This morning right before I woke (which was actually even before my alarm went off ), I was dreaming. Although I have no idea what the dream was about, I remember the very end. There was a reporter standing in this exact spot where I took this picture this morning. She said, “I’m standing here on the
Riverwalk in front of the campus. Shortly the floodgates on the dam upstream will be opened, and there will be a rush of water flowing through.” Right then I was awakened, and God immediately spoke to my heart and said, “The waters will only rise if I allow them to, and so it is in your walk with Me.” Satan, the enemy of our soul, may open the floodgates of toil and trouble in our lives, but the waters will only rise as far as God allows. He will only allow them to rise if by doing so He teaches us to trust Him more or to bring glory and honor to Him through our circumstances—or He does this to give us experience so we can help someone else later in life. Even when the waters are rising, we have these assurances in God’s Word:
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. (Isaiah 43:2)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. (Psalm 32:6–7)
But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13b)
So today if you feel the waters are rising in your life, take comfort in knowing that God is in control. He is with you; He will protect you; and He will sustain you!
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