“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?” Isaiah 43:19

One of the quietest lies we believe is this:

I should be further ahead by now.

We rarely say it out loud.

But we feel it when someone else announces the promotion. The engagement. The new home. The growing ministry. The answered prayer. The dream finally becoming real.

Then we look at our own life and wonder whether we missed our moment.

Comparison has a cruel way of turning someone else’s blessing into evidence against our own future.

But God has never been restricted by the timeline you created for yourself.

Abraham was old when Isaac was born.

Moses was eighty when God called him to stand before Pharaoh.

David was anointed long before he became king.

The disciples watched Jesus die and believed everything had ended. Three days later, God showed them that what looked like the ending was actually the beginning of something they could not yet comprehend.

God is not intimidated by a late start.

Maybe life took a turn you did not expect.

Maybe you lost years to survival.

Maybe your own choices created consequences you are still rebuilding from.

Maybe circumstances beyond your control delayed something you desperately wanted.

Maybe you are starting again while everyone else seems established.

Starting again is not always failure.

Sometimes starting again is grace.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “Behold, I will do a new thing.”

God does not say, “I will only work if your life followed the original plan.”

He says He can do something new.

New means the future does not have to look exactly like the past.

New means a closed chapter is not the whole book.

New means God can create a road where you currently see wilderness.

Stop measuring your life against people whose full story you do not know.

You may be comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle.

You may even be calling yourself late when God calls you prepared.

The better question is not, “Why am I not where they are?”

The better question is: “God, what are You asking me to do from where I am today?”

You do not need to recover every lost year before taking the next faithful step.

You only need to take the next step.

You are not too old. You are not too young. You have not made too many mistakes. You have not missed God’s ability to use your life.

If God is still writing your story, there are still pages ahead.

Pause and reflect: Where have you allowed comparison or regret to convince you that God’s best work in your life must already be behind you?

Prayer:

Lord, forgive me for measuring my life against other people and against timelines You never gave me. Help me release regret over what did not happen when I expected. Give me courage to follow You from where I am today. Open my eyes to the new thing You are doing and give me faith for the next step. Amen.

Today’s Thought: You are not behind when you are walking faithfully with God.

by Barry Saunders
used by permission

FURTHER READING

The Plans I Have for You

The Plans

Lost Dreams

Journey of Choice

Dreams

The post You Are Not Too Late appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own body.” Hebrews 13:3

We live in a world of suffering!  The persecuted believers in Islamic countries, the famine stricken millions, those in poverty and wretchedness, refugees from armed conflict  –  and so much more. In our smaller circles, in thousands of homes and hearts, there is great sorrow!  In our own neighborhood, how many need help or comfort?   Let us have a heart for the suffering.  Jesus sacrificed all and identified Himself with our suffering!  Let us in our measure do so too.  It will stir us to pray, to work to hope, to love more.  And in a way and time we do not understand, God will hear our prayers.

Pray always without giving up.

“Jesus told His disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up” (Luke 18:1).

Have you begun to feel that prayer is really the help needed for this sinful world?  The very greatness of the task makes us despair!  What can our ten minutes of intercession accomplish?  It is okay that we feel this:  It may be the way in which God is calling and preparing us to give more of our time to prayer.  Give yourself wholly to God, pour out your heart to others in love, and look to God in dependence and expectation.  To a heart thus led by the Holy Spirit, it is possible to pray always and not give up.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

What about you?  Do you know God in a personal way?

Are you wondering what life is all about?

Do you feel that something is missing in your life?

If so, you can find fulfilment and peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, and Jesus is speaking,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3.20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self, which is repentance.

It also means trusting Christ to come into our lives, forgive our sins, and make us what He wants us to be.

It is not enough to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins.

Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience.

We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will.

A Suggested Prayer

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.

Praying is simply talking to God.

God knows your heart. He is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.

Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

Learn more about knowing Jesus and four spiritual principles

The post The Suffering appeared first on Thoughts About God.