Tag Archives: Trials

October 3, 2013 · 8:09 AM

Love With Your Mind

And you must love The Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. – Mark 12:30

I believe most of the battles you and I face are fought in the mind. It’s in our mind that doubts are raised, fears are born and self defeating thoughts dwell. It is a crucial battlefield that many of us fail to admit what’s going on in. We say we’re fine, when really we’re entrenched in a battle for our mind. In order to be victorious in those battles, it is critical that we learn to love God with our mind.

Loving God with our mind is about making the choice to continue to love when our passion fades and our psyche doesn’t feel like it. It’s about remembering those feelings of gracefulness that came along when you were rescued from the gates of hell and have since gone away in the day to day routine of being a Christian. Lamentations 3:21-22 says, “But this I recall and therefore have hope and expectation: it is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed.” The writer knew that when his hope was fading, he had to recall where he came from and therefore had hope.

Hope is a hard thing to keep up when you experience physical trials and pray to an invisible God. Doubt comes in and let’s you know the trials are real, but asks, “Where is God in all of this?” If we don’t learn to love God with our minds and have the ability to recall what He’s done, it will be easy to fall in such a situation. I remember when my mom was dying of cancer 15 years ago. One of the days that I went into ICU to visit her a M. D. Anderson in Houston, she could see the worry on my face. She did something that I’ll never forget.

She sat me down and started from when she was a child until that very day and recalled every time that God had met her needs. She told of childhood struggles, her doubts, miracles she had seen God perform for her and our family. For hours she talked to me about it. In the end, she looked at me and said, “Chris, I have peace with what will happen here because I know God has always done what’s best for me.” She loved God with her mind as well as with her passion and psyche. When she was tired from the chemo, when her psyche was worn out from the fight with cancer and her body couldn’t move, she showed me what it meant to love God with her mind.

Her body didn’t survive what cancer had done to it, but her soul did because cancer could not touch her love for God. It was hard not to be angry with God about losing her, but before she passed, my dad sat us down and told us to purpose in our minds that no matter what happened, we wouldn’t get angry with God. We needed to remember He is a good God even when things don’t go the way we want them to. We needed to love Him with our minds instead of losing the battle to anger and doubt.

What about you? How have you learned to love God with your mind when everything else seems to be failing? Maybe you’re struggling with your love for God today as you read this because of circumstances that you don’t understand. Let me encourage you to do what my mom taught me. Go back and recall all that God has done for you, write it down so you can see it and then have hope and expectation as Lamentations put it. Loving God with your mind is hard work, but critical to surviving difficult times.

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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.

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September 26, 2013 · 7:30 AM

Why Me?

I’ve become convinced that for a Christian to retain hope in the midst of a trial, he or she must believe that God allowed the trial for a purpose; a purpose greater than what Christ would have been able to accomplish in and through that person apart from the trial.

“…even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

They might phrase it differently, but I think every Christian that goes through a difficult trial will eventually ask “Why me?” But I’ve learned that our motive behind asking this seemingly simple question tells a lot about how we view God and how we view ourselves.

The first man asks the question like this: “Why me; out of over 6 billion people in the world, why did I get ALS (or whatever)?” He’s really asking, “Why didn’t God put this on one of the other 6 billion + people?” This man has a warped view of God and an exalted view of himself. He views his trial as pointless and thought that he was somehow exempt from the suffering of humanity.

I know what I said about this first man sounds harsh and judgmental, but I know this man well; in a spiritual and emotional sense, I wrestled with him for several months after being diagnosed with ALS. Thankfully, with the help of God’s word, wise counsel from Christian friends and a well-timed conversation with our then non-Christian next-door neighbors, I began to see that there was a purpose behind my trial and I defeated that “woe is me” man that was trying to get into my head. (More about our next-door neighbors further down).

The second man asks the question like this: “Why me; what’s God’s purpose behind allowing this horrible trial?” This man has the correct view of God and of his place in the world. As a Christian who knows the Bible, this man knows that God wouldn’t have allowed this trial unless He had a purpose.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

That verse can only be true if we have an eternal (“Big Picture”) view of our trial. God still heals and performs miracles, and I believe that we should always pray for that result. But regardless of the outcome, God can bring about eternal good from every trial. In a hundred years, the eternal good that came from our trial will be the only thing that matters.

Trials cause the person going through the trial and those that are close to that person, to focus more on the spiritual and the eternal things because, by comparison, the temporal and the material things begin to look more and more insignificant.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

Back to our next-door neighbors: Mike and Lorraine were not followers of Christ when we met them. We did our Christian duty and invited them to church and tried to share the “Good news” with them; even our girls (then 4 and 7) invited them to church, but all to no avail. (They later told us that they mocked us in private. I could relate; I once mocked Christians too. Let’s be honest: making fun of Christians is so easy).

