August 20, 2020 - lots of schools have started for the fall amidst the cloud of COVID. Kids are kicking off their new classes in a very different manner than usual. Rather than just new school clothes and supplies, they're having to get school masks, and getting used to restrictions as to how they move around in their school buildings and how they interact with classmates and with teachers. Isn't it all just so strange? Isn't it amazing how fast our world can change?
When changes are pleasant, we embrace them wholeheartedly and thank God for the blessings that have come into our lives. But when the changes create hardship and angst, do we still thank God for what He is doing? Do we still thank Him for being good in all ways, even when the changes are seen as trials? Just as we're asking school kids to adapt and do what is necessary to get through this school year, could our hard times require us to adapt our lives (possibly in ways that they desperately needed) in order to get through and advance to the next class of our life's spiritual training. Years ago when I was trying to become at least an average golfer, our encouraging expression to each other was, "you advanced the ball." No matter how little distance made, we were closer to the flag than we were before. When we come through trials and we have remained faithful and kept open hearts to God's lessons, we're closer than we were before to the person He designed us to be. Keep advancing!
We've talked about the inevitability of suffering - both for Christ, and as a result of our broken world. We've looked at the need, and the desire of God, for us to acknowledge our absolute inability to hold up under suffering and God's absolute ability to sustain us. We've addressed the question of why God allows His children to suffer, the growth and refinement that comes through our times of troubles. And we've just finished talking about the impact on a believer's life when they come through times of suffering - a more intimate relationship with God our Father and a deeper understanding of His purposes in our life.
But knowing all of this, when we're smack dab in the middle of life's hardest times, or when we are being persecuted for our faith, or when we are being tempted by the world's charms that dangle before us luring us away from our true goal - what does the practical application of all of the above lessons look like?
That's our question for this week: What do we do when we find ourselves in times of trouble, when we are in the middle of our storm?
And our verses for this week: 1 John 5:4-5 "because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
OBSERVATION
John 14:1 "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me."
Psalm 37:39-40 "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, their refuge in a time of distress. The Lord helps and delivers them; He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge in Him."
Isaiah 26:3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You. Trust in the Lord forever, because in Yah, the Lord, is an everlasting rock!"
Well when you read through these passages, you get a pretty clear idea of the first things that God wants us to do when we find ourselves in a time of trouble, a time of distress: believe in Him, run to Him, trust in Him.
And what are we not to do - we are not to be troubled. Easy to say, isn't it? But that doesn't come naturally, or at least it doesn't to me. When troubling times come to me, I tend to have a troubled heart. But Jesus told His disciples, "Your heart must not be troubled." And why mustn't it? Because we believe in God, and we believe in Jesus, His Son. And if we truly believe, then Jesus tells us, don't be troubled.
Quoting from our study guide, "Troubled in this verse is translated from the Greek word tarasso. It means "to take away calmness of mind." It implies an action that strikes a person's spirit with fear and doubt. Believe is translated from the Greek word pisteuo. It means "to be persuaded of, to place confidence in, to trust, to rely upon."
When we apply these meanings to the two key words, "troubled" and "believe", how does it expand our understanding?
Do you ever, like me, find your mind scrambled when things are swirling around you? When we feel that kind of chaotic turmoil, we need to stop and realize that is not what we are called to. As Paul tells Timothy, we have been given a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) So when our calmness of mind is lacking and we feel fears and doubts creeping in, we need to focus on what we believe - of what we are absolutely persuaded of, what we have confidence in, what - no Who - we rely upon.
A key thing here is that we have that full persuasion and complete confidence in God our Father and in Jesus our Savior, before our trouble comes. We have to "know in whom we have believed, and be persuaded that He is able" to bring us through. (Did you sing it? Are you now? :) ) What do we need to know about our God to be so fully persuaded?
The writer of the passage in Psalms tells us that our God is our Salvation, our Strength and our Deliverer in times of trouble. Doesn't that describe the One who you would want to be able to run to when you are in troubled times, when your enemy is after you? We have a fully able Father who is ready to help us - and what are we told to do to access His aid - just take refuge in Him. Find in Him our hiding place from the chaos swirling around us, hide under His protective wing. Be still and know that He is our powerful, almighty God.
And then Isaiah closes us out today with one of my favorite passages when I'm not at peace - the reminder that He will keep me in perfect peace when I am dependent, fully trusting, in Him. I found this passage when going through a previous hard time and I repeated it over and over until I came to the place where I realized God wanted me - desperately dependent on Him. That's where He wants us when we're in trouble - knowing that we have no one else like our God - our everlasting Rock. He is the only One who can bring us through our time of trouble.
When we are there, we need to believe in Him, run to Him and trust in Him. We have no other place to go - He is our everything.
In His Amazing Love,
Janice
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