When will it happen? When will it be over? How long, Lord?
Even Jesus asked this question: ““And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?”” (Matthew 17:17)
Your reality may be tough. You may be agonizing about the fix you are in.
Switch your view from your situation to the Timekeeper.
God, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, has control of the clock. He will be right on time.
“And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:41)
““On that day I will…” (For example, Ezekiel 29:21, Hosea 1:5)
He knows what is happening to and around you. He promises to bring good out of whatever it is (Romans 8:28-29).
He controls the depth of the trial, and the length of the trial.
Fix your eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2)
Trust your almighty, loving Lord.
I shouldn’t bother God with that little thing… I’ll just pray about the big stuff.
Huh?!
“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.”
Benjamin Franklin
What, exactly, is “big stuff” to God?
Nothing is too difficult for Him. Jeremiah 32:17
With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26
God is almighty over all…including the “big stuff” and the “little stuff.”
Everything is easy for God, so even the “big stuff” is “little stuff.”
If it’s important to you, it’s important to your Father.
Pray about the “little stuff.”
So… Lord, should I upgrade my operating system?
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
“Phil 4:13” is often written on athletes’ eye blacks, bodies, and uniforms. They claim the verse guarantees they can win.
But the verse, in context, is about being content, with the Lord’s help, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are hungry or filled.
God never guarantees we will win in the arena, or in the ring, or in the marketplace.
But God guarantees we will be made into the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29)
Remember Philippians 4:13 when you are challenged to exercise the fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22)
Remember Philippians 4:13 when you want to curse your enemy.
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27–28)
Remember Philippians 4:13 when you don’t want to forgive.
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)
God guarantees He will work on us until the day of Christ Jesus both to want to do His will and to actually do His will.
So, the next time you want to explode rather than being patient or loving, remind yourself that, through your Lord who strengthens you, you can do it.
Let’s write Philippians 4:13 on our heart and minds.
Who’s the star?
I just read an interesting article about pitchmen that has obvious implications for Christians giving their testimonies.
When a celebrity pitches a product, the celebrity is the star. However, a successful pitchman makes the product the star.
Some Christian testimonies seem to focus on their experiences, especially how lost they were, rather than the Lord who saved them.
I’m challenged to make sure in my life I’m making my Lord the star.
* “The Pitchman,” in What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell.
“God never gives us more than we can handle.”
HA!
The point of trials is exactly to give us more than we can handle. By facing more than we can handle, we are forced to lean on His strength. We are forced to learn we are not sufficient in ourselves.
We learn to “not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:9).
From trials, our faith, endurance, and fruits of the Spirit grow so we are able to take on more the next time. (James 1:3)
In strength-training, you deliberately exceed the accustomed load on your muscles. By pressing (safely) beyond your physical limit, you increase your muscle’s strength.
And it is hard. I sometimes tell my trainer that I hope Christ comes again before we get to the next machine.
Spiritually, all—ALL–Christians are in a God-designed spiritual strength-training program.
We are promised trouble.
We are also promised benefits from that trouble. (See What’s so Good about Bad?)
The choice is ours: we can recognize that God, our strength-trainer, has allowed the trial for our benefit, lean on Him, honor Him throughout, and keep going. Or we can whine, and complain, and crumble.
Let’s consider it all joy. (James 1:2)
Unfair!
Something bad happened. You were accused of wrongdoing. You were criticized. You were excluded from something important.
What happened? Was it unfair? Or worse? Was it the Lord’s discipline?
What should you do? Is it an opportunity to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit? It is a battle you should engage?
Bad Things are Facts of Life
Christians don’t always win. See Hebrews 11.
Unfair things happen. See Paul’s list. 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
People may not like you. In fact, the world hates you. John 15:18
Your brothers may sell you into slavery. Genesis 37:28.
Your boss may be harsh and unreasonable 1 Peter 2:18
BUT
God’s Power and Love are Eternal Facts of Life
God, for His children, works good out of the bad. Romans 8:28
Bad things are used by God to make you into the image of His Son. Romans 8:29
We were chosen to be holy and blameless before Him. Ephesians 1:4
Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Romans 8:38-39
What to Do when Life’s Unfair
Do not be surprised. 1 Peter 4:12
Be a good soldier. We are in an all-out spiritual battle, serving in Christ’s army. 2 Timothy 2:3
Trust God. God is sovereign over this hard thing and has a loving purpose for your trial. Be humble before Him. Justice is coming, but later. Rewards are also coming. but later.
Pray for discernment on what to do, putting God in first place.
- We’re to treat even unreasonable bosses with respect (1 Peter 2:18).
- There may be some truth to the criticism, or the accusations might point to an underlying problem you need to confess. Put it through Christ’s filter.
- Or it might be that your gentle response is a shining testimony to those involved.
- But hold your ground where you must obey the Lord. (Acts 4:19-20)
Fix your eyes on Jesus and run your race with endurance. Hebrews 12:1-2
TAKE HEART. HANG IN THERE. PRAY. REJOICE. Philippians 4:4-8
Question for you
What is your default mode when something bad happens? Do you come out swinging? Or with a gentle spirit?
I tend to fight…but the Lord is working on me.
Nothing is impossible with God. We can ask, but He can give more than we can imagine.
