Last week we began to look at Jacob who lost his wife Rachel following the birth of their son.  Just before she died, Rachel named her son Ben-oni, meaning Son of my Sorrow but Jacob declared to Benjamin, “You are the son of my right hand.”

Jacob hadn’t always been like this.  When he found himself in bad situations, Jacob didn’t always respond in such a faith-filled way but something happened in his life that brought about a remarkable change.

It’s the kind of thing that can happen at any moment. It can happen to anyone at any time and when it does it leaves you changed. It is a God encounter. Jacob had an encounter with God that left him changed forever more.  He wrestled with God and prevailed, so God blessed him and gave him a new name.

Genesis 32:28,29 tells us that God spoke to Jacob, “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and men and have won”….Then God blessed Jacob there.

Jacob’s response in this tragic situation was evidence that he had experienced the power of a God encounter.

Life will always have its trials but when you have encountered God, you’ll look at even the worst of situations and have the conviction and the knowing that there is a way out.

No matter what you’re facing right now.  No matter how big the situation, the solution is found by encountering God – by meeting with Him.

Yes you will have hard times but when you encounter God:

• You have hope in hopeless situations
• You have peace in the midst of your storm
• You have a friend in the loneliest of valleys
• And a Saviour in the worst of crises

That’s the power of a God encounter: when you can look at a problem and not be overcome by its devastation but look through the eyes of the One you have encountered and begin to see the good that can and will come out of it.

Can I encourage you, this week, take time to encounter God and live the best life.

¹⁶ Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense. ¹⁷ After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!” ¹⁸ Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”). ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).  Genesis 35:16-19.

Her husband, Jacob suddenly faced with an incomprehensible situation began to speak words of hope, life, blessing, promise and position over his son’s life.

Instantly he says to his son, you are not Ben-oni, you are Benjamin – the son of my right hand.  Effectively he’s saying, “You are not the son of sorrow, yes you’ve had a horrible start, things could have been better and this is not the ideal circumstance but that doesn’t change who you are.  You are Benjamin.  You are the child of my right hand – the child who is very dear to me, the child who’s been set apart for blessing.  You have a great future, a purpose and a promise on your life.

Friend, I believe that’s God’s message for each of us today.  You might not have come into this world in ideal circumstances, life may not have been sweet for you but regardless of what you’ve been through, or the hardship you have faced, it doesn’t change who you are.

This week, live according to what God says about your life.  Look at circumstances and see them through God’s eyes as you live the best life.

But when he stood before that crowd and made that proclamation, declaring he had a dream, there were just as many people against him as there were for him.  We all embrace him now but when he was alive, he stood alone in a halls of government and in the justice system; the FBI didn’t like him, the police didn’t like him, even members of his own circle: the African-American preachers thought he was too radical and too controversial, someone who had lost his mind.  By the time people came to understand and support Dr King, he was dead.

Friends, just because people won’t support you doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream.  If God has given you a dream then you need to act on it.

The Bible tells us in Genesis 37 how Joseph had been given a dream that he would rule his nation.  When he told his family about it they didn’t like the idea.  Had Joseph waited until his family approved of his dream then he would have died empty – unfulfilled of his life’s purpose and he never would have seen the miraculous work of God in his life.

As much as we idealise the easy and hold on to a fantastical hope that everything is going to be easy in the pursuit of our dream, you will come to know that no one ever achieved greatness because everyone agreed with him or her.

You cannot wait for people to line up with your vision, people are going to disagree with you, not everyone is going to like the fact that you have a dream and that you’re seeking to make a difference in the world.

Joseph was a man with a dream – once that dream was fulfilled everyone loved him.  However, at the time of conception everyone hated him.  He was too controversial, too radical, too bold, too daring, too faith filled for the narrow-minded people around him.

Thank God he was daring enough to let go of those who weren’t with him, press on through trouble and run the race of doing what God had destined him to do.

Friend, the dream that God gives you is the very thing that will bring trouble into your life but you must remember that trouble will also bring you new things that God has for you.  That trouble is the sifting of the old and establishing the new; preparing you to live the best life.

Despite the sensitivity of a newborn baby’s skin the hospital knows that a rash on the baby’s back is far easier to deal with than the wrong child going to the wrong parents.  It would be a disaster if you began raising the wrong child.

