So many people in the world today are struggling with different battles. For some, they are fighting hidden and faceless battles. Others are facing internal battles.
There are those who only fight their battles behind closed doors. They still lift their hands up in church. They still sing aloud during praise and worship.
But when they get home, when they close the door behind them, they are in a fight. And so you have a perfect cocktail for depression, anxiety, stress, addictions, and lots of other issues. The sad reality of this world is that people are dealing with incredibly difficult circumstances.
And one lesson we all have to learn in this life is that trouble is inevitable. But my brothers and sisters, I would like to submit to you that it's how we interpret and deal with that trouble that determines how well we're able to handle it. Many people go through life believing they should not experience any trouble.
And it leaves them upset and bitter when it comes. Some people believe that if they live a good life, honorable, law-abiding life, no serious trouble will come their way. But life has a way of reminding us that it is no respector of persons.
Trouble falls on the righteous and the wicked, on the rich and the poor. Trouble falls on everyone, regardless of skin color or religion even. No one is exempt from trouble.
Sickness and disease don't care about how good you are. Tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes all don't care about your list of good deeds. We will all face problems.
The question then is not how we can avoid trouble and issues in our lives, but how can we better deal with them? How can we see the hand of God working in and through the trouble we face? There is a song that I've grown to love as I have had to overcome my own tests and trials.
It's a song titled Through It All by Andre Crouch and CC Winonsens and it says, "I've had many tears and sorrows. I've had questions for tomorrow. There have been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation, God gave blessed consolation that my trials only come to make me strong. Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all, I've learned to depend upon his word. So, I thank God for the mountains and I thank him for the valleys. I thank him for the storms he's brought me through.
Cuz if I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that he could solve them. I wouldn't know what faith in his word could do. Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus.
Dear saints, in your mind's eye, imagine one day as we've entered heaven's gates and we're exchanging stories and testimonies about what God has done for us. Imagine the Apostle Paul telling us, "Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked.
I spent a night and a day in the open sea. But through it all, his grace was sufficient. " Or perhaps imagine speaking to Joseph and he tells us that he was betrayed by his own family.
He was a slave. He made a home in a pit and in a prison and he was even lied upon. But through it all, he learned to trust in God.
How about you, dear listener? What will your story be? What is it that you've gone through or that you are currently going through that you'll be able to one day say, "Through it all, I learned to trust in Jesus.
" Sometimes our circumstances are actually opportunities. Opportunities for us to witness the wonderworking power of the Lord. The test can be there simply to serve as a reminder that God can make a way where there seems to be no way.
Call on the name of Jesus Christ when your circumstances don't match your faith. Maybe you are bound or chained in some area of your life. There is a God who breaks chains and sets captives free.
Maybe you're in a dark place and it feels like you're in a prison. But the light that is Jesus Christ can burn away the darkness. In him there is freedom.
So should you feel pressured by your circumstances, the Lord won't allow you to be crushed. Yes, of course you will find yourself experiencing situations that will leave you perplexed and scratching your head. But you will never never be driven to despair.
Even though it may feel like tough times are hunting you down and persecuting you, Jesus Christ will never desert you. He will never forsake you. And oh, we've all been struck down at some point.
But thank you Lord Jesus that you will never leave us to be destroyed. So I encourage you to never let present circumstances overpower your faith. God will make a way when you keep your faith in him.
Dear God, your word says in Deuteronomy 10:12, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. " Father, help me so that I may not have any fear in this world, but rather may I only fear you, my God.
I pray that I may walk in your ways. Help me to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor to stand in the way of sinners, nor to sit in the seat of the scornful. Lord, I desire to be completely devoted to you, to hunger and thirst for you.
So I pray that you would remove everything that might hinder my growth. Remove everything that might hinder me from walking with you. I pray that nothing would block me from chasing after you, God.
Father, I ask that you would remove any hurdles from my past that may try and pull me back into a state of discouragement. Lord, remove all past rejections, all past failures, past hurts, anything that might hinder my walk with you. Help me Lord as I hold on to your word that says I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth.
My help to overcome adversity is found in you, Jesus. My strength to conquer every demon and every obstacle is drawn from Christ. Psalm 28:es 6-8 says, "Blessed be the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him.
The Lord is their strength and he is the saving refuge of his anointed. King Jesus, if it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be. If it weren't for your wonderful sacrifice on Calvary, Lord, I don't know where I would be.
If it wasn't for your hand that's over my life, Lord, if it wasn't for your protection, I would have been devoured by the enemy by now. But I praise you, King Jesus, and I thank you because you have not allowed the enemy to destroy my life or to destroy my home. Lord, if it weren't for your watchful eye over me, and if it weren't for your guidance, I would be lost.
I'd be confused and hopeless. But I praise you because in you, Lord Jesus, I'm led by the good shepherd. In you, King Jesus, my steps are ordered.
My tomorrow, whatever it may be, my tomorrow is in the hands of a faithful, merciful, and loving God. Psalm 63:es 3-5 says, "Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live.
I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. " Lord Jesus, I will forever stand on your word to claim, to declare, to pronounce, and to speak victory before I can even see it.
Your word is powerful and living. If joy is absent in my heart, then I look to your word, which tells me that the joy of the Lord will be my strength. If there is unrest in my mind, if there is any hint of conflict or confusion, I stand by your word which tells me that you are not the author of confusion but of peace.
My portion is to have a sound mind. My portion is to be led to still waters. So as long as I wait on you, Lord, I believe that you will restore me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet.
Today I rest my hope fully on the grace that I have received from Jesus Christ. Amazing grace. A grace that covers a multitude of sins.
I bless your name, King Jesus, for listening to my prayer. You are great and worthy to be praised. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. And amen. Blessed be the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him.
The Lord is their strength and he is the saving refuge of his anointed because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live.
I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful [Music] lips. What does the Lord your God require of you?
But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.