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| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
HOW DO WE PURSUE GOD THROUGH LIFE'S TRIALS SUCCESSFULLY?
By: Debra Schreiner
How do we pursue God through all of life’s trials successfully? Is anyone really triumphant? When tragedy
strikes; a child dies or a parent or friend, brother or sister, where does your faith lie? A divorce slams you by
surprise, you’re a Christian, and they don’t get divorces, right! Your finances fall out from under you and now
you face bankruptcy! Forget about the retirement plan, now your plan for retirement is to pray God calls you
home before you are too old and can’t work. Your doctor calls asking to meet with you regarding your test
results, and by the way, the doctor says, “it would be good to bring someone with you.” Wars, rumors of wars,
terrorism affecting the entire world and your child has decided to enlist! Media warnings about the epidemic of
drug abuse, and it appears your child is not only an addict, but furnishes drugs for a profit to others as well.
Life comes at you hard and fast. How you respond to your personal state of affairs that is the question. Where
does your faith lie in the midst of all the whirlwinds and tempests hurled in your direction? That is the real test of
our faith, and trails prove the integrity of your faith. James says, in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance
have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What will be the result of our
trials? The desired result of our trails from God’s perspective is that we be continually transformed into the image
of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29) That is not to say that God is the author or
initiator of all tragedy, we live in a sin fallen world, granted He is also not taken by surprise, and is sovereign over
every event, but He allows or permits certain circumstances to occur in His children’s lives. Just check out the
book of Job. Job lost his wealth, his children, the respect of the community, endured the bad advice of friends,
and his faithful wife advises him to “curse God and die”, apparently she had enough of Job and felt she would be
better off with him dead. All these events came and were allowed into Job’s life by the very hand of God. Yet Job
saw through these events to the end result. In Job 19:25-27, Job says, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall
see God, Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” Job had a heavenly
perspective, no matter what life would hurl at Job, he knew he would be with his God. As we submit the tragedies
and disappointments of our lives to God, He will work through the circumstances for our transformation to the
image of His son Jesus and for His glory and for our ultimate good.
We can only survive the onslaught of trials through keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the sovereign Lord of the
universe. God has promised to work all things out for our good, to conform us to the image of His Son. Do we
believe that, or do we act like those who have no hope? Whining, complaining, destitute, irritable, belligerent, the
list obviously could go on and on. How do we stay steadfast and immovable as Paul commanded the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians 15:58? “ Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, knowing the your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
It is not an easy process, in fact it is hard work, capitalize that in your mind, HARD WORK! It is through an act of
our will, a discipline of our flesh, to believe God at His Word, against our sinful nature which questions His plans.
By disciplining our lazy flesh to stay immersed in Gods Word, and I mean immersed to the point you may drown.
Regardless of whether you “feel” like you are getting anything out of His Word or not, disciplining your flesh to
seek Him through His word. You remain steadfastly in the Word of God reading and praying over His Word.
Seeking His blessing through the prayerful study and meditation of His Holy Word. Jacob wrestled against the
angel of the Lord all night, he refused to let go until he was blessed. And God did bless Him, and gave him a new
name, instead of Jacob which meant “deceiver” his new name would be Israel which means “God fights,” his new
name would remind him and others of this fight where Jacob, now named Israel, had overcome. That wrestling
and subsequent blessing became a significant promise for the nation’s forthcoming struggles, and their ability to
overcome. We also have to struggle and wrestle through our problems with God, for only through Him will we
overcome. God will be faithful to us. Always we need to be alert to be praying, meditating on His word,
beseeching God for His help in the midst of our trials, seeking other Christians to hold us up against the tide of
grief and sorrows.
It is a daily discipline, we have to beat our bodies into subjection to be obedient to seek His face. (1 Corinthians
12:9-10) There are times when we can’t wait to pray, or read God’s word, or fellowship at church to worship with
other believers, and then there are the times when we isolate and withdraw from God and others. If we choose,
and it is a choice, to withdraw from God, His Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, we will reap
discouragement, disillusionment, cynicism etc….. the downward spiral will continue on. The repercussions of
turning away from God and inward toward our fleshly desires, instead of turning toward God and away from our
sin filled flesh could fill a multitude of books. But then the quest is not to know how to turn away from God
towards selfishness, we do that with no problem, our desire, if we are truly believers is to stay close to our Father
at all times. This, as I stated earlier, is always an act of our will. We crucify our flesh and its desires to whine and
complain and we choose to trust God when all hope appears to be gone. Sounds simple, right? Just, “Turn your
eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His
glory and grace.” Simple, yes, but profoundly true and tough to keep our focus fixated when our world tilts
seemingly out of control. But that is where we must stay fixed, with our eyes on Him, for most assuredly He is our
only hope.
