An Upside to Your Downside
Jul 26
by Victoria Robinson
Is it possible to find an upside to your downside? As hard as it can be to understand, the answer lies in a familiar passage that sometimes we love to hate. The apostle Paul said, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In the midst of dealing with a downside in your life, it can actually hurt to hear those well-worn words. Still, the truth is the truth and there is an upside to what you are going through.
When the apostle Paul who wrote those words of encouragement was suffering through a downside, he focused on the upside. After being beaten and imprisoned we see him praising God. Suddenly the upside of his situation appears! The jailer who was imprisoning him is about to kill himself when Paul stops him. Then the jailer responds, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The truly great upside to this story was that the jailer became filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. And yet to come was that Paul and his companion Silas were released from jail.
Girlfriends, are you focusing on the upside of what the Lord is doing through your problems or are you wallowing in the misery brought about by your downside? The agony of your troubles can cloud your vision unless you stay focused on the unchanging truth of the Word of God. Joseph viewed the lengthy downside he experienced after his brothers sold him into slavery as an upside. He said, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” His focus was on the purposes the Lord had in mind and not the suffering of the downside he had suffered through.
Dearest girlfriends, when we are tempted to focus on the downside of our circumstances, let us trust that our heavenly Father has a wonderful upside He is going to bring about.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~ Romans 8:28 NIV
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” ~ Acts 16:25-36 NIV
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. ~ Genesis 50:20 NASB
Tags: agony, all things God works for the good, apostle paul, circumstances, companion, downside, girlfriends, heavenly father, jailer, Joseph, midst, misery, praising god, silas, sirs, slavery, unchanging truth, upside, Upside to your downside, Victoria Robinson, Word of God, words of encouragement 
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Ministering in the Throes of Agony
Mar 09
by Victoria Robinson
Are you a girl who when in the throes of agony really shines or do you curl up in a fetal position? There once was a widow, (No, she did not live in a shoe!) who found herself in the throes of agony. Her husband had died and now here she was broke, without food and had a son to care for as well as herself. Along comes a man named Elijah. Instead of caring for her, he instead ask her to make him some food. Now I know the scriptures admonish us to practice hospitality and share with those in need, but really girlfriends would you give food to a stranger over your own son. Yet this is where this faithful woman put the needs of others above herself and divinely ministered in the throes of agony. She prepares Elijah’s food with the very last of her provision only to find the Lord multiplied what she had and kept her, her son, and Elijah supplied until the drought came to an end. Later in the story we see how the Lord used Elijah to save her son’s life. Quite a payback from our gracious Lord!
Dearest Girlfriends, I pray we would be steadfast in ministry to others even in the throes of agony.
Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” ~ 1 Kings 17:8-24 NIV
Tags: agony, drought, elijah, faithful woman, fetal position, flour, go home, god lives, gracious lord, handful, jug, little water, payback, piece of bread, scriptures, sidon, stranger, throes, Victoria Robinson, word of the lord
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Is Sin Crouching at Your Door?
Jan 27
by Victoria Robinson
Is opportunity knocking at your door? In the book of Genesis, Cain found opportunity knocking at his door. Unfortunately this opportunity came in the form of sin.
Cain’s opportunity to sin presented itself because he did not do what was right. That may be putting it mildly. In fact, his jealousy over his brother’s offerings to the Lord gave birth to murder. This was actually the world’s first murder. So sad and painful to watch this story unfold. In between Cain’s jealousy and his becoming a murderer, we see a warning from the Lord. The Lord told him, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” If only Cain had heeded that warning! How different his life and those around him would have turned out. It has been said that the loss of a child is the most painful death one can experience. Girlfriends, I cannot read this story and not be moved by the agony Cain’s mother Eve experienced. One son killed her other son … a dreaded double loss.
And all this happened because evil desire gave birth to sin. Are you and I any different? Sorry to say—no! Our evil desires may look different, but sin is sin. Girlfriends, you and I have much more power to overcome sin that we sometimes realize. In the words of the apostle Peter, “… he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” The key here is to fill ourselves with His great and precious promises. Immerse yourself into the Word of God and allow it’s power to take away your evil desires.
By the way, Peter certainly knew a thing or two about sin. Remember it was he who denied Christ three times even after Christ Himself warned him what would happen. There is great hope even in our sin, God’s great mercy is amazing. Peter failed more than once and yet went on to live a committed life to his Lord and Savior. In the case of Cain, after God confronted him about his sin, He also told him He would protect him. Now girlfriends, that is pure love!
Dearest girlfriends, let us examine our hearts for evil desires and do what is right and not allow them to give birth to sin.
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” ~ Genesis 4:6-7 NIV
… Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. ~ Genesis 4:2-5 NIV
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” ~ Genesis 4:8-12 NIV
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. ~ Romans 14-25 NIV
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. ~ James 1:13-15 NIV
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ~ 2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ~ Hebrews 4:12 NIV
Tags: agony, apostle peter, book of genesis, brother, corruption, divine nature, evil desire, evil desires, jealousy, loss of a child, murderer, offerings, painful death, precious promises, sin is crouching at your door, Victoria Robinson, Word of God
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