“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1-2).

“Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O Lord God  of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear,  O God of Jacob. Selah” (Psalm 84:4-8).

Stepping out in faith requires that you be willing to trust God to bring to pass the things that you can’t see. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Long before the Lord supplied the property for our church, we began to pray for a building. It has been a miraculous journey. When it seemed that all hope was lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, in 1999; the Lord reminded us who was in control. He wasn’t worried about the outcome: he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. When the Towers fell in 2001; the world watched events unfold: we turned to the Lord who is sovereign. When we learn how to trust him to lead us, he promises that he’ll lead us into all truth. We celebrated our first Sunday in the new building on March 7, 2004. Today, we just keep moving forward.

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Have we forgotten the God that we serve? There is nothing impossible with God. No situation is out of his control. When the storms come, we must learn to trust him. Maybe you have forgotten or you are so overwhelmed with the pain and frustration that you can’t see God at work through the turmoil. When I face the storm, I find him in my prayers. Sometimes, I don’t even know how to pray I am so consumed with the problem, but if I’ll remember to worship him he begins to work out his perfect plan in my life. Keep moving towards the light of his presence.

In the still of my night, I find him embracing me. I shall not fear the darkness. Although every sign tells me that it’s hopeless, I still hold on to hope that he is sovereign and he has already answered my prayer even before I speak the problem in prayer. It takes time. When I feel so impatient waiting for your promise, Lord, calm me down enough that I enjoy the day that you have prepared. Take me back to simplicity, life before schedules and deadlines, when we’d catch lightening bugs in the backyard and put them in mason jars. I miss it, and yet, I thank you for today.

We have not been promised tomorrow, and yesterday is just a memory, but the only thing that I desire from you is another today. A moment in time, now. In my now, let me not miss opportunities to share about your goodness. Jesus Christ: His mercy endureth forever. Life is too short to spend lamenting over what might have been. Let me live in the now.

I am thankful that the Lord chose us to be different than the world: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

Obedience is better than Sacrifice.

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39).

In this week’s Lattereign, my desire is to be a light: Let Me Be a Light.