How can we accomplish this? Again, we need to know our God. Who He is. What is His character? What are
His attributes? How does He work out His will? The only way to know the answers to these questions is to read
the “letters” God wrote to us. God used ordinary men who worshiped Him to declare what He wanted us to
understand about His will and purposes, these men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. We
need to put consistent time and thought, into reading and meditating on His word, studying the guidebook for life
that He wrote for us. We’re the creatures, He is the creator, let’s read the manual He wrote for us creatures. We
have no excuse to be fat, lazy and shallow Christians, there is so much available for us, especially here in
America. We have commentaries by excellent theologians, a few good theologians on the television, radio and
internet give us access to the most excellent of theologians.(Unfortunately, we also can hear false doctrine as well
through these mediums. We must exercise some discernment here, how do we get discernment, you guessed it
read His word!)
Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent (eager) to present yourself approved to God, a workman that
does need to be ashamed rightly dividing the truth.” We have to be diligent in our study of His word, not handling
it carelessly, without thought, but intensely seeking to know what truths God wants to reveal to us, that we might
live our lives to His glory. That is our ultimate purpose here on this earth to bring glory to Him.
The trouble with most of us is we have a heart after God, but a body bent after the flesh. Even the esteemed
apostle Paul is quoted in Romans 7:24-25, “Wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of the
death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind, am
serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Lin Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets it
desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you
may not do the things that you please.” Therein lays the war, the battle. Instead of pursuing God, many times we
pursue the latest movie, fun adventure, favorite restaurant, you name it, anything other then having to discipline
these ravenous bodies with their ever increasing desire for the things of the world. It is oh so much easier to
follow our body’s sinful desires rather than to put out the necessary discipline to be obedient and to seek His
face. If it is our desire to remain baby Christians for the rest of our time here on earth, we take the easy path,
doing zero to grow spiritually and consequently we are constantly jostled and tossed about by every new storm
that comes our way. Bewildered, perplexed, confused, trusting in our own wisdom because we are not trusting in
His, wondering what is God about in our life. Yet never taking the time to actually find out who this God of ours is,
but rather we whine, throw tantrums and complain as a small child might. I don’t think there is anything more
pathetic than an able bodied (physically and mentally) adult who conducts themselves as a small child. We need
to grow up as Christians, and by now, I think you get my theme, by reading, studying, applying His word to our life.
How do we glorify God when the doldrums and sorrow of life hit? I mean we all incarcerated in our fallen flesh get
depressed, melancholy, you name the word that fits you best and we all fall down. So what do we do in those
times? David knew depression, read the Psalms. Job understood what it was like to have your life hit the fan
over and over again. Read what Job has to say, he ended up repenting of the wrong thoughts he had about God,
is dust and sackcloth. Coming to the realization as is written in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do anything and no
purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” These were not perfect men with perfect faith. They challenged
God, accused Him of not acting fairly, cried out their fears to Him, do you see the pattern here, in spite of it all,
God was their focus. Yes, they failed, we all do, but they kept seeking His face. David was honest in his
relationship to God, he was honest before God when he sought Him. Did David do some things he shouldn’t
have? I think we all know those answers, just a few; adultery, polygamy, murder, pretending to be a mad man not
trusting in His Lord, so as not to be hurt by the enemy…..we could probably keep going, but that should suffice
where David is concerned. But what did David always do that made him a man with what the Bible tells us is a
man with a heart after God? He sinned, no doubt, a lot, but he repented, and sought God. Was David a worse
sinner then you and I? No, we all fall short, whether we perform our sin outwardly by acts, or inwardly with our
minds. The key to staying close to God is to always be seeking Him through all the experiences of life. When we
fall, and we will, we get back up, with true repentance, a continuous and steadfast desire to seek God, never
letting go of the One who loves us. We glorify God by continually seeking Him. No pretense, He knows anyway,
but with an honest heart, real questions, real hurt and yes even anger, but still we are seeking Him, repenting of
our wrong thoughts towards Him, as we move closer to knowing Him, continually submitting our lives to His will.
