God promises that when we face challenging times, He will keep His divine eye upon us. He wants to be our teacher and guide through the difficulty, but we must position ourselves to respond to His signals. That is, we need to:
Have a longing to follow God’s way and His way only. Scripture compares such yearning to a deer panting for water (Psalm 42:1). The same should be true of us each time we wait for God’s direction instead of acting on our own.
Be willing to be taught by God. He will transform trials into times of learning when we look to Him for guidance. Such was the case with Hannah as she pleaded for a child (1 Samuel 1:1-20, 1 Samuel 2:1-10). It was also true for Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus died (John 11:17-27). We need willing spirits if we are to learn what God wants to teach us in the “classroom” of His choice. Most of us would opt for a comfortable, pleasurable setting in which to gain understanding. But God knows the best way to instill wisdom and may choose pain and trouble as the place of instruction.
Yield to His will. Before we know God’s solution, He asks us to commit ourselves to His way. The Lord calls us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and to acknowledge that we are helpless without Him (John 15:5). To declare commitment to His way is always best.
Troubles are an unwelcome fact of life, but they can have value. Often what we wanted to avoid turns out to be the very thing we needed. God asks that we have a tender heart, a teachable spirit, and a yielded will. Does this describe you?
Psalm 25
In a blizzard, the familiar disappears because swirling snow obscures our vision. Difficulties bring about the same effect in our minds. They create strong emotions that cloud our ability to think. Thankfully, God has given us some promises to help us find our way through trials.
1. The Lord has committed Himself to instructing us. When we wait on Him, He will give us insight into our situation—since He sees all things, He knows what steps we are to take. We may be surprised at the instruction, though, since His ways are not like our human ones (Isa. 55:8-9). For example, when people hurt us badly, God’s Spirit will remind us that vengeance is the Lord’s; our part is to live at peace with them (Rom. 12:17-19).
2. God has promised to teach us how to apply the truth He has given us. As we meditate on the Word of God, His Spirit will reveal the relevance of Scripture to our problem. For example, let’s imagine we are faced with someone making a financial request that strikes us as unreasonable. How are we to respond? God may tell us to meet the need or even to give extra in order to bless that person (Matt. 5:40-41).
3. The Lord provides guidance as He keeps watch over us. When company is present, a parent may use a series of looks to quietly guide a child’s behavior, encourage, instruct, or warn. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual promptings to guide our actions and decisions.
What troubled waters are you trying to navigate? Find your way by using these promises as guiding lights through dark circumstances.
It was night. There were high winds, crashing waves, and low visibility. For the disciples, who were on the sea in a small boat, the situation had reached crisis proportions—and Jesus was not with them. While they were dealing with the frightening weather, He was on the mountainside praying.
In the midst of the storm, perhaps the disciples thought Jesus had forgotten them. However, He knew exactly where they were and what they were experiencing. Though we can’t see Jesus physically, He is omniscient—He can identify where we are at every moment. No darkness can hide us; no trial can obscure His vision. We are always seen, known, and understood!
Leaving that place of prayer, Jesus sought out the disciples. And He will do the same for us. However, the Twelve didn’t recognize Him because He went to them by walking on the water. Jesus often does not come in the way that we expect. Our preconceived ideas of how He works can make us wonder where He might be and can blind us to how near He actually is.
Experiencing Jesus’ presence in hard times can teach us precious truths. During an earlier rough sea adventure, the disciples had observed both Jesus’ trust in God and His authority over nature (Matt. 8:23-26). In the latest storm, they watched the Lord walk on water—and they saw one of their own do it, too. Through the storms, they learned who Jesus was, what He could do, and what their own potential was.
When turmoil hits, let’s ask for spiritual eyes to discern the Lord’s presence. Then, we must listen for His voice and obey (John 10:27).
God is infinite. It’s difficult for us, with our limited human minds, to imagine exactly what that means, but it’s important to think about His greatness. His love is immeasurable. And He is boundless in righteousness, mercy, and justice. Time and space cannot contain Him.
Can we go anywhere that our God is not? There may be times when we feel as if we want to hide from Him, but thankfully, there’s nowhere we can go that is out of His reach. The last thing we should want is to be separated from Him. As believers, we are forever connected to the Father because He is eternal. He calls Himself the Alpha and Omega, which means the beginning and the end. That is not to say the Lord started at some point in eternity past and ends somewhere in the future. Instead, it means that when time and space began, He is the one who created it. When it ends, He will still be there—He is the one “who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 1:8). This was a revolutionary concept for the crowd of Jews to whom Christ announced, “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). They understood that Jesus, in saying He was one with Yahweh (the name of God, which means “I am”), claimed to be eternal—and they attempted to kill Him for what they considered blasphemy (John 8:59).
Not only is God infinite and eternal; He is also unchanging (James 1:17). So much of what we believe is based upon this characteristic of God. We can trust in His promises because they never change, and we can trust in His love because it never ends.
Pride causes us to think that we can manage life’s situations ourselves and make our own plans. The first two kings of Israel—Saul and David—illustrate different approaches to handling pride.
Saul’s high opinion of himself resulted