A prevailing Faith is trusting when you don’t understand, it’s believing when all your circumstances say “It’s never going to work out”. It’s knowing that God is on the throne, that His plans for you are for good, that what He has purposed for your life will come to pass. The scripture says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” Hebrews 11:1-2
You may not understand or see what is going on but you can say by faith, God is at work. That door that closed, you didn’t like it, but God was ordering your steps. That person who walked away, was painful, but it was a part of God’s plan: you didn’t need them for your destiny. That contract you lost, the tough season at work, it may not be good now, but through your prevailing faith all things are going to work together for your good. God knows how to bring good out of a bad situation.
You must have a made-up mind that you are in it for the long haul. No matter what comes your way, you are going to keep believing, keep trusting, keep praising, keep dreaming, knowing that God has you in the palm of His hand, that He is working behind the scenes, and that He has the final say.
He said, “No weapon formed against you will ever prosper” (Isaiah 54:17) He said, “What was meant for your harm he would turn to your advantage”.(Genesis 50:20) God being for you is more than the world being against you (Romans 8:31). Don’t be moved by what you see, what you see is only temporary. (2Corinthians 4:18) When it all comes together, then it will make sense
The enemy is not fighting you for where you are, he is fighting you for where you are going. He knows there is greatness in you. He can sense you are a world changer, a giant killer, a history maker. If you weren’t a threat to him, he would leave you alone. That’s why he will bring opposition and things that are not fair against you or to distract you. He is trying to get you discouraged so you can live in doubt, thinking that God has forgotten about you.
God sees you doing the right thing when it’s hard, he sees you believing when you could be discouraged, praising through the pain, and being good to people who have not been good to you. Your time is coming, favour, healing, breakthroughs, victory is on the way.
HOLDING ON BY FAITH!
Nobody had more come against them than the apostle Paul. He faced all kinds of betrayals, rejection, and hardships. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11:22-33, he lists some of them. He said: that three times he was beaten with rods, this was for sharing his faith. Five times he was given 39 lashes. Once he was stoned by an angry mob, he was falsely accused and put in prison. On top of that, when he first became a believer, on the road to Damascus the church wouldn’t accept him, they didn’t think he changed.
For years, he was rejected by the leaders. At his trial, he said, “Nobody stood with me. All my friends, colleagues, people I was counting on, they weren’t there”. He said, “Alexander the coppersmith did me a great wrong. Demas deserted me”.
He had all these opportunities to be bitter, and angry, but at the end of his life, sitting in a prison cell he gives us the secret to living in victory. He said “I have kept the faith (A prevailing faith), I have finished my course”. (2 Timothy 4:7) He was saying, “People betrayed me, but that didn’t stop my destiny. Alexander did me wrong, but God fights my battles.
The leaders wouldn’t accept me, but I’m not bitter, I will go somewhere else and share. I got put in prison, and I’m not sitting around in self-pity, I can’t travel and speak, they took away my freedom, but they didn’t take away my pen. They can’t keep my words from going out”. He wrote much of the New Testament from a prison cell.
What a great testimony to come to the end of life and be able to say like Paul, “I have kept the faith”. “Went through a rough childhood, but faith prevailed, Friend walked out on me, boss got on my nerves, went through that sickness, but faith prevailed”.
Paul said in Acts 20:24, “None of these things move me”. You have to get to the point where you are not moved by disappointment, not moved by opposition, not moved by the medical report. “Yes, it doesn’t look good, but there is another report: God says He is restoring health unto me“.
Importantly, what do you do in the tough times, when things don’t make sense, you don’t understand it? Do you get upset, or lose your passion? No, have a stand in God. He is in control of the situation and He can’t get it wrong with you. If He allowed it, He is going to somehow get good out of it.
It’s very powerful to say, “God, I trust you in the good times, and I trust you in the tough times. God I’m going to hold unto your word when I understand it, when things are going my way, when I’m seeing your favour. And I’m going to hold unto your word when doors close, when sickness shows up, when people betray me when it doesn’t seem fair”.
That’s what Paul said, “None of these things move me”. Yes, I had a challenging time, but I’m not moved. I still believe God is in control. I still believe His plans for me are for good. I still believe what He purposed for my life will come to pass.
Paul was a prisoner on a boat headed to Rome. An angel told him that he was going to stand before Caesar. (Act 27:24) He had this promise from God, but on the journey, they encountered a huge storm. For 14 days they didn’t see the sun nor the stars. The waves were so big, and the wind so strong, that they started throwing cargo overboard to keep the boat from sinking.
The crew was so depressed, they quit eating. The scripture says all hope that they would be saved was gone. Paul could have thought, “God, you said I was going to Rome. I must have heard you wrong, we are all about to die”. Now, Paul told the crew: don’t worry, we are all going to make it to the shore. Not one life will be lost.
THE WORD OF GOD PREVAILED
After two weeks of being battered by the storm, they saw an island off in the distance. The winds blew them closer and closer, the boat finally hit a huge sandbar and broke apart.
The scripture says they all grabbed pieces of the boat and used them to swim to the shore. In a few hours, all 276 passengers made it safely to the island. But when the boat broke apart, I’m sure some of them panicked, thinking “That’s it. We are done. Out here in the water, we can’t swim that far”. But God will always leave you something to make it to the shore.
They didn’t have what they thought they needed, they didn’t have a boat, but they had pieces of wood to make it to the island. You may not have what you think you need, but there will be pieces to get you to where you are supposed to be. You are going to make it without what you lost.
You’re not moved by challenges, disappointments, or medical reports. You just keep on keeping on: keep on believing, keep praying, keep dreaming, keep serving. The boat may break apart, but you grab a piece and swim to the shore. You know it’s not a surprise to God. He didn’t bring you this far to leave you.
Every time you stand strong, do the right thing when it’s hard, and believe in your dreams even though circumstances are against you, you grab that piece of wood and make it through the storm, you are making it easier on your children, and on your grandchildren. It’s not just personal, it’s generational. How that should inspire us to live a life of faith?
I want to make it better for my children, and easier for my grandchildren. I want them to have a foundation of faith, knowing that we serve an awesome God, that He can take you places that you have never dreamed, that He can give you what will blow your mind, that He can heal you from terminal cancer, that He can sustain you in a storm, that He can bring gifts out of you that you didn’t know you had.
The scripture says, “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7) Have you let something hinder you today? Disappointments, oppositions, delays? You used to be passionate, you used to pursue your dreams, you had a heart for God, but now you have lost that fire.
Something happened where you got discouraged, you are just making it through life. The good news is: that you can get it back. It’s not too late. God is saying to you what He said to Timothy: stir up your faith, fan that flame! (2 Timothy 1:6) God’s calling is still in your life. His purpose is waiting for you. You can still become who you were created to be.
My prayer is that when we come to the end of life, we will be able to say like Paul, “We have kept the faith”. Yes, we had challenges and opposition. Yes, we went through things we didn’t understand, but we knew God was in control, that He was fighting our battles, and that it was all working for our good.