Well what about in the humdrums of life? The everyday, life is repetitive and monotonous. Perhaps you are a
stay at home mom, doing the same tasks day after day. Or you work at the same job, with the same situations
repeating themselves with different names. No crisis facing you currently (they’ll come later). What about how to
glorify God in the monotony of our lives? Still we should seek His face, we read His word, we meditate on His
thoughts, we share with others our faith, we communicate with our Father constantly throughout the sameness of
life. Choosing, again we have to tell our flesh how to behave, choosing to seek Him. To be thankful for what He
has provided for us, even the dead end job that appears to be going nowhere, and definitely isn’t paying
anything. The never ending housework, thankful for the task He has put before you. There is no crisis causing
us to fall on our face and wail, we still sin and must repent but no scandalous sins of a horrific nature, life is the
same, yet in that sameness we must glorify Him. Although life isn’t throwing us curve balls, we are remaining
steadfast in our faith, things are okay if a bit boring, yet still we seek His face. We glorify God is the mundane
things of life, by remembering Him, being thankful for the humdrums of our life. Again the same way we glorify the
Lord is by studying His word, meditating, praying, sharing and reflecting Christ to those God has put around us,
obedient and willing to be used as His servant in the sameness of our life. Who better to reflect and teach God
to small children then a mother who is there everyday? What about the people at work, sinners though they are,
as we are, who is sharing Christ with them? Neighbors, who have only you as a living testament to who and what
our Lord is like. Yes, from our perspective life can seem humdrum, boring and unexciting, but from an eternal
perspective, what is God doing through you at this time? Perhaps, your children are grown, you are retired from a
job, and so much of the time you seem to spend all alone. What is God doing through this time in your life when
you are alone? Do you seek His face, are you reading His word? Do you look at this time as a season where
God is training you to be more conformed to the image of His Son? Do you spend time studying His word now
that you have some time without so many responsibilities, praying for those who are no longer a part of your
everyday life, drawing deeper in your desire to know your Father. Are you looking for opportunities where He can
use you? Do you view this season as a time to grow deeper with Him? It is all about perspective, God’s
perspective. If we can view our life seasoned through His Word and His ways, our life gets the right perspective.
It is not about us, it is all about Him.
Okay enough said about the how, I think I got the point across on studying His word and applying it to our lives.
Here is the tough part, being obedient to what we know. You know the truth, you know you need to spend time
studying and meditating on God’s word, spending time in prayer with Him and for others, fellowshipping with other
believers, worshiping Him alone and corporately. How can we be obedient to what we know? This is a hard one,
listen closely, just do it! Discipline your body, your flesh and its desire for the easy way, and take the tough way.
Get control of your fleshly body, and make it do what you know your heart’s desire is, that of seeking God. Not a
morning person you say, no problem, take some time in the afternoon, or evening, or middle of the night, to read
His word, meditate, pray, memorize scripture so that you always have His word handy in your mind. There is time
to do it, you have to choose to sacrifice your flesh and choose to honor and grow in your walk with God. Nobody
likes a capable adult acting like a child, and no obedient Christian wants to remain a Christian baby, but it does
take work and time. You don’t grow up over night, but you invest yourself in the process, so you will grow up.
When life gets turned upside down around you, you will remain on an even keel steadfast in your trust in God.
Obedience is tough, but it is profitable and well worth it. Our flesh is funny stuff, it gets used to routines, make it a
routine to seek God, it will become easier and a more natural part of your life, so that soon, your obedience to
seek God, though a discipline of your flesh, will turn out to be your greatest times of joy.
What is it about working out our salvation? What does that mean? It is by works that we are saved? It is all by
God’s grace that anyone enters into His kingdom. All grace, no works. Yet Ephesians 2:10 says, “we are His
workmanship created for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are not
saved by works ever, no human merit can satisfy a Holy God, nothing we can do would ever meet that standard,
for we are born in sin. Yet God says we were created for good works. So as believers we are to seek
opportunities to be used by God for good works that will bring glory to Him. We are not working our way to
heaven through human achievement rather, we are, as we walk in accordance with His Spirit, desiring to live a life
that is pleasing to our God. We accomplish this by a life of obedience to His word, and actions that bring glory to
Him. Whatever we are doing, we should be doing it to the glory of God. From the mundane everyday tasks, to
the supposed mountaintops of preaching the Word to a receptive sinner, in all we do we should seek to give Him
glory. No task is too small or too large in which we submit it to Him asking for His will to be done through us. We
do whatever God has put before us, and seek ways to be a servant to others. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For
even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” Well, how
did Jesus serve? He healed the sick, the deformed, the blind, cast out demons, performed miracles over nature,
fed the multitudes, proclaimed the good news of repentance leading to salvation, he pointed out the false
teachers, raised the dead. Now obviously, He is God and He does the miraculous, I am not expecting or expected
to raise the dead, or cast out demons, or heal anyone or stop the wind. However, I can pray for the sick and help
the blind, proclaim truth to those blinded by the ruler of this world and his demons, I can feed those who are
hungry or contribute money to Christian organizations that do so. No doubt I can tell the good news of Our
Savior, but will I be bold enough to do so? I can study His word in order that I can point out and discern truth from
error, and be bold to tell others who are caught up in the worlds religions. I can visit the lonely or cast outs. I can
be Jesus in the flesh to those who are hurting with the death of loved ones, or facing death themselves, by caring
and having compassion to be available in whatever capacity would be welcomed. I believe it was Elizabeth Elliot
when asked what should you do next when death and tragedy rage at your door. She said, “Just do the next
thing.” What are we to do as believers created unto good works, “we just do the next thing that is before us,”
whatever God puts in our paths, looking for ways to be used by Him. The next thing may not be some great feat,
but the simple laundry, or going off to the same job, fixing a dinner for a neighbor. It is not so much what we are
doing but where our heart is in the midst of our doing. Do we have a heart of thankfulness toward of God, or do
we pout and whine about OUR circumstances, what WE deserve, the ME syndrome. When we figure out and
more importantly apply the principle that our lives are not to be about US but all about Him, we can be more
content in the midst of life’s everydayness. We work out our salvation through our heart attitudes in how we live.
