Where To Find Hope In A Bad Situation

What help and comfort is there for someone in a bad situation?

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore." Psalm 125:1-2, NIV.

A REMINDER
Some things we hear over and over and though they are old and simplistic they are still true. We need reminders to be practical in our faith. Not just to start our day or week with a little prayer and go on without another thought about God; that would be a good beginning but a poor ending.

TRUST
We are saved by trusting the Lord, but we need to "trust in the Lord" must as a daily or moment by moment faith. As we go through our day we must bring God along. Every day is full of situations, problems, thoughts, feelings, people, and things that challenge us. We must not rely on our own ideas or the ability to solve them. Sometimes a quick prayer as an expression of faith in God is all it takes. Other times it is more complicated and takes seeking Our Lord out in prayer, searching the scriptures, meditation, and counsel with godly friends.

• We need to pray often and tell God we are trusting him and tell him the reasons why.
• We need to remember Bible verses that have promises and pray to claim them.
• When we are trusting in ourselves we must repent and tell God, and renew our trust in God.
• We need to stop running back and forth, both physically, and mentally, and rest in Him.

AN ENCOURAGEMENT
It is encouraging that "The Lord surrounds his people." As we go through difficult situations we can know the Lord went ahead, he is beside us, and he is covering our backs. We can trust him and then drop our guard because he is our guard on every side. We may feel all alone like no one understands, no one knows our pain and worry; but he was there first, he is next to us with his hand on our shoulders, and he is behind cleaning up the mess. He surrounds us and the enemies can circle all day long but they won't find a crack to get in.

A HOPE
He surrounds us both "now and forevermore." There will never be a time when God does not surround us. We may feel like he has left- but these feelings are not the fact. When trials come we need to pray and claim this truth, "He is surrounding me." We could look at those trials and say, "Do your worst- God has me covered!"

© Adron 1/13/13

Why Does God Make Daily Life So hard?

Is there a reason for all these hardships?

If God loves us and has a perfect plan then why do we have so many chores and live lives of drudgery where we can barely get ahead?

"He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance, and David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." Psalm 78:70 -72. NIV*.

LOWLY SHEPHERD

To be an ancient shepherd was a boring job. Shepherds lived outdoors every day, sun or rain, they missed community activities like worship or festivals. Shepherds wandered over the hills looking for lost sheep, pasture or water, they lived in fear of predators or robbers. Shepherds had no future, few friends, and little thanks.

CHORES AND FRUSTRATION
Our lives are full of dull drudgery. We clean the house and it gets dirty again, we change the diapers over and over, we care for kids or bosses, or spouses, with no thanks.

We are impatient to "get on with it." We want to do something great like be a preacher or missionary or theologian. We have to remember it was from the boring years of drudgery and thankless labor that David was made ready to lead Israel.

PURPOSE

There is freedom when we recognize the common daily drudgery as full of God's purpose.  As Christians our lives are not our own, we serve him not ourselves. God is doing something in our lives, and it takes time. To grow a squash only takes six weeks but to grow a stately oak tree that may take a hundred years; so, we must be patient with God's timing, he is remaking us into something beautiful. Consider that Jesus spent 90% of his life on the earth working in a carpenter shop and only the last 10%, three years, in ministry.

There is great power when Christians go about their daily task without complaining. The world does not want more "superstar" Christians; the lost people around us are seeking meaning, and when they see people living the grace of God in daily trials they respond.

MAKING READY

Instead of resenting, and complaining we must rest in God's grace. We must see his hand in the everyday boredom of life's tasks and focus on His purpose. He has a plan for each of us, that plan may include cleaning the toilets, taking out the trash, and working hard at a dead-end job. We learn to do these things by His power and over time we will become the person He desires us to be. Like David when we master the lessons of the daily common tasks we will be ready to apply those lessons to great things.

To read this verse in other translations follow this link: Online Parallel Bible.

© Adron 12/2/12

How Should Christians Prepare for Conflict Ephesians 6:11

God wants us to engage in doing good, but the world we live in seems to be bent on evil. With crime, addiction, broken homes, and broken hearts all around us, doing good sometimes puts a good Samaritan in the target zone of conflict. How do we do good and not fall as a victim of the evil we oppose?

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:11, NIV*.

God Provides:
God has given us spiritual armor to fight against the darkness of the present world system. He has provided everything we need. He does not just say do good in my name and good luck while you are at it, no, he provides weapons for opposing evil, and the armor to withstand the attacks of wickedness.

Put it on:
The spiritual armor God provides to us is available to all but must be "put on. It is waiting to be taken up. At some point, we need to say I will wear the helmet of salvation I will be shod with the shoes of righteousness I will pick up the shield of faith. We cannot wander through the enemy's camp of this world without wearing the armor and survive spiritually. We cannot assume we have it in place.

The armor must be worn in its fullness; the breastplate without the helmet is not good since it exposes us to a head wound, or if you have a helmet but no sword you will be hard-pressed to gain victory. We are offered a complete set of armor; it is foolish to fail to wear it all.

The Intent of Armor:
We don't wear armor so we can go to a beauty pageant and show off our armor. We are given armor and weapons for warfare. It is expected that we are going to fight the battles of the Lord.

The Game Plan:
We only need to stand against the devil's schemes, there is little about tactics in Ephesians 6 except prayer and the word of God. The victory is already won; we in faith pray and claim victory. We are to take our stand, in ancient warfare soldiers stood side by side in ranks to face the enemy to take your stand is to hold your ground.

There is no armor like God's armor. We have nothing that will equal it. It is perfectly suited to the battle against evil in such a way that no man-made armor is.

I recommend a reading of the entire chapter of Ephesians 6 to learn more about this subject.

To read this in other translations follow this link: Online Parallel Bible.

(c)Adron Dozat

Where is God When You Need Him. Psalm 121:3-4

In our darkest times and deepest trials, we are tempted to demand of God that He pay attention. We wonder if God knows about our suffering. We ask "Does He see?"

"He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not slumber: indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:3,4, NIV

GOD IS ACTIVE
This verse from the Bible is full of activity. It uses words like, "He will not..." and,"He who watches..." and," Will neither ..." God is involved and active during our trials. He is not absent or distracted.

HE WATCHES
Twice it says, "He who watches." This double emphasis leaves no doubt that God is watching our troubles. He is the God who is already watching, we don't have to get His attention, He already is the God "who watches."

When we say God watches we don't just mean he sees, but like a guard on a city wall, He is watching to protect the city, ready to call the alarm and defend against a foe. God is watching over our trials ready to defend and protect.

A WATCHMAN
The watchman made the city safe and the watchfulness of our God keeps us safe. While others are asleep the watchman may turn back an enemy attack. We in our earthly state do not know or see the battles fought outside our vision on spiritual battlefields.

A watchman who slept while on duty was no good and was even a danger to the city, but our God is ever alert. Three times it uses the personal pronoun, "He," and three times it says our God will not slumber or sleep. Our Father in Heaven is watching, the Holy Spirit in us is counseling and comforting, and the Son is standing as our intercessor. We are protected, we are guarded, and we are covered!

STAND
We may receive wounds and blows in this wicked world but we still stand secure because "He will not let your foot slip." We stand on our feet and it speaks of our standing before the All-Seeing Ruler of All Time. Our standing before Him does change and our eternal salvation is secure.

If this post is helpful you also might like to read more encouragement from Psalm 121, CLICK HERE.

(c) Adron Dozat