The Road Beyond

I’ve been down this road
So many times before
I ought to know it well

Instead of doubt and despair
My mind should be filled
With excitement and prayerful expectation

The road begins
With a prayer
For God’s soon deliverance

Then the wait begins
Sometimes the delay appears to be a no
For God’s timing is oft much different than my own

He takes me to the brink
Where I feel like I cannot endure
Not even one more day

Then God takes me beyond
To the place where I must choose
To doubt or believe God

In the place of beyond
I wait upon the Lord
With faith look for God’s miraculous deliverance

Oh my soul, take courage
For God will never disappoint
When He takes me down the road and beyond


Susan Bunts Wachtel
August 12, 2009

Faith Meter

Recently I’ve been experiencing some spiritual battles that left me feeling soundly defeated. Rather than believing God that I am more than a conqueror and acting on it…I believed the lies of the enemy. Much to my chagrin I’ve taken the bait one too many times.

That’s when I realized…I’m tired be living a defeated life. Tired of choosing fear and anxiety rather than trusting and believing God. Tired of looking at my circumstances and letting them be the measure of my faith. When my circumstances are good and everything is going my way…the faith meter is so high it’s off the charts. When troubles abound and the fiery darts of the enemy assail me…you can’t get a reading.

If my faith meter was instead a heart monitor…the doctors would pronounce me dead and pull the sheet over my head.

Isn’t my faith, to some degree, a measure of my heart towards God? Am I a person who loves God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength? If I don’t believe God is good…no matter what my circumstances…then how can I love Him when life turns ugly?

While meditating on my faith failures…God challenged me with the following thoughts:

• Will I choose to love God when I don’t understand what He’s doing?
• Will I choose to bless His holy Name when I don’t understand His purpose for allowing the enemy buffet me?
• Will I choose to thank Him in all things?
• Will I choose to obey Him when it’s the hard thing to do?
• Will I choose to trust Him when I’m hurting?
• Will I choose to look to Him, not my circumstances?
• Will I choose to listen to Him only, not give an ear to the enemy?
• Will I choose to pray rather than fret and imagine the worst?
• Will I choose to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?
• Will I choose to dwell upon that which is good, lovely, and pure and of good report?
• Will I choose to continue to bring my requests to God…trusting His timing and answer to my prayers?
• Will I trust that God is working out His good and perfect plan in the trials and tribulations of life?
• Will I bring my loved ones before the throne of God and seek His wisdom on how to respond?
• Will I choose to believe that God is doing a work in others, even when it’s not evidenced in the now?
• Will I choose to saturate my mind with God’s word?
• Will I seek to know God more?
• Will I choose to say “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” in good times and bad…and mean it with all my heart?

Fear and anxiety are doubt and unbelief being worked out in my daily life.

Today I choose to believe God, love Him, trust and obey Him. By His power, through Christ and the Holy Spirit dwelling within me…I will be more than a conqueror today.

Tomorrow…I’ll be faced with that choice all over again. But for today…I choose to believe God.

A Time Away...La Jolla & San Diego