It doesn’t matter what we “do” what title is before or behind our name, our monetary value or lack of, God is all
about the heart. We work out our salvation with heart attitudes that are honoring to the Lord. The more we know
our God, the easier it becomes to take all that comes our way as from His hand. We can submit it to Him and He
will work things out for our ultimate good and conformation to be like His Son. Life is not easy, nor did Jesus ever
promise us an easy life, instead indeed He promised us tribulations. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “ In this world you
will have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” That’s one verse you don’t hear being
claimed by televangelists who believe you should claim the promises of God, they prefer the health and prosperity
doctrine. Our life doesn’t end here with this world, we are eternal beings, and will live eternally either in the
presence of the Lord in heaven, or away from His presence in Hell. We should expect and will most assuredly
have tribulations. Didn’t all the apostles? All the martyrs throughout Christian history? Jesus didn’t promise an
easy life here on earth, he promised us eternal life with Him in heaven.
The bottom line is we are to keep pressing on. As Paul said of himself in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have
already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid
hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that
are behind (former sins or accomplishments) and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for
the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep pursuing and pressing on closer to God, keep going
forward, forget past sins and failures, or past spiritual success, the mountain top experience of yesterday will do
no good for the valley of today, unless we press on toward Christ. We must keep our focus on God, this world is
passing away, and we will pass away from it as well, the only constant guarantee we have in our life is God. He
will remain faithful, even if we are faithless, He is our north star, we fix our hope on Him.
Many, including myself, desire to maintain that closeness with God we feel during different times of our life.
Whether while we are in prayer, reading His word, really seeing Him act through our life, answer prayers or so
many different situations causing us to “feel” that closeness with our God. We want to stay on the mountain top
as it were, yet we are destined to come off that mountain top and back into the valley. I wonder how Moses felt
up on the mountain top with God and then coming back down into the valley where the rebellious Israelites were, I
am sure his desire was to stay there with the Lord on the mountain top, and not back with the rebellious
Israelites! Living amongst the Israelites brought out Moses’ sinful nature all too well. Remember the way he
smote the rock, when God had only told him to speak to it, because of that rebellion Moses didn’t get to enter into
the Promised Land. I am sure he had all he could take of the Israelites and in his frustration and humanness, he
was not obedient explicitly, to obey what the Lord had commanded him exactly; but our Lord desires our
obedience. If we base our closeness with the Lord on our feelings we will be deceived, He is always near, it is we
who feel estranged. Life’s circumstances and busyness get us distracted from the God we love, we fall in our
humanness and feel far from God, but He is always there, waiting for us to come to Him in repentance, and renew
again the sweet fellowship we desire. We can’t base our relationship to God on our unreliable and ever changing
emotions and circumstances, but on the sure Word of God, who He is, and His promises to His children, not our
feelings. Sure it feels good to have that closeness emotionally, but He is just as close when we don’t “feel” that
closeness. It is probably a good thermometer for measuring your maturity and understanding of God spiritually;
when you feel far away, do you know He is near? That is a sign of a Christian who knows their God. Our stability
spiritually is dependent on knowing His Word, Who our God is, His attributes, His promises, our stability needs to
be built not on the wavering seas of emotions, but on the true everlasting Rock of God. Only then will we be
secure and enabled to endure the trails and tests of this life. We don’t need mountain top experiences we need
the sure everlasting rock Himself, who will remain faithful even when we are faithless. The encouragement of the
Word of God through His Holy Spirit is sufficient to meet all our needs. We cannot expect our life to be trouble
free, that is not the promise Jesus gave to us. He, Jesus has overcome the world, with its sin and death.
Through we will go through the trials and tribulations of this world, we also know the end of the story. We who
belong to Jesus, will pass through death into life eternal with our Lord. Our last breath on earth is our first breath
in heaven. End of story, we get to eternally praise and fellowship with the Lord, the host of heaven and other
saints. Eternity is forever, without end, no time, this life goes by fast, as James says like a vapor (James 4:14).
