"Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for every dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life."~~~Stephen King

Monday, January 16, 2012

How to live through a bad day.....

You are disillusioned and disappointed when your expectations clash with harsh realities. Why does God allow pain and suffering?

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."~~Hebrews 1:3 NIV

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"~~Psalms 10:1 NIV

"Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?"~~Jeremiah 15:18 NIV

"If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?"~~Job 7:20 NIV

Jesus asked the "why" when hanging on the cross. He feels utter abandonment to be separated from His Father. "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabach-thani'--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"~~~Matthew 27:46 NIV

Bring God into your disappointments on your bad days. You need God more than ever.

3 KEYS TO STAYING FAITHFUL IN THE FOG OF DISAPPOINTMENT:

Key #1: Get clear

Walking by faith doesn't preclude unanswered questions. Some things we won't understand until we get to heaven.

Take heart. Walking by faith does not preclude difficult times. "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."~~ Romans 8:28 NIV

Walking by faith doesn't preclude unexplainable tension. Why does God heal sometimes and not other times? "And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kindoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrecton. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised."~~Hebrews 11:32-39 NIV

Why does God deliver some and not others? Get clear why you signed up to follow Jesus in the first place. Because I believe HE is LORD, not to make life easier or to fix something for you. My faith in Christ is not dependent on what He can do for me. "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel,. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed."~~Psalm 22:3-5 NIV

Key #2: Don't fear 

Assurance you can hang onto:

     1) God is with me
     2) God is for me

"But a time is coming, and has come, when  you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me."~~John 16:32 NIV


"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"~~ Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"~~ Romans 8:31-32 NIV

Key #3: Draw near to God

Even if you don't understand or have questions. God will sustain you.

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."~~James 4:8 NIV


"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."~~Psalm 55:22 NIV


"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."~~Isaiah 41:10 NIV

Draw near and God will surprise you. How can our bad day fit into His big picture? "However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."~~I Corinthians 2:9 NIV 

God will bring you through. "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed hiim."~~John 6:66 NIV If you expect God to fix everything, you will be disillusioned. If you want someone to walk with you, it's the right reason. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve"~~ John 6:67 NIV

God will deliver you from or through your disappointments.

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