When Life Gets Tough.. [Part 1]

[Finding Peace and Strength in Times of Trouble]
Henry Gariepy

*Kuya Don lent me this book, maybe not [just] because he feels that I need it, but also because he knows that I’m going to blog about it. Hehe. And if the latter was what he had in mind, well, he’s right. ^_^

What I’ll be sharing are some of the most striking words of wisdom (and those which touched/moved me most). But it would be better if you could get a copy of it. It’s handy, light, and a really good read.

I also suggest that you read the Book of Job, because most of the examples given in this book can be found in Job’s story. If I may say it, Job is the perfect example of a man who has gone through so much suffering, yet remained faithful to the Lord. And as he overcame the trials that came his way, he became a better man of God. ^_^

I’ll start with the Preface. This may be long. You are not required to read the whole post, though. And don’t worry, I won’t be posting any personal comment, maybe just a little. Haha. ^_^

A sign in an old-fashioned tinker shop read, “We can mend anything except a broken heart.” But an announcement has been posted in the Bible that says of our Heavenly Father, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). May these devotions be used of the Lord to bring healing and wholeness once again.

God has not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God has not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He has not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

But God has promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way.
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

-ANNIE JOHNSON FLINT-

I. When Life Comes Tumbling Down: God cares and is there to help and heal when life comes tumbling down.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

“Bad things do not happen for any good reason, but we can redeem these tragedies from senselessness by imposing meaning on them. The question we should be asking is not, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ That is really unanswerable. A better question would be, ‘Now that this has happened to me, what am I going to do about it?’” –Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People

II. The Antidote to Fear: When shattering experiences come, God gives courage and comfort.

Therefore we will not fear. (Psalm 46:2)

When the forecast calls for a storm, ships need a sure anchor; trees, deep roots; persons, a firm foundation of faith.

Faith in God becomes an antidote to fear. Like the psalmist, we, too, can declare in the middle of life’s crises, “Therefore we will not fear.” Throughout the Bible there are 365 “fear nots” or its equivalent. God has given us one for every day of the year!

III. God at the Helm: At the helm of the universe God is in control.

*This is a good chapter.

You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. (Psalm 139:5-6)

If God is good and all-powerful, how can evil exist?

Why is there this individual and collective suffering?

How can God be absolved from such an unfathomable mystery and meaningless fate?

The problem of the goodness of God in the middle of evil and suffering can be accepted only in the light of God’s sovereignty. This big picture of God provides the eternal rather than the temporal perspective on our human condition.

The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The Scripture assert God’s supremacy over the evil that man’s sin has brought into human existence. At the helm of the universe our sovereign God is in control.

God does not “send’ our suffering – it is the consequence of sin and Satan at the work in the world. We live in a fallen world, and suffering is the common heritage of fallen humanity. But we can face life’s evil knowing that it cannot thwart God’s purposes for His children. The ultimate triumph is God’s and ours in Him.

IV. The Dark Night of the Soul: When all is darkness, faith gives the victory.

*and this one too. ^_^

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1)

Sooner or later, we, too, may feel like God has forsaken us. Saint John of the Cross named this experience “the dark night of the soul.” In such times it seems that our prayers are but empty words, that God is hidden from us, and we bear our burden in a lonely universe.

“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I do not feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent.” –written on a basement wall in Germany. [I love this one!]

In our Lord’s dark night of the soul, He still laid hold on God: “My God, my God.” That affirmation will sustain us in our own dark night of the soul. In our greatest crisis, we can still have faith that God will ultimately work out His eternal purpose in our lives.

I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.

-WHITTIER-

V. Life’s Unexpected Crosses: Life’s true meaning lies close to its crosses.

As they led Him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene – and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26)

Simon of Cyrene is typical of all human life. He is only one of an innumerable company who had been compelled to bear heavy and unexpected crosses. Life is full of Simons and unexpected crosses.

When life thrusts an unexpected cross on your life, dedicate your cross to the One who was the Ultimate Cross Bearer for the world.

VI. Abide with Me: The Lord’s presence sustains us, and His promise stretches past the darkness into the brightness of day.

Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. (Luke 24:29)

To each life there comes the time when the shadows of evening fall upon our pathway, and we need the presence of the Lord. It is evening for our world when hope seems so hard to find. It is evening for our families when troubles come. It is evening for us when we experience loss, illness, grief, or tragedy. And nightfall often comes with death.