Although it really is impossible for us to fully wrap our minds around the concept of eternity when we are stuck in
time and space, this is what God promises. We will have never ending joy in the presence of our Lord. So take
heart Christians, we know the end of the story, and though this world is going to throw us some curve balls, we
can be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. Look forward beyond this time, to a place with no time, no
pain, no tears, no end of relationships destroyed by sin and death, forever and ever being who God created us to
be, in our redeemed bodies. Meditate on that thought, and it will lift you above the trials here on earth. The trials
will still hurt, for here we are stuck in time, but one day they will end and it will be soon. Keep pressing on,
reaching forward to the things that are ahead, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
If you would like to contact me regarding this article, or just like encouragement, prayer or support, please feel
free to email me at:
letters@gloryworks.com
By: Debra Schreiner
How do we pursue God through all of life’s trials successfully? Is anyone really triumphant? When tragedy
strikes; a child dies or a parent or friend, brother or sister, where does your faith lie? A divorce slams you by
surprise, you’re a Christian, and they don’t get divorces, right! Your finances fall out from under you and now
you face bankruptcy! Forget about the retirement plan, now your plan for retirement is to pray God calls you
home before you are too old and can’t work. Your doctor calls asking to meet with you regarding your test
results, and by the way, the doctor says, “it would be good to bring someone with you.” Wars, rumors of wars,
terrorism affecting the entire world and your child has decided to enlist! Media warnings about the epidemic of
drug abuse, and it appears your child is not only an addict, but furnishes drugs for a profit to others as well.
Life comes at you hard and fast. How you respond to your personal state of affairs that is the question. Where
does your faith lie in the midst of all the whirlwinds and tempests hurled in your direction? That is the real test of
our faith, and trails prove the integrity of your faith. James says, in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance
have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What will be the result of our
trials? The desired result of our trails from God’s perspective is that we be continually transformed into the image
of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29) That is not to say that God is the author or
initiator of all tragedy, we live in a sin fallen world, granted He is also not taken by surprise, and is sovereign over
every event, but He allows or permits certain circumstances to occur in His children’s lives. Just check out the
book of Job. Job lost his wealth, his children, the respect of the community, endured the bad advice of friends,
and his faithful wife advises him to “curse God and die”, apparently she had enough of Job and felt she would be
better off with him dead. All these events came and were allowed into Job’s life by the very hand of God. Yet Job
saw through these events to the end result. In Job 19:25-27, Job says, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall
see God, Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” Job had a heavenly
perspective, no matter what life would hurl at Job, he knew he would be with his God. As we submit the tragedies
and disappointments of our lives to God, He will work through the circumstances for our transformation to the
image of His son Jesus and for His glory and for our ultimate good.
We can only survive the onslaught of trials through keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the sovereign Lord of the
universe. God has promised to work all things out for our good, to conform us to the image of His Son. Do we
believe that, or do we act like those who have no hope? Whining, complaining, destitute, irritable, belligerent, the
list obviously could go on and on. How do we stay steadfast and immovable as Paul commanded the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians 15:58? “ Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, knowing the your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
It is not an easy process, in fact it is hard work, capitalize that in your mind, HARD WORK! It is through an act of
our will, a discipline of our flesh, to believe God at His Word, against our sinful nature which questions His plans.
By disciplining our lazy flesh to stay immersed in Gods Word, and I mean immersed to the point you may drown.
Regardless of whether you “feel” like you are getting anything out of His Word or not, disciplining your flesh to
seek Him through His word. You remain steadfastly in the Word of God reading and praying over His Word.
Seeking His blessing through the prayerful study and meditation of His Holy Word. Jacob wrestled against the
angel of the Lord all night, he refused to let go until he was blessed. And God did bless Him, and gave him a new
name, instead of Jacob which meant “deceiver” his new name would be Israel which means “God fights,” his new
name would remind him and others of this fight where Jacob, now named Israel, had overcome. That wrestling
and subsequent blessing became a significant promise for the nation’s forthcoming struggles, and their ability to
overcome. We also have to struggle and wrestle through our problems with God, for only through Him will we
overcome. God will be faithful to us. Always we need to be alert to be praying, meditating on His word,
beseeching God for His help in the midst of our trials, seeking other Christians to hold us up against the tide of
grief and sorrows.
It is a daily discipline, we have to beat our bodies into subjection to be obedient to seek His face. (1 Corinthians
12:9-10) There are times when we can’t wait to pray, or read God’s word, or fellowship at church to worship with
other believers, and then there are the times when we isolate and withdraw from God and others. If we choose,
and it is a choice, to withdraw from God, His Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, we will reap
discouragement, disillusionment, cynicism etc….. the downward spiral will continue on. The repercussions of
turning away from God and inward toward our fleshly desires, instead of turning toward God and away from our
sin filled flesh could fill a multitude of books. But then the quest is not to know how to turn away from God
towards selfishness, we do that with no problem, our desire, if we are truly believers is to stay close to our Father
at all times. This, as I stated earlier, is always an act of our will. We crucify our flesh and its desires to whine and
complain and we choose to trust God when all hope appears to be gone. Sounds simple, right? Just, “Turn your
eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His
glory and grace.” Simple, yes, but profoundly true and tough to keep our focus fixated when our world tilts
seemingly out of control. But that is where we must stay fixed, with our eyes on Him, for most assuredly He is our
only hope.
