What current trials are you facing that is threatening to pull you under? Are you wondering if you will make it through?
A Listening Heart
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Maybe you face health crises, financial crises, loss of a loved one, persecution for your beliefs, or challenges at work. These trials can leave us feeling alone and wondering where God is in this situation and what is he doing.
David was no stranger to trials. He faced many enemies both on and off the battlefield. In 1 Samuel 22, David recounts how he called on the Lord in his time of distress and how God delivered him.
The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple, he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. 2 Samuel 22:5-7
Fifteen years ago this week, my life as I knew it was shattered. All I could see was devastation and hopelessness.
It was a beautiful sunshiny Saturday. After breakfast, I sent the kids to play in the yard while I tried to clean the porch and areas around it. I made a few strokes with the broom when suddenly I looked up and saw a bag floating in the air. My first instinct was to ask one of the kids if they saw the same thing, but then I realized it was a vision. As the bag disappeared from my sight, I prayed for insight.
That day marked the beginning of untold physical, emotional, and financial hardships. My family experienced one calamity after another over the next couple of years. The first assault was on my marriage, followed by financial woes, job loss, health crises, and homelessness due to a house fire. Read more about “But God, Part I” here.
As we went through these trials, it felt like we were in deep waters and would drown without help. Like David, I called on the Lord and looked to him for refuge (2 Samuel 22:7).
No matter the challenging situations you are going through, whether you are dealing with illness, broken relationships, or heartaches, you too can call on the Lord for deliverance. He will bring you through and give you treasures in the process.
Lessons from “Consider It Pure Joy” Moments
If I only shared the hardships with you, I would not be presenting an accurate picture. Over the last 15 years, I have had many “Consider it pure joy” moments. These moments of God’s grace, mercy, and mighty deliverance were:
- Sometimes quick and swift… quick answers to prayers.
- Slow and methodical… slow answers to prayers that taught me valuable lessons about perseverance along the way.
- Guidance through dreams, insights, and visions… showed me what God was doing behind the scenes
- Peace when the storms raged fiercely… I experienced unexpected calm in my soul.
- Joy… songs of praise would well up deep within my soul and flood my heart with joy and gratitude.
- Love and presence…God revealed his love and presence through his Word, people, and circumstances in these trials.
In my vision, the bag I saw was a glimpse of the afflictions and trials to come. When I should be sorrowful by all accounts, God’s unending joy and love kept me afloat. Oh, the profound lessons I learned as he worked on making the crooked places straight in my life.
He taught me to persevere through prayer, depend on him for guidance, and grow and bloom in the desert. I learned to bless others by sharing and encouraging them with the comfort I received from the Lord. Most importantly, he showed me how to love him above all else.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5
Only God could level the mountains and break bad the habits and attitudes that kept us chained and shackled in sin and trials. He gave me hope.
I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron. Isaiah 45:2
Like David, I look back, and I am amazed at all the Lord has done. How he has restored and continues to repair the broken ruins.
For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations, I will sing praises to your name. He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. 2 Samuel 22:17
Whatever trials you face, take hold of God’s hand and never let go. He is there with you and will give you treasures along the way and bring you through. You, too, can increase your faith and discover how to tap into the “consider it pure joy” moments in your trials.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3
No matter how broken we are, God can work many miracles, transform us, and heal our broken places.
How have you experienced God in the midst of trouble? Share your “consider it pure joy” moments.
You may also be interested in But God, Part II, and Answered Prayers in an Unexpected Way
