I was listening to David Wagner the other day as he shared a prophetic word around the coronavirus pandemic. As I was reflecting on what he was saying, I was reminded of one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible, Romans 12:12, and something began to stir deep inside me. I like to think of this scripture as a good foundation which we should live when going through times of crisis. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” It’s such a short passage but is packed with action steps by which we should all live. The depth and power identified in these three short action steps will ignite a spark within us that can inspire us during any situation.
“Be Joyful in Hope”–Hope is the confident trust with an expectation of fulfillment. God is our source of hope (Romans 15) and all we have to do is to be joyful in Him. James 1:2 says “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great Joy” We all know who is ultimately victorious, it’s Jesus Christ. So why not trust in Him and change the world through any circumstance we face with thankfulness and joy? There is power in joy. Joy is a key to the Kingdom (Romans 14), joy heals (Proverbs 17) and in the fullness of joy, He is present (Psalms 16). Don’t take for granted a smile and a laugh because those represent the fruit and authority of joy you carry.
“Patient in affliction”–Have you ever prayed for patience? I think that all of us have prayed for this fruit at one time in our lives. Then we like to think, I prayed for it so now I have patience. Thanks God! Instead, God then gives us encounters or situations to develop our character, to learn to react out of love, and then we are able to grow in our patience. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is a powerful passage. Verse 4 starts out saying, “Love is patient and kind,” and then verse 7 ends with, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.” Notice it said, “Love is patient.” The Bible also tells us that God is love, thus, it is fair to say God is patient. Another way we could read this phrase, “Patient in affliction,” is “God is in affliction.” That is powerful! Seek and choose God when times of affliction are occurring because He is always the right choice!
“Faithful in Prayer”–God is making this so simple for us. Be faithful in relationship and also be faithful in prayer. He wants us to be dependent on Him in every circumstance, whether in the midst of a trial or a time of great breakthrough. But sometimes, we believe in prayer and we pray but it seems like the situation worsens and we start to lose hope. The enemy sweeps in and causes us to wonder, “What do I do now? God, where are you? I thought you loved me?” But at a time like this, we must fully surrender and continue to be faithful in prayer. What does full surrender look like? We continue to trust in the midst of the toughest circumstances of our life.
We give up our desire to take action and control the outcome and we simply trust Him. His love for us is unconditional. He wants a faithful son and daughter to pray and trust in Him. When you don’t know what to pray, pray in tongues, or play worship music. He will speak to you, but continue to fight from that place of relationship.
It is all about Him. Be hopeful. Be joyful. Smile. Laugh. Be patient. Trust Him in the process. Be loving. Be faithful. Be thoughtful. Seek Him consistently. There is power in this verse. May He bless you by opening your eyes to new perspectives and aligning His heart with yours. Love ~ Neil
Neil has been the office administrator since June, 2019. Did you know…when Neil was young, he wanted to be the starting outfielder for the California Angles?
Hallelujah! Truest of true ..God is sooo good ! My heart is yours Jesus , take it all ! Hallelujah Jesus !
Thank You Heavenly Father for giving us You faithful servant Neal !
Hallelujah!
I enjoyed this word of God, this Morning. 1/16/2022./ Thank you Lord in Jesus name amen.
Praise God its beautiful psalm 145
Yes amen i also found it looking for scripture 1212
Wow I loved your breakdown of the verse , it brought me closer to the Love of my life , My God , My Father , yes I will trust in Him all the days of my life, He’s has shown me nothing but faithfulness and mercy and love and grace , the List goes on He’s been so much excellent I love Him 😍 🔥😭
This word of God gave me a new understanding how to deal with things.
Wow I found it by searching scripture 1212 because I see it all the time too What a beautiful article and it is truth I often think about one time I had a cold but I found out the guy I was dating at the time was coming to see me and the joy cured me and all symptoms went away Now I understand why God gave us this gift of laughter and joy He made us to be happy My faith has increased so much in the last year I saw oil pour out of my hands while praying in tongues Jesus is real Amen!!
I know laughter and joy is God ,truly. It changes all in me and other people.
Well said mate! Thanks for your insight. I keep seeing 12:12 everywhere, and came across your thought. Thanks again from Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you for this word and for sharing the revelation you received. I needed this today
Blessings!
Thank for this word desr God in Jesus name amen.
Thank you Neil. May God keep useing you to bless yhose around you. Thamks for the teaching.
Beautiful! thank you lord for Neil, God work in Misterios ways …. A friend once’s said oh if , you keep getting the same time in your clock your guardian Angel” is trying to get your attention … few times I searched the Angel message “ but , something was still feels empty in the message… so a thought 💭 came into my heart…what If , instead you search for bible verses📖I trusted the impulse!!! God! What a creative way!
I found this verse by looking at the time the thing is I always see verses like 10:10 11:11 so today I decided to google the verse and this is what popped up a verse I needed to read cause I’m going through such a hard circumstance in my life at the moment and this situation calls for hope faithfulness affliction and Gods love and patience and reading this it gives me hope