She wrote to ask for my help. The details of her story poured out on my computer screen, and gripped me with sadness. How could one’s life, so fully devoted to Christ, be caught in this severity of confusion and misunderstanding? Could I possibly offer a balm of encouragement for her aching soul?
Since Difficult Circumstances Don’t Go Away, where do you and I—like my friend—find the how-to’s for scaling life’s granite faced mountain?
Pulling from the Pages of God’s Word and from the archives of my own life, I offer three dynamic ropes:
How to face difficult circumstances:
Recognize that He is with us!
Isaiah 43:1-4b
But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; … Since you are precious and honored in my sight … and because I love you …
How to survive difficult circumstances:
Realize that He provides for us!
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
How to thrive in difficult circumstances:
Rejoice that He prospers us!
2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
I turned a corner in maturity when I unearthed the following erroneous patterns:
When
•Erroneous thinking leads us to believe that life will be great when this problem is solved, when this trial abates, when this challenge is met, when this person transfers. When, when, when, when, when. Wrong. Life is not when; life is now.
Either/or
•Erroneous assumptions cause us to think that life is either/or; either filled with joy or filled with sorrow, one or the other. Quite the contrary. Both sorrow and joy exist—even coalesce—simultaneously in our sojourn.
Fix it; then forge ahead
•Erroneous tendencies tempt us to try and fix life, and then get on with living. Such a perspective is simply not accurate. No. Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, armed with the Word of God, we forge ahead, and carry life right along with us.
No wonder, we celebrate the Words of Psalm 84: 5,7.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage … They go from strength to strength …. So, my fellow climber, take a deep breath, and breathe in celestial air right in the midst of pollution. Take a deep breath and keep scaling onward and upward, difficult circumstances and all.
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
Which of the above Scriptures brings you the most encouragement in a circumstance you currently face?
Where does God want you to turn a corner in maturity by correcting an erroneous pattern of thinking about life?