When the evening times of life come, we would ask the risen Lord, as did the disciples of old, “Abide with us.” His presence sustains us and His promise stretches past the darkness into the brightness of day… We will rejoice in the glow of His presence as He turns our Good Friday into Easter Sunday.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

VII. Life is Not Fair: Misfortune never leaves us where it finds us.

What I dreaded has happened to me. (Job 3:25)

“Life is not fair. The wrong people get sick and the wrong people get robbed and the wrong people get killed in wars and in accidents.” –Rabbi Kushner-

Suffering is an inevitable part of life. Misfortune never leaves us where it finds us. The pain will one day cease. But what we learn in these dark experiences is our treasure forever.

… Our testing and trial can lead us into a closer walk with God.

VIII. A Prayer-Answering God: When the outlook is not good, let us take the uplook.

You will pray to Him and He will hear you. (Job 22:27)

We need the power of prayer for our daily living, tasks, and struggles. Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except a prayer outside the will of God.

Prayer is pivotal for our lives. We will be better or worse, strong or weak, as we pray more or less. In prayer, our weakness is linked to the Almighty, our ignorance to God’s wisdom, and our finite lives to the infinite God.

“He who has learned to pray has learned the secret of a holy and happy life.” –William Law-

Only as we near the end of the Book of Job – where he enters into communion with God – does Job emerge triumphant in his trial. When he stops talking and starts listening to God, a dramatic transformation takes place.

Prayer is the nearest approach to God, the noblest exercise of the soul, and our greatest source of power. When trouble comes, we must work as though everything depends on us and pray as though everything depends on God.

IX. The Crisis of Change: The Bible provides our needed survival strategies.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Dynamic change is a trademark of our times. As Bob Dylan sang, “The times, they are a changin’!”

The crisis of change also occurs on a personal level.

Misfortune can overtake us in a moment, shatter our dreams, and bring us to the brink of desperation.

Alvin Toffler’s book, Future Shock, was written to “help us survive our collision course with tomorrow as we face the death of permanence.” It was designed as a textbook with strategies for survival for those overwhelmed by change and its impacts.

But, of course, we already have a textbook for coping with the crisis of change. The Bible provides the needed survival strategies and tells us of the One who remains unchanging in our changing world.

X. In the School of Sorrow: We can never calculate the debt the world owes to sorrow.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. (Job 38:1)

Most of the psalms and messages of the prophets have come to us out of the crucible of suffering and trial. The New Testament epistles were written mostly in prison. The greatest poets often learned in suffering what they taught in song.

When things go well it is possible to live for years on the surface of things. But when sorrow comes, a man is driven to the deep things of life and God. Sorrow becomes the expositor of mysteries that joy leaves unexplained.

I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chatted all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she,
But, oh the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me!

When we walk along the shore of the ocean, we note that the rocks are sharp in the quiet coves but polished in those places where the waves beat against them. If we allow Him, God can use the “waves” of life that beat against us to polish and beautify our souls.

XI. The Power of Silence: When crisis strikes, we need to find some quiet moments, to hear the still, small voice of God.

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

To “be still” is often opposite of what we tend to do when stress hits our life.

A mighty power resides in silence. Gravity, a silent force holds stars and galaxies in their orbits. Sunbeams make their long journey to earth without any sound, yet they bear an immense energy. The dew falls silently, yet brings refreshment and beauty.

Only when the winds and storms of the world that blows across our lives are quieted can we catch and reflect the beauty of the Infinite.

XII. Where is God?: God comes to us through the love, prayer, and caring of others.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. (Isaiah 43:2)

“Is God here? And I realized that He is closer to this place than any other place I’ve ever been. Amid this absolute catastrophe of unspeakable proportions, there is a beautiful spirit that defies the imagination. Everyone is everyone else’s brother or sister at the work site. Tears ran freely, affection was exchanged openly, exhaustion was defied. Being on that street, giving cold water to workmen, praying and weeping with them, listening to their stories, was the closest I have ever felt to God.” –Gordon MacDonald, author and pastor who was led to serve with the Salvation Army’s workers at Ground Zero of New York’s World Trade Center in days following 9/11.

**I'll post the second part next time. Need to get back to what I was doing. ^_^

God bless everyone! He loves us all. ^_^