Christianity – Page 42 – Growing 4 Life

Looking Back or Looking Forward?

4 Comments / April 15, 2013 April 15, 2013

Sometimes you hear just the right sermon at just the right time.

That’s exactly what happened yesterday. The pastor didn’t know that I needed to hear his message. But God did.

You see, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time recently looking in the rear view mirror. Unexcited about what’s ahead of me and mourning what is past, I didn’t really think much of it. Just figured that it’s part of this time in my life. I certainly didn’t think that I was disappointing my heavenly Father with my longing looks back to the past.

But yesterday I realized that I need to stop looking in the rear view mirror and place my focus on what’s ahead of me. Here are a few points that really hit me as to why this is so important, straight from this sermon–

1) While some review of history is helpful (we’ve all heard the quote “those who ignore history are destined to repeat it), we need to be so very careful that this focus doesn’t turn into an obsession with regret, revenge, or remembering the “good ole’ days”.

2) Looking in the rear view mirror always leads to a focus on self–looking at my reflection, looking at what I’ve accomplished, how I’ve been hurt, what I have lost, my failures, my successes–it’s all about me. But when I look forward, that all fades and I can embrace the future and place my focus on God and others–right where it belongs.

3) Success and failure are always history. We can’t let our past successes define us. We can’t let our past failures destroy us.

4) We are told to look straight ahead in the scriptures. I am not sure why I never noticed these verses before. Notice the words in bold:

PROVERBS 4:23-27

²³Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
²⁶Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
²⁷Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

Let your eyes look straight ahead. Not behind you nor to the right or left. But in front of you. There it is–commanded right in scriptures.

Wow. Never noticed that before.

And so it is with humility that I realize that longing for the past is not only detrimental to me, but displeases my heavenly Father. Funny how you can be so blind to some things–and then one day, God opens your eyes.

I thank Him for showing me this. And now that my eyes have been opened, I have a responsibility to change my focus. It won’t happen instantly, but, thankfully, I know I don’t need to do it alone, but can be confident that the Holy Spirit will be with me, strengthening and guiding me.

Where is your focus today? Are you stuck in the past? In regret? Or thoughts of revenge? Or perhaps dwelling on past successes or failures? Let’s take our eyes off the rear view mirror this week and instead turn our eyes straight ahead towards our Savior and others.

Wednesday Wisdom: God, You are Faithful

Leave a Comment / April 10, 2013 April 10, 2013

There are so many beautiful words that describe God: Loving, Kind, Good, Just, Perfect, Omnipotent, to name a few. But I am not sure any is more comforting than the word FAITHFUL. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us about this: Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

About five years ago now, Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman found out about God’s faithfulness the hard way. He and his family experienced a tragedy that none of us would wish on our worst enemy. I heard him say in an interview that he had to figure out if all of the stuff he had sung about for so many years was actually true. Through it all, he grew to understand God’s faithfulness in a way that only those who experience anguished and heart-breaking adversity can. I love this song so much. It is honest and raw and oh, so hopeful. God is faithful!

FAITHFUL by Steven Curtis Chapman

I am broken, I am bleeding,
I’m scared and I’m confused,
but You are faithful.
Yes You are faithful.
I am weary, unbelieving.
God please help my unbelief!
‘Cause You are faithful.
Yes, You are faithful.

I will proclaim it to the world.
I will declare it to my heart
And sing it when the sun is shining.
I will scream it in the dark.

You are faithful!
You are faithful!
When you give and when You take away,
even then still Your name
is faithful!
You are faithful!
And with everything inside of me,
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful.

I am waiting for the rescue
that I know is sure to come,
‘Cause You are faithful.
Yes, You are faithful.
And I’ve dropped anchor in Your promises,
and I am holding on,
‘Cause You are faithful.
God, You are faithful.

I will proclaim it to the world.
I will declare it to my heart
And sing it when the sun is shining.
I will scream it in the dark.

So faithful…

Though I cannot have the answer
that I’m wanting to demand,
I’ll remember You are God
and everything is in Your hand.
With Your hands You put the sun, the moon,
the stars up in the sky,
for the sake of love, You hung Your own Son
on the cross…to die…

You are faithful…
Yes, You are faithful…
When you give and when You take away,
even then, great is Your faithfulness!
Great is Your faithfulness!

