Tag Archives: difficult times

April 22, 2014 · 7:47 AM

Nothing Is Too Hard For God

A friend of mine asked me to pray for his brother who was sick and being taken to the hospital. When he told me the diagnosis, I replied, “That’s not too hard for God.” The truth is that there is nothing too hard for Him. When we hear a diagnosis, run out of money, get our hearts broken, lose our job or anything else that affects the way we live, we tend to look at it with our human eyes. We see the impossibility of recovery instead of the God who makes all things possible. We see the negative instead of the positive.

We get so used to walking by sight that we box God in. We tell Him what He can do and can’t do. We limit His ability to make a way where there seems to be no way. We look at the situation we are trapped in and desperately try to find a way out, but all we see are blocked paths. Sometimes that’s the way it is. There’s no way out. “When God closes a door, look for a window” is not in the Bible. God allows us to be in those moments where there’s no way out so that He can show us that He’s still in charge. He wants to remind us that He is able. He wants to grow our faith.

Nothing drives us to our knees faster than being in a no way out situation. Nothing makes us depend on God more than to have no power over a situation. The Israelites were up against the Red Sea when they were leaving captivity in Egypt. Pharaoh and his army were closing in fast. There was no where to turn, no weapons to fight with and panic was setting in. They were exactly where God led them, yet they were cornered into a desperate situation. Instead of crying out to God, they complained and said they would have rather died as slaves than to be killed in the wilderness. They would have rather gone back to a life of sight than a life of faith.

In Exodus 14:13-14, Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (ESV).” Think about that in the situation you are in today. Don’t fear. Don’t panic. Stay calm and trust God. He will work for you today. Then it says that The Lord will fight for you. He will fight your battle so you don’t have to. You only have to be silent. Just stand back and watch God work.

He sees your situation. In fact, it’s part of His plan for your life. He’s growing you through the tough times. When your back is against the wall and there’s no way out, that’s when God does the most amazing things. It takes us not acting in fear in those times to see the victory. It takes us holding on to God’s Word to get us through. The outcome may not be the way we thought it should have happened, but it will happen the way God intended it to. No one in Israel thought The Lord would part the Red Sea. His answer may not come in the way you think it will, but it will come right on time. Remember, there is nothing too hard for God.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27 ESV)

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 12, 2013 · 8:00 AM

Led Into The Desert

20131212-075937.jpg

Have you ever been to a desert? I used to live in Egypt and got to experience the Sahara firsthand. There was sand as far as you could see. The ground was covered with rocks. When the wind would blow, you’d get sand in your eyes. There were very few signs of life when you got out there in it. The desert part of Egypt wasn’t where you wanted to be for very long. That’s why a majority of Egyptians live in the Nile valley near the water source. I started to think about living in the desert when I read Hosea. Chapter 2 verse 14 caught my eye. God said, “I will lead her into the desert.”

He was talking about Israel at the time, but I believe it applies to you and I as well. He was talking of how Israel had strayed from Him. In order to win her back, He was going to lead her to the desert and speak tenderly to her. A desert is a place we usually don’t want to go to. When we are experiencing a spiritual drought, we often say that we’re in the desert. But here, God said He was going to lead them to the desert so He could speak to them. I think that He does that to get us away from all the distractions that keep us from hearing Him.

Our lives are so full of noise from meetings, technologies, TV’s, video games and music that it’s hard to hear God. He desperately wants our attention and to speak with us. To get our attention, sometimes He has to take us to the desert. Instead of listening for His voice, we whine and beg Him to get us out of that place. Instead of understanding there’s a purpose for being in the desert, we try to find our own way out of it. Instead of looking for Him, we complain to others about how hard our life is and how everything is going wrong. The thought never entered our minds that it was God who led us to the desert.

He wants to use those dry times in our lives to speak tenderly to us. When things are going wrong in your life, He wants you to look for Him as a shelter not as a complaint hotline. There is a lot to learn in the desert. Most importantly, there can be growth and the start of new life. In verse 15, God says, “I will return her vineyards to her.” What you’ve lost by going to the desert will be restored to you. It may not be exactly how you expect it. It will be better. What seems like the death of one life is really the birth of a new one. What you lost in the old one, will be restored in the new one. God leads us to the desert to destroy the things that hold us back and then restores the things that will renew our love for Him.