“With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
He “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20)
At the same time, we must live in dependence on and surrender to God. He loves His children and is molding us into the image of His Son. He uses trials to fulfill His loving purpose.
You’re heard about the crisis with my eyes. I suddenly could not see very well, and learned I had drainage and macula issues in both eyes. (See Your Will be Done; Practical Exam; New Territory; A Good Talking-To; Humble Faith; Interruption or Opportunity?; Making it Worse to Make it Better; I’m Tired.)
I went from scared to trusting to imploring to scared to surrender to … well, you get the idea.
I did consistently pray for the Lord to restore my vision. But I also determined to put myself in His hands (where I was anyway) knowing He had a loving purpose for my difficulties, and knowing He would be with me, and still have a purpose for me, even if I lost my sight.
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
When we pray in Jesus’ name, we mean that our request honors Him and is congruent with His purposes. Too often we don’t get what we want because we ask with the wrong motives, wanting our own way.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)
I definitely do not claim that my prayers were perfect. I desperately wanted to be able to see. I cringed at the idea of living the rest of my life with impaired vision, or worse. But I did work at trusting Him.
And God, in His mercy, in His lovingkindness, restored my sight.
Four surgeries later, I can see as well with glasses as I could before all this started. And, except for close up, I can see better without glasses than before (to correct the drainage problem artificial lenses were implanted). Thank You, Lord!
I do have small blurry spots in central vision in each eye, but they are in different places, and are definitely manageable. I’m actually grateful for them because I do not want to forget God’s incredible gift.
In fact, speaking of gifts, you open two every morning.
There are five physical senses: smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing. Neuropsychologists say thinking is the sixth sense.
Seventh Sense
Christians have been given a seventh sense: spiritual discernment.
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
“The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Romans 8:7).
We understand the world differently than non-believers.
Huh?
Have you ever talked with a friend about the Lord, and, even though your friend likes you and was listening, you’ve gotten a blank stare? Yep, me too.
We are to always be ready “to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
While we are responsible to try, there may be no understanding, at least at that time.
And we shouldn’t be surprised. They don’t get it, and they can’t. It takes the seventh sense, spiritual discernment, to understand the things of God.
We must pray that our friends’ minds will be opened, “that that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Christ” (Acts 26:17-18).
Growth in the Seventh Sense
We train ourselves to use our sense of hearing in order to listen better. We train ourselves to notice, using our sense of sight. We learn to think better as we mature.
In the same way, while we, God’s children, have been given the seventh sense of spiritual discernment, our ability grows as we are taught through the word of God. We must hone our gift through increasing in the knowledge of God and practicing the truth.
“Teach me good discernment and knowledge” (Psalm 119:66)
What to do
1) Be grateful. You are saved by a gift of God. Your seventh sense, spiritual discernment, is a gift of God.
2) Don’t be surprised that non-believers do not understand. Pray for them.
3) Diligently study the Bible, pray, and practice walking according to the Spirit.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I–finally—ordered “grown-up bookcases” to replace my college concrete block and board shelves. I carefully measured to maximize the shelf space and pictured how wonderful they’d look.
But I didn’t, not for one second, consider getting the bookcases from the driveway into my study.
The corner unit could not be maneuvered through the hall and into my room.
No way. No how. Nope!
I spent more than a day beating myself up. Why in the world didn’t I think of that problem? It is so obvious. Why in the world didn’t I ask my husband to look at it before placing the order? He would have seen the issue instantly. If only. If only.
Why am I so stupid?
If I stay focused on my error, I lose today’s opportunities. I know I have to find a way to move on. I need to switch from “if only” to “next time.”
I need to learn from my mistake so I don’t repeat it. That’s examining myself.
But then I need to capture that understanding and translate it into the future. Next time I am going to picture the entire process instead of just the desired end result. Next time I am going to ask my husband what he thinks before I place the order.
“…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
For more information about “if only” and “next time,” see pages 247-249 in When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
P.S. Thanks to the skill of others, the corner unit was taken apart and put back together in my study. And it looks great.
Oops. That was muddier than I expected.
How to get out of the mud
How to get out of the mud.
1) Stop digging.
And Jesus said, “Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:11)
2) Don’t spend all your energy thinking about how you got here (but that’s useful to help prevent getting back in the mud later on. You do need to learn from your mistakes).
Forget what lies behind, reach forward to what lies ahead, and press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13–14)
3) If someone comes by with a towrope, say, “Yes, please, I’d love help.” We are given Christian brothers and sisters for a reason.
Help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well. (Romans 16:2)
4) Don’t try to get out of the mud with one huge leap, that’s probably not realistic or productive.
5) Pray about what is the next best (probably small) step and take that step. And then take the next best step. (See Start What Must Be Finished)
6) Don’t get discouraged by how long this might take. It might take five years to get out of the mud. In five years you will be five years older. Period. In five years, you don’t want to be still in the mud. Get going.
7) Watch your attitude. You are a child of God, even in the mud. How can you honor Him where you are? Determine to be grateful for His mercy towards you and His help right now.
8) And then, don’t fall back into the mud again.
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When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? helps Christians not fear bad news, shows them how to handle current trouble, and helps them emerge stronger on the other side.
About me
I'm a Christian, wife, retiree, and author.
I love studying and putting knowledge into action. I'll share what I'm learning, encourage you, and urge all of us to press on to become more like Christ.
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