The same is true with your dream.  Before you undertake a life long pursuit you must know why it is you’re doing what you’re doing.  Ask yourself the question, “Where did my dream come from”?

As you identify the dream, you have to be sure that you’re not trying to prove something to someone – trying to prove that you are not who they say you are, or trying to prove something to someone who is in your past and is no longer in your life, those dreams end up becoming a nightmare, like Ishmael.

Abram waited for so long for his dream, so Sarai told him to sleep with her servant who then gave birth to Ishmael – the son who caused so many problems that eventually they had to boot him out of the house – because he was not part of the promise of God and rather than have a dream family, Abram had a nightmare and the only way to get rid of the nightmare was to get rid of that which was not of God.

It is paramount that you know the source of your dream – it has to be from God, anything else will become a nightmare that takes you off course.  Many people are pursing a nightmare and they don’t even realise it, their dream was born out of a wrong motive, or a wrong heart or attitude; or it came about to because they were trying to prove something to someone and now they’re pursuing a nightmare that they have portrayed as a dream.

The dream of God is designed to take you where no one as been before and achieve that which has not happened before.  God wants to do a new thing in your life and you cannot experience new things if you’re trying to fulfil someone else’s old dream.  This week, take a moment to determine, is this dream from God.  When you know it is, it will make the hard times a whole lot easier and help you live the best life.

Yet, Cadel Evans is not someone who, as a child, you would have picked to one day be called a sporting great.  Cadel himself, says, “It’s strange that I could become a professional athlete – Physically, I am completely unsuitable for almost all Australian school sports.”

So, as a child Cadel was not a stand out sportsman but that didn’t stop him.  He kept on trying.  Until he came across a sport that requires more physical endurance, mental stamina and financial commitment than most other sports – cycling.

Seven times Cadel competed in that sport’s pinnacle race – the Tour. He had to overcome multiple set backs including his age, the death of his trainer, sickness and more but he never gave up.

In Judges 20 we read how the Israelites were fighting for justice. The war raged for days and they weren’t winning. At the end of each day they would return to their camp crying and depressed until eventually they asked God if they should quit. But God told them to get up and keep going because tomorrow they were about to have victory.

Friend, in the pursuit of your dream, never give up.  Regardless of what others say, or the circumstances that are thrown at you don’t stop believing because God is on your side.

You just don’t know – this could be the week that everything changes, the week that your loved one returns home, the week your marriage is restored, the week your breakthrough is received, your health is given the all clear, that miracle takes place.

Let this be a week where you don’t give up but you keep on going because God will bring to pass what you’re believing for.

We will always make mistakes; it’s a part of life.  Although you might make mistakes, you are not a mistake.  It’s not an accident that you are here; it’s not a slip-up that you are alive today.  It’s all part of God’s divine plan and purpose.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:9, “God has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Friend, God knew you before you were born.  Your mother and father were not the first ones to lay eyes on you, God was. Before conception was on your parent’s mind God already had you all planned out.  You are not a mistake.  Your parents might have called you a mistake but God doesn’t need the planning of your parents to bring you into this world.  God has chosen you.

You were not meant to lose. You were not meant to quit or give in.  You were meant to live.  You were not meant to be a failure, to be destitute, or to be lonely and isolated.  You were meant to prosper and be in good health.

God has saved you and called you.  You are His special possession, chosen and called out.

You are sent from God and you are on a mission, you are here for a designated purpose – for such a time as this.  God has a definite agenda for your life.

You have overcome all kinds of hurdles and difficulties, and have risen out of hardship to make it to where you are today – it’s because you have been saved and called with a purpose.

I want to encourage you this week, discover the purpose God has for you and begin to live the best life.

If you are truly going to help others rise to new levels, then the following four keys will assist you in encouraging those around you.

1. Believe in people before they succeed.
Everyone has gold in them. Often it’s buried beneath a pile of dirt but it’s still there. If you want to instill a winning attitude into those around you, believe in them before they succeed. It’s said that diamond is merely coal that is placed under pressure. When those around you are feeling pressured by the circumstances of life, remind them that God is using those things to bring the best out of them.