And with everything inside of me,
I am choosing to believe You’re faithful!
Oh, oh, oh…
Oh, oh, oh…
When you give and when You take away,
even then still Your name
is faithful!
You are faithful!
And with everything inside of me,
I am choosing to believe…

…You’re faithful…

**If you are not familiar with the tragedy that beset this family, you can read about it here.

**You can listen to this beautiful song on YouTube here.

The Real Deal

Leave a Comment / April 8, 2013 April 8, 2013

We were sitting in Friendly’s waiting for our ice cream. Normally we don’t get dessert with dinner, but who can skip dessert at Friendly’s? As we waited, a waitress brought out some luscious-looking sundaes to a booth across the restaurant, one of them being a mint chip sundae with hot fudge. And suddenly, the air was filled with the aroma of mint chocolate! “Wow! Can I smell that from here?” said my husband in disbelief.

Unbeknownst to him, I had pulled out my mint chocolate hand sanitizer to remove the stickiness from my hands at just the same moment the waitress had brought out the yummy looking sundaes. We all started laughing because the timing was so impeccable. Of course, we couldn’t smell the ice cream from across the store. But my hand sanitizer gave us the illusion that we could.

Many churches are becoming a little like this. They smell like the church. They look like the church. But when you walk in the doors, they aren’t really functioning like a biblical church.

While church is a great place to feel loved and to fellowship and perhaps sometimes to even win the lost, there are some other really important functions that get totally ignored or are done rather as an afterthought.

The first and most important job of a church is to teach doctrine. Paul mentions this word in several of his letters. I Timothy 1:3 and Titus 2:1 are two of them. Doctrine has become a bit of a “bad” word in most churches. That is because people aren’t interested in learning biblical doctrine. The word makes many cringe. But doctrine simply means “something that is taught; teachings collectively” according to dictionary.com. Paul urges ministers to teach their flocks about what the Bible says. That is the most important priority.

I Timothy 4 shows us another important duty of a church: Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

Church leaders have a responsibility to help their flocks discern. There are a lot of false teachings floating around out there. But because the world’s philosophy of “if you believe it, it’s true for you” has crept into the church, church leaders have become afraid of confrontations. And I can see why, as most times accusations start flying immediately and the leaders are branded narrow-minded and old-fashioned and stuck in tradition and too uptight. But Paul expressly commands ministers to teach discernment. Churches need to be willing to do this.

And, finally, one other important job of a church is to discipline. One of the passages that talks about this is I Timothy 5:20 where Paul urges elders to rebuke those who are sinning in the presence of all, that the rest may fear. Most churches ignore any passage on church discipline. And, honestly, I can understand why. In this day and age, you are considered judgmental and narrow-minded if you stand against any sin. But does this excuse the church from doing it?

These are three important jobs of a biblical church: teach doctrine, protect from false doctrine, and discipline wayward believers.

We have been sold the lie that churches only exist to save the lost but that isn’t biblical. While many have been drawn to a church service and been saved there, that is not its main purpose. We have been sold the lie that church is about experiencing love and community. While many of us have made wonderful friends and enjoy being part of a community, that is not its main purpose.

I have no idea what type of church you attend. And finding a good, solid, biblical church is getting harder every day. But there are still some good ones around. I hope you are in one of them.

Not been there and not done that

Leave a Comment / April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013

I was having a conversation with two friends who had decided to go tanning. I didn’t understand why they would want to do this, given some of the health risks. I mean, after all, what does it really matter if they are a little pale? And then one of them said, “You wouldn’t understand.”

Because my complexion is not fair, I wouldn’t understand.

Hmmm…she had a point. While I am not really dark complected, I am not really fair, either. So I couldn’t understand.

But did that disqualify me from expressing concern?

Should it disqualify me from expressing concern?

What do you think?

This is an important conversation, because this same logic applies to what we do with opportunities to share the gospel with others. Have you ever shied away from witnessing to a drug addict or a prostitute or a Muslim, because you felt you couldn’t possibly understand?

I know I have. I have this mindset that the Lord couldn’t possibly use me to witness to someone that is so different than me…who has faced things that I have never faced.

But am I automatically disqualified if I haven’t “been there and done that”?

That is why I have always admired those people who have come to Christ and then been radically and forever changed…saved from addictions and false religions and other very dramatic sins.

I find myself thinking that they can be so much more effective for Jesus than I can. After all, I was raised in a Christian home, married a Christian man, and have spent most of my life knowing the One who saved me. I have changed…oh, my, yes, I have changed from the person I was when I came to Christ, but it has been very gradual…like a gentle, ever-climbing rise on a graph.

