I wanted to share some thoughts that I have recently had and keeps coming back over and over.
There was a promise given to Abraham:
Genesis 15:12 (KJV)
[12] And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
[13] And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
[14] And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
[15] And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
[16] But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
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Acts 7:6 (KJV)
[6] And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
[7] And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.
[8] And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
[9] And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
[10] And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
[11] Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
[12] But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
[13] And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
[14] Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
[15] So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
[16] And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
[17] But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
[18] Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
[19] The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
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As you can see in the highlighted verses above, there was a promise that there would be conflict and evil done to the children of Israel.
Thought #1: There is no promise that tribulation will not come when you live for God.
John 16:33 (KJV)
[33] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
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What Jesus said was; there will be problems and tribulations, but I am bigger then things that cause these problems and tribulations.
Matthew 5:10 (KJV)
[10] Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
[12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
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Nowhere in Scripture will you find that God promises man that there will not go through tough times or hard times. He did promise that He would help in times of trouble.
Psalms 46:1 (KJV)
Psalm 46
[46:1] (To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
[2] Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
[3] Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
[4] There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
[5] God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
[6] The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
[7] The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
[8] Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
[9] He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
[10] Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
[11] The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
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I want to tell you that no matter how big your problem is, or how evil our world becomes, God is bigger than us and our problems.
Thought #2: God will help you, but you have to get desperate for His help.
Exodus 3:7 (KJV)
[7] And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
[8] And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
[9] Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
[10] Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
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You see the children of Israel began to call out to God when they became desperate. They called out to God when the torture and trials became more than they could handle.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)
[13] There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
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So, you have to ask yourself not why am I going through this temptation or trial, but rather how desperate am I for God to help me get through this trial or temptation.
Thought #3: Our temptations and trials are not done out of spite, but rather to draw us closer to our God.
Sometimes our problems are caused by things we have done. Other times problems come from things out of our control. Nonetheless, all problems should draw us closer to God.
The problem is that we often times allow our problems to draw us away from God and we blame God for our problems.
James 4:7 (KJV)
[7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
[8] Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
[9] Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
[10] Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
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There is a promise from God that He will lift you up, but give your tribulation and trials to God.
Thought #4: You need to know who you are and you need to know who God is.
You need to know you are an adopted child of God. There is a huge difference between a child that is born into a family and a child that is adopted into a family. Both are loved, but when you realize you are adopted you have been chosen.
I have known many children who were adopted. The parents were looking for a child because they were unable to conceive a child for themselves. They became desperate for a child. When they found that child that had no home or family, they became compassionate and desired that child. They wanted to hold that child and nurture the child.
So, when we realize that we are sought out, desired, and loved by a Father, we can cry out Abba Father. The Father is waiting to hear our cry to bring us out of our bondage and tribulations.
Romans 8:15 (KJV)
[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
[16] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
When we were children of sin and this world, we were in bondage of fear. But when we were adopted into the family of God, we can cry out Abba Father and fear is gone because of the love of the Father.
1 John 4:16 (KJV)
[16] And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
[17] Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
[18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
[19] We love him, because he first loved us.
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When bondage comes and fear rears its ugly head, we can call out to God and say Abba Father. We become more than just a servant to God, we become His child.
I remember times when my kids were younger that in the middle of the night they would have a nightmare or were scared of something. When they cried out for dad to come and save them, I didn’t twiddle my thumbs, I ran to them.
See the biggest problem we have is when troubles come, we don’t get desperate for God and cry out Abba Father, we cry out saying why did you do this to me or why is this happening. Don’t ask questions, cry out for His help.
Thought #5: Hang on, what you are going through is no comparison to the promise.
[18] For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
No matter how bad things get right now, just remember, we have a blessed hope. Don’t take your eye off the goal. Don’t take your eye off the prize. Your troubles don’t compare to what you are about to receive.
Exodus 3:8, God said, I am going to bring the children of Israel up of the land they are in, into a large land full of milk and honey.
In the same way God is wanting to bring you out of a land of bondage and fear into a glorious land. Just hang on and get desperate for God. There is a blessed hope.
Thought #6: You may not know how you should pray for you situation, so, let the One who knows you best take over your prayers.
No matter how hard it is to pray, just rest in God and let Him do the praying. Too many times we want to keep talking and God is wanting us to be quiet and let Him do the talking. He knows what we need more than we do.
Not only does God know you best, He also knows what you need the most. It may not be what you wanted or what you thought you needed, but what He gives you is always exactly what you needed.
Romans 8:26 (KJV)
[26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
[27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Thought # 7: It will all work out exactly the way it is supposed to.
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
God has a plan. Sometimes, He has to recalculate His plan because we like to try to take over, but He always gets us back to where we need to be going.
This past weekend, we spent some time traveling through Florida to see family and friends. We were using a GPS system. There were times when the GPS needed to recalculate because we had to take a detour or two. It was out of our control that there were obstacles in our way, but we made the decision to take the detour anyway.
However, there are times in our lives that we think there are obstacles in the way, but the truth of the matter is that God is directing our paths. When those obstacles come, we think we should go a different direction and God is still trying to get us to the promise He has given us.
Don’t look at the obstacles like they are bad things, look at them as though God has a plan.
Thought # 8: God is for you. That’s all you need to know.
[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
[32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
[33] Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
[34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
So God is for you to the point that he would robe Himself in this flesh, dwell among us for 33 ½ years, die, be buried and rise again on the third day so we could have a promise.
No matter how bad your situation is, there is a promise. Jesus showed that we could have victory over our trials and tribulations. We just have to be patient. Jesus is still powerful and mighty to overcome the things in our lives that could cause us spiritual death.
It is important to realize that in those times when heaven seems to be quiet Jesus is not dead, but is overcoming the grave for us. Let me make it a little more clear, when our prayers seem to hit the sealing and bounce back down, Jesus is overcoming the grave and death that is trying to take hold on you.
Don’t give into those things that will destroy you because you think God doesn’t care for you anymore. Jesus is fighting for you. Let Him have the battle.
Thought #9: No matter how bad it gets, it won’t separate you from the love of Christ.
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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No matter how bad it gets, God will always love you. He cares about you and is asking you to cast your cares upon Him.
1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
[7] Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
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You must release your cares to God, and He will take care of you. You see He cares for you. You are His child.
So, how desperate are you? Do you still think you can handle it completely on your own? Are you willing to give up those things you have been hanging onto yet?
Until you give up those things, they will continue to grow and get worst, not because God doesn’t care, but because He does care. He wants you to give it to Him.
You see God is bigger than anything you can bring to Him. No matter how big it looks to you, to Him it is a small thing. It has to do with the point of view. Your view of the tribulation or trial is it is bigger than you. God’s view of the tribulation and trial is He is looking down on it.
Again, how desperate are you?
