God is faithful

Trials, conflicts, pain, suffering, whatever it may be we have all endured one of these things in some way, shape or form. I have had many times of adveristy this semester at college in many areas. I hope that what God has put on my heart to make me strong and focused will help you in times of trials, and hardtimes.

I wanted to share some Scripture passages that God has revealed to me in times of struggle, pain, and heartache to give to you as encouragement and hopefully application somewhere in your life.

God is faithful.....

Pslam 32:8
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

This verse came at a time in my life where I felt like I just couldnt go on. That I just wasn't able to what God wanted me to do. I really wanted to give up, leave, and not be in the place I was. One morning, I just happened to flip in my frustration to this passage.

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go.....

God instructs.
What does it mean to instruct someone? Well instruction means to furnish with knowledge or direction. God furnishes us with the knowledge that we need to glorify Him, and to obey Him. We should find comfort in that our GOd who created the world, whether we are in times of struggle, and pain will furnish us with knowledge and strength to direct us where to go in that time. Rely on the hand of God to guide you in times of trials and you can't go wrong!

"I will counsel and watch over you."

God is the Great Counselor, and He watches over His sheep. In hard times in life, we need to find encouragement that God is with us, that no matter what happens we cannot be seperated from the love of God. To counsel in this verse is the reinforcement that God will instruct you in the direction you should go so that you can conduct yourselves in a way that is holy and honorable to Him. Just as Jesus is our Shepherd, He watches overs us as His sheep, guiding away from the thick brush, and onto greener pastures.
Remember Jesus even told us he would watch over us even when the world falls apart:

Matthew 28:19-"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


God is our Rock.....

Psalm 112:6-8
"Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;

The premise for this verse is speaking about the righteous man and everything that he will do in times of trial and hard time.

A believer must find strength in these verses, and I understand that this is easier said then done. This verse came to me a month ago where I could have easy broken under Satan's pressure, but God spoke clearly and this verse was the one I needed to hear.

"Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.

We will never be shaken because we have Christ, because we have a foundation that cannot be destroyed.
Let these other verses simmer in your heart:

Luke 6: 47-48 "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."

Jesus here declares that if we abide in Him, and in His Word we are building a house on "rock" ( 1 Corinthians 10:4--a name used of Christ). It was not shaken during the storm because its foundation was solid. In hard times, we must abide in Christ our Rock and make Him the foundation so that when the storms come we will NOT be shaken!

vs. 7
"He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."

Pretty plainly spoken here, in Christ we will have no fear of bad news because we know that it is:
1. A testing of our faith (1 Peter 1:6-7 " had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise")
2. That we should be joyous in trials not saddened: ( James 1:2-3-"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.")

The word that is important is that the heart is steadfast. What does it mean? Steadfast means to be unwavering, or fixed in one direction, firm in purpose. To trust is to have full reliance on someone or something. So basically this part of the verse affirms the importance of fixing your eyes on Jesus( Hebrews 12:2), to be unwavering, and relying on Him during times of bad news and struggle.

God is security...

vs. 8
"His heart is secure, he will have no fear."

We are securely fastened in the hand of God, and no one, no situation, no trial could ever take that from you and I.

More passages:
John 10:28-29--" I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."

Romans 3:38-39--"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We firmly secure in the love that God has given us in Christ Jesus. Always remember that God is there, He has you securely in His hand, and He loves you and nothing can seperate us from that love, therefore we don't need to fear anything that comes our way.

1 John 4:18--"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.."

THE POINT:
1. God is faithful--God will instruct us, and teach where we need to go in life. Find strength in knowing that we have a God that wants to be active in our life but guiding us in times of hardship.

2. God is our Rock--When we make Christ the foundation for our lives: work, school, college, our marriages, relationships, our everything, we know that the storms of life cannot destroy us because our foundation, our Rock is in Him.

3. God is our security--We must be reminded in times of hardship, that no matter what is happening, God is there. God has you in the palm of his hand, and he wont let go, and nothing, absolutely nothing can seperate us for the love of God. We have no fear of bad news, trials but rather rejoice because we have not been seperated from God's love!!!

May God Bless you.....