Maybe you’re in that desert today thinking God is punishing you. Maybe you’ve been complaining because of how tough things are. Maybe you’re at the point of giving up. If you’re there, consider that God has led you to this desert to remove what needed to be gone and to restore what He wants in your life. Yes, the removal part hurts. It’s a long, drawn out, painful process at times. Your day of restoration is coming. I want to leave you with the last words of verse 15. God said He would “transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.” Your restoration and transformation are on the way.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 2, 2013 · 8:04 AM

Sucker Punched

How do you keep going when you can’t see the future because your present is so dark? How do you begin to pick up the pieces of a broken life when you’re hurting inside? How do you keep praying when it feels like God has left you alone and unprotected? How do you keep from being angry and bitter when everything you had has been taken from you in a moment? As a person who has struggled with these questions, I have people ask me them all the time. I don’t have all the answers to them. I can only tell you how I did it.

When life sucker punches you, it’s hard to get back up knowing you’ll be sucker punched again and again. The easy thing to do is to give up. The hard thing to do is to open your eyes each day, get up and face life. I had the support of family and friends who constantly picked me up and helped me keep going. If you are struggling right now, don’t push away those whom God has put in your life to help. No, they really don’t understand what you’re going through, but they don’t have to in order to hold you up.

When it’s time and you have the strength, you’ll have to stop trying to hold it all together and start to rebuild. It’s no fun having to start over when you’ve already started and built a life. The good news is you’ll make fewer mistakes this time around and you can build the kind of life you really want. My idea of what life should be was a lot different at 30 than it was at 20. It will still take time, but you can avoid several of the pitfalls you made when you were younger. Pick up the pieces of your life that you want to keep. Leave the ones you don’t behind. Rebuild with good material on a solid foundation.

Even though it feels like God has abandoned you and none of your prayers are being answered, let alone heard, stay in the habit of praying. You can be honest with God about your pain, your struggles and fears. You’ll probably never pray more honest prayers than when you’ve been knocked down. God hears every prayer and sees what’s going on in your life. He has not abandoned you. He has not forgotten you or left you to fend for yourself. He is your strong tower and place of refuge. Run to Him. Hide in Him. He will bring peace in the midst of your chaos.

I prayed two scriptures to help me get through my struggles. I prayed Nehemiah 8:10, “For the joy of The Lord is your (my) strength.” I prayed, “Lord, give me your joy that isn’t dependent on circumstances so that I can have strength to walk through this.” I also prayed Hebrews 12:15, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” I prayed, “Lord, I know I have every right to be bitter, but please don’t let any of it take root. I don’t want this to affect my future relationships.” I repeated those constantly even when it felt like they were just words and not prayers. I believe God answered them.

If you are in a place today where these questions haunt you and life has sucker punched you, don’t give up. You don’t have to be strong and put on a brave face for everyone. It’s in our weakness that God’s grace is made perfect. He has given you all the grace you will need to survive this. He has placed people in your life to help pull you through. He is walking by your side even when you can’t see Him. It will take time to recover, to rebuild and to heal. Don’t try to speed up the process. Trust God’s plan and timing. You will make it through this.

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 27, 2013 · 7:37 AM

Learning From Others

I want to start off today by saying thank you to my friends who wrote guest posts for me this week while I took some time to disconnect, relax and refresh. I hope you enjoyed reading their work. All of them have spent time in the darkest of valleys. Some of them wrote to you this week from the valley. They are in that place where they haven’t seen the sun from the side or top of a mountain in their lives for months. Yet they still cling to hope in the One who will guide them through.

I found inspiration in each of their works. Nathan pointed out that both good times and difficult times are temporary. When we are in a season of either, we tend to feel like they’ll last forever. We think either, “I don’t ever want to give up this mountain top experience” or “Will I ever see the sun again in my life?” We have to learn that a well balanced life means we’re going to have times of joy and pain in our lives. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “To everything there is a time and a season for everything under heaven.”

Shelly then pointed out that the direct route is not always God’s route. He likes detours and He has a purpose for them. When I talk to young people, I let them know that it’s great to make plans for your life, but be prepared for detours. God may have called you to do something or to go to a certain place, but don’t expect His route to be the same as yours. You’ll still end up where He told you He’d take you, but He needs to take you through detours in order to get you ready for the future He’s planned for you. By the way, detours make the best stories!