How can we accomplish this? Again, we need to know our God. Who He is. What is His character? What are
His attributes? How does He work out His will? The only way to know the answers to these questions is to read
the “letters” God wrote to us. God used ordinary men who worshiped Him to declare what He wanted us to
understand about His will and purposes, these men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. We
need to put consistent time and thought, into reading and meditating on His word, studying the guidebook for life
that He wrote for us. We’re the creatures, He is the creator, let’s read the manual He wrote for us creatures. We
have no excuse to be fat, lazy and shallow Christians, there is so much available for us, especially here in
America. We have commentaries by excellent theologians, a few good theologians on the television, radio and
internet give us access to the most excellent of theologians.(Unfortunately, we also can hear false doctrine as well
through these mediums. We must exercise some discernment here, how do we get discernment, you guessed it
read His word!)
Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent (eager) to present yourself approved to God, a workman that
does need to be ashamed rightly dividing the truth.” We have to be diligent in our study of His word, not handling
it carelessly, without thought, but intensely seeking to know what truths God wants to reveal to us, that we might
live our lives to His glory. That is our ultimate purpose here on this earth to bring glory to Him.
The trouble with most of us is we have a heart after God, but a body bent after the flesh. Even the esteemed
apostle Paul is quoted in Romans 7:24-25, “Wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of the
death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind, am
serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Lin Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets it
desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you
may not do the things that you please.” Therein lays the war, the battle. Instead of pursuing God, many times we
pursue the latest movie, fun adventure, favorite restaurant, you name it, anything other then having to discipline
these ravenous bodies with their ever increasing desire for the things of the world. It is oh so much easier to
follow our body’s sinful desires rather than to put out the necessary discipline to be obedient and to seek His
face. If it is our desire to remain baby Christians for the rest of our time here on earth, we take the easy path,
doing zero to grow spiritually and consequently we are constantly jostled and tossed about by every new storm
that comes our way. Bewildered, perplexed, confused, trusting in our own wisdom because we are not trusting in
His, wondering what is God about in our life. Yet never taking the time to actually find out who this God of ours is,
but rather we whine, throw tantrums and complain as a small child might. I don’t think there is anything more
pathetic than an able bodied (physically and mentally) adult who conducts themselves as a small child. We need
to grow up as Christians, and by now, I think you get my theme, by reading, studying, applying His word to our life.
How do we glorify God when the doldrums and sorrow of life hit? I mean we all incarcerated in our fallen flesh get
depressed, melancholy, you name the word that fits you best and we all fall down. So what do we do in those
times? David knew depression, read the Psalms. Job understood what it was like to have your life hit the fan
over and over again. Read what Job has to say, he ended up repenting of the wrong thoughts he had about God,
is dust and sackcloth. Coming to the realization as is written in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do anything and no
purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” These were not perfect men with perfect faith. They challenged
God, accused Him of not acting fairly, cried out their fears to Him, do you see the pattern here, in spite of it all,
God was their focus. Yes, they failed, we all do, but they kept seeking His face. David was honest in his
relationship to God, he was honest before God when he sought Him. Did David do some things he shouldn’t
have? I think we all know those answers, just a few; adultery, polygamy, murder, pretending to be a mad man not
trusting in His Lord, so as not to be hurt by the enemy…..we could probably keep going, but that should suffice
where David is concerned. But what did David always do that made him a man with what the Bible tells us is a
man with a heart after God? He sinned, no doubt, a lot, but he repented, and sought God. Was David a worse
sinner then you and I? No, we all fall short, whether we perform our sin outwardly by acts, or inwardly with our
minds. The key to staying close to God is to always be seeking Him through all the experiences of life. When we
fall, and we will, we get back up, with true repentance, a continuous and steadfast desire to seek God, never
letting go of the One who loves us. We glorify God by continually seeking Him. No pretense, He knows anyway,
but with an honest heart, real questions, real hurt and yes even anger, but still we are seeking Him, repenting of
our wrong thoughts towards Him, as we move closer to knowing Him, continually submitting our lives to His will.
Well what about in the humdrums of life? The everyday, life is repetitive and monotonous. Perhaps you are a
stay at home mom, doing the same tasks day after day. Or you work at the same job, with the same situations
repeating themselves with different names. No crisis facing you currently (they’ll come later). What about how to
glorify God in the monotony of our lives? Still we should seek His face, we read His word, we meditate on His
thoughts, we share with others our faith, we communicate with our Father constantly throughout the sameness of
life. Choosing, again we have to tell our flesh how to behave, choosing to seek Him. To be thankful for what He
has provided for us, even the dead end job that appears to be going nowhere, and definitely isn’t paying
anything. The never ending housework, thankful for the task He has put before you. There is no crisis causing
us to fall on our face and wail, we still sin and must repent but no scandalous sins of a horrific nature, life is the
same, yet in that sameness we must glorify Him. Although life isn’t throwing us curve balls, we are remaining
steadfast in our faith, things are okay if a bit boring, yet still we seek His face. We glorify God is the mundane
things of life, by remembering Him, being thankful for the humdrums of our life. Again the same way we glorify the
Lord is by studying His word, meditating, praying, sharing and reflecting Christ to those God has put around us,
obedient and willing to be used as His servant in the sameness of our life. Who better to reflect and teach God
to small children then a mother who is there everyday? What about the people at work, sinners though they are,
as we are, who is sharing Christ with them? Neighbors, who have only you as a living testament to who and what
our Lord is like. Yes, from our perspective life can seem humdrum, boring and unexciting, but from an eternal
perspective, what is God doing through you at this time? Perhaps, your children are grown, you are retired from a
job, and so much of the time you seem to spend all alone. What is God doing through this time in your life when
you are alone? Do you seek His face, are you reading His word? Do you look at this time as a season where
God is training you to be more conformed to the image of His Son? Do you spend time studying His word now
that you have some time without so many responsibilities, praying for those who are no longer a part of your
everyday life, drawing deeper in your desire to know your Father. Are you looking for opportunities where He can
use you? Do you view this season as a time to grow deeper with Him? It is all about perspective, God’s
perspective. If we can view our life seasoned through His Word and His ways, our life gets the right perspective.
