When you’re convinced of a thing or a person so much so that you believe in it or him or her, you are not swayed when the appearance of that in which or who you believe in seems distant for a season or looks different during a moment in time. For example, as a child, I was convinced of my mother’s love and whenever she chastised or scolded me, I was still convinced of her love; never once doubting it. Her love had been sealed in my heart by the way in which she nurtured and cared for me.
As a Christian, I believe in tithes and offerings and I am convinced of the biblical principles of sowing and reaping in faith in the same way I am convinced that God exists, Jesus Christ – who died for my sins – was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and that the Holy Spirit leads and guides me each and every day as I yield to it. These principles and beliefs have proved themselves to me over and over in my life in a miraculous way so that when the fruit of those beliefs are sometimes delayed, I remind myself that I should not doubt they are coming because of the One who guarantees they will.
It doesn’t matter if I encounter a season of hardship or a period of uncertainty because God is faithful and not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). And like the Apostle Paul, I – too – am fully persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. (Romans 8:38-39). It has been sealed in my heart by the way in which He loves and cares about me, and I am fully persuaded that what He has promised, He is also able to perform (Romans 4:21).
Keep looking up family and friends. Be fully persuaded of God’s promises and His Word and walk into 2019 believing you have the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!