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ZookeepersMinistries

Trusting God in Tough Times: When Bad Things Happen

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It’s inevitable. Tough times will come along during our lives. A pastor friend once told me something along these lines: “You’re either coming out of a time of struggle, in the midst of a difficult time, or heading toward a challenging time.” The Christian life (or any life) is not always a bed of roses—and the Bible doesn’t promise us a life free from trouble. This week, let’s take a Scriptural look at trusting God through difficult circumstances.

 

When Bad Things Happen

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:-8-9, NLT

Ship_Wreck_TUESDAYIt’s difficult for me to watch the nightly news. So many bad things happen in our world, and it’s overwhelming! I find it especially hard when I hear of a child who is ill or a tragedy that affects an entire family. As I write this, the news is reporting the murder of nine people in a Charleston church.

How do we deal with heartbreaking events such as these? Where is God in the midst of tragedy?

These are really difficult questions, and I’m not prepared or qualified to provide all the answers in this daily devotional piece. However, I think it’s important to know what the Bible tells us about God’s sovereignty. It also helps us know how to respond when our unbelieving friends ask these same questions.

It helps me when I realize that God is not surprised by anything that occurs. He’s not sitting on His throne frustrated because things aren’t working out. In fact, nothing in the universe happens without His oversight and purpose.

Consider these verses that demonstrate God’s complete control at all times:

His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, “What do you mean by doing these things?” Daniel 4:34-35, NLT

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. Psalm 115:3, NIV

We live in a fallen world affected by sin. It’s far less than ideal, but God has a plan. Bad things will happen, and we won’t be able to understand. Today’s verse in Isaiah 55 explains how God’s ways are far beyond our imagination or understanding.

Trusting God means believing that He has everything under His absolute control, even when it seems like the opposite and even when it’s beyond our own understanding. His hands are capable. He is good and loving and worthy of our trust, even when bad things happen.

Learning to trust more fully,

Allison

Trusting God in Tough Times: Expect Difficult Times

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It’s inevitable. Tough times will come along during our lives. A pastor friend once told me something along these lines: “You’re either coming out of a time of struggle, in the midst of a difficult time, or heading toward a challenging time.” The Christian life (or any life) is not always a bed of roses—and the Bible doesn’t promise us a life free from trouble. This week, let’s take a Scriptural look at trusting God through difficult circumstances.

 

Expect Difficult Times

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 John 16:33, NIV

Expect_Trouble_MONDAYIn this world, we can expect trouble. John 16:33 spells out this statement for us in black and white. Jesus was speaking directly to His disciples, and He didn’t say you may have trouble. He said, “you will have trouble.” That sounds a little depressing, right? Thankfully in the same verse, Jesus also told us to take heart because He has overcome the world.

It’s important to set realistic expectations. Following Christ doesn’t exempt us from struggles or difficult circumstances. If our expectation is a life with no hard times, we will be disappointed and possibly even angry at God when the wheels fall off. Sometimes, the struggles we face can build our faith and character, creating a deeper relationship with our heavenly Father.

How do we maintain our trust in God when our lives are seemingly falling apart?

I’m reading a book right now entitled Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges. Bridges paints a beautiful picture of God’s providence over all His creation. In the book, he teaches that God only brings or allows things to happen in our lives that are for His glory and our good.

It’s a tough statement because sometimes we can’t see any good in a particular circumstance from our perspective. That’s when it becomes important to remember that only God sees the entire picture. Can we learn to trust God even when we don’t understand what He is doing?

God gives us some encouragement in His Word as we learn to trust in difficult times. We learn that He will keep us safe in days of trouble:

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27:5, NIV

And it helps to keep our eyes on what is being achieved eternally (what is unseen, not what is seen):

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV

Most of all, we already know the end of story. Jesus has overcome the world. Though we may experience difficult times, and even walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus has overcome evil and is waiting for us in eternity. What hope and peace that knowledge brings!

Learning to trust more fully,

Allison

My Identity: What does God say about me?: Delightful

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In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible reads that we are “new creations” if we are followers of Christ. Have you ever wondered about the way God feels about you? We can be very hard on ourselves at times. We often struggle with our identity. This week, we’ll turn to God’s Word to find out how He views us and how we can find our identity in Him.

 

Delightful

 

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17, NIV

5_Delightful_FRIDAYHow does God feel about you? Does He think about you? These are questions that Scripture answers for us. Even though I often feel that God is too busy being the God of the Universe to worry about the details of my life, the truth of the Bible contradicts those feelings.

Today’s verse is one of my all-time favorites and one that God has used in my life many times. According to this verse, God takes great delight in you. He even rejoices over you with singing. It seems a little backwards to me. We sing to God and worship Him, which is appropriate since He is worthy of our praise. But God delights in us so much that he rejoices over us with singing. How wonderful!

God sees you as delightful. There are other verses that corroborate this idea as well:

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” 

Psalm 18:19, NIV

“For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” 

Psalm 149:4, NIV

God also thinks about you. For each grain of sand on the whole earth, God has a thought about you:

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!”

Psalm 139:17-18, NLT

It’s important for us to understand that we are a source of delight to God. As children of God, our identity is secure. In return, God desires for us to seek Him first and delight in Him. He wants us to choose Him. Once we understand how much we are treasured by God, why wouldn’t we want this loving companion as our Lord? He’s the One who will love you without ceasing.

I pray this week’s Daily Doses of Encouragement have been a helpful reminder of your identity and great worth in the eyes of God. Remember, you are loved, forgiven, known, beautiful, and delightful to God.

Seeking Him,

Allison