Are you facing the worst situation that you have ever faced in your life right now? Then this article is written with you in mind, and I want you to read it carefully and ponder it, because it could change the course of your situation if you will take it to heart. The first thing you must realize is that adversity comes to everyone at some point in life. No one is immune from the storms of life. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, Jesus makes the analogy of the wise and foolish man. The wise man is the one who built his house upon the rock of hearing and acting upon God's Word. The foolish man built his house on the sand, only hearing and not doing. But the interesting thing to me is that the flood came to both houses. Adversity comes to everyone's house. So if you are going through a trial today, don't add to it a feeling of guilt and condemnation that somehow God is bringing you into judgment and that you are alienated from Him. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Adversity sometimes makes God seem a long way off, but He will never leave nor forsake you. Even when you have been faithless, He remains faithful, because He cannot deny His own children. First Corinthians 10:13 says that there is no trial or temptation that can come upon you that is not common to all. You are not the first person that has ever faced this difficulty. Many have come through it before, and you will too, because God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able, but will present the way of escape. There is a way out. God is not against you, sending you adversity. He is for you. He sends you the way of escape. The devil came to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came that you might have life, and have it in abundance.
The second thing to realize is that problems have a limited life span. Storms may come, but they do not last. Whatever you are going through today, whatever mental or physical anguish you are experiencing, will not last. God is our shepherd, and He restores our souls. Through His power, the sick shall recover. He binds up the brokenhearted, and heals their wounds. He'll heal you too.
Third, we must realize that God is able to cause tremendous positive results to come out of problems, hopeless circumstances and tragedies. You may be the one whose house washed away. There may be nothing left to live for. There may be nothing left of your life except a stump. But God can make new life emerge from a stump. Isaiah 11 tells how God made the Righteous Branch spring up out of the stump of Jesse. Out of the fallen house and lineage of David, God brought forth His Son to rule and reign victoriously forever. Out of the ashes of your life God can bring forth something wonderful. The incredible pain and agony you feel today will give way to joy. God's thoughts toward you are peace and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope. What the devil meant for evil, God can turn around and make good. He is the Master of deliverances and escapes from death. He excels at bringing a breakthrough in lives.
Finally, you must realize that adversity can change you for the better or for the worse. You must decide. You are the establishing witness. You may not be able to change the conditions around you, but you can choose your response to them. God puts before us today life and death. Choose life. Decide today, "I will live and not die, and declare the works of the Lord. I will recover. I will come back. I will get a breakthrough. I will win. God made me to win. I am a world overcomer through faith in the Son of God. I have authority over the enemy. I will never be defeated. I will never quit." Rise up on your feet right where you are and make that your bold confession today. Fight through the pain, the hurt, the feelings of hopelessness and depression, and choose to speak words that will set in motion your deliverance. All the resources of heaven will rush in behind you to back you up in that decision, but you must decide. You have dominion, whether you feel like it or not. In the days ahead rededicate your life to Jesus, to renewing your mind by feeding on His Word, by reprogramming that old negative failure mentality with positive godly thoughts of life and hope and victory. It won't happen overnight, but by your perseverance you will win. You have a right to life, you have a right to be happy. You have a right to be healthy and prosperous. These are not the reward for doing good. They are the rightful possessions of the children of God. Reach out with boldness and tenacity and lay hold of them. You are a winner. You are a never-dying champion. Your future is better than your past. Forget what lies behind, and reach out to what lies ahead, the glorious prize of your inheritance with all the saints of God, not only in the age to come, but in this life. And if you're not a child of God, but you have that hunger stirred in your heart right now to be one, then choose right now to turn your life over to Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart. Then go back and read this article again knowing that it is indeed written to you, the believer.
@ copyright 1992 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.