Tag Archives: struggle

January 19, 2016 · 5:30 AM

Patient Endurance 

  
Patience. It’s not a word we like very much. We like to have results quickly without having to put in the time and effort. We want answers given to us without us having to dig for them. We want growth without risk, and we want fruit without tending the garden. We’ve heard the saying, “Good things come to those who wait,” but who really wants to wait? We live in a now society where everything is given to us quickly. The temptation is to let our societal speed carry over into our spiritual growth.

Endurance. It’s not something you get in good times. It requires pushing yourself beyond what you think you’re capable of. It takes mental toughness to get it. You have to withstand pressure repeatedly in order to attain it. Giving up can’t be an option if you’re going to increase your endurance. You have to keep your mind on the prize to keep your mind off the struggle of you’re going to build your endurance. It isn’t given to you, it’s earned.

Both of these things are required of us as Christians. The more of God you want to know, the more patience and endurance you’re going to have to have. If we are willing to give up in the struggle, we will miss the blessings God is preparing us for. Hebrews 10:36 says, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised” (NLT). When things appear to be going wrong in our life, God is preparing us to receive all He has for us.

We can’t be like Jacob and fight it. In Genesis 42, there was a famine in the land. Jacob sent 10 of his sons to get food in Egypt. Joseph wanted them all there so he pretended to not know them, sent them home with their food, and held one brother captive until they returned with their other brother. Jacob felt like he was being punished when God was just trying to get him to the land of plants. In verse 36, he cried out, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”

If everything is going against you, it’s quite possible that God is actually trying to bless you. Jacob waited a long time before he sent his sons back to get more food and their brother. He could have been living without fear of starvation. He could have had the relationship with his son restored. God was trying to use what appeared to be negative circumstances to move him into a place of blessing. Imagine what God could be trying to do for you in your situation. Work on having patient endurance instead of complaining, and see what God does.

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November 10, 2015 · 5:30 AM

The Law Of God’s Grace

  
One of the things I like to tell people is that the greater the grief, the deeper the sorrow, or the harder the trial, the greater amount of God’s grace you will experience. God gives us grace sufficient for our trials. When Paul was faced with a trial that God wouldn’t remove after much prayer, God spoke to him in II Corinthians 12:9. He said, “My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]” (AMP).

God gives grace, favor, strength, and mercy according to our need. He knows what we are facing and what we need in order to bear the weight of our situation. You’ve heard of Newton’s Third Law, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” To me, it is the Law of God’s Grace. For every force or trial that comes against you, there is an equal amount of Grace to support you. God gives you enough grace to enable you to stand in times of sorrow and tests.

Paul wrote about this Law of God’s Grace in Ephesians 4:7. He said, “Yet grace (God’s unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and bounteous] gift.” Each of us receive a different portion and type of God’s grace according to our need. It is proportionate to our circumstance and is given as a free gift to us. That grace that God gives is tailor made for us because He knows what we are facing and cares for us.

The greater the trial, the greater the grace. I’ve hit rock bottom in my life, but I’ve never found the bottom of God’s grace. It is deeper than anything you or I will ever face. It will always be sufficient to your need. When you go through deep struggles, you get a glimpse of God’s grace that few people ever do. The longer you endure hardship, the longer you can remain in the crucible, the deeper your knowledge of God will be and the firmer your trust in Him will be. The Law of God’s Grace proves He will not fail you when you need Him most.

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April 25, 2014 · 7:44 AM

Free To Endure

It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back from all God has for you. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “God Is In The Small Stuff For Changing Times” by Bruce & Stan. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

One of the first things that I tell new employees at the company I work for is, “If you don’t like change, you’re in the wrong company.” Let’s be honest, not many of us like change. We don’t embrace it, we fight it. We don’t welcome it, we begrudgingly accept it. We don’t like things to be different, we like them the way they were. In this world we live in, things don’t have a beginning, middle and end like they used to. It seems like it’s one crisis after another. It’s one painful moment after another. But change brings about better things.

It reminds me of when my wife was in the hospital giving birth to our son. To induce labor, they gave her medicine to force contractions. They kept increasing the dosage until she was in a constant state of contractions. She never fully came out of one before the next one started. She struggled to catch her breath before the intense pain returned. That’s where our world is these days. That’s where our lives are. We face struggle after struggle. Heartache after heartache. Trial after trial and we get very little reprieve.

When we are in a constant state of struggle, we tend to turn our focus and energy away from God and onto surviving the circumstances. Instead of digging deeper in the Bible, we dig our feet deeper into the trenches to hold our ground. Instead of praying to God, we complain to anyone that will listen. It’s just who we are and how we are built. As Christians, we are called to go against that human nature. We are called to crucify daily the flesh that wants to do opposite of what God would have us do. The question is, “How do we do that?”

