Focus On the Greatest of God…Not How Great the Problem Appears!
Blood Moon from Total Lunar Eclipse 2019
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)
Constellation Orion January 2025
God’s words in Genesis 1 and 2 never grow old. Hearing them fills my heart with hope. Think about the passage above. With a few simple words all the stars, planets, matter to infinity and beyond were created by our Great God. Yet, it literally takes thousands of people many years to build a bridge across a river. In comparison, what man can do is not even a pinch of dust when compared to the greatest of God for in a whisper God created all things though vast, complex and beautiful from big to small.
So why do we allow great problems in our lives to cause us to shrivel in fear, when God who loves us is filled with joy to help us through them all? (Isaiah 46:4). In the 1800’s there was a missionary to China who had experienced great trials in his life including loosing his wife, and multiple children. Everyday his life was in great danger. One day someone asked him, “Hudson, how is it that all the pressure you face each day doesn’t destroy you?” He replied, “Never let pressure get between you and God, that way as the pressure builds it will push you closer to Him!” Amen.
Each of us will face problems in this new year, and some will face life changing problems. When the problem comes, focus on how Great God is and not how great your problem appears.
Almost a full Moon (Waxing Gibbous) Jan 2025
When it comes to making it through this life our mission should not be self reliance, but reliance on our Great God. How do we keep the pressure from driving a wedge between us in Jesus? It is simple…through prayer! Our great need should drive us to prayer. Knowing our great God should direct our prayers. Faith in our Great God should follow our prayers!
If we fill our prayers with greatest of our problems our faith will shrink, but if we fill our prayers with the greatest of God, our faith will grow!
Inspiration for message from sermon given by Senior Associate Pastor, Russell Patteson — Stonebriar Community Church