Comfort From God During Times of Trouble

Twenty years ago, my wife and I found ourselves in a huge financial crisis. I was in charge of a business that had been in our family for 35 years and it was going down hill fast. We did all we could do to save it. I soon found myself out of a job with all savings depleted and a house heavily mortgaged just to survive.

I was very fortunate to have a number of mature Christian friends who came along side to help me. I listened to, and followed their suggestions. I also wrote them down as it helped me stay focused. Afterword, I sent my “Comfort” paper to a number of friends and people I was discipling in the hopes it might help them at some point.

Many years ago I had coffee with a competitor I respected. I found out her husband was dying of ALS so I shared my “Comfort” paper with her. She since remarried and moved out of state. I haven’t seen her since the day we had coffee. She just contacted me via Linked in to thank me for the “Comfort” paper. She said it helped her a lot when her husband died, so she pulled it back out because of Covid 19. Wow. That was a shocker!

Please take the time to reach out to others right now. We are “the hands and feet of Christ”. We know that God is using this crisis for His good. We pray that His will be done. He has told us that we are His priests or ambassadors (1 Peter 2:9) “so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

I had no idea that my list of things to do during a crisis in my life would have any impact on anyone else. Needless to say, I was very shocked to hear from her many years later – just to say thank you – and that she is using the Comfort paper once again. Truthfully, I had forgotten all about the paper. Everyone we know has their life disrupted and many are really hurting. Who knows what a simple email forward will do. I had no idea…

COMFORT FROM GOD DURING TIMES OF TROUBLE

PRAY: It may be obvious, but make sure it is a steady diet. Not just a “fix my problem”. Huge benefits can be gained by praying openly with your spouse. Also, make sure you are praying for others and with an “attitude of thanksgiving”. It is easy to recite a list of problems we need Him to fix. It’s harder to “count your blessings” and be grateful to Him for them.

READ: Spend time regularly in God’s Word. This is a major time to trust God. Our level of trust in God is directly proportional to our knowledge of God. One thing that makes the Bible unique from any other religious writing is that our God reveals Himself to us. Get to know Him. The following verses really jumped out at me during my time of struggle. I wrote each one separately on a post it note and stuck it to the first few pages of my Bible. I read through them regularly:

Psalm 27 focus on v 14 “Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 34: 4 and 7 “I sought the Lord and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”

Psalm 46 focus on v1,2 and 10 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea... Cease striving and know that I am God.”

Psalm 56:3, 4 “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.”

Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines. Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food. Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and He has made my feet like hind’s feet, and makes me walk on my high places.”

Matthew 6:25-34 focus on 33 and 34 “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”

Romans 8:18 and 28 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us… And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”.

2 Corinthians 1:8,9 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.

Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6,7, 13, 19 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…for I can do all things through Him who strengthens me… And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

1 Peter 2:2 “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”

1 Peter 4:19 “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

Hebrews 5:8,9 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered and having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.,”

Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

WRITE: Your Beliefs. List everything on a piece of paper that you believe spiritually. Keep it in your Bible and refer to it.

READ: Streams in the Desert by Cowman. It is a daily devotional available for a whopping $12.00 on Amazon. Totally worth it.

LISTEN: To Christian music. “You are what you eat.” There is a lot of junk out there. Satan is the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31) and owns the internet, social media, video games, TV, movies, and the news. He wants to divide us. Do you think he has been very effective? Average screen time before the pandemic was 3 hours per day! Change your “diet”! Buy the Life Song album by Casting Crowns. There are many songs that deal with struggles and God. The best is Praise Him in the Storm. Are you praising Him in This Storm?

GIVE: “Til it hurts”. Jesus uses the example of the widow with 2 coins and says she gave more than all the wealthy people (Mark 12:42). Our giving is never for the recipient. God provides all we have, and all they have. He doesn’t need us to do that. Giving is always for the benefit of the giver. There is no better time in your life to give than when you aren’t sure where the next paycheck comes from. He is asking us to trust Him. Do you?

BELIEVE: That this is no accident. God loves you more than you can comprehend. We would much rather learn from someone else’s story and their struggles. In fact, we have the whole Old Testament to read about Israel’s constant failures. Unfortunately, we are no different than them. God uses all these struggles –in our lives – to draw us to Him – because of His love for us. Without them we would be too busy with our lives than to ever bother with Him, much less choose to be His humble servant. Has He gotten your attention yet? There is no other way. Even Jesus “learned obedience by the things which he suffered.” THAT is an incomprehensible statement. What makes you think you don’t need suffering? Obviously God thinks we do. Let’s make sure this trial doesn’t go to waste. Trust Him!

God Bless!

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