I know a lot of people experiencing difficult circumstances in their lives.For some of them, their current situation is the latest in what seems an endless stream of misfortune and heartbreak.For others, the heartbreak is fresh, but painful nonetheless.Christians are not immune to struggling, in fact, it seems we experience more than our fair share sometimes.
Today, I want to offer some words of encouragement to those who are hurting, broken, disillusioned, and/or discouraged.Let’s be sure to pray for one another regularly and encourage each other often.Romans 8 provides for us 4 encouraging truths we need to remember in our times of struggling.
I hear a lot about “the good old days,” but I have noticed that many people have selective memories about them.Either they remember the days in a better light than they were in reality, or they only remember the pleasant things while conveniently ignoring the more unpleasant parts. While I think it is beneficial to reflect fondly on our pleasant past, if we become so preoccupied with the past that we fail to engage today and look with faithful anticipation toward the future, then we have done God a major disservice.
Don’t Look Back
While we may not consciously think of it this way, when we think our past is better than our present or the potential in our future we fail to trust the sovereignty of God.With only the wisdom that God could have and according to His great pleasure, He brought you into the world WHEN and WHERE He did, and He has brought you to this point in your life to serve His great purpose.Preferring a past that seemed more enjoyable places our wants and pleasures ahead of God’s grand design and His awesome purpose in our lives.
[Tweet “Preferring our past places our pleasures ahead of God’s purpose in our lives.”]
Three Ways to Live for Today and Look Forward to the Future
In Ephesians 5:15-18, Paul gives us great direction for living in the moment and preparing for God’s future for our lives. From these verses we can see three perspectives to incorporate in our lives.
“I hope so.” I’ve heard that many times; often from my own lips. Of course, when we use the word “hope” we are expressing a desire, but an uncertainty as to the realization of our desire.
“I hope it doesn’t rain.” – Maybe it will, but I’ll take an umbrella just in case.
“I hope I get some good news.” I really would like that, but I am bracing for the worst.
“I hope the preacher doesn’t preach too long today.” Oh, who are we kidding?!?! LOL!
Unfortunately our world is filled with a lot of hopeless people. They feel overwhelmed by circumstances and trapped by insufficient resources. They want to think better days are ahead, but no evidence lies before them. The best a hopeless person can do is just survive.
Maybe you are one of those hopeless people. Your circumstances seem insurmountable and your abilities to cope with those circumstances seem seriously lacking. The good news is that the Biblical concept of hope differs 1800 from our contemporary definition. Our hope is uncertain and subjective, but Biblical hope is objectively assured. When the Bible speaks of a hope, it speaks of something that is guaranteed.
Allow me to poke a pinhole in the dark wall of hopelessness and shine a laser beam through it in the form a Bible verse.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. – Romans 15:13.
Don’t miss that last phrase: “abound in hope.” Not have a little, not just enough to get by, but ABOUND. More than you need. Overrunning. Excessive. God offers the hopeless not just a ray of hope but a blinding floodlight. That pinhole in the dark wall becomes a shaft of warm, life-giving light.
First, notice the source of hope: God. He is the God of hope. Our hope does not lie in our abilities, resources, or even in the betterment of our situation. HE is the creator, author, and bestower of hope. When you feel hopeless, turn to Him and rest squarely in the knowledge that He is good and that He is in control. By the power of His holy Spirit, He will give the abundance of assurance.
Second, see the results of the hope God gives – He fills with joy and peace. Joy is not dependent on circumstances, but rather a settled inner assurance that no matter how things look at the moment, when God decides to change it, He will…for the better. Peace is not the absence of hostility or anxiety, but the quiet heart that rides out the storm knowing who is the Master of the Wind.
Finally, notice how that hope is appropriated – in believing; that is our part. I have often defined faith as “an active trust in all that God has said concerning His person, His promises, and His precepts.” To live in hope, we choose to believe what we KNOW about God over how we FEEL in our circumstances.
Tony Evans says it this way:
“Faith is acting like it is so, even when it’s not so, in order that it might be so, simply because God said so.”
In those hopeless moments, return to the light that God’s hope gives. Choose to trust Him and He will bring you through your storm.
I’m not much of a yard sale person, although I readily admit one can find some tremendous deals at a yard sale. I remember the last yard sale we had; the temp was below freezing and the chill factor below zero. We advertised to begin at 7:00am and at 5:30am when I raised the garage door to move the stuff out, people were already standing in line. By the end of the day we offered everything on tables for “one low, low price.” I never realized someone could find a useful purpose for the stuff that had become “clutter” in my house. The old saying is true, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Last week marked my one-year anniversary as pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Macon. What does that have to do with a yard sale? Read on.
I left my last church in what would be considered a “forced termination.” I wrote about how that felt back in a couple of October blogs. Suffice it to say, I felt I had been thrown out with the trash and that ministry would no longer be an option for me. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I was wrong.