2. Emphasise their strengths
Focus your attention on their strengths, not their weaknesses. Not only will this motivate those around you but it also helps them to believe they possess what they need to succeed. Praise them privately and publicly for what they do well. Tell them how much you appreciate their positive qualities. Any time you have the opportunity to praise them in the presence of family and friends, do it.

3. List their past successes
Consider David and Goliath. David looked back on past successes, he had confidence in his future actions and of course, when he faced the giant, he overcome. He said…. “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear…” If you can show others what they’ve done well in the past they’ll be better able to move to higher ground.

4. Visualize their future success
I once heard it said that a person can live 40 days without food, four days without water, 40 minutes without air – only 4 seconds without hope. Each time you cast vision and paint a picture for others you build them up, motivate them and give them reason to keep on going.

Developed from Maxwell, J.

When we become problem focused we can easily find ourselves asking God to get us out of one situation after another causing us to get into a rut, “God help me get over this hurdle.” “God, help me pay this bill.” “God help me make it through the day.”

Friend, God wants you to rise above what you’ve become weighed down by. He desires to take you to a whole new level.

In 2 Kings chapter four we read the story of a woman whose husband’s death has left a huge financial loss for the family. As a result creditors want to take her two sons as slaves to pay the debt; so she asked the Prophet Elisha what she could do.

Rather than receive an answer that will just get her out of that situation, she receives an answer that takes her family to a whole new level, where she doesn’t have to want ever again. That’s the God of promotion we serve.

The Bible is full of stories just like this – situations where God has taken someone from a pit of despair and promoted him or her to a new level.

It’s time to believe God to take you, your household, and your business to a whole new level. If your prayer is only and always to just to make it through the day, tomorrow won’t be any different.

God is the God of promotion. He’s not in the business of demoting and firing; His desire is that you will go from strength to strength. Jesus said if you’re faithful with what you have now you’ll be ruler over a lot more.

God is in the business of promoting people and taking them to a new level in life.

When you discover the God of promotion, not only will you go to a new level but you will have more money to help more people, you’ll have greater influence to reach more people and you’ll have more authority in the world we live in.

Over those seven years she had been fired from several jobs and couldn’t work out why. She was a good employee, she was a loyal and hard worker but things just didn’t seem to be working out for her. Eventually she realised God what she was doing was not God’s plan for her life. Years earlier God had asked her to attend College but she was afraid and didn’t want to study so she entered the workforce.

There is a purpose in God bringing you out of where you are, even if it looks unpleasant from where you are. In Ezekiel 37:1 we read, “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.”

Thankfully Ezekiel was obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading, because little did Ezekiel realise it but the whole thing was a set up for a step up. God was about to do something miraculous in the middle of the valley and he was going to use Ezekiel to do it.

Ezekiel might have been surrounded by decay but it wasn’t staying that way. God was going to turn the whole thing around and use Ezekiel to do it.

Friend if you want to see the miraculous happen by your hand, if you want God to do something supernatural in your life, then allow the Holy Spirit to take you where He wills and watch what He will do.

When we are obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading God will take what is dead and bring it back to life again. Here, God took his hand and his Spirit and brought the two together to take Ezekiel, a man of obedience, and create a miracle.

God’s not going to lead you into destruction. He has great things in store for you. No matter how bad the environment looks, remember God will use you to create a miracle out of it.

When a goose gets sick or is wounded by a gun shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with the fallen goose until he’s able to fly or until he’s dead; after which they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with the original group.

There is a great blessing that comes from agreement. When you surround yourself with people who love you and are in agreement with you, you can be assured that should something happen to you, there will be others around you who will support you and stay with you during your darkest hour.

No matter what we are going through, if there is someone in our life who will stand with us until we get back up again, it will help ease the pain our darkest day.

Is there someone in your life who needs you to stand with them right now? Perhaps you know someone who is going through a difficult season in their life, maybe they are ill, have lost a job or even a loved-one. Imagine the power and uplift it will bring to that person if you were to break from routine and reach out to that person, to stand with them, and help them in their time of need.

It’s recorded in Hebrews 13:5 that God has promised he will never leave us or forsake us.

Friend, let me encourage you to get in agreement with God’s Word and get along side someone who needs to be supported in his or her darkest hour.

As you join yourself with others and in agreement with Heaven you can operate in a power that will ensure those around you are never alone.