Should I even bother trying to witness if I do not have a dramatic testimony?

I think so, and here’s why-

1. It isn’t about me. God draws men to Himself. I am just an instrument in His hands (John 6:44).

2. I am not without resources. God’s Word is a living and powerful tool for this job (Hebrews 4:12).

3. I am called to share the gospel. It is not an option, it is a command (Mark 16:15).

4. And, most importantly, because of love for my fellow man. If I love others, how could I not be compelled to share the amazing and wonderful hope within me (I John 4:7-8)?

And so, yes, I believe God can use me even if I have “not been there and not done that”.

While it is not dramatic by the world’s standards, I can say with absolute confidence that I have been saved from my sins and have been given the peace that passeth understanding while here on earth and a glorious hope for my future! All of this is because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead all of those years ago. We can be reconciled to God because of this!

All we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). There is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). I guess when it comes right down to it, all of us believers can understand what it means to be rescued from a life dedicated to self and sin, to be given renewed hearts, and to be given the promise of heaven. No matter where we came from, this alone should qualify us to share boldly with others.

Fill ‘Er Up

Leave a Comment / March 28, 2013 March 28, 2013

I heard a little ding. My eyes went to the dash. Great. I was on empty. Really empty. I had just left the house to pick up my daughter from basketball practice and remembered that this low fuel light had been on for quite awhile. I was probably not going to even make it to the school.

Does God care about that stuff? I am pretty sure He does, as I have had so many “inconsequential” prayers answered that it defies coincidence. But, at any rate, I pictured that precious gas station just a few blocks away from the school and put in my petition, “Lord, if there is any way I can just make it to that gas station…but, of course, if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world…”

This was the closest I had come to running out of gas in a long time. I don’t like to cut things that close. I grabbed on to the steering wheel and coaxed the car along, “you can make it!” Yes, I think…if I remember correctly…I was talking to my car. Good thing I was alone.

Imagine my delight when I pulled up by that gas pump. I sighed with relief. I had made it. I reached for my purse…

You have got to be kidding me.

It wasn’t there. In my hurry to leave, I had forgotten my purse and all forms of payment. All forms. “Okay, stop, breathe. You can figure this out. Check your emergency money fund.”

Normally, I keep at least a few dollars in emergency money. But, alas, (and of course!) it was empty. The time I need it most, the only thing available to me was a handful of change.

So now what?

I called my son, “can you bring me my purse?”

“Aw, mom. Go to the school and see if you can borrow ten bucks from someone. If you can’t, I’ll come rescue you.”

I had doubts I would even make it to the school, much less back to the gas station. But, what choice did I have? And, at least by this point, I had a back-up plan in place, thanks to my son. That made me feel a whole lot better.

And so I tentatively set off for the school. There I found a Good Samaritan in the form of one of my daughter’s friend’s Dad. He graciously lent me a twenty with a smile. I gathered my daughter and headed off for my third uncertain journey of the day.

As I pulled up beside that pump for the second time that day and filled the car with the precious liquid it needs to get me anywhere, I slumped in the driver’s seat, thanking the Lord.

This wasn’t do or die. I had a rescuer if I needed it. It was just one of those annoying things in life. And the worst thing about it: it was totally my fault. I had let it get too close to empty. I had left the house without my purse. My emergency fund was dry.

I was reminded of this incident a few weeks ago, when I heard one of my dear friends talk about remaining godly during illness. She has suffered greatly this past year with a strange illness that came by surprise and continues to hold a grip on her life. She gave a wonderful presentation, but one thing she said especially stuck with me.

Be prepared.

Before anything rocks your world to its core, make sure you are prepared.

How do we do that?

Know God (Philippians 3:10); Fill our minds with the right things (Philippians 4:8); Study His Word (2 Timothy 3:16); Memorize passages of Scripture (Psalm 119:11); Walk with Him daily (John 15:4). Grow as a believer (I Corinthians 3:2); Care for those in need and hate the world (James 1:27).

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in this busy and very warped world, that we forget what is really important…until it is too late.

But I see very threatening clouds on the horizon of this country. I don’t mean to sound like I am predicting doom, but I guess you would have to have your head buried in the sand to not realize that it is probably going to get a lot tougher for us Christians. Are you going to be ready? Will you be able to stand boldly for Christ? Will I?

