Dwayne Wedderburn | Trust in the Lord

The loss of a loved one, or a job, sickness, bad relationships and even bad investments have caused many to ask the question - God where are you when I need you most? It is important for us to be unmovable in our faith and trust in our eternal God who declared in his word that he will never leave us or forsake us. God is with us in the difficult times as he is with us in the good times. Solomon wrote in the book of proverbs. "Trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When all variables in our lives are going well, friends and family members are in our corner and we have a rewarding job, giving God thanks is really easy. Praying, praising and helping others takes little effort. When we receive affirmation from our loved ones, great performance review from our bosses, our children turn up with great reports. We will certainly declare how much we have to give God thanks for.

Calibrate your Focus

Job had great wealth, great fame and a great family. He was very loved and respected in his world. God decided to take away everything that he owned, including his family and his health. Job knew that the true worth of a man's life must not be calculated by the abundance of his material possessions but by the strength of his relationship with God. He knew that the only source and sustenance of his life was God. He understood that all he owned came from God. With such knowledge, he genuinely rested in the fact that God gives and God takes away and he was able to worship in his time of unprecedented loss. Like Job, our focus must always be centred on God with no variance of our faith and trust in good or bad times. Our trust in God though difficult, must at all times be independent of circumstances and uncontaminated by influence of the people we value.

God called Abraham from his country and his family to go to an undisclosed destination on an unknown mission. Abraham's obedience and trust in God resulted in the birth of the nation of Israel and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When we walk with God at times he takes us on a road of isolation and separation as he did with Abraham. We must at all times trust God and follow his direction though it may be unpopular or unsupported. The blessings of such obedience and trust in God will be far reaching and the world will benefit in generations to come. Staying focused only on him may see us giving birth to blessings that all humanity will be beneficiaries of.

Remain Faithful in adversity

Joseph was imprisoned with and indefinite sentence for a crime that he did not commit. While in prison he maintained his relationship with God and the anointing of God brought favour to his life. He was promoted from prison to be governor over all Egypt. Often times our darkest moment is the final phase before God unfolds all the promises that he has for our lives. Most people give up on God and on life itself in that very dark moment.

Though difficult, we are required to live purposefully in the times when we are defeated. Work hardest when the odds are against us and when treated unfairly. Demotion, separation, criticism, adversity, lack, or any strong wind that opposes us must not be honoured to be worthy of derailing our life's mission and purpose. Trust in the Lord in spite of and regardless of opposition. Work tirelessly, smile warmly, love endlessly, and give measurelessly. In our darkest experience God is right there with us though it's too dark to see or feel his presence. Great adversity is the preface of a new day of victory in our lives. Trust in the Lord in your dark hour. He has not left you alone; you are on the threshold of the greatest victory you have and will ever experience.

- Dwayne Wedderburn is an Apostle at World Harvest Mission Church. Please send feedback to worldharvestmissionchurch@gmail.com