SOUL & SELF-CARE SUNDAY
WITH GOD
“The oil in your life is not for comfort. It is for winning, with God, for God, and because of God.”
Welcome to the first Soul & Self-Care Sunday of September, and for me, Day 8 of 21 Days of Prayer with my church family. We are entering the final stretch of this year with one assignment: finish strong. And today, I want to talk about two words that completely change the equation of everything we face: WITH GOD.
Yesterday during prayer, the teaching took us into the Garden of Gethsemane, the garden, the oil press, the pressure, and it ministered to me deeply because I realized how much of life is lived in tension. We live between what we want and what God allows. Between what we prayed for and what has actually happened. Between no longer and not yet.
No longer where we used to be, but not yet standing in the manifestation of what we believe God promised.
That space can be uncomfortable. It can be lonely. It can even make you question God.
Matthew 26:36-55 shows us Jesus in Gethsemane. Jesus knew His assignment, but He also felt the weight of it. He prayed, essentially, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”
And then came one of the most powerful words ever spoken: nevertheless.
“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
That is faith in the tension.
Sometimes we have been taught faith as though having faith means never having questions. Never being disappointed. Never being afraid. Never saying, “God, I really don’t want to do this.”
But Jesus shows us something different.
You can be faithful and still feel the pressure. You can trust God and still ask questions. You can worship while your soul is deeply disrupted. You can love God and still say, “Father, is there another way?”
The victory is found in the nevertheless.
God, this hurts, nevertheless.
God, I don’t understand, nevertheless.
God, I thought I would be further along by now, nevertheless.
God, I thought the finances would have changed by now, nevertheless.
God, I thought I would be married by now, nevertheless.
God, I thought You would have removed this cup, nevertheless.
I still trust You.
Because sometimes the cup doesn’t pass.
Jesus asked, and the Father did not remove the assignment.
And that is where trust becomes more than a church word.
Can I trust God when He doesn’t relent?
Can I trust Him when His answer is different from mine?
Can I trust Him when what I am asking Him to change is the very thing He is using to change me?
That is the challenge of walking with God.
Sometimes people struggle in their relationship with God because somewhere deep inside they are keeping a record of what they believe He has withheld.
“God, You didn’t give me that.”
“God, You haven’t fixed this.”
“God, You haven’t sent the husband.”
“God, You haven’t opened the financial door.”
“God, You haven’t healed this situation.”
“God, You haven’t answered the way I expected.”
And the enemy loves to take what appears to be missing and make us forget everything that is already present.
That strategy is as old as Eden.
Eve was standing in abundance, surrounded by provision, and the serpent redirected her attention toward the one thing she did not have.
She was deceived into wanting more when she already had so much.
Isn’t that something?
The enemy will have you standing in a garden looking at one forbidden tree while ignoring the forest of blessings surrounding you.
That is why self-care sometimes requires spiritual inventory.
Look again.
Look at your memorials.
Remember what God has already done.
Remember the doors He opened.
Remember the doors He closed that later turned out to be protection.
Remember what you survived.
Remember the prayers He answered.
Remember the things you thought would destroy you that somehow became part of your testimony.
Feed your faith with evidence.
And then ask God what you need to ask Him.
Ask Him honestly.
God can handle your questions. God can handle your disappointment. God can handle your frustration. God can handle your tears. God can handle your “why?”
But when you ask God the question, be prepared to trust His answer.
Because being with God does not mean God becomes our assistant. It means we surrender to His authority.
And sometimes the answer will be, “Yes.”
Sometimes, “Not yet.”
Sometimes, “I have something different.”
And sometimes the answer will simply be, “Walk with Me.”
Jesus discovered something in Gethsemane that many of us discover in our own gardens: there are some roads nobody can walk for you.
His homies fled.
The disciples scattered.
The people closest to Him could not complete His assignment.
There are moments when your prayer partners cannot carry it. Your family cannot carry it. Your friends cannot carry it. Your pastor cannot carry it. Your spouse cannot carry it. Your children cannot carry it.
There are places in destiny where it becomes you and God.
And perhaps that is not abandonment.
Perhaps it is invitation.
An invitation to discover what happens when everything else moves out of the way and you finally realize:
God is enough.
God is the only One who always has a Word for you.
And that is why even in anguish: we worship.
Even when disappointed: we worship.
Even when our soul feels bitter: we worship.
Even when our emotions are disrupted: we worship.
Even when the answer hasn’t appeared: we worship.
Worship reminds your feelings who your Father is.
And when you know who your God is, the size of what stands in front of you begins to change.
Think about David.
David wasn’t even supposed to be the warrior that day. He was a boy delivering lunch to his brothers.
