look too good right now, but you’re holding on to the broken pieces; pieces of the after effects of Hurricane Florence; chemotherapy, radiation treatment, dialysis, major surgery, a cancer diagnosis, wayward children, divorce and separation, bankruptcy, loss of a loved one.
But my community friends, be encouraged, I believe God, and he said, “WE’RE GOING TO MAKE IT!” So let’s Praise God!
The Rev. George Ellis is pastor of Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
Leave a Reply