I believe the answer is to look ahead, beyond the trials. Look to what God wants to produce in you through the changing times. If you can find meaning in the trial, you can find joy in it. James 1:2 says, “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” The struggles that my wife had in pregnancy and in labor produced a child that we love very much and has brought joy to our home. Your struggles will also produce something in your life that will bring great joy. You just have to think about the end result of your current struggle. You have to remained focused on what God is producing in you in order to survive. Hope is a powerful thing. It can get you through the darkest night.

Verse 3 of the same chapter in James says, “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow.” The choice is yours. Do you back out of the trial because it’s too hard? To you throw in the white flag because you’ve had enough? Do you tap out because it’s too painful? No! God is developing endurance in you. Let it grow! Max Lucado once wrote, “God may send you through a storm at 30 so you can endure a hurricane at 60.” God knows what your future holds and these changing times are producing in you what you need in order to endure. Embrace the change and get free of the things that keep your endurance from growing.

If you would like to win “God Is In The Small Stuff For Changing Times” by Bruce & Stan, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (April 26, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too.

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April 9, 2014 · 7:53 AM

Calling Me Out Of Darkness

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Lord,

I want to say, “Thank you,” because you’ve given me another day to walk this earth. It’s not something I take lightly or for granted. Because of what you set in motion so long ago, the sun came up this morning. Sometimes it reminds me that I have so much to do. Sometimes it reminds me of the problems I have to face. Sometimes it’s an unwelcome light because the night was too short. Each time it rises though, it reminds me that you are in control of everything that goes on in my life and in this world.

I know that because you live in me, there is nothing I will face today or any day that is stronger than me. There is nothing that is able to defeat me because you are greater than anything that will ever come against me. Sometimes I lose sight of that and start to feel defeated. Sometimes I think that the whole world is crashing down and it will take me down with it. In those times, I ask that you would remind me of your promise to never leave me nor forsake me. Remind me of who I am in you. Remind me that I am more than a conqueror through you.

When I think of the story of my life, I think of all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times. Through it all, you have constantly been by my side. At times I couldn’t see your hand at work. All I could see were the problems that had me closed in on every side. Looking back, I can see your hand on me even in the darkest of nights. I can see that you were developing me and pushing me to grow closer to you. Like a seed under ground struggling to break through the dark, dirty soil trying to get to the light, you were using the dark times to strengthen me and to push me toward your light.

I have always grown the most when I couldn’t see the light. It was hope that helped me push through the hard places. At times it seemed like I would never come out of the darkness, but you were there with me, encouraging me, pushing me and calling me into your marvelous light. You weren’t content to leave me as a seed sown in soil laying dormant. Your plan for my life is to use the dark places to grow my roots in you. To make me stronger once I reach the light. To have me firmly planted so that when the winds of life blow and the rain beats down on me, I’ll look back, remember what you’ve done in my past and my roots will hold strong.

I don’t know what the future of my story looks like, but with each sunrise, you give me one more day to live it out. You give me one more chance to trust you, to open up and share your beauty. Keep writing my story as you always have. Keep giving me opportunities to grow and to trust in you more. Let the water of your word feed me and strengthen my roots. Let your face shine on me and draw me closer to you. Let the story of my life show that you are a faithful God who never abandons His children and calls them out of darkness into light. I love you with everything in me.

Thank you for all you have done and are going to do in this story.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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September 17, 2013 · 7:57 AM

Out Of The Hole

It’s hard for me to believe that next week I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the lowest point of my life. I know it seems odd to celebrate such an event, but for me, it was a turning point in my life. It was the moment when I refused to go any lower than I was and made the decision that I would claw my way out of the hole that I was in no matter how much effort it took and no matter how long it took. I’m still clawing my way out of that hole, but now I’m starting to see daylight.

Ten years ago, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. There was no hope of ever recovering from what I had been through. I was hurt, embarrassed and alone. Sure I had a few friends around me, but no one truly knew the depth of my pain or what I was struggling with. I made a conscious effort to never think about that time in my life. I felt that if I could pretend it was a bad dream, the pain would go away. I thought that if I never spoke of it again, then I could put it behind me.

I moved on with my life pretending that I hadn’t gone through a painful divorce, filed for bankruptcy, lost my business or ran away from those who cared most about me. I figured that the best way out was to start my life over fresh and new as if none of it never happened. The problem was it did happen. Underneath everything I was still a mess inside. I was still hurt to the core. I was mad at God for letting me walk through that. I was mad at others thinking my failures were somehow their fault. It all boiled down to bad decision making by me.

