Growing up we all probably had an experience where we did something wrong and were punished by a parent or other adult. Do you remember saying, or hearing someone say, “I’ll never do that again.” after being punished or scolded?

Psalm 119:67 says, “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.” The NIV translation writes this verse like this, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.”

It is pretty clear from this passage that sometimes things happen to us as a form of discipline, to get us back on the right track. I don’t think that every “affliction” is some kind of discipline from God, but when things are not going well, we should think about why that might be, and turn to God for help, and guidance. Whether we are bringing discipline on ourselves, or our trials are just part of life, turning to God is always the right response.

Psalm 139:24 says, “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Dear Lord, much of life remains a mystery to us, but we know You are working Your plan for each of us. Help us turn to You when we are afflicted, and find Your will for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

John 8:44 Jesus describes the devil as “a liar and the father of lies.”

We have all experienced the devil’s lies as thoughts put in our heads trying to convince us to turn from trusting God.

One of the damaging lies the devil hits us with is convincing us to think “God doesn’t love me.” This may occur when we receive terrible news, or when our prayers are not answered the way we hoped, or when things seem to be just getting worse and worse. Even though these are real things and very difficult for us, the devil tries to use these things to drive us to despair and discouragement. If he can convince us to believe God doesn’t love us, we will look for some other way to deal with our suffering.

In these times, what God wants us to do is put our entire faith and trust in Him. As difficult and painful as some things can be, God is there with us. We must endure with prayer, hope and trust in Him, with confidence that he knows and cares and will not give us more than we can endure.

As David shows us in Psalm 23, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing….Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me…Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” For this we thank you Lord. Amen.

You may have heard this quote, “The teacher is always quiet during the test.” It is an interesting way to think about our life challenges.

I imagine that quote describes David’s situation when he wrote Psalm 22:1,2, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.” He felt left alone and forgotten in his difficult time. I am sure many of us have felt this way at times, and maybe feel this way right now.

However David was not alone, and neither are we. We get tested, allowed by God to be tested to make us stronger. David goes on to to write the well known words in Psalm 23 afterward, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” NKJV

God is always there when we are being tested even though we may not feel it at the time. When we are going through difficult times, we can also remember this less serious quote, “when you feel like you are going through hell, by all means don’t stop, keep going.”

Dear Lord, help us remember that you are always there with us, and will give us the support we need to get through our tests and trials. We will come out the other side stronger and closer to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When we need God’s help, the essence of having faith is trusting he will help us, without knowing how.

There is a story about Elijah in 1 Kings 17:8-16 that describes this. God tells Elijah to go to a town called Zaraphath where a widow will feed him. Elijah finds this widow and asks her for a piece of bread. The widow tells Elijah, that she had no bread, and only enough flour for one meal for herself and her son. She expected that would be their last meal after which they would have no more food and would die.

In verse 13-16, Elijah says, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”

She could not have known how things would work out, but she trusted and did what God had told her through Elijah. There was always enough food.

It is often very difficult to believe problems will be solved, troubles will be avoided, and things will work out for the best when we don’t know how they could. Those are the most important times to have faith, because those are the times God is the only way.

Dear Lord, You control all things and all circumstances. Help us remember to ask for your help with our challenges, particularly when they seem impossible. Help us believe that you have a way even when we cannot see the way. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I think we are all familiar with the account of Jesus feeding the 5000 with five barley loaves and two fish, recorded in each of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In addition to the fact that Jesus performed this miracle, I think there is a message in how He went about it.

John 6:11, says, “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

I think one lesson, for us, is found in Jesus’ actions. He didn’t explain how He was going to feed all these people, He just thanked God for the things he had to work with, and then got started with belief for success.

So often we have trouble believing in God’s power to make things happen, because we cannot explain how it can be done. What we need to do is, accept that we don’t know how God will resolve things, just thank him for the resources we have, and move forward in belief that God will provide a solution.

I like the quote from Arthur Ashe, the Tennis Pro in the 1970’s, who said, “Start where you are, Use what you have, Do what you can.” I would add, “Believe in God’s power.”

Dear Lord, You can do anything, we just need to believe, be thankful and move forward. Help us really trust your power to answer our prayers, especially when we don’t know how it can be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.