Down Is Not Out | Mornings with Mico

Good people, what's going on? My name is Miko, and thanks for tapping in with us today. This week we are, every devotion each morning is going to be inspired by the letters that I've been receiving, that people have been sending in, just kind of sharing their testimony or just what God's doing in their life and how he's using some of the things that we've shared here to just, I don't know, be a source of hope, guidance, inspiration. I'm blessed and encouraged by just the letters that you guys have been sending in, and so I just kind of wanted to take some time this week to use them as a muse to build out our devotional for this week, to be a sense of inspiration for everybody that's locked up. So today I'm going to start with, I want to speak from this thought, down is not out. God is not finished with you. I received a letter carrying a line that I haven't been able to shake. I believe this letter came from someone in Missouri and it says, until the story's good, God isn't done. And to be honest, I don't, I don't recall, because I responded to this letter or his previous letter, and I don't recall if this is something that I had spoke or written in the letter that I sent him, or if this was just something that he said to me. But when I saw it, I was like, Ooh, that's so good. I love it. The person who wrote those words is still in the middle of their story, right? That's what brings so much significance to it, to be in the middle of your story and to cling to these words. They're still waiting, still hoping, still facing the circumstances that haven't changed yet. And for me, I know that sometimes that's the hardest time, but that's also, for me, it seems to be the time where it's most needed in the middle of it, in the thick of it. Like, can you hold on to your hope and belief then, right? At this point, there's no miraculous ending. There's no breakthrough announcement, no neat bow tied around everything, right? So spoiler alert, that's not where this is going. This, this, this, this letter is from someone with a stubborn confidence that God isn't finished. Like they refuse to let go of the truth that God isn't finished with their story while they're in the thick of the tough, the darkness, the uncertainty. In the thick of it, they're still clinging so tightly to the truth that God isn't finished with their story. And as I was reading this letter, I just found myself smiling. Mainly because sometimes the strongest faith isn't found in people who got the answer that they were praying for. And I love when that's put on display, when in the thick of it, that's on display, that

strong faith. We see stories of this throughout scripture of people who are like locked in with their faith, you know, in the midst of, you know, the trial that they're facing. And we see as these stories play out, as we're reading them, we'll see through scripture, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the resurrection happening, you know, when Lazarus or, you know, with, with, with the, with the, with the girl, when Jesus, Jesus heals the, I forget what he was, he was like a military guy, but he heals his daughter, right. At the same time as he had healed the woman with the issue of blood, like we see their faith in the thick of it, but then we also get to see how the story unfolds, right? Like that's the beautiful vantage point that we have of reading scripture, but in real life, we don't always have that vantage point in real life. Sometimes all we have are, you know, is this limited perspective that we have right now, this window into the situation that we have right now, we don't know how it will end. And I love when you see people's strong faith on display in the midst of it. I think that, um, I'm reminded of a passage in first or no, in Philippians it's one six, um, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion to the day of Jesus Christ. Sometimes I think the strongest faith is found in people who haven't gotten the answer yet, but trust God anyway. Um, As I sat with this letter I thought about one of the enemy's favorite lies It's too late I'm gonna let that breathe for a minute. I Think that I Can I can tell you that that was I wrestled with that thought towards the last few months of my be But I think that also I had this overwhelming Resilient confidence to combat it This confidence that hope and of hope and that My days to come would be far greater than my days that were passed and Just to kind of give you a glimpse into that like I'm living that now, which I still get emotional about it I ain't gonna do that right now. So I'm not gonna I'm not gonna I'm not gonna delve too deep in that but um, I Think that that's that's that's that's just a real tension to acknowledge That that is one of the lies that the enemy tries to whisper to us in