Next Mike reminded me to be brave enough to give correction to others when needed and humble enough to accept it when I need it. I used to work with a lady who would say, “God only had one perfect son and you’re not it!” I laugh when I think about it, but thank God she had the courage to correct me when I needed it. I don’t like being the one giving it or receiving it, but I know that both are a necessary part of being a Christian. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Those clashes hurt and make a lot of noise, but in the end, we’re better for it.

Finally, my friend Bill reminded us that when we ask God, “Why me” in a trial, it reveals how we view Him. Either we think we don’t deserve it and that He should have given this burden to one of the other billions of people on the planet or that He has a purpose in our trials and wants us to learn something. We all eventually ask Him that question when the trial seems to have no end. The difference is our motive in asking it. Job even broke down and asked God with the wrong motive. Check out Job 38 to see God’s reply. It’s particularly convicting to me in the Message.

I hope that each of you gained new perspective from people that I follow and read. Take the time today to check out their other works as well as to say a prayer for them. Each of them could use a touch from God today in their situations. I’ve found that even when I’m going through the darkest of nights, someone else always has it worse than I do and it’s still my responsibility to lift others up in prayer even when I need it too. That said, I’ll be lifting you up in prayer today because God knows what you need better than I do.

7 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 23, 2013 · 7:30 AM

Stuck In The Waiting

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God.…
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

-T. S. Eliot, “East Coker”

I read these words in Philip Yancey’s book “Disappointment with God”. I was going through a brutal spell in my life. If you’ve read the book, maybe it helped. But it didn’t help me. In fact it just made me feel worse for all the people referenced in the book as well as for myself.
Why do bad things happen to generally decent people? I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand this side of heaven. It might be better if I stopped asking. But there are few things that haven’t escaped me. Maybe they were rungs on the ladder that kept me hitting rock bottom. Here they are:

I’m not in control. Even if I was, I don’t know what’s best for me.

It’s true – and actually this struck me when things were going well. What do you do when the things that happened by “chance” turned out better than your carefully laid plans? This had been the case a couple different times and while I was overwhelmed with gratitude, it eerily bothered me. When my tides turned, I realized that it goes both ways. In the end, I’m not God. I don’t know what’s best for me, I can’t see the big picture of God’s plan for me and I can’t control all the outcomes in my life. Living by faith means accepting both the good and the bad and realizing both are temporal. Accepting the fact that life isn’t fair helps too.

Take responsibility. Don’t sabotage myself.

If you’ve ever wondered if your life could get any worse, let me clear that up for you real quick. The answer is always yes. That may sound like a morbid thing to say, but the truth is that we’re always one decision away from making things much worse. And when things aren’t going well, we’re in the DANGER ZONE. Think about it: if you’re stuck in a crummy job, you are only one decision away from not having a job at all. If your marriage is going poorly, you are only one decision or one conversation away from a further setback. If you aren’t married and wish you were, you are one or several decisions away from creating a lot more misery for yourself and others.

It’s tempting to say that “God wills” my circumstances to be what they are and then act like a victim. But actually we’re usually our own worst enemy. Proverbs 19:3 says, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord” (NLT). When the chips are down, the temptation is even stronger to make foolish choices that add to our pain. We can’t always control our circumstances, but in every situation, we always have a choice of how to respond. And that means we have the responsibility to make a good choice, no matter how good or bad circumstances are.

Realize my pain will be able to be used in a positive way in the future.

If someone had said this to me when I was down, it would’ve brought me up real fast… swinging. That’s not what I wanted to hear. But unfortunately, not “just anyone” said these words. They came from Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, recounting his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz. They were also shared by psychologists to the survivors of the PanAm Flight 73 hijacking in 1986 as they prepared to board their next flight.
Those folks have “cred” in my book. I may not like the message, but I can take it coming from them. When I’m hurting, the last thing I want is “some perspective,” but even so, they’ve had far worse than me.

If you’re in pain, there is a sense in which you’re alone. Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy” (NLT). No one else can walk your path for you and you may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know I couldn’t. When we’re stuck “in the waiting,” as Eliot’s poem says, we likely won’t be able to see the redemption in our circumstances. It’s only by faith that we can believe that this too shall pass.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach and thought leader. Visit him today at NathanMagnuson.com or follow him on Twitter.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 12, 2013 · 7:42 AM

Move That Bus

I used to love to watch “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. They always chose a family who were struggling and had been going through difficult times. They let the family tell their story in their own words. ABC would then send them to Disney for a well deserved vacation. While they were out, their house was demolished and a new one was built in its place. Once they returned from vacation, there was a bus parked in front of their house preventing them from seeing it. Ty Pennington would talk to them for a bit and then the family and the crowd would start to chant, “Move that bus!”