He walked onto the battlefield and heard Goliath threatening Israel.
Everybody else saw the size of Goliath.
David saw the size of God.
He essentially said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?”
David’s confidence wasn’t in David.
David understood something:
I may be small, but God is with me.
And when God is with you, your deficit does not determine your destiny.
I may not have enough money: but God is with me.
I may not feel strong enough: but God is with me.
I may not have enough resources: but God is with me.
I may not know everybody I think I need to know: but God is with me.
I may not see the answer yet: but God is with me.
And if God is with me, I have the winning component.
Romans 8:31 asks the question: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Not because there will be nobody against you.
There will.
Not because there won’t be mountains.
There will.
Not because there won’t be giants.
There will.
Not because there won’t be Gethsemane moments.
There will.
But none of those things get the final word.
God does.
So whatever mountain is standing in front of you today, call God according to what you need.
If you need provision: Jehovah Jireh.
If you need healing: Jehovah Rapha.
If you need peace: Jehovah Shalom.
If you’re fighting a battle: Jehovah Nissi: the Lord my Banner.
If you need direction: Jehovah Rohi: the Lord my Shepherd.
Insert the name of God into the place where fear has been inserting the problem.
Stop magnifying the mountain and start magnifying the One who made the mountain.
Because being with God changes perspective.
And maybe somebody listening today feels suspended.
You’re waiting.
You’re praying.
You’re believing.
You’re wondering whether anything is moving.
Hear this:
Suspension is not always an indication that you are falling. Sometimes suspension means you are being held.
Held while God prepares you.
Held while God aligns circumstances.
Held while God strengthens your character.
Held while God develops your faith.
Held while God protects you from arriving somewhere before you are ready to sustain it.
That place between no longer and not yet can feel frustrating, but God is there too.
And pressure does not always mean punishment.
Remember Gethsemane.
The place of the oil press.
Oil only comes when something has been pressed.
Maybe some of the pressure you have survived has been producing oil.
Wisdom oil.
Discernment oil.
Compassion oil.
Leadership oil.
Prayer oil.
Endurance oil.
Anointing oil.
The oil in your life was never designed merely to make you comfortable.
The oil is for winning: with God, for God, and because of God.
So as we enter September, maybe this month feels sweet.
Maybe it feels bittersweet.
Maybe memories are attached to this month.
Maybe loss is attached to this month.
Maybe expectation is attached to this month.
But I’m choosing another word:
sacred-sweet.
Because even the places that carry memories, tears, transition and longing can become sacred when God meets us there.
And I am entering this month determined to finish this year stronger than I started it.
Not because everything is perfect.
Not because every prayer has been answered.
Not because every mountain has moved.
But because God is with me.
And if God is with me, I can face the mountain.
If God is with me, I can survive the garden.
If God is with me, I can endure the pressing.
If God is with me, I can handle the waiting.
If God is with me, I can trust the nevertheless.
If God is with me, I can walk through the no longer and the not yet.
And if God is with me…
I WIN.
We win.
Not only at the end.
We win while we’re waiting.
We win while we’re healing.
We win while we’re becoming.
We win while we’re praying.
We win while we’re pressing.
We win every time we choose faith over fear.
Every time we choose worship over worry.
Every time we choose trust over control.
Every time we whisper:
“Nevertheless, Lord… Your will be done.”
So this first Sunday of September, take care of your soul by remembering Who is with you.
Don’t just look at what you lack.
Look at Who you have.
Don’t just count the unanswered prayers.
Count the memorials.
Don’t just look at the giant.
Look at your God.
Don’t just look at the cup.
Remember Who is sitting with you in the garden.
And don’t be afraid of the press.
There may be oil coming out of this.
WITH GOD.
That’s the message.
That’s the posture.
That’s the confidence.
That’s how we’re going to finish.
With God, we win.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for being with us in every season: the garden, the battlefield, the waiting room, the mountaintop and the valley.
Teach us to trust You when the cup does not pass. Teach us to say “nevertheless” when our will and Yours collide.
Help us remember every memorial of Your faithfulness and feed our faith instead of feeding our fears.
For every person standing between no longer and not yet, remind them that they are not falling: they are being held.
Let the pressure produce oil, let the waiting produce endurance, and let every giant standing before us become another opportunity to discover how great our God really is.
Jehovah Jireh, provide.
Jehovah Rapha, heal.
Jehovah Shalom, give us peace.
Jehovah Nissi, fight our battles and remind us that the victory belongs to You.
We commit these remaining months of this year to You.
May we finish stronger, wiser, deeper, healthier and more faithful than we began.
Because You are with us, we will not fear.
Because You are with us, we will keep moving.
Because You are with us, we win.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
