A Call to Prayer: Resilience
The ability to overcome is imperative to living one's God-given calling. It is not a matter of if we will sin, be knocked down, hurt, blocked, or mistreated. It is a matter of whether we will prevail and shift from sinner to forgiven, victim to victorious, hurt to healed, or from mess to messenger. Proverbs 26:16 says, “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”
WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Joseph rose to second in command in all of Egypt, helping multitudes, including his own family, to survive a famine. He did so not just because of the call of God but also because he lived righteously, remaining sensitive to the Spirit of God as he dreamed prophetic dreams, wept over his brothers, and forgave them. He went from the pit to the prison to the palace and wherever he went, he prospered, had favor and God was with him (Genesis 39:2-3). Even Pharaoh said of Joseph just before his promotion in Genesis 41:38, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Therein lies the secret to resilience - being connected to and filled with the Spirit of God.
When King David was confronted by the prophet Nathan for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, he chose humility and repentance. He prayed this prayer recorded in Psalm 51:10-11, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” David’s desperate cry was for the Lord to not lift His hand, His Spirit, from David’s life. The thought of not being in a vibrant relationship with God is way too expensive of a price to pay for sin or dwelling in mistreatment.
As we consider the resilience of heroes of the faith, may we remember they, too, were human and had failings. They needed to choose to humble themselves and enter into dependence and relationship with God and those He had placed around them in order to rise above. As Israel and the Jewish people go through their greatest trials since the Holocaust, may they look up to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We, and they, overcome through the power of the Overcomer.
WORSHIP SONG
SCRIPTURE
“We went through fire and through water, but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”
Psalm 66:12
REFLECTION
Where have I stumbled, and where do I need to rise above the mistakes and the pain?
THE CALL TO PRAYER
Lord, I choose a relationship with you and to be filled with Your Spirit.
Father, help Israel to rise up from the ashes of this trial.
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Five generations after David, King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, faced the formidable armies of Moab, Ammon, and Mt. Seir. Outnumbered and doomed to destruction, King Jehoshaphat led the people of Judah in an admirable response. He humbled himself, called a fast, and gathered all to pray and seek the face of the Lord, saying, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12).