Once I was able to take responsibility for the things that happened, I began to move forward. It’s not easy to look in the mirror when you know the pain inside is caused by the person looking back at you. I know other people played roles in delivering the punches that knocked me down, but I made the decisions that put them there and put myself in that position. I left myself open for the gut shots that took the wind out of my desire to live or move on.

I hid the pain for over seven years as I moved on with life. It was then that God spoke to me through Dave Roever that I needed to expose the wounds and face them head on. Since that time, I have begun to share my story being open and honest about what happened. I have found healing for the wounds that were so deep. I still feel the pain like I did every time I open them up, but I know that through my wounds others can find help, hope and healing for theirs.

I don’t know what you’re facing today, but I know what it’s like to hit rock bottom and feel like there’s no way out. I know what it’s like to think that there’s only one way out of the pain and anger. I can tell you that there is another way out. I found it. It was through forgiving myself and others who hurt me. It was in finding forgiveness through Jesus for the unthinkable wrongs I’d committed. It was over the course of years, hard work, dedication and never giving up. If I can make it out of that hole, you can too.

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June 4, 2013 · 8:15 AM

The Butterfly Effect

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Going through trials is difficult. It’s part of life and especially part of the Christian life. Jesus told us we would have them. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer, take courage, be confident, certain and undaunted for I have overcome the world.” He knew we were going to face difficult times. He faced difficult times Himself. He didn’t want us to be defeated by our problems.

He told us that we should take courage because He overcame. If He was able to, we are able to because His spirit lives within us. We forget that sometimes, especially when we’re in a trial or in distress. We don’t rely on the power that is inside of us to overcome. We worry about the problem instead of focusing on the One who gives us strength to overcome.

I heard it said before that a butterfly won’t be able to fly unless it has that struggle with the cocoon. The difficult battle that it has to emerge from the problem that is wrapped around it is the very thing that will help it to survive once it is free. It can choose to give up in that struggle or it can get gain its strength needed in that struggle. We all have that choice.

We shouldn’t be surprised that life doesn’t always go as planned. We shouldn’t be caught off guard that a person does us wrong. Bad things happen to everyone. We can take courage in our frustrations. We can be confident in our ability to overcome. We can remain undaunted in our mission even though obstacles stand in the way. We can have peace in the storms of life.

Our ability to stand firm in tribulation and to weather the storms of life does not lie in our own strength. If you are trying to stand in your own strength, you will grow tired and weary from the struggle. Zechariah 4:6,7 says, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says The Lord of hosts. For who are you, O great mountain of human obstacles?” It goes on to say that The Lord will turn that mountain into a plain.

Whatever mountain, struggle, trial, frustration, distress or tribulation you are facing today, The Lord knows about it. He is building strength in you during this time. Don’t give up or quit. You have supernatural power inside of you to overcome. You have the ability to persevere in this time and overcome because He has and He lives in you. Speak to your mountain today. Ask God to make it a plain in front of you. Keep moving forward in His strength today.

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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.

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May 21, 2013 · 9:07 AM

An Uncontrollable Fire

There are some lyrics to a song we sing at church that keep burning inside me. They say, “Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain and I can’t control. I want more of you, God.” We had sang that song at church many times before, but on a balcony in Haiti, it became my prayer. As we were having a time of worship in Gonaives, we sang that song and I started listening to the words. I began to internalize what they meant. I began to sing the song with more of a passion than a compulsion.

What does that look like to have a fire set in your soul? What does that feel like to have it burn without being able to control it? What would happen to me if I truly wanted more of God in my life? Do I really, truly want that and what is the cost? We sing songs and read scriptures a lot without giving much thought to the words we are saying or reading. We rarely dig down deep and plant those words in our heart and mind.

A fire that burns uncontrollably takes out what it wants whereas a controlled burn only takes out what I want. Have I given God real control in my life to take out the things He wants to or do I have protected areas that I’ve not let Him touch because I’ve tried the control burn method? If I truly believe that my life is not my own, why do I try to control what God can and cannot do in my life? Why do I fight to keep the things I want instead of taking the things I need from Him?

It’s a struggle that many of us fight. We want to be used by God. We want to give Him our lives. We want to trust Him. Our actions show differently though. Our mouths say one thing, but our actions show something completely different. I don’t want that. I’m not content with that. I can’t be, not if I’m praying that He will set a fire in my soul. Not if I’m willing to let that fire burn out of my control. Not if I want more of Him. Not if He wants more of me.

God gives Himself to us to the extent that we allow room for Him. Too many Christians are like the inn keeper in Bethlehem. They have no room for Him, but they want Him, so they put Him in the stable of their lives. He doesn’t just want to be in your stable. He wants the entire inn of your life. He wants to come into every room you have locked up. He wants to fill you up, but He will go where you put Him. Are you only offering Him a room in the stable?