Some of these seasons that it's too late that we've made too many mistakes that it's too much wasted time or too much damage Has been done too many failures too many years have gone past Maybe you've heard that voice too. Maybe you struggling with that right now, right? maybe you've looked at your past and thought if only I would have or You know, maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe I should have did it this way then then this and you know wouldn't have happened this way or Whatever, whatever that regret kind of stirs up in your heart and begins to you know Develop, whatever thoughts it begins to develop God doesn't measure your story by the chapters. You've already lived. I Want you to hear that and I won't I pray that that actually lands in your heart God doesn't measure your story by the chapters. You've already lived. He's sovereign and The mystery of how his sovereignty and our free will coexist I Don't know if on this side of heaven will ever fully understand how that happens, but whatever it is that your past has in it He's taken all of that into account He's taken all of that into account and He still says in his word that all things good and bad will come together and work for those who are in Christ It's a passage in Romans He Measures he measures your story by the one who's still writing it and that's him He knows the beginning every detail in between and how your story is going to end He measures your story by himself He his glory his sovereignty his weight That's that's the weight That's how your story is measured in his eyes. He knows what he's capable of. He knows how the stories want to end and So be inspired by that be encouraged by that If you don't think about Philippians 1 6 is that God didn't just start the work, right? He didn't just begin a good thing in you. He carries it forward

He's actively involved in the process day in and day out I love that But it's this it's a worship song says even when I don't see you you're working Sometimes we don't know that or we can't see that but we declare that Sometimes we have to declare that from a place of hope as opposed to maybe a place of certainty, right like Be that bold have that have that kind of hope be that bold to declare that even even if you're not Concrete there yet be that bold and say God I'm gonna declare these words and I'm asking you to help my heart catch up to this truth that I know to be true Or at least that I hope is true He's not just the author of your story he's a good author and good authors don't abandon stories halfway through He sees you right where you are And he's with you none of none of what you're dealing with today caught him by surprise know that None of what you none of where you are today disqualifies you from the story that he already knows the end enough The person who wrote this letter I think they understood something powerful This story isn't good yet. Then God isn't done yet I hope that that penetrates your heart as well. That's not just wishful thinking, that's faith. As long as there's breath in your lungs, God is still working. This is true. He's still restoring, he's still forming, he's still writing your story. I got a question for you. Where have you started believing that it's too late? Where have you allowed the enemy's voice to seep into your heart, your mind, your beliefs, your dreams, your hopes, your passions, your desires? Where have you allowed the enemy's voice seep into and taint those things and start to convince you that maybe it's too late, that maybe I blew it? One of the things coming home, and I remember I was still in the halfway house, that I believe the Holy Spirit really, it became an anchor in my faith. I believe that I didn't have to settle with God's consolation prize because of all the mistakes I had made.

I was thoroughly convinced that everything that God had for me, he still has for me. God didn't place the best things he had for me in those seasons where he knew I would squander it. He saved it, and he placed it exactly where he knew I would end up. My brother, he didn't say those words to me, but my younger brother, he really kind of painted that picture for me, and that's the idea that it really began to form in my mind. That's the hope I clung to. That's what I began to believe, that I didn't blow it. Lord, you knew the path that I was going to take. You knew all of the mistakes that I was going to make. With you being as sovereign, as omniscient, and as powerful as you are, you wouldn't place your best for me in those areas, in those seasons where you knew that I was going to be tripped up and lured into temptation. With perfect wisdom, you said, I'm going to hold up. I'm not going to place it there. I'm going to allow this season. I'm going to have grace for you in this season. You're going to deal with some of my judgment in this season, but I know that at the end of the day, I know where you're going to end up because I've written your story. I'm omniscient. I'm outside of the confines of time. I know how it's going to end, and I know how I'm going to use your story for others, not just for me. It's not just for you either. Your story is not even just about you. There are people who are assigned to your breakthrough, people who are assigned to your obedience, people who God is going to use your story to encourage them, to uplift them, to be a source of hope for them, to help increase their faith. People are going to look to your story, and it's going to increase their faith. That's what's on the line here, not just the idea of coming to pass or the blessing happening

for you. It's more, it's far beyond that. That's more of a perk than a purpose. I want you to know that, man, because that's what God's really shown to be true over these past few years. Down is not out. God is not finished with you. Let me pray. Father, forgive me for believing the lie that you're finished with me. Thank you that you finish what you start. Help me trust you with the chapters I don't understand yet, and remind me that my story is still being written. Amen.