“I know He’s able to do it, but will He do it for me?” Even after all the miraculous records that are written in the Bible, many of us still struggle to trust God in our weakest, most vulnerable moments. Most of us can get over those minor hiccups in life and bounce back relatively quickly, but I’m not talking about these little bumps in the road. I’m referring to those situations that rock you to your very core. It’s the hurdles that can cause you to feel like a dark cloud is constantly hovering over your life. Things seem so impossible and jumbled up that you can’t see a way forward. No one really knows the depths of your despair because you dare not speak of it. And even if you did, they couldn’t possibly understand what its like being you in the midst of all the adversity that seems to overwhelm your life.
One of the defining characteristics of a deeply challenging period is feeling isolated and alone. It may not be easy to hear, but the reality is that we feel this way because we’re not understanding exactly what God is doing in our lives. We become disillusioned and our feelings get a little hurt because we want God to show up in a hurry. We want Him to respond to us in a way that instantly rectifies the situation or takes our pain and discomfort away. We feel as though we’re living on the edge of a cliff and could fall off any second. So, when God doesn’t do something to remove what we perceive as a threat, some of us are tempted to loosen our grip on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Life isn’t a tangible, solid thing upon which we can grab onto. It’s very fluid. Jesus Christ is the only solid foundation in life, and our faith in him is the thing on which we must constantly be anchored. You and I sometimes get stuck because we’re trying to press through adversity with personal effort, when we should be pressing in faith. So, it’s a mind and a heart thing, and if we’re consumed with worry, stress, and doubt all the time, we will make our feelings the head of our lives rather than Jesus Christ. The nature of life is to constantly force us to pick which side we’re going to be on. Either we will choose faith in God through Jesus Christ or we’ll choose fear of the unknown. The choice is ours to make, but as believers, we ought to let ourselves be guided by our faith in the Lord.
James 1:2-4(MSG) tells us, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” The work that needs to be done with every believer is an inward work. God is not nearly as concerned with our outside as He is for our inside. Through His Spirit, He abides internally, deep within our human spirits. Therefore, you and I can have every confidence that God sees our greatest strengths and our greatest weaknesses. Our weaknesses will not be left unaddressed.
Long before you and I arrived on the scene, God had a plan for our lives. Let’s be clear on this, because we’re talking about the Creator of the entire universe here. He doesn’t miss a beat. Nothing slips by Him, and He takes care of even the tiniest detail. God would not allow His plan to fail or to slip through the cracks. So, you and I can be sure that the plan He has for our lives MUST come to past.
Ephesians 1:11-12(MSG) says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” Glorious living is part of the purpose that God is working out in all of us. Every single person that has ever lived was born according to God’s purpose. Every person comes to this earth and is born at the exact time our God appoints. He had designs on us for the very best purpose. He wants us to maximize our lives in the very best way possible.
Living to the fullest is living God’s way, but sometimes, we’re not so interested in living God’s way. We want to live our way, on our own terms. This is often at odds with God’s purpose for our lives. Our tribulations and challenges in life have a way of working out the kinks in our thoughts and emotions so that our hearts get in line with God’s purpose. He sees the stuff in us that needs to be either moved out of the way or strengthened so we can fulfill that to which we’ve been called.
It is a very natural thing that our emotions and thoughts come into play because both are responding to the pressure that tribulation places on our lives. We are tempted to feel that God has abandoned us, but He never will. He’s working out His purpose in our lives and doing it in a way that matures us in His grace, love, and power. It’s not just about our lives, but the countless others we will influence and impact. God knows our limits and to the extent that we are able, we will be stretched beyond the point of comfort, but He’s right there with us, wanting us to allow Him to guide our every step.
I heard a great man of God say that when it comes to our times of tribulation, our Heavenly Father will allow the enemy to play his very last hand. Faith will take us beyond our emotions and thoughts to that part of us that is completely sold out to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can’t rely on our feelings to tell us what to believe. We must believe God’s Word. It’s a place where we’re fully convinced of His love.
The devil uses our emotions to derail us and to get us off track to where God is taking us. And because we don’t understand exactly where God is taking us, we become afraid and allow the enemy to get away with it. God commands that our actions be ruled by His Word! Ultimately, our feelings will catch up to our commitment to stand solidly on our faith, but we cannot allow fear, doubt, and feelings of angst to rule our lives. GOD must rule our lives, and we must press beyond what we feel to see the victory He has given us. Continue to be prayerful and speak life over your circumstances.■
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
“Pressing Through in the Midst of Adversity” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.