MAKE SURE YOUR GOING OUT AND YOUR COMING IN ARE PROTECTED!

Hello [subscriber:firstname | default:Beloved],

Have you ever wanted to start a project that was nipped in the bud long before it got off the ground? Personally, I have had to experience this more than once in my life. For example, my wife Lilliane and I found ourselves in debt when a project that was going to make us a lot of money was aborted before it was even carried out. The container with the products we were to sell was stolen by thieves in an absolutely terrible way. They tied up the guards and took, not the contents of the container, but the container itself by carrying it away on a truck!

It is written in Psalms 121:8: “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and for evermore. In the wording of this Bible passage, departure is mentioned before arrival, unlike Deuteronomy 28:6. Furthermore, the Bible uses the word “keep”. This means that God protects our plans from the beginning, because beginnings are almost always threatened by the enemy. The whole world is under the power of the evil one, as we know from 1 John 5:19. Did not Herod threaten Jesus from the moment of his birth (Matthew 2:1-15)? Wasn’t Joseph sold by his brothers before he could fulfil the divine plans he had seen in a dream (Genesis 37:1-28)? It is therefore important to counter the enemy by seeking God’s protection in all your departures.

“Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established,” says the Scripture in Proverbs 16:3. The works are the different actions you intend to carry out to realise your project. By entrusting all the details and steps of your plans to the Lord, you ensure the protection of the whole process, from the beginning to the end.

It is imperative to place the Lord at the beginning of everything because He is the Alpha and Omega, that is, the beginning and the end (Revelation 21:6). The Philistines inflicted a bitter defeat on Israel in 1 Samuel 4:1-11 because the Israelites had not entrusted God with the beginning of their plan to go to war. Even when after the first defeat they wanted to involve Him, they had seven times as many dead in their ranks as in the first defeat.

There are at least five questions that you need to have God’s answer to before you embark on any project.

What is the project for? Note, I am not saying why but for what. I’m actually referring to motive. It is about hearing God’s voice on His purpose. Is this purpose in line with your own? Why do you want to get married, for example? Because you want to fill the void of loneliness? To be free from material and financial needs? To have children? Because everyone around you is married? To be happy? There is more happiness in giving than in receiving, says the Bible in Acts 20:35. Know that you should seek marriage to make your spouse happy and to help him/her fulfil his/her destiny.

Why do you want to make this investment? To meet the needs of many and be a source of blessing? Why do you want to go and organise this evangelistic programme? To receive offerings or for the salvation of souls?

God, who searches hearts and minds, wants to give you the pure motives for your plans. Seek to align them with His purpose and your GOING OUT will be blessed and guarded, as will your COMING IN!

How? In order to realise your project, will you need a loan from the bank or will you need to sell an asset to finance it? Or will you need to find a financial partner? You need to hear God’s voice on how He wants you to do this.

With whom? I have failed in many projects that God has put in my heart, just because I worked with the wrong people. To choose His 12 apostles, the Lord Jesus stayed up all night in prayer to get God’s revelation (Luke 6:12-13). Seek to hear God’s voice about who you should work with on this project, exactly what their role is. The “with whom” gives you the one-time, periodic or permanent partners with whom you should carry out your project.

Where to start? The choice of location is important if you want to have a blessed and protected start. Don’t rely on your own reasoning when choosing a place to carry out your project. Don’t say to yourself, for example, that a certain area or country would be a better place to set up your new shop. The disciples were to begin evangelism in Jerusalem and not elsewhere (Acts 1:8). Above all, seek God’s guidance in choosing the right place.

When to start? There is a time for everything, says the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1). “An inheritance quickly acquired from the beginning will not be blessed when the end comes,” the Scriptures continue (Proverbs 20:21). I had received the burden of organising a programme in Haiti and it was realised 8 years later and thousands of souls received the Lord and obtained deliverance and healing. The departure from the various stations of Israel in the wilderness was always based on the “Go” from God, which was manifested by the rising cloud and the sound of the trumpet (Numbers 9:17, Numbers 10:2). “Let the Lord tell you exactly when to start your project.

My wife and I were up to our necks in debt because we did not get all 5 ” GOs ” from Him! Take time to listen to God to hear the five trumpet sounds and you will see that He will guard your going out and your coming in, and victory will be yours!

God bless you!