struggles

Life Got You Down? Our Next Series Might Be For You

Adon had been a faithful member of the church for years. He had trusted the Lord as his savior as a young man, had tithed regularly, donated to the church’s missions program, and had even accompanied a group on a mission trip to Central America. If more of God’s people were like Adon, greater things would be happening for the cause of Christ.

Adon had served God faithfully, asking nothing in return. Adon never prayed that God would reward him with a better job, nicer car or bigger house. Yet, when Adon’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, that changed. Adon prayed earnestly to God, begging God to cure his mother’s cancer, to heal her, and to restore her life. He prayed that her pain would subside, that the doctors would be guided to the proper treatment, and that a cure would be found.

For six agonizing months, Adon pleaded with God for this one miracle, the healing of his mother. Other folks had cancer, and other folks saw their cancer go into remission. But Adon’s mother continued to struggle with the disease.

Adon was told that the prayer of faith would save the sick. He was told that if he prayed in faith, God would answer. All Adon had to do was pray in faith, and claim the victory. Adon continued in prayer. He stayed faithful to the church. And he never doubted God’s love and power.

That is, until the doctor declared his mother to be dead, at 2:23 p.m. on a sunny Tuesday in October.

Why didn’t God hear Adon’s prayers? Was his faith incomplete? Did he falter? When did he doubt? Was his prayer not fervent enough?

If all the prayer he had poured out would not save his mother, what was the point? Why didn’t the scriptures that were shared with him work? Was his Bible broken? Is this all a lie? Is faith only good as long as he is serving and donating to the church?

Adon became disillusioned. And who could blame him? The person who was most precious to him in the world had just been ripped away.

If we are honest, I think most of us can relate to Adon.

But there is one man in the Bible that we can look to in order to learn how to handle these times of tragedy. Like Adon, Job was also a faithful servant of God. He was just and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. He gave generously, and prayed on behalf of all those he loved. Yet, in a matter of a few days, Job lost everything… his wealth, health, and kids.

The whole world collapsed on Job. Even his wife told him to curse God and die. And when his friends came, they said it must be karma… that Job must have done something horrible to deserve this misfortune.

Much theological truth is poured out during the debates between Job and his friends. Job’s faith remained in tact, and by the end of the book, he had received a revelation that few have ever seen. Job got to know God in a way you and I cam barely imagine.

In Job 42:5, Job says to God, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.”

Up until now, Job had believed in a God whom he had learned about by the teaching of the word. But now, Job believed in a God he had seen with his own eyes. While God’s presence in the book of Job is clearly felt, Job gained such an understanding of the Lord through his struggle.

The book of Job offers us comfort by giving us that deeper understanding of the Lord. And if you are enduring a time of trauma, grief or bereavement right now, you are about to experience God in a way you never before imagined.

Join us on Sunday mornings in October to obtain a deeper understanding of God through our struggles. Morning worship begins at 11 a.m.

When life is out to crush you
adult alone black and white dark

Photo by Kat Jayne on Pexels.com

Are you stressed? You’re not alone.

Survey data reported by Vox, the Times of Israel, Gallup, and Pew reports that Americans, as well as people around the world, are becoming increasingly unhappy and stressed.

Why are so many people unhappy? It’s hard to tell. There are more theories on the rising discontentment in the world than there are sources reporting it.

The fact is that in today’s world, stresses are piling up and problems are multiplying. Bills, health problems, family problems, work problems, social problems, so on and so forth. So, you go online to escape reality for a moment, and story after story is posted about some politician who is intent on destroying America as we know it.

Spend enough time in this situation, and you’ll start to feel hopeless, like the obstacles are too much to overcome, and there is no escape.

Such was the case for King David when he wrote Psalm 3. He had fled from Absalom his son, who had overthrown his government, and was chasing him down to execute him.

David had lost his kingdom, his home, the military, his family, his wealth, everything. He was fleeing to the wilderness where there would be little food or water, and safety would be hard to find. However, the hopeless wilderness was his only option.

People turned against him. His enemies far outnumbered his friends, and many of his friends were throwing in the towel. It was hopeless.

Yet, in Psalm 3:3-4, David wrote, “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.”

David knew His only true friend, and the only One that could help him was God, and he trusted God. So, he cried out to God, and God heard him. Thus, in Psalm 3:5, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.”

Knowing that he was in God’s hands, David slept. What faith that showed! To be able to step away from his daily struggle and rest. It showed that David understood that God was in control, and that God held him in the palm of His hand.

That faith was validated the next day when David awoke. He awoke, because God sustained him.

Life may be crushing you right now, and you may be struggling to keep your head above water. Yet, the Lord never intended for you to continue the struggle on your own. He loves you, and cares for you. So, be like David. Trust God. Call out to God. Then rest, and trust Him to take care of that which you cannot control. You will find that He will sustain you.

The physical application of Psalm 3:5 is that we should trust the Lord, knowing that He will sustain us. However, there is a Spiritual application as well.

So many of us are struggling with our Spirituality. We doubt whether we will enter God’s Kingdom when we die. Is it possible for a man to know that He is saved? Is it possible to know for sure that you will go to Heaven when you die?

