I'm watching Bill Winston's "Believer's Walk Of Faith" broadcast today, and Pastor Winston brought up Job 8:7.
Job 8:7 (NIV) says: Your beginnings will seem humble,
so prosperous will your future be.
Job 8:7 (KJV) says: Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
This brief, yet powerful scripture says to me exactly some of the things that we are going. Right now, we are in pretty small or humble situations, but when we come out on the other end, and we maintain our faithfulness, we will receive our blessings.
Satan wants us to look at our situations as we see them NOW... he wants us to get dragged down by things that we haven't accomplished yet, or things that we need to work on but are currently lacking the resources to do, relationships that aren't panning out the way we want them to, or what have you. When we start paying attention to things like that, and that depresses us, that's a distraction. Focusing on the negative things like that distracts us from the blessings that God has already given us, the blessings that he continues to give us, and the blessings yet to come.
Remember, in His Word, God has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us. He has also sent the Holy Spirit as The Comforter, and he even has angels on stand-by, waiting to minister to our needs in the supernatural realm.
We know all of the things that Job has gone through, and we saw that at the end result, Job was blessed with much more than he originally had (and he was already prosperous before God allowed the devil to test him). Job questioned God, but never doubted or cursed him. In the end, Job continued to thank God and praise him. I believe that this is how we are to be. We may not understand why we are going through something, but we should understand that no matter what it is, the Scripture tells us that He will never give us more than we can bear. I also believe that the greater our tests are now, the greater our rewards will be at the end.
Just as Jesus spoke about in the parable of the talents, we want Jesus to say to us "Well done, good and faithful servant." Part of doing that is to continue to work with what God has already blessed us with. When we do this, we will be like those servants... the master gave them a little, and they bore fruit in their works, and the master was pleased and he felt that they were ready for more.
And when things begin to look like they're going to go sideways, this is where our faith kicks in. Using myself for an example... right now, I feel like I'm underpaid, based on my education and background. But my faith tells me that this is just like the parable of the talents... I'm doing well with a job that doesn't pay what I need to REALLY get things done on a personal level... and soon, I WILL be in a position to really take care of business. And I'm sure that you can find similar examples in your own lives.
The bottom line is that regardless of how things look right now (especially if they are looking bleak, sad, disappointing, or what have you), your real blessing is directly in front of you. You may not be able to see it in the natural realm, but if you smash the smoke and mirrors that the enemy uses to distract you, you will be able to see it in the spiritual realm. And if there's one more thing I can say, it's something that my pastor has shared with us. If you are in expectation of a blessing, start thanking God for it now. Before you get it, thank God for it. Regardless of what it is. When you do that, then you will pay more attention to how God is moving through your life, and focus less on the obstacles and roadblocks the enemy is trying to put in your path. And then, think about the testimony that you will have once the blessings start pouring down for you. The things that you are going through will be a great way to witness to someone else who is going through same or similar circumstances.