But after I was diagnosed, they began to reexamine the faith that was sustaining our family through this trial. Lorraine told me; “…When you were diagnosed with ALS I began to see a man who held no anger with the God that ‘allowed’ this to happen. Then you began to demonstrate trust in God’s plan, I saw your faith and I saw 2 little girls accept what God was doing in your lives and I began to wonder how such young children could love God unconditionally. I opened my heart first to the possibility that this might be good thing for me as well. Then I finally got it and allowed my brain to accept the basic truth that God is only good, loving and faithful…”

Mike and Lorraine committed to following Christ and now faithfully attend church and share their faith with others. (Now people probably make fun of them). Would they have committed to following Christ if we had not gone through this trial? Only God knows the answer to questions like that. The only thing I know for sure is that this trial has strengthened my faith and given me more confidence for sharing that faith.

But I admit that trials can sometimes feel like you’re serving a prison sentence; especially when you have ALS and you’re imprisoned in your own body. But the Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament while imprisoned and many of his fellow prisoners and the guards that observed Paul became followers of Christ. Only Jesus can spread a message of hope through a prisoner!

“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14)

This post was written by Bill Sweeney. Seventeen years ago Bill was diagnosed with ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) and is now completely paralyzed. Through his “Unshakable Hope” blog he encourages others that, no matter how horrible our trials might be, there is always hope in Christ.

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September 19, 2013 · 7:00 AM

Test Day

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I’ve never really liked tests before even though I’m pretty good at them. Any time the word “test” comes up, I think of one of my high school teachers, Mr. Hart. He loved giving tests. He would wear a red contact lens, the ugliest tie he could find and eat a bag of chips while you were taking it. He’d ask, “Is this bothering you,” and then give an evil laugh. He’d ask questions that would earn you a Nobel Prize if you could answer them. His “bonus” questions came from movies like “Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail”. Maybe my memory has added to his legend, but that’s how I remember taking tests in his class.

I remember doing a lot of studying for tests to make sure I passed. I read back through the chapter, looked at my notes, made flash cards and quizzed other classmates to prepare. You knew the subject matter, but not what to expect on the test. As a person who played sports, there was extra pressure to pass since the “No Pass No Play” law had gone into effect. I wouldn’t have let myself down by failing, but my team too. So I put a lot of time and energy into making sure I knew the material.

All those memories came flooding back when I read what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in II Corinthians 13:5-9. He said, “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. (MSG)”. Paul was saying to do with our faith what I did for tests in school. Read the book (Bible), look at notes (commentaries), make flash cards (memorize scripture) and quiz other classmates (have accountability partners to help you learn and grow).

Just like we had to prepare for what Mr. Hart might throw at us, we need to be prepared for what might challenge our faith. Times of testing shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. They shouldn’t scare us either if we’ve prepared beforehand. If you can read this, you’ve lived enough life to know that you’re going to be tested. If you’re a Christian, you should know your faith will be tested. It’s not so that you will fail, but to make sure you know what you believe. When I give tests at work, I jokingly call them “celebrations of knowledge” to relieve the stress. I’m not trying to get you to fail, I’m trying to showcase how much you’ve learned.

God does that with us too. He’s not up there trying to see if you’ll fail when He tests you. He’s wanting to show you how much you’ve learned and what you need to work on. Paul understood this and encouraged us to test ourselves ahead of time so we could pass with flying colors. When we do that, we won’t take our faith for granted or drift along. We’ll know what we believe, be able to confidently speak God’s Word when the enemy comes against us and live out our faith with a purpose and a passion. What will you do today to prepare for the testing of your faith?

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July 16, 2013 · 8:07 AM

Looking for Rainbows

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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.

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July 15, 2013 · 8:39 AM

Your Victory Has Been Won

We sang a song at church yesterday by Planetshakers. The words are still ringing in my mind this morning. It says, “Hallelujah! You have won the victory. Hallelujah! You have won it all for me.” As we sang it yesterday, I began to wonder, “How many Christians out there need a victory that has already been won for them?” Think about that for a minute. The victory many of us are looking for has already been won. Why do we still walk around defeated?

I see so many Christians who walk around with a defeated attitude. They aren’t walking in the victory that they are supposed to. Everything is doom and gloom. Nothing is going their way. They hang their head down and drudge along. They’ve allowed a culture of defeat to come reign in their life. That is not the life God intended Christians to live. That is not how someone who has had the war won for them should act.