For me, I want more of Him than I have today. I want to give Him the keys to my inn. I want to kick out the guests of control, security, lack of faith and fear. I want to give Him those rooms in my life too. I want Him to set a fire in my life to burn the things He wants to burn. I want Him to use that fire to purify me, to cleanse me and to make me who He wants me to be. Will it hurt? Probably. Will it be easy to do? No. Will it be worth it? Absolutely!

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May 13, 2013 · 8:12 AM

Death of a Dream

Yesterday at church, we did something that we haven’t done since I was a kid. We had people share their testimonies. It wasn’t like it was back then either. I remember as a child sitting on the pew as people would get up and share what The Lord had done in their lives. This wasn’t quite like that. This was a pre planned time of testimonies built into the sermon that went along with it. I thought it was very good.

The sermon was about people in the Bible who’s dreams were crushed, changed or died. We can relate because we’ve all had dreams in our lives that have met similar fates. It’s hard not to get discouraged when that happens. We often think we’re the only one who has dealt with the death of a dream. We feel alone and isolated. Defeated.

That’s where I think testimonies are the biggest help. It shows people in the church that there are others like them who have gone through something similar. It builds a point of connection. It shows that the church isn’t full of people who have it all together. It shows we’re human. It also helps us to overcome. Yes, overcome. Scripture says that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. It’s when others hear what God has done for us that they can become encouraged to keep fighting.

Yesterday, I heard stories of parents who raised their kids in church and how they have quit going. In tears, these parents poured their hearts out to the congregation telling them the struggles they faced during those times. Some had returned while others had not. After reaching the point in believing the dream was dead, God revived the dream and there is hope again.

Another shared of the struggles of expecting to be married by a certain age. They shared about their feelings of worthlessness and that no one wanted them. They shared that they had to let their dream of what they wanted for their life to die, so that God could show them His dream. When we release our dreams and embrace His dreams, we don’t have those feelings of worthlessness and failure anymore. We learn to depend on Him for our sense of worth and not what someone else says or does.

I got to share my own dreams that died. Dreams of a picture perfect life where I had it all. I was poised for a comfortable life and had laid the foundation for a bright future for myself and my family when suddenly it was all taken from me. I shared how there was no hope, no joy and no future. But God, in His mercy, came and met me in that dark place and replanted a dream in me of who He wanted me to become. He gave me hope and restored my joy. I came back from the brink of suicide and murder to a place where He can use me.

Where are you? What dreams have died in your life that you are holding against God? It’s time to let go of them so you can embrace His dream for your life. We can become bitter when we look at Jesus like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and say, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother (my dream) would not have died.” It’s when we release those broken, crushed and dead dreams that God can plant a new one in you. It will be greater than the dream you had before. When you look back, you will be thankful he let that dream die because the new one is so much better. I can say that with confidence because I’m there right now.

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March 7, 2013 · 7:06 AM

Jehovah Nissi

Most of us are familiar with the story in Exodus 17 where the Israelites went out to fight the Amalekites. Moses went up on a hill to watch the battle. When he raised his arms, Israel prevailed. When his arms grew weak from being raised and they fell, Israel began to lose. Aaron and Hur went up the hill, had Moses sit on a rock and propped his hands up. The Bible says that Israel mowed down the Amalekites that day. Moses then built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi, The Lord my banner.

Banners aren’t something we use much anymore. But all through history they have been used. If you think about the national anthem for the United States. It was written during a battle. If you listen to the words of it, when night fell, our flag was raised up which meant we were winning the battle. The writer was a prisoner in a ship and he was trying to see if it was still flying. The dawn’s early light was not bright enough to see it. He relied on the rockets red glare to light it up and give proof that it was still there.

The flag, or banner, represented hope in the battle. It let you know in all the confusion of war with the bombs bursting, the lights flashing and smoke rising that we were being victorious. Hope in a battle is huge. People need it to keep fighting when they can’t see the end result. When the banner went down in a battle, people lost hope and the will to fight. What Moses did was create a banner that represented victory and that The Lord was helping them. It gave hope.

You may be fighting a battle right now. It could be personal, spiritual, financial, relational or any type. In it your vision is limited. Your focus has become short sighted. You may even feel like a prisoner in that battle like Francis Scott Key was who wrote the U.S. national anthem. Even as a prisoner of war, he saw our banner and had hope. So much hope that he penned a moving song that is known world wide.

If you’re lacking hope today, raise your hands and praise God. Surrender the battle to Him. He is your victory. He is your strength. Don’t get caught up in the smoke and confusion of the battle. Look for the banner that represents your victory today. It’s still there, you just need to see it. The dawn will break soon and the light of the Son will shine again. Don’t give up. The Lord is your banner of victory. He is Jehovah Nissi.

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