I am thankful for the support, unconditional love, and encouragement that came from my family, both immediate and extended. I also realized how blessed I was with a great number of friends. Looking back, I am most overwhelmed by the providence and plan of an intentional God. Things panned out the way they did because HE had HIS PLAN.
The brave people of Bellevue took a chance on me when other churches passed me over due to my circumstances. I guess those other churches weren’t willing to bring home a “yard sale pastor.” I am thankful that God brought my family and me into the Bellevue family. We have a wonderful church family whom we love dearly. I am so glad they were willing to find treasure in another church’s trash.
I share this with you because I hope it will be an encouragement to you. No matter how difficult a blow life has delivered you, nothing can snatch you from God’s hand and His plan for your life. In fact, He may have allowed that painful circumstance in your life for the sole purpose of moving you on to something better He has in store for you. So don’t lose heart. God is not finished with you. In God’s eyes you are NEVER trash and you are always His TREASURE.
I recommend the following Bible verse for your reading and meditation. You need to know just how God feels about you and what He promises for your life.
One of the things I have noticed as I have grown older is that my body tends to ache and pain more than it used to. Just little stuff here and there – muscle spasms, joint pains, bone aches. Just a reminder that God created our bodies to be temporary.
But I have also noticed another pain as I have grown older, a “soul pain.” I think I have become more sensitive to the things that hurt me spiritually, and I am more aware of soul pain in others. I would gladly choose any physical pain over the ache that I sometimes have in my spirit.
Various things cause these soul pains – people have hurt me, circumstances have disappointed me, my own sins have beset me. Negativity has a painful effect on me these days too, and of course, the stress of everyday life can weigh on anyone.
I get the feeling I am not alone in feeling soul pain. Can you feel my pain?
So where do we turn for healing? God has drawn my attention quite a bit lately to Psalm 42. In a refreshing display of transparency, one of the songwriting sons of Korah penned these words:
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. – Psalm 42:5-7
Downcast. Disturbed. Describe you? Does me, sometimes, I am sorry to say. But look at the remedy: put your hope in God. In the Bible “hope” is not the subjunctive wish or desire that it is in our contemporary English language. When we say “hope so” we are expressing a desire but not a confidence that something will happen. When the Bible uses the word “hope” however, it speaks to a confident and quieting assurance that the object of our hope – in this case, God – is a sure thing.
We can claim the promise of verse 5: I WILL YET PRAISE HIM. Things may not look like it right now, I may not feel like it right now, circumstances may seem to indicate otherwise, but the fact (not feeling) of the matter is that God will come through and I will break out into a praising hissy fit eventually. In those moments of despair, the songwriter said he “remembered” God; he reminded himself of God’s past faithfulness and used that memory to give him the strength to take things one day (or one hour even) at a time.
Hang in there, friend. Stick it out. And in the meantime know that God will bring us through. He has great things in store for us and we will yet praise Him.
I am by nature an impatient person. I hate to wait. Doesn’t matter if it is a traffic light, check-out line, delivery, or even a date on the calendar; I find waiting to be one of my life’s most difficult tasks.
Yesterday morning while reading in Genesis 7, I came across something I have missed in my previous readings, something that made me stop and think. There it was in black and white in Genesis 7:10 –
And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
For seven days after Noah, his family, and all the animals boarded the ark they had to sit there on that waiting for God to deliver on a promise.
Just like the blind man to whom Jesus restored sight could only see men looking like trees walking about and had to wait a little longer for his full vision to come to him.
Just like Mary and Martha had to wait four days for Jesus to come to Bethany while their brother laid in a tomb developing the stench of rigor mortis.
Just like Jesus’ disciples had to wait three days after His death to see the fulfillment of the promised resurrection.
Waiting is never easy and seldom fun, but we can rest assured that while we wait God works.
Perhaps we wait while God prepares us for the greater work He desires to do in us.
Perhaps we wait while God arranges circumstances so that He will receive greater glory.
Perhaps we wait while God tests our faith and in that testing strengthens us.
Perhaps we will NEVER know why we wait, but if He says wait, then wait we must, and that waiting is good.
So on what promise of God do you wait today? Don’t get bored, distracted, or discouraged. Trust God and seek Him all throughout the moments of your wait. AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME God will deliver the goods.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:6
I am feeling a heavy burden these days for several family members, friends, and church folks who are going through difficult times in their lives. Some are battling disease, some face financial issues, some emotional distress, still others are dealing with family matters that hurt to the core of their souls. I wish I could snap my fingers and make all of their problems go away. I deal with things in my own life, but I hurt even more when people I care for are hurting.
Many of you reading this are going through challenging times in your life as well. So, today, I want to just share some Bible verses that I hope will encourage you. If you are where you can do it, read them out loud. Let the devil hear the reason for hope in you. Meditate on theses verses; claim the truth for your life. Refuse to be governed by how you FEEL about your circumstances, and choose instead to yield to what you KNOW about our Sovereign God and HIS truth for your life.
Know that I am praying for those of you whose hurts I know.
Isaiah 41:10 – Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 9:9-10 – The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 34:17-19 – When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,
who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