Yes, we go through battles, trials and struggles. We aren’t going to be victorious in every one of them. We may even lose a lot in a row. Don’t confuse losing battles with losing the war. Battles are what we fight through to get to the end of the war. If you knew you were going to win the war in the end, wouldn’t you keep on fighting no matter how bad things looked now?

The person who has never lost a battle has not learned as much as those who have. It’s in our losses and failures that we find better ways to strategize and to grow. It’s in our losses that we get the determination to get back up. Proverbs 24:16 says, “The godly may fall seven times, but they will get up again.” It doesn’t say the godly won’t fall. We will. It’s part of life. It’s part of growth. Its part of what makes us who we are.

When I’m going through a time of multiple defeats, I hang on to Romans 8:37: Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours (mine) through Christ who loves us (me). I change it a little to personalize it. I make it my own promise from God. You should too. If you’re feeling defeated today, read that scripture again. Out loud. Proclaim it. Louder! Overwhelming victory is yours through Christ who loves you. You are not defeated. You are victorious in Jesus’ name.

You don’t have to walk around with your head down. You don’t have to keep your head down just because you’ve failed or lost a few battles. The war has already been won by Jesus. No matter how bad things get, keep that in mind. You can and will survive this and will be victorious in the end. Walk in victory today through Christ because He has won the victory for you. Hold your head up, child of God. You are victorious.

Click here to listen to that Planetshakers’ song on YouTube.

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August 9, 2012 · 3:14 PM

Trials, Tests and Scars

Each of us will have difficult times in our lives. Some of us experience short bursts of hard times while others, it seems, are destined to live a life of hardships. I’m not sure why it happens this way, but I do know that in either case, it doesn’t mean that one person is better than the other. Matthew 5:45 says that it rains on the just and the unjust alike.

Whether you’ve experienced minimal hardships in life or you have so many deep wounds that you are covered by scars, there is reason and purpose behind your pain. For years I hid my pain and scars. I closed that chapter in my life so that it became like a dream rather than the reality it was. I never wanted to revisit it again until Dave Roever came and spoke at our church. After he told his story, he said, “Don’t hide your scars for in them are life and healing for others.”

Here are a few examples of why you may be going through things that create scars.

1. To test us

Testing is way to show what we are made of. It also cements deep within us what we already know. God can use difficult times in our lives to solidify our faith. It’s not until we are tested and tried that we know how strong our faith is. Difficult times not only build our character, they also reveal it. Times of testing are necessary for us to know how deep our faith is. If it is shallow, we will cast it aside. If it is deep, hard times will strengthen our faith and trust in God.

Job experienced this in his life. He lost everything he had in one day. His kids, his animals, his possessions and his health all were taken from him. He was going through a huge test because God knew he could endure it. God knows how much you can take too and allows what you can handle to happen at times. Passing these times of testing prove, solidify and grow our faith.

2. To correct us

Every one of us has been corrected in this life because someone thought enough of us to put us back on the right track. When we wander from our faith or neglect to do what God asks of us, He cares enough about you that He will do what it takes to get us back on track. Even though it hurts, we should be thankful for our times of correction. They prove that God still deems you worthy to use even when you mess up.

When Jonah disobeyed, God sent a windy storm, a whale and a worm to get his attention. It takes some us longer to accept the correction and to get where God wants us. Hebrews 12:6 tells us that God corrects and disciplines everyone He loves. Your trial may be God showing you that He loves you enough to get you back to where you belong.

3. To prove His love

Romans 8:35 asks if suffering, affliction, tribulation or distress can separate us from God’s love. The answer given is no, but Paul said it in an interested way. He said, “For I am persuaded beyond doubt that… nothing can separate us from God’s love.”. How was he persuaded? God had to prove that to him to the point that it was beyond all doubt. The only way it was proven was that he endured all of those things.

When we go through storms in our lives we see that God is right there with us. He has not and will not forsake us. In our times of trouble, when it seems we are all alone, He is there with you. You are not in this storm alone. The storm you’re in may be what it takes to persuade you beyond all doubt that nothing you go through will separate you from His love.

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August 6, 2012 · 8:29 AM

Victory in your trials

One of the things I love about Jesus is that He didn’t pull any punches in His ministry. He told it like it was. Take for instance John 16:33 where He said, “In this world you will have tribulation and trials and distresses and frustration (AMP).” If He told us ahead of time we were going to experience these things, why are we shocked and upset when they happen? I’ve had my share of these and know there are more on the way as long as I live.

So often when we encounter these in our lives, we ask others to pray for us to be delivered of it. Our immediate response to tribulations, trials, distresses and trouble is to want to get out immediately. If that was God’s desire for them, we would never face them. He uses times like that to grow us, to make us more dependent on Him and to prepare us for something down the road.

Here are some things I’ve found that help me to get the most out of these times.