These questions being unanswered for many, some stress out, trying to follow religion to the “T” hoping to be good enough to go to Heaven when they die. Others reject the Lord altogether out of frustration. Both approaches are equally wrong.

Psalm 3:8 says “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people.”

We don’t determine whether we get into Heaven, God does, hence John 1:13, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

There is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves to warrant our entrance into Heaven. God determines who gets in and who doesn’t. But praise be to God, He told us how He will make that determination, so that we can have blessed assurance. In John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

All God wants us to do is to believe on the name of Jesus, to trust Him for salvation, and by doing so turning away from sin. Repent, and believe. And the repenting is inherent in the belief. By trusting Jesus Christ as your savior, you confess that you are a sinner, that the sin is bad, and you have set your mind to be rescued from it. Once you have done that, the Lord wants you to rest… not work to get into heaven, but rather to trust Him for that salvation, then spend your time on this Earth glorifying Him for the salvation He freely gave you.

Hence, you lay down, you sleep, you awake, for the Lord sustains you. Also, Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Furthermore, the Lord sustains you… so He keeps you saved. You never have to worry about losing that salvation.

Finally, there is a future application of Psalm 3:5, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.”

The day is coming when we will close our eyes one last time in this life. We will close our eyes in death, as the Bible says, we will sleep. Yet, as we close our eyes in death, we will turn right around and open them to eternal life, because the Lord will raise us up and receive us into His Kingdom, if you know Him as Savior.

We will lay down and sleep, we will awake, for the Lord will sustain us.

All of this possible, because the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life on the cross, was buried, then rose again the third day, because God resurrected Him.

God’s eternal plan for you is to bring you into His Kingdom, where you can live forever in His presence and glory. Everything He does in your life prepares you for that day. Will you trust Him? Are you looking forward to that day?

Knowing these things will not only comfort us during stressful times, but will also help us put the stress into perspective. May God bless you as you continue to follow Him.

I’m fine! No, really, I am. Okay, I’m not.

How are you doing?

No really, How are you doing?

Nearly 100 percent of the time, when asked the first question, we say, “Fine.” Or, some of our more spiritually inclined brethren say, “I’m blessed.”

All too often, when we give those answers, we are not being truthful.

You see, we have been conditioned to think that any sign of distress, any sign of worry or stress is an indication that our faith is faltering. Somehow, by expressing heartbreak over the loss of a loved one, concern over a wayward child, fear over a pending financial disaster, uncertainty over the loss of a job, or anger over being mistreated, we are expressing a character flaw. We’ve “taken our eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves crashing all around us.” We’ve become Peter trying to walk on the water, but sinking because his faith failed.

Indeed, we don’t want to lose faith in the Lord, and we don’t want to be focused on our problems. However, in the real world, we do have problems. And those problems still exist when we enter the church doors. Therefore, there is no need for the church to become a fantasy world where problems don’t exist. They do. Therefore, one of the ministries of the church should be to help people through their problems.

This is not just a humanitarian position. It’s actually in scripture.

Galatians 6:2 says to “bear one another’s burdens.” While the greater context of that verse deals with restoring a brother who sins, it should be noted that sin is part of the lives of those who live in the real world. We all struggle. We all fail. We should be able to turn to our brothers and sisters in Christ for love, encouragement, and restoration as we repent from that sin.

The Bible also tells those who are afflicted to pray (James 5:13) and to confess our faults one to another (James 5:16). In fact, the church experience was designed so we could gain encouragement from each other while we walk this Christian life together. Hebrews 10:25 says that we should not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, but should exhort one another. That means to encourage each other to stay strong in the faith and to do great things for the Lord.

We cannot be encouraged if we are unwilling to address the things that burden our hearts. We cannot be encouraged if we are not willing to face our problems, and seek help. We cannot help each other with our struggles if we pretend they don’t exist.

The Lord knows we have problems. He knew beforehand that we would. Hence, He gave us the church to help us through those problems. The problem is, the church doesn’t do this because we fear being judged if we admit we have problems.

The Lord understands problems. He had a few of his own. Hebrews 4:15-16 says:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Do you know what that means? It means that the Lord was tempted… not only to sin by Satan after Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness, but also by the same struggles in life that we face: Not enough money, shortage of food, fatigue, being rejected and betrayed by others, being homesick and missing family, physical pain, emotional pain, bereavement, etc.

Yet, the Lord experienced all of this without sin. Therefore, He was uniquely qualified to pay for our sins on the cross, rise again to conquer the grave, open the gates of Heaven and plead our cases before God every single day.

Furthermore, these verses tell us He is sympathetic to our cause, because He has been through the same struggles we have.

Therefore, you are more than welcome to approach the Lord in prayer regarding the struggles you face. You should also be able to lean on your brothers and sisters in Christ for comfort and encouragement. If that’s not possible, maybe you need to find some other brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Lord understands our struggles, because He’s been here. We should understand each others’ struggles as well, because we’re still here. Love, help and encourage each other. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of God.