Sometimes life brings its challenges, sometimes in life whether you believe that there is a God of the Universe, whether you believe in the big bang or whether you believe in nothing what so ever, life brings its down days.


I recently finished teaming up with NCS (NCS is a Youth Project Programme) which means it's time to look for a job. It is time to earn some money to pay bills, rent and with Christmas coming up, it is time to buy some presents. Well I have been unemployed full time for three weeks, only working on Saturdays and applying for jobs can be pretty boring. Application forms, repeat, CV sending, research on the company etc. It can often feel like you aren't getting anywhere as there is no immediate response. You have to wait. I have found I am not very good at waiting. It can be pretty disheartning when you apply for jobs and you hear nothing back, it almost makes things feel so much worse. I would rather hear back saying sorry you don't have the job then nothing at all. I am currently thinking what's the point. It got to a point the other day where it just hit me pretty bad. The enemy was telling me lies about myself and lies about God:

• You Aren't Good Enough...
• You Won't Get A Job...
• If God Loves You Then Why Isn't He Providing?

I recently joined Kings Church Hastings and I love this church. I love the people in it from the Leadership team to the little old ladies. I have never felt so welcome in a Church before. I couldn't speak more positively on a Church like this one. At the moment as a Church we are doing 40 Days of Hungering After God. During these 40 days I want to growing in my relationship with God, I want to experience it in a new fresh way and going forward in Prayer.

I have been asking God to provide me with money or a job and I got to the point where I needed God to breakthrough. 1 John 5:14 says this:

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

I went for a prayer walk. I just find prayer walks help me engage with God, it helps me not get distracted and to just enjoy God's creation and as I walked and turned a corner I saw a rainbow right in front of me. It hadn't been raining and I am pretty sure you need rain as well as sun to make a rainbow, but there was a rainbow right in front of me and I was reminded on Genesis 9:16:

"Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

God won't break his promises. The rainbow is a reminder of this. God won't break his promises to me. Jeremiah 29:11 says this:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

So when things don't seem to be going right, or things don't seem to be going the way you thought they might, we know we can trust God in his promises and his plans for us. I know he has the perfect job out there for me in Hastings and I know he has plans for me in my future, all I got to do is trust him because although it can be hard to see sometimes, his plan is way better than mine.

We can't live on moments. We can't just go from one amazing moment to the next amazing moment. One conference to the next conference. Sometimes it is the hard work that needs to happen in every day life. We need to put our roots in the ground, so that when the hard times come we can stand strong and not get taken out by the hard times that life brings.

WE NEED TO PUT OUR ROOTS IN THE GROUND SO WHEN THE HARD TIMES COME WE STAND STRONG...

Here are 10 little things we can do to help with the rest of our lives.

1) We Can Receive the Spirit of Adoption (Receive Holy Spirit).
I have named this blog post 'Step One, Trust Jesus, Step Two Repeat Step One'. When thinking about the life you live as a Christian, then that is simply it. Trust Jesus. Trust him to guide you. Trust him every single day. When you receive the Holy Spirit, enjoy it. God has given us the Holy Spirit, not because he has to, but because he wants to, so just enjoy it!

2) Be Sure To Practice Spiritual Disciplines.
When you hear the word discipline, it doesn't sound very fun. However discipline always lead to positive. You learn from it. So as a Christian making sure you have time daily to read your bible 'The Bible is your daily bread, not your special occasion cake'. Spend time with God. "But he isn't something you can see". Go for a walk in the woods, on a mountain, on a path with a sea view as the sun rises and see what he created and then you will realise you can see him. "But I don't like walking" I know a lot of people who the thought of a prayer walk would put them off praying, so find out how you breath. Find a way to make sure you spend time with God and that it is made the most of. Go to a library, stay in the living room with a coffee, go to a coffee shop. God has given you likes and dislikes so use those likes to spend time with him. You can do it!

3) Study to Understand.
Yes I am biased but, as Christians, we have the best book to read. Are you excited by the word of God?  If you aren't excited then read Ephesians 4:7

"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it."

We have been given Grace. We get to remember that we are now children of God. We get to have a relationship with God. We get all that for free! We don't have to work hard for it, so why not learn more about God's relationship with you in the word.

4) Listen To Wise People.
I recently wrote a blog post for NewGround's Impact Discipleship Year where a section of the post is about listening to wise counsel. Don't get me wrong, it is a lot harder said then done. Whoever you are, ask yourself the question "Who do I spend most of my time with?" I don't particularly like the people who say to not hang out with Non-Christians. Those are weird people! Hang out with them otherwise how will they know more about Jesus? But who will help you. If you are struggling with some of the conversations or decisions about what to do, who do you turn to? Make sure you have someone in the church who is older and been on the walk with God longer then you have to help you out. Who is speaking in your life? When people speak...listen carefully, don't talk and listen, but when it is OK to talk, ask questions. When you ask questions you hear more about God and when you hear more about God you understand how amazing God is which makes you get in awe of him and you grow closer to him. If you don't have anyone in your church then you need to stop reading this blog and email your church and see where you can serve, but when you are done please come back. Get to know people.

5) Get a Job and Work Hard!
Step One....Get A Job....Step Two.....Work Hard.....Step Three.....Repeat Step Two.

6) Hold Things Lightly.
Everyone has personal preferences and that includes Church. More guitar, only one guitar. More drums, no drums. Longer preach, shorter preach. Younger preachers, older preachers. Wouldn't Church be amazing if it was exactly how you wanted it, but sadly that isn't the case. Enjoy it for what it is, a family! The purpose of Church is mission. To get people to know about Jesus.

7) Find A Partner in Crime.
It's time to make some decisions. Everyone loves decisions and one of those decisions is about finding a partner. Of course I am speaking to those over the age 18 right now, but if you are under that age start praying for your future partner. God has the perfect person for you and you have to trust him! What happens when you decide is you kill your options. When you make a decision that your options go out the window. Sometimes decisions can be scary...trust me! But be brave, it's time to speak up.

8) Find Out What You Are Good At.
First things first when it comes to this section is to be you. Don't look at someone on stage and go I want to be like them. If you want to be a worship leader but can't sing then there is a problem there. Don't try and give Video production/editing skills when you can't edit videos. But what has God gifted you with? Are you an amazing encourager? Be that! Are you an amazing talker? Be that! Are you an amazing administration person? Be that! God has given us all gifts to use that glorify him, so don't worry about trying to be someone else when God only wants you to be you. He made you, you and he loves you! Trust Him that he has made you, you for a reason and not just because he felt like it.

9) Find Your Replacement.
One day you won't be around. Either you will be with Jesus in Heaven, you will retire, you will move onto a different ministry, you will move church. Something will happen. Here is a simple structure I was once told;
 - I do, you watch, we talk
 - I do, you help, we talk
 - You do, I help, we talk
 - You do, I watch, we talk
 - You do, someone else watches

10) HELP. We Are on Mission.
Don't be an outsider to the local church. Give yourself to that church and get involved. Don't be on the outskirts only turning up on a Sunday just to sit back and enjoy it. Serve, get stuck in, be generous. All the things build you up. We don't always know where we are going, but the one thing we are sure of as a local church is that we trust God. So where can you get involved?


Throughout all of this all you are doing is Step One, Trusting Jesus, Step Two, Repeat Step One.