Jesus put it this way…He said, “Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be
added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) If you will seek God with all your
heart He will fill the longing of your heart and He will give you peace in your
soul. You will learn that you can trust Him even in the most difficult times of
your life…and you will find that He is always faithful. So I want to share with
you some steps tonight that will help you to learn to trust God’s faithfulness through
the difficult time, and to depend on His provision for your life, because when
life gets difficult, we all need to have the security of God’s Word to help us
to make it through and we all need to learn to depend on Him and His
faithfulness.
And so I want to share with you a
portion of scripture that I believe will make your life a little easier when
you are going through difficulties. I want to help you to learn to depend on
God and to see His faithfulness at work in your life. First I want to share the
entire section, and then I will break it down into 5 steps that I believe will
help you to remain steady when it seems that everything around you is falling
apart. The scripture is found in Psalm 37:3-8:
“Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the
light,
And your justice as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.”
1. Trust in the Lord, and do good. The best thing we can do during
difficult times is to remember God’s past faithfulness in our live and continue
doing what we know is right in His sight. When you read the story of Job, through
all the difficulties that Job endured, because of God’s past faithfulness in
his life, Job could say without a doubt, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust
Him.” (Job 13:15) David, as a young boy when he was standing before the mighty
giant Goliath could say, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the
lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine." (I Samuel 17:37) If God has ever been faithful to you in your
life, keep your focus on that and trust that the same God who has shown Himself
mighty on your behalf in the past, He will not fail you during this time of
need. And remain faithful to do what you know that He wants you to do.
2. Delight yourself in the Lord. Spend lots of time with the Lord, talk
to him throughout your day. Acknowledge Him in everything you do. Difficulties
provide us with wonderful opportunities to seek God for new direction in our
lives. But it’s also important that we maintain an attitude of praise during
difficult times. There is nothing that builds faith like praise. We can be
certain that He has already gone before us and prepared the way, and all we
need to do is to seek Him for new direction. He will use this time to build you
and prepare you for the new path He wants you to take. I call these times in my
own life “turning points” because they were the times when God has wanted to
take me to a new place in Him and show me His grace in greater measure. Just
remember, change can often be a good thing.
3. Commit your way to the Lord. Whatever way the Lord directs your
heart, commit to it. It takes a “whatever” and “wherever” attitude from us.
Whatever He asks and wherever He leads…it doesn’t matter, that’s the way you
should want to go. Allow Him to be God in your life, and you will never regret
it. Surrender to His plan for you and allow Him to be in charge of your life.
Whatever your plans were previously, give them up and go with the one God has
in mind.
4. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for
Him. God never moves as quickly as I think
He should. No matter what He leads me to do, there’s always a waiting period.
And I am not one who waits very well. But I’m learning. The key to the rest and
peace that we want to experience in the Lord is learning how to wait patiently
for Him. I usually look for Him to act miraculously in my life, but He prefers
to take me step by step in preparation for the next adventure that He has in
mind. I need to go through experiences that will help me to be ready for what
He has in mind for my life. I’m learning that His way is always best, and His
timing is perfect. So I would encourage you, rest in Him while you wait.
5. Cease from anger. No matter who or what caused this
circumstance that you find yourself in, you can know in your heart that the
person or situation was only an instrument that God used to bring you to the
place that He desires for you to be. Ephesians 6:12a reminds us, “For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…” Our battle is not with
people, but we seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven. And when it’s all
said and done, and you find yourself in the new direction that He has planned
for your life, you will look back and be glad.
So, when difficulties come, and they
will come, I want you to remember to:
- Trust in the Lord, and do good.
- Delight yourself in the Lord.
- Commit your way to the Lord.
- Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
- Case from anger.
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