Once the bus rolled out of the way, the family was able to see their dream home. With grateful hearts and tears in their eyes, they often dropped to their knees in amazement. A house had been built just for them, with their needs in mind and the mortgage was taken care of. The struggles that they had been faced with were now smaller than before. The difficult situation they were in just got a shot of hope. Their future was bright once again.

After having several conversations this weekend regarding my post on Friday, this show came to my mind. There are so many of you who are struggling with faith, trusting God and wanting to know the purpose in the pain. There’s something like that bus that is preventing you from seeing the master plan that God has for you. It’s impossible to see around the circumstances that are filling your life. You know that God works all things together for your good, but you just want a glimpse of that good so you can have some hope in your current situation.

As a friend and I were discussing difficult times this weekend, the story of Joseph came up. God showed him the dream and then sent him down a path where he couldn’t see it anymore. You don’t read about him complaining though. What you do read is that God was with him. Finally, years after that dream, his brothers bowed before him in Egypt. I think it was one of those “move that bus” moments where everything became clear and he saw God had a plan the whole time.

Until that bus moves, there’s just anticipation of what’s on the other side. There’s doubt that the bus will ever move. There’s fear that it won’t. There’s concern that this may be the new normal for your life and that God will never reveal his master plan for your life. I understand those doubts and fears. I also know that the time comes when God moves that bus and He shows you fulfilled dreams that couldn’t have been fulfilled any other way than through pain, suffering and loss.

If you’re standing in that spot today where you can’t see the purpose in your situation, I’m standing with you. If you’re vision is blocked by the bus of circumstances, I’m praying God will give you hope that what He’s doing is for your good. If you’re chanting, “Move that bus”, I want to chant with you and to share in your joy as God reveals to you what He’s been doing. Your old life may have been demolished, but there is a better life just behind that bus waiting for you. It will be revealed at just the right time. Hang in there.

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 16, 2013 · 8:07 AM

Looking for Rainbows

20130716-081623.jpg

I was driving east this morning through some rain. When I finally got to turn to the south, I looked back over my right shoulder to check for cars and I saw a rainbow. My mind went back to Genesis 9 where the Bible records the first rainbow. God gave it as a sign to Noah and his family as a symbol of the covenant He had made with him. Then in verse 16, God said, “When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant.”

I always knew it was for us to remember the covenant, but I don’t remember reading that it was for God too. I think it’s interesting that God placed it as a reminder for Himself. It makes me think that God goes around looking for rainbows so He can think of the promise He made to us. I don’t think He forgets. I think He’s just looking for a reason to think of me and you.

We get so caught up in the storms of our life that we lose sight of Him sometimes. When the rain is relentless and won’t stop, when all of the mountains that we’ve climbed are covered by the waters and when the floods won’t dissipate, we can remember God’s promises to us. We can remember that He has not forgotten us or left us. Even though it rained in Noah’s life and He was stuck on that boat for over a year, what happened beforehand was important.

God spoke to Noah and prepared him for the flood. He told him that it would rain for forty days and forty nights. He also gave him the instructions for building the ark. He didn’t have him go into the storm unprepared. He had given him everything he needed to survive the storm. God does that for us too. He gives us what we need and prepares us for the rain in our lives. He provides a way to get through it.

I wonder what Noah was thinking after the rain stopped and he was still in the lifeboat ten months later. God told him how long it would rain, but didn’t tell him how long he would have to drift along. Even after the storms and rains in our lives, we tend to drift along looking for dry land. When we eventually do find it, it’s a different place than where we were. God uses the rain and the drifting to get us to a place where He wants us. We, like Noah may have to start over too.

Wherever your dry land is, know that God will remain true to His promises to you. He’s out putting rainbows in the sky to show you He hasn’t forgotten or forsaken you. He’s painting the sky to remind you when future storms come that He’s not going to let you be destroyed. He has prepared you for what you’re going through and is preparing you for your future. If it’s raining in your life right now, you’re drifting along or if you have found dry land, take time to look for rainbows. God is.