What about just the normal stuff? Will we be ready for the inevitable trials and tragedies that come at one time or later to all of us?

Only time will tell. But I want to be ready! I don’t want to be stuck with an empty tank of gas beside a gas pump without any form of payment. Now that would be stupid.

Wednesday Wisdom: Is Belief Enough?

Leave a Comment / March 27, 2013 March 27, 2013

Sometimes I feel a little like a broken record. If there is a theme for this blog, it would be this: True Christianity is not simply a decision; it’s your life. Yes, it starts with belief, but scripture makes it clear: saving faith yields good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), a love for truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10), love for others (I John 2:9), and hatred for the world and the things of the world (I John 2:15). Saving faith changes us.

I am reading a book right now called “Practical Christianity” by A.W. Pink. It is taking me a long time, because I find it so deep and–if I am honest–convicting. This is what A.W. Pink has to say in this book about belief:

Love of sin is the immediate cause of unbelief: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). “The light of the Gospel is brought unto a place or people: they come so near it as to discover its end or tendency; but as soon as they find that it aims to part them and their sins, they will have no more to do with it. They like not the terms of the Gospel, and so perish in and for their iniquities” (John Owen). If the Gospel were more clearly and faithfully preached, fewer would profess to believe it!

Saving faith, then, is the opposite of damning belief. Both issue from the heart that is alienated from God, which is in a state of rebellion against Him; saving faith from a heart which is reconciled to Him and so has ceased to fight against Him. Thus an essential element or ingredient in saving faith is a yielding to the authority of God, a submitting of myself to His rule. It is very much more than my understanding assenting and my will consenting to the fact that Christ is a Saviour for sinners, and that He stands ready to receive all who trust Him. To be received by Christ I must not only come to Him renouncing all my own righteousness (Romans 10:3), as an empty-handed beggar (Matt. 19:21), but I must also forsake my self-will and rebellion against Him (Ps. 12:11, 12; Prov. 28:13). Should an insurrectionist and seditionist come to an earthly king seeking his sovereign favour and pardon, then, obviously, the very law of his coming to him for forgiveness requires that he should come on his knees, laying aside his hostility. So it is with a sinner who really comes savingly to Christ for pardon; it is against the law of faith to do otherwise.

Saving faith is a genuine coming to Christ (Matt. 11:28;John 6:37, etc.). But let us take care that we do not miss the clear and inevitable implication of this term. If I say “I come to the U.S.A.” then I necessarily indicate that I left some other country to get here. Thus it is in “coming” to Christ; something has to be left. Coming to Christ not only involves the abandoning of every false object of confidence, it also includes and entails the forsaking of all other competitors for my heart. “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1 Peter 2:25). And what is meant by “ye were [note the past tense—they are no longer doing so] as sheep going astray”? Isaiah 53:6, tells us: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to His own way.” Ah, that is what must be forsaken before we can truly “come” to Christ—that course of self-will must be abandoned. The prodigal son could not come to his Father while he remained in the far country. Dear reader, if you are still following a course of self-pleasing, you are only deceiving yourself if you think you have come to Christ.

Pink, A.W. (2010-07-26). Practical Christianity. Kindle Edition.

My journey with CQTS

1 Comment / March 25, 2013 March 31, 2017

It all started over a year ago. Maybe it even goes further back than that. When you find out you have a condition, it is hard to know when it really started.

I think it started when I purchased my iPhone and downloaded a dictionary.

Suddenly, my iPhone seemed a necessary study tool to have by me during quiet time.

And then my iPhone was joined by the very helpful iPad with all of its wonderful Bible Study tools. How amazing to have maps and commentaries and Bible dictionaries at my finger tips all for a few dollars.

And, so, I settled into a nice little pattern of having these tools beside me.

Until one day I realized: I had a classic case of CQTS:

Compromised Quiet Time Syndrome

While these two little gadgets did help me with Bible study, the disadvantages were many. You see, each time I would hear a little ding that I had a text, I would click it…immediately. If I saw a little notification number, I would feel the need to check it…immediately. Until one day, I realized that these helpful little gadgets had become very large hindrances in my walk with God.

Basically, I was telling God to hold because I had something more important to do.

I had spent at least the last five years telling my kids not to text while studying –it’s too distracting. I knew the danger of having a phone nearby. And, yet, here I was, doing what I had told my kids not to do. But instead of studying science or math, I was studying God’s Word. How pathetic was that??