It is not about us, it is all about Him.
Okay enough said about the how, I think I got the point across on studying His word and applying it to our lives.
Here is the tough part, being obedient to what we know. You know the truth, you know you need to spend time
studying and meditating on God’s word, spending time in prayer with Him and for others, fellowshipping with other
believers, worshiping Him alone and corporately. How can we be obedient to what we know? This is a hard one,
listen closely, just do it! Discipline your body, your flesh and its desire for the easy way, and take the tough way.
Get control of your fleshly body, and make it do what you know your heart’s desire is, that of seeking God. Not a
morning person you say, no problem, take some time in the afternoon, or evening, or middle of the night, to read
His word, meditate, pray, memorize scripture so that you always have His word handy in your mind. There is time
to do it, you have to choose to sacrifice your flesh and choose to honor and grow in your walk with God. Nobody
likes a capable adult acting like a child, and no obedient Christian wants to remain a Christian baby, but it does
take work and time. You don’t grow up over night, but you invest yourself in the process, so you will grow up.
When life gets turned upside down around you, you will remain on an even keel steadfast in your trust in God.
Obedience is tough, but it is profitable and well worth it. Our flesh is funny stuff, it gets used to routines, make it a
routine to seek God, it will become easier and a more natural part of your life, so that soon, your obedience to
seek God, though a discipline of your flesh, will turn out to be your greatest times of joy.
What is it about working out our salvation? What does that mean? It is by works that we are saved? It is all by
God’s grace that anyone enters into His kingdom. All grace, no works. Yet Ephesians 2:10 says, “we are His
workmanship created for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are not
saved by works ever, no human merit can satisfy a Holy God, nothing we can do would ever meet that standard,
for we are born in sin. Yet God says we were created for good works. So as believers we are to seek
opportunities to be used by God for good works that will bring glory to Him. We are not working our way to
heaven through human achievement rather, we are, as we walk in accordance with His Spirit, desiring to live a life
that is pleasing to our God. We accomplish this by a life of obedience to His word, and actions that bring glory to
Him. Whatever we are doing, we should be doing it to the glory of God. From the mundane everyday tasks, to
the supposed mountaintops of preaching the Word to a receptive sinner, in all we do we should seek to give Him
glory. No task is too small or too large in which we submit it to Him asking for His will to be done through us. We
do whatever God has put before us, and seek ways to be a servant to others. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For
even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” Well, how
did Jesus serve? He healed the sick, the deformed, the blind, cast out demons, performed miracles over nature,
fed the multitudes, proclaimed the good news of repentance leading to salvation, he pointed out the false
teachers, raised the dead. Now obviously, He is God and He does the miraculous, I am not expecting or expected
to raise the dead, or cast out demons, or heal anyone or stop the wind. However, I can pray for the sick and help
the blind, proclaim truth to those blinded by the ruler of this world and his demons, I can feed those who are
hungry or contribute money to Christian organizations that do so. No doubt I can tell the good news of Our
Savior, but will I be bold enough to do so? I can study His word in order that I can point out and discern truth from
error, and be bold to tell others who are caught up in the worlds religions. I can visit the lonely or cast outs. I can
be Jesus in the flesh to those who are hurting with the death of loved ones, or facing death themselves, by caring
and having compassion to be available in whatever capacity would be welcomed. I believe it was Elizabeth Elliot
when asked what should you do next when death and tragedy rage at your door. She said, “Just do the next
thing.” What are we to do as believers created unto good works, “we just do the next thing that is before us,”
whatever God puts in our paths, looking for ways to be used by Him. The next thing may not be some great feat,
but the simple laundry, or going off to the same job, fixing a dinner for a neighbor. It is not so much what we are
doing but where our heart is in the midst of our doing. Do we have a heart of thankfulness toward of God, or do
we pout and whine about OUR circumstances, what WE deserve, the ME syndrome. When we figure out and
more importantly apply the principle that our lives are not to be about US but all about Him, we can be more
content in the midst of life’s everydayness. We work out our salvation through our heart attitudes in how we live.