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 1, 2013 · 8:21 AM

When I Look at a Penny

20130701-081958.jpg

I never want to get to the point in my life that I’m too good or have too much that I won’t bend down to pick up a penny. I especially make sure that I pick them up when I’m going through a difficult time. There’s a lot to learn from a penny when you stop and look at it, but most of us toss them aside as worthless. When I look at a penny, I see things in it that help me through tough times.

One of the first things I recognize in a penny is that it costs more to make a penny than it’s worth. The government keeps producing them because they are an integral part of our monetary system in giving back exact change. There are times in my life when I don’t think I’m worth much. When I think of the cross and the price that was paid for me, I realize that it cost more to save me than I’m worth. I then realize that God sees me as worth it and as an integral part of His plan.

I also see on the penny the words “In God We Trust”. Those words are words of comfort in difficult times. They remind me where I need to place my trust when things are too hard to handle on my own. I try to face each trial in my own strength to prove to God that I can handle it. In reality, I feel the trials and tests are there not to test my strength, but my reliance on Him. In difficult times, I can trust in God.

The president that is on the front of the penny is Abraham Lincoln. There’s probably not another president who went through something as difficult as leading a nation divided by civil war. He relied on God to help him navigate that difficult period. One of the quotes I heard that was attributed to him was, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.” He knew that God’s plan was more important than anything. I can learn a lot from that.

Another thing that stands out to me on the penny is the date. One of the things I like to do when I see the date on a penny is to think back and remember one thing that God did for me that year. When I recount the blessings of what God has done in my past, it gives me hope and strength that He’ll do it again. God has been faithful in my life. I just need to take the time to remember it. When I do that, my confidence in Him is bolstered and I know with Him I can face whatever comes my way.

I know there’s a lot more on a penny than what I mentioned here. You may not have looked at a penny the way I do. I see a lot of value in it beyond what it’s worth because of what it reminds me of. When God looks at you, He sees the same thing. He sees value beyond what you think you’re worth. He sees someone worth dying for. He sees someone worth spending eternity with. He sees what no one else sees, smiles and picks you up when others have discarded you. That’s what I see when I look at a penny. What do you see?

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 28, 2013 · 9:23 AM

The Grace of Transformation

One of the earliest definitions of grace I ever heard was: God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. That acronym helped me to remember it all through the years. Because that became my definition of grace, it limited my understanding of grace. I always thought of grace as what God used to cover my sins and nothing more. I’m learning that while that is part of it, grace is so much more.

I’ve been reading “Life with God” by Richard Foster and that book has really challenged what I thought about grace. Grace is what enables to have a relationship with God. It’s what empowers us in our walk with Him. It’s more than what covers our sins. For me, it is like air in my life with God. Without it, I would not survive.

We each need grace daily as Christians. Whether it is to cover our sins and to make up the difference in our short comings or to propel us forward in our relationship with God. Richard Foster described it as the road beneath our feet in our walk with God. Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Walking in grace is what it is to be directed by The Lord.

I love the other part of that verse that is rarely quoted. God delights in the details of our lives. He’s not someone who has left you alone and doesn’t know what’s going on in your life. He’s intimately familiar with every aspect of your life. He knows what you have going on today. He knows about the challenges you face and the things that are stressing you out. That leads me to another thing that Foster mentions about grace: it’s what forms us.

Difficult circumstances, tragic loss and other things we face are what God uses to shape us. They aren’t necessarily a punishment from Him. They are used to form us into who He needs us to be. No one I know is truly excited about going through the times that form us. I’ve been there. I’ve hurt so bad that it would have been easier to die than to deal with the pain. I’ve cried so many tears that I ran out of them.

When we look back on those times of formation, we can see God’s grace in it. While we are in it, we are blind to what God is doing. We want to blame Him, accuse Him or turn from Him in that blinding pain. We really just want out of what we are going through and to find an escape from the pain. But once we’ve endured, grace makes us stronger than before. Grace allows us to help others who are walking through the darkness of formation.

I’ve heard it said that we are either in a time of formation, just coming out of a time of formation or about to go into a time of it. Where are you? If you’re in it, hold on. God has not forsaken you. He’s there with you even though you feel blind right now. If you just came out of it, recover and learn how God wants to use that time in your life to help others. If you’re about to walk into it, trust in God’s grace to get you through it. Decide now that you will trust His grace even when you can’t see it.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,