adversity Archives – Sonshine's Journal

January 8, 2023January 8, 2023

Is God your Redeemer?

Job 19 As Job sat in dust and ashes and listened to his miserable comforters, he echoed the words of Solomon: “My assailants revile and conspire against me all day long.” [Lam 3:62] Yet, in all this, God’s words ring forth; Job is “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil.” God knew Job could be trusted to face adversity. “In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.” [Job 1:22]

Job not only knew but truly believed this truth: that no matter what is going on or what will transpire in the future, he can trust that his “Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.”

How about us in the midst of severe suffering? Do we cling to that truth? Is God our redeemer? Are we able to say as Paul: “I have learned to be content in any circumstance.” [Phil 4:11]

October 10, 2018

What’s In Your “Wallet”?

alone-I stand.ajpg Psalm 112 Are you yoked with Christ so when adversity comes you are prepared?

The world clamors for peace and harmony yet they deny the Yoke of Christ. They deride those who choose the path of godliness yet they cannot deny the evidence which stares them in the face. They cannot understand how it is possible to stand firm when faced with adversity. They are like Job’s comforters who could not wrap their minds around Job’s intense faithfulness in the midst of the worst tragedies to befall a man.

How could he sit in ashes and mourn yet keep his faith in God?

What was his secret?

Like the psalmist Job knew that he walked in harmony with God. He yoked himself to God and allowed Him to train him to walk beside Him in the furrow. It was then he could see beyond the temporal circumstances to the eternal reward for them who walk uprightly. He submitted his will, heart and mind to Him. He chose to not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of his mind. This is what he knew no matter the circumstances of life: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed.” Therefore, like the psalmist, he could say: I will not be shaken and I will remember Him who is just and knows the beginning from the end.

‘Taking a cue from a credit card company:

We could ask what’s in your wallet?

October 1, 2013

Steadfast Confidence

How do you react in times of difficulty? Are we confident in the God we say we believe? If so, are we living so that others may ask how we are facing life’s circumstances?

As Paul wrote this second letter to the church in Corinth he shared from the heart the burdens he was carrying and the love he had for them. His ministry was not without a cost however and in this letter he openly bears his soul to them that they may learn from him how to handle adversity. As we read we want to keep our eyes open to what he faced: conflicts, fears, sufferings. Then we want to transition to ask: are they similar to mine? Am I persevering as Paul did? What lessons can I learn that I can use later for others?

Question 1: Who is God to you when you face adversity? Is he as Paul notes: the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort? Is he a god who can comfort us in all of our troubles? Do we see our troubles as God’s open door for us to in turn minister to others? These are the questions we need to address as we read 2Cor.

Principle 1: One purpose in suffering is that we may in turn comfort others when they face similar circumstances. vs 4 God is the God of all comfort; vs 6 if we face affliction/suffering/adversity it is that we may be in turn be able to comfort and empathize with others.

Principle 2: We can be confident and trust that God is involved in our circumstances vs 7 And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort. Vs 9 we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

Principle 3: Be steadfast, immovable in whatever circumstance you find yourself vs 10 We have set our hope on him – on God alone

Principle 4: Our prayers that are being offered are useful for ourselves and others. 1:11 as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many. John Bunyan wrote: “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

What adversity are you facing today that you can implement these same 4 principles? Perhaps you may have faced a similar adversity. Thus the question is: How may I pray for you in this time?

Know this: God is not only a God of all comfort but He is a God of love!

July 27, 2013

Is Life Fair? Find the Answer in Ps 73.

In Matthew 18, Jesus took time to quell the bickering of the disciples using the illustration of a child’s humility. He also gave them a stern warning to not be a stumbling block for ones who are new in their faith or just beginning to grow. Today we meet a man who long ago faced this same struggle. The musician and seer Asaph wisely teaches us how to handle temptations to be a stumbling block which is one of the enemy’s tools. This is one of the wisdom psalms from which we learn practical points of life.

Asaph begins with extolling God for His goodness and purity of motives. But, he is struggling as he sees those who are wicked who are prosperous, proud, and popular. We too face that struggle when we look about us rather than looking at God. Asaph personalizes his struggles with his perspective on life for us and in it teaches us some wise principles.

Life is not fair. Asaph as a paid religious worker in Temple worship just didn’t seem to cut it. It is not fair. Others are materially prosperous also are proud and pompous, while I am poor and suffer adversity. They lack for nothing and live life with a “God owes me this” mentality. I am a man of integrity and yet like Job or Joseph I am facing problems. Where is my material prosperity God? Why do I face problems? If you are God why am I suffering? Today we see and hear the same refrain. It seems that this is a point that is ages old. The problem is failing to see life through the lens of the eternal perspective.

There are three keys we want to note: vs 3 “I envied” Envy is a sin that began in the Garden of Eden and is alive and well today. Secondly, notice how Asaph pondered what to do: 73:15 “If I had publicized these thoughts, I would have betrayed your loyal followers.” Translation: I would become a stumbling block! Today: How often do we share via prayer requests our struggles without considering what those might do to a young believer’s faith? Thirdly, 73:17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, Asaph came to the sobering reality that first he harbored the sin of envy for which he needed cleansing. Secondly, Asaph pondered the consequences of being a stumbling block to others so wisely he sought the counsel of God. Lastly in God’s presence he saw the reality: We are here for one purpose: to behold His beauty and to worship Him in all of His fullness. I think Lazarus might have had that perspective right and the rich man had the “God owes me mentality” in Luke 16. In the end, who was really blessed? Asaph comes to this same conclusion.

There is a praise hymn which seems to sum up our thoughts for today: “In the presence of Jehovah, God Almighty, Prince of Peace, Troubles vanish, hearts are mended, in the Presence of the King. Through His love the Lord provided….

That is the key. It is in the presence of Jehovah we find all our answers to life’s problems.