It doesn’t matter what we “do” what title is before or behind our name, our monetary value or lack of, God is all
about the heart. We work out our salvation with heart attitudes that are honoring to the Lord. The more we know
our God, the easier it becomes to take all that comes our way as from His hand. We can submit it to Him and He
will work things out for our ultimate good and conformation to be like His Son. Life is not easy, nor did Jesus ever
promise us an easy life, instead indeed He promised us tribulations. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “ In this world you
will have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” That’s one verse you don’t hear being
claimed by televangelists who believe you should claim the promises of God, they prefer the health and prosperity
doctrine. Our life doesn’t end here with this world, we are eternal beings, and will live eternally either in the
presence of the Lord in heaven, or away from His presence in Hell. We should expect and will most assuredly
have tribulations. Didn’t all the apostles? All the martyrs throughout Christian history? Jesus didn’t promise an
easy life here on earth, he promised us eternal life with Him in heaven.
The bottom line is we are to keep pressing on. As Paul said of himself in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have
already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid
hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that
are behind (former sins or accomplishments) and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for
the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep pursuing and pressing on closer to God, keep going
forward, forget past sins and failures, or past spiritual success, the mountain top experience of yesterday will do
no good for the valley of today, unless we press on toward Christ. We must keep our focus on God, this world is
passing away, and we will pass away from it as well, the only constant guarantee we have in our life is God. He
will remain faithful, even if we are faithless, He is our north star, we fix our hope on Him.
Many, including myself, desire to maintain that closeness with God we feel during different times of our life.
Whether while we are in prayer, reading His word, really seeing Him act through our life, answer prayers or so
many different situations causing us to “feel” that closeness with our God. We want to stay on the mountain top
as it were, yet we are destined to come off that mountain top and back into the valley. I wonder how Moses felt
up on the mountain top with God and then coming back down into the valley where the rebellious Israelites were, I
am sure his desire was to stay there with the Lord on the mountain top, and not back with the rebellious
Israelites! Living amongst the Israelites brought out Moses’ sinful nature all too well. Remember the way he
smote the rock, when God had only told him to speak to it, because of that rebellion Moses didn’t get to enter into
the Promised Land. I am sure he had all he could take of the Israelites and in his frustration and humanness, he
was not obedient explicitly, to obey what the Lord had commanded him exactly; but our Lord desires our
obedience. If we base our closeness with the Lord on our feelings we will be deceived, He is always near, it is we
who feel estranged. Life’s circumstances and busyness get us distracted from the God we love, we fall in our
humanness and feel far from God, but He is always there, waiting for us to come to Him in repentance, and renew
again the sweet fellowship we desire. We can’t base our relationship to God on our unreliable and ever changing
emotions and circumstances, but on the sure Word of God, who He is, and His promises to His children, not our
feelings. Sure it feels good to have that closeness emotionally, but He is just as close when we don’t “feel” that
closeness. It is probably a good thermometer for measuring your maturity and understanding of God spiritually;
when you feel far away, do you know He is near? That is a sign of a Christian who knows their God. Our stability
spiritually is dependent on knowing His Word, Who our God is, His attributes, His promises, our stability needs to
be built not on the wavering seas of emotions, but on the true everlasting Rock of God. Only then will we be
secure and enabled to endure the trails and tests of this life. We don’t need mountain top experiences we need
the sure everlasting rock Himself, who will remain faithful even when we are faithless. The encouragement of the
Word of God through His Holy Spirit is sufficient to meet all our needs. We cannot expect our life to be trouble
free, that is not the promise Jesus gave to us. He, Jesus has overcome the world, with its sin and death.
Through we will go through the trials and tribulations of this world, we also know the end of the story. We who
belong to Jesus, will pass through death into life eternal with our Lord. Our last breath on earth is our first breath
in heaven. End of story, we get to eternally praise and fellowship with the Lord, the host of heaven and other
saints. Eternity is forever, without end, no time, this life goes by fast, as James says like a vapor (James 4:14).
Although it really is impossible for us to fully wrap our minds around the concept of eternity when we are stuck in
time and space, this is what God promises. We will have never ending joy in the presence of our Lord. So take
heart Christians, we know the end of the story, and though this world is going to throw us some curve balls, we
can be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. Look forward beyond this time, to a place with no time, no
pain, no tears, no end of relationships destroyed by sin and death, forever and ever being who God created us to
be, in our redeemed bodies. Meditate on that thought, and it will lift you above the trials here on earth. The trials
will still hurt, for here we are stuck in time, but one day they will end and it will be soon. Keep pressing on,
reaching forward to the things that are ahead, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
If you would like to contact me regarding this article, or just like encouragement, prayer or support, please feel
free to email me at:
letters@gloryworks.com