And so I knew I had to find the cure for this condition. And guess what? The cure is quite simple, really–

Leave my iPhone and iPad on silent and far away from me during quiet time.

That’s it.

And so my healing from this syndrome continues. Some days, I forget to put my phone on silent and I can’t resist checking it. And some days, it is more difficult than others not to compulsively check what’s going on in the rest of the world and I fail. But I am definitely moving the right direction.

I know there are many who can’t relate AT ALL to this, but I am quite certain there are at least a few out there who CAN. I have seen the phones that barely leave the hand or the pocket, even in forty-somethings. We have become a culture that has put our texting and internet life before face-to-face relationships. I had become a person who had put those things even before God. I am quite ashamed to admit that.

But, thankfully, my God forgives me (over and over and over again) and I am healing. I am glad to say I am better today than I was a few months ago.

And I realize: iPhones and iPads can be wonderful tools–but they are tools, not gods. It’s time many of us stop idolizing our gadgets and start making our relationships with God and people our top priority.

Just how big is our God, anyway?

4 Comments / March 21, 2013 March 21, 2013

By now, most of us are aware of Rob Bell’s fall off the deep end of theology in the last six months or so. This was made clear this past week when he promoted gay marriage. No longer can he be called an evangelical. And, while I find his position on gay marriage alarming, it’s what he said about God and His Word that is most disturbing. Check out a few of these quotes —

“I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”*

“I think we are witnessing the death of a particular subculture that doesn’t work,” he asserted. “I think there is a very narrow, politically intertwined, culturally ghettoized, evangelical subculture that was told ‘we’re gonna change the thing’ and they haven’t. And they actually have turned away lots of people.”*

Do you see his focus here? It is people and what they want. It is not God.

But wait a minute.

Isn’t this the logical conclusion to where the church has been headed for a long time? Several decades ago, we started believing the lie that we need to be more like the world so that we could “relate better.” I mean how can we witness to those around us if we aren’t watching the same movies, going to the bars with them, or hanging out at poker night? And so worldliness entered the church under the guise of “witnessing”.

And then, in a matter of a few short years, this philosophy had entered the church.

And the cry was heard all ’round America! The church is dying! We have to save her! The only way is by making unbelievers more comfortable. Let’s make unbelievers want to come to church.

And so we changed everything.

We changed how long the service is, we changed the style of music, we changed the seats, and we changed the purpose.

And then, a few years after that, we still weren’t convinced that we were drawing enough people, and so we brought poker games, yoga classes, and secular entertainment into the church.

And we forgot.

We forgot that it is God who changes hearts and draws them to himself. It isn’t us.

John 6:44 makes this clear: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.

So you, see, I am not that surprised at Rob Bell’s departure from adhering to God’s Word. After all, God’s Word is going to sound harsh, unloving, and ridiculous to rebellious sinners. They aren’t going to like it. If it is preached without apology, they are going to squirm uncomfortably. But his departure is just the natural progression of a church that has made attracting these rebellious sinners their top priority.

No, change isn’t all bad. There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with new music or a shorter service. The error comes when these changes are what we think we have to do in order to draw a dying world.

Yes, we need to evangelize. It is one of our top priorities to share the gospel. But how dare we corrupt it by changing it, and skewing it, and tainting it with the world?

The world’s salvation isn’t dependent upon our methods.

God is bigger than our methods. He is bigger than our ideas and our plans.

We are to glorify Him and magnify Him and to share His plan of salvation. This can be –this has to be– done without contaminating ourselves with the ways of the world.

And so, Mr. Bell, I am not surprised with your departure from biblical doctrine. I expect many more will follow after you.

Philippians 1:9-11

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

*http://christiannews.net/2013/03/18/no-hell-bell-comes-out-in-support-of-homosexuality-tells-narrow-christians-to-repent/

Wednesday Wisdom: Let the Children Come

Leave a Comment / March 20, 2013 March 20, 2013

How precious are the souls of children! For some reason, many of us mistakenly believe that working with children is somehow less important than working with adults. But in Matthew 19:13-15, we read the beautiful story of Jesus’s interest in the little children. They were worthy of His time and they should be worthy of ours. This song by Michael Card, written about that passage, touched my heart when I heard it the other day. Oh, how precious are the children! And oh, how right Michael Card is when he wrote the line: The springtime of their life decides the adults they’ll become.

