It is too risky to live in this world. Why? It is a fallen world. On the top of that, we live in a sin stricken, fallen and weak body. You know what this means? It means disaster is part of this life! Nothing is constant! Nothing stays the same.
The Bible doesn’t lie to us of this fact either. Jesus said,
“In the world you have tribulation” John 16:33a
We all, who live in this world, will face troubles and tribulations.
Jesus gave this parable in Matthew 7:24-27
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house” –
Whose house Jesus is talking about????
My house! Your house! And the house of anybody who lives on this planet!
This is one fact of this life that we face tribulations and all kinds of sufferings. For example, whoever we are, at this moment, as we read this post or watch this video, we may just come out of a suffering or we are in the middle of a suffering or we are about to enter into one.
No one is exempt from this!
But as Christians, when our home or marriage or life gets hit by “the rain,” by a suffering, when we face challenging circumstances, how should we respond?
I want to address this topic by focusing on a marriage, a marriage between one man and one woman. When a marriage is hit by a storm, how does a Christian couple need to respond?
A marriage may suffer for example by season of misunderstanding or conflicts or unexpected diagnoses of a child or one or both of the couple or anything that affects a marriage.
So, how do we married Christians need to respond to a suffering?
- By soaking ourselves in the word of God
Yes, we Christians are commanded by the word of God to let the peace of Christ to rule our lives and hearts.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” Colossians 3:15 NASB
How? “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” Colossians 3:16 NASB
Praise God!
As we fill ourselves with the word of God, guess what is occupying our heart? The peace of Christ!
As part of our daily Christian discipline, we continue filling our hearts and minds with the word of God but during suffering, we often go to the word of God.
Why?
The word of God reminds us of who our God is.
“the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” Daniel 11:32 NASB
You see, when we face sufferings of any sort, we usually don’t know what to do. But not if we soak ourselves with the word of God! The word of God helps us to know our God well. When we know our God, we take a right and timely action and decision.
And the word of God heals and builds our thoughts according to the word of God:
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NASB
When our thoughts are aligned with the word of God, our actions will follow suit. Our intentions and thoughts will be impacted and influenced by the word of God, so will be our actions.
And as we soak our minds and hearts with the word of God, our faith in God will grow:
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 NASB
And the word of God sanctifies us.
You see, we cannot purify and sanctify ourselves but the word of God because Jesus said:
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:17 NASB Amen!
- By praying according to the word of God
Many people pray but their prayers are not answered. They get discouraged and stop praying.
The thing is according to the word of God, we learn that we can only pray according to God’s word, not according to what we feel and think.
Jesus taught us how to pray like this:
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:5-13 NASB
Beautiful, isn’t it!
If you notice, Jesus is teaching us to focus on who God is and who we are in Him. We are children of God and God is our heavenly Father.
If God is God and if He is our Father, He knows what we want. Our focus must be in seeking His Kingdom and righteousness because God’s part is giving us what we need.
Why?
Jesus said,
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 NASB
Which things?
Things we need!
So, when we pray, we focus on God’s word so we pray according to His word.
- By praying in faith
Praying to God being double minded won’t get us anywhere.
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8 NASB
The word of God helps us to pray in faith, being single minded!
And as we seek to pray in faith, asking wisdom from God is pretty much asking God to reveal Jesus Christ in and through us as we walk through all kinds of sufferings.
You see, the word of God says, Jesus is our wisdom!
“Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God” 1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB
Praise God! He is! Jesus is our Wisdom!
Actually, you know what? What God wants from us is this: To see His Son, Jesus Christ, in and through us!
- By waiting on God
When we go through sufferings, we fix our eyes on God knowing that only from Him comes our salvation and rest.
We hope in nothing but God!
We “put all our eggs in Christ!” And we wait and wait!
And those who wait on God will never be put to shame!
“Indeed, none who wait for you [God] shall be put to shame” Psalm 25:3 ESV
And the word of God says,
“Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:27-31 NASB
Praise God!
As we wait, we have to make sure that God is not waiting on us.
Sometimes we claim that we’re waiting on God but in reality God is waiting on us.
God waits on us until we soak ourselves in His word, He waits for us to make our prayers according to His word, He waits for us until we learn to trust Him without doubting His words.
By the way, our prayers rarely change our circumstances. Rather, they change us! They change our thinking, views and concepts so we understand and see the way God understands and sees.
So, we have to always make sure that God is not waiting on us before we decide to wait on Him. And when we wait on God, it doesn’t mean that we stop praying, reading/studying/meditating the word of God. Some people stop everything and they say, “I am waiting on God.” No, that is not waiting on God. That is the way they actually show to God that they don’t believe in God.
- By being thankful!
It is the will of God for us to be thankful in all our circumstances! I mean, think about it! We have Jesus Christ! What more do we need in life! Yes, when we suffer, we feel like we lost everything and we have nothing to be thankful for but the truth is, whether we go through sufferings or not, we are being rich in Christ. We have Christ! Praise God!
So, the Bible teaches us,
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
“always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20 NIV
The one thing the devil hates the most is a Christian who always rejoices in the Lord and thankful to God in all circumstances!
You know why he hates this kind of Christian? Because Satan cannot have his way in this individual’s life. Satan always becomes a loser when it comes to this Christian whose heart is filled with joy and gratitude.
So, while you go through all kinds of sufferings, soak yourselves in the Word, pray without ceasing, pray in faith, wait on God however long it might feel like and be thankful and glorify your God and make your enemy, the devil, burn in anger! ///