In the midst of your hardship, remember that Jesus is still in the picture.
God will allow tests and trials in our lives to purify our hearts. He has an amazing way of turning what was meant for our harm for our good as we choose to abide in Jesus.
Coming back from our missions trip this summer was amazing, but we faced a hard time flying back because my husband and I got food poisoning the moment we stepped into the airplane.
On top of this, we were flying with a toddler. My husband started grumbling and questioning whether the mission trip was worth it, and I too found myself complaining and upset.
It wasn’t until I stopped my negative thinking to tune in to the Holy Spirit that I could see my response was not godly at all. God showed me that my complaints only blinded me from seeing God’s goodness on this trip and even through our hardship with the food poisoning.
As I stopped complaining, God showed me that His grace was with us through our hardships. Our long layover gave me enough time to go to the hospital and we even ended up having a whole empty row to ourselves in the airplane which helped our daughter to sleep well and gave us space to access our bags easily.
With Jesus, I saw this trial as an opportunity to purify my heart from complaining and selfishness.
Even when things don’t look good, remember that Jesus is still with us. He promises us in Matthew 28:20 that He will be with us always, even until the very end of age.
When fear and discouragement creep in, look at Jesus and remember the hope you have in Him. Jesus is still in the picture during both the good and bad times.
When you accept Jesus as your Savior and abide in Jesus, you become His child whom He will never let go. He is for you here on earth and until eternity. As children of God, we have no reason to ever worry or fear. Whether we are sick or see circumstances not changing in our favor, we can rest in faith believing that God always has the best in store for us.
In Mark 4 we see the disciples traveling on a boat with Jesus during a bad storm. The waves broke over the boat which caused the boat to be nearly swamped (Mark 4:37).
Jesus was asleep, so they woke him up in fear and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38)
Jesus then got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He then says to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:38-40).
The disciples responded and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41).
The disciples forgot Jesus who is God and who loves them in the midst of the storm. Let us not forget the Jesus who is with us in the midst of our hardships. No matter what storm we may face, we can call for Jesus with faith as we remember who He is.
Giving thanks helps us to acknowledge that Jesus is still in the picture. Jesus tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to give thanks in all circumstances because apart from thanksgiving, we cannot see nor abide in Jesus.
When things get hard and circumstances don’t go our way, that is our time to give thanks in all circumstances and find Jesus. Just because things go bad does not mean Jesus has left us. He promises to always be with us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Jesus tells us that we will face troubles but to take heart because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). This means that we can always have hope because our end story as children of God is victorious. We will reign with Him forevermore despite what we face today. Jesus is coming back to judge the world and make every wrong thing right (2 Timothy 4:1).
Even when things look bad, we can still have hope because Jesus is still in the picture. We know the end story for us as children of God — we will reign with Jesus for eternity.
Revelation 5:10 says, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
We must remember that our lives in the flesh are temporary. Eternity however will be forever and we are promised to reign with Jesus where there will be no crying or pain (Revelation 21:4).
We too can have hope that here on earth God will turn everything that was meant for our harm for our good. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Jesus is with us and for us always. So remember, in the midst of the storm Jesus is still in the picture.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for never abandoning us. Help us to give thanks in all circumstances and find you wherever we are. We will look at You through the hard times and continue to trust that You will turn things around for our good.
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