Sonja is a single mother. She is tired. She is frustrated. She is raising her children alone. No
support. No help. No relief in sight. It has been years of the weight of having financial
responsibility on her. Years of doctor’s appointments, taking the children to sports practices, and
coordinating fundraisers without the help of a spouse or an involved father of her children.
There was always one constant. Jesus. Although Sonja feels what she feels and the
responsibilities she has are very real, it is Jesus who sustains her. It is Jesus who continues to
provide for her and her children. It is Jesus’s strengthening her that allows her to continue doing
all the things that she does.
The reality of facing challenges, disappointments, and frustrations in this life is sure. There is no
sugarcoating or choosing not to see that reality. We live it, we feel what we feel in it, we walk
through it. We also pray through it, watch God work in what seems like unbelievably difficult
circumstances. We see breakthrough and experience victories as God moves in our various
situations.
The question is not whether challenges will come, it is when. And when they come, what do we
do with them? How do we handle them? What are our mindsets as we maneuver through them?
Discouragement will come, but it cannot stay. Sadness will come, but it can’t dwell with us
permanently. Anger will visit at times, but it can only do that: visit and vacate.
God is still God. In every circumstance, in every challenge, even in every victory. He is a big
enough God to encompass it all. He is a big enough God to handle it all. Isaiah 66:1-2 says:
“This is what the Lord says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build
me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? My hands have made
both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken!” A
footstool is helpful, but not very significant. It does not equate to a crown or a royal object. That
points to how big the Earth feels to us, but how small it is to God. Our challenges as we navigate
this Earth don’t overwhelm big God, in fact, they haven’t caught God off-guard. He knew that
they were coming and had already prepared an answer, a victory, and even a testimony about his
greatness.
So, what say ye now to these things? (Romans 8:31) Since God is for us, no trouble, no
hardship, no loss can take our victory. What say ye now to these things, since we always have a
present help? What say ye now to these things, since we fight from a place of victory and in his
strength? We win, we overcome every challenge, and we are victorious because of the great and
mighty God that we serve! Be and stay encouraged.
God bless you!
Nadirah Fareed