1. Admit I can’t do it alone

We were not made to go through these times alone. I’ve tried to make it through difficult times by myself and it has never worked. I try and I try, but always fall flat on my face after I get worn out by the stress of it all. It’s only when I come to the realization that I need God’s help that growth truly happens. In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul said that it is when we are weak that He is made strong. We don’t realize our need for dependence on God until those times.

When we think we can do it on our own, our pride grows as a result. I thought it was fitting that Michael Phelps final medal was in a team event. He didn’t get to be the best Olympian ever on his own. He had help along the way. He had a coach to push him beyond what he thought he could do. That’s what God does for us in our difficult times. He pushes us to grow more than we ever thought we could.

2. Trust God

I don’t know what my future holds and chances are, you don’t know yours either. We may have a plan of where we are going, but it doesn’t always end up that way. God has a perfect plan for your life. He knows what you need now to get you where He wants you in the future. Sometimes difficult times are a means to put us back on the right track. He uses road blocks, job losses and dead ends to get us to where we need to be. We have to trust His view of the complete picture of our lives.

Last season I watched a couple of episodes of “Gold Rush Alaska”. In one of the episodes, they took their gold to a refinery at the end of the season. They heated the gold until it melted, they then added borax to the gold and then they let it cool. Once cooled, the gold was covered in black stuff (dross). They hit it with a hammer and all the dross fell off leaving pure gold. When we are walking through the fires of life, God purifies us. It’s not an easy process and it often means that we lose people who are close to us. They, like the dross, may be keeping us from being pure. It may hurt, but it’s for our good.

3. Walk in faith

When hard times come, don’t crumble under the pressure. Keep walking and moving in the right direction. Giving up only prolongs the situation. I know what it’s like to give up when the tribulation seems to have no end. This is not the answer. God sees you where you are and is walking through it with you. He is there every step of the way. You may not be able to see the way out, but He does so you don’t have to.

Victory is found in taking up your cross daily and following Him. It’s in your daily walking out your faith even when you can’t see the next step that you overcome trials. I love how the verse in John 16:33 ends. It says, “Take courage; be confident… I (Jesus) have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.” Your victory has already been won! Keep walking in faith believing in your victory and learn what God has for you in this.

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June 20, 2012 · 6:13 PM

Trials, tests and temptations

James 1:2 has always challenged me. It says that we should be joyful when we are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. If you are like me, joy is not your first response to being tried or tempted. I usually take the victim mentality and try to get out of it ASAP.

Trials, tests and temptations make us better and prove our faith. They are what makes us stronger. We don’t like them because there is a probability of failure and that often occurs. Failure is not the end. It provides an opportunity to learn and to grow. Most people quit after failing once because they don’t see the opportunity that has shown itself for them to get back up and learn a new way.

This scripture says that trials, tests and temptations produce 3 things:

1. Endurance

Endurance gives us the strength to continue beyond what we think we can. When we constantly push ourselves, we in erase our endurance. Christianity is not a sprint but a marathon. There will be highs and lows, leaks and valleys that you will go through. There will be times of plenty and times of drought. Being prepared for the valleys and the droughts is what will keep you going.

Paul recognized that he had not yet attained, but he pressed on. That pressing on is what we have to do as Christians. On those days where your prayers seem to fall to the ground, where your faith seems small and when you’re angry at God, you must press on. Don’t allow your dry season to interfere with your relationship with God. Allow it to make it stronger by pressing on.

2. Steadfastness

This is having an unwavering resolution and a fixed direction. You are not easily deterred. Having these qualities in your faith and life are necessary to continuing the course. The world is there to distract you and to keep you from your purpose or calling. It constantly wants to pull you away from the things of God and turn you aside.

Recognize where you are tempted and stay away from those situations. Go the long way around if it means you will avoid temptation that can keep you from your purpose. Take a look at your life, see where you’ve gotten off course in the past, know what caused it and avoid it in the future to the best of your ability. Your fixed direction is heaven. Keep your eyes ahead and keep moving.

3. Patience

This is the quality of being able to have a steady perseverance even in trying situations. A lack of patience causes us to make rash decisions based on emotion which we later regret. We are to think clearly and exercise self control according to I Peter 1:13. We are not to fly off the handle or to make rash decisions.
We’ve all prayed for patience and then faced difficult situations. We faced them because patience is not given, it’s earned. You must go through difficult times to have this fruit produced. The end result is that you can take anything that comes your way with grace and handle it with dignity.

If you are being tried, tested or tempted don’t be upset and take on a victim mentality. Be happy that you are growing and producing endurance, steadfastness and patience. I know it may not be what you think you need right now, but the end result is worth the temporary pain.

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