What a privilege it is to serve children. I thank God for godly teachers and Sunday School teachers and mentors. God has used so many of them to change lives. May God bless them!

LET THE CHILDREN COME

Jesus looked so weary

from the worries of the day

But the look on his face lightened

when the children come His way

Before He could reach out to them

and join them in their play

His grown-up band of followers

told the kids to go away

Let the Children Come

Don’t dare drive them away

And then the kingdom comes

Hear the holy, foolish things they say

The springtime of their life decides

the adults they’ll become

So let the children come

Please let the children come

The golden gift of childhood

Lasts a lifetime if you try

The simple trusting faith they hold

Keeps scholars mystified

And so the Lord adopts us

As His daughters and His sons

For the Kingdom is for Children

So please let the children come

Let the Children Come

Don’t dare drive them away

And then the kingdom comes

Hear the holy, foolish things they say

The springtime of their life decides

the adults they’ll become

So let the children come

Please let the children come

Because He Lives

5 Comments / March 18, 2013 March 18, 2013

As I look out the window, I see another dreary, cold day. It’s mid-March, but it feels like winter may last all year. Sometimes we can feel like our own personal winter will be here forever. Think of the last time you felt yourself in a difficult situation that lasted longer than you anticipated. Or think about when you have faced a desperate problem that appeared impossible. Perhaps you don’t have to think very hard, because you are in one of these places right now.

At those times, the feelings can overwhelm us. We feel–

Powerless

Hopeless

Discouraged

Lonely

Helpless

Wronged

Exhausted

These feelings often wash over us in giant waves when we are struggling. And, yet, somehow we have to work through our long, unending winters and our unanswered problems. Not only are we supposed to work through them, but we are to glorify God while doing so. So how do we do this? I am still learning myself, so please note, this is not an “I Have Arrived” post. However, as I continue on my journey in learning through trials, here are a few things I have learned:

1. Things may not always make sense to me but they always make sense to God. We can trust Him. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 29:16: Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Seriously, who do we think are to question God, anyway?

2. Working through the unworkable as a believer is all about yielding ourselves to the one Who made us. Submission to God and His plan through heartache is a key to living a victorious Christian life. In 2 Chronicles 20 we find the story of multiple armies coming against Jehoshaphat. What a great example of yielding to God. He didn’t cry out in anger and fear at this impossible situation. He didn’t try to fix it himself by hurriedly gathering his army. No, instead, he first sought God. In fact, he encouraged his whole nation to seek God. And God worked a miracle! Now, while we don’t see many miracles in this day and age, we still see God work in amazing ways when we yield our own wills to His greater plan.

3. Even if He doesn’t provide a way out for us, He always provides a way through. Sometimes we find ourselves in a very dark place. A tunnel without light where we can barely see our own two feet to take the next step. But He has promised to be with us through it all. Psalm 23 says it best in verse 4–

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

He will never leave me or forsake me. He will always provide the next step. And that’s all we really need to know (even though we’d like to know so much more!)

4. It’s not about me. I am not on this earth to fulfill my life, to reach my potential, to have a comfortable life, to find my purpose (gasp!) This is perhaps one of the most deadly false doctrines infiltrating the church today. It has probably even wormed its way into our own thinking without us even realizing it. When we became Christians, we gave up our rights and our lives for the sake of Christ. Galatians 2:20 says it best: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

5. We should expect to suffer. Why, oh why, do we feel like we deserve a life without suffering? Without trials? Without problems? This isn’t even scriptural. There are many verses about what we should expect if we are going to follow Christ (check out Matthew 5:10-12; John 15:18-20; 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 to get started) In fact, I Peter 4:12-16 tells us that we should rejoice to take part in Christ’s suffering! It’s not pleasant to think about and most of us would rather turn our focus on the blessings we receive when we follow Christ, but that doesn’t make it any less true. It is clear in God’s Word, that we should all expect to suffer and those of us who are true believers should expect more suffering, not less.

6. And, finally, God is faithful. He comforts and strengthens us (Isaiah 41:10). He is our stronghold in times of trouble (Psalm 9:9-10). He supplies all our needs (Philippians 4:19). He helps to carry our load (Matthew 11:28-30). These aren’t just words in an old book. If we have given our lives to Christ, we have seen the evidence of this in our own lives over and over and over again. God is so faithful.

I don’t know what you are going through today and I don’t know what any of us will face in the future, but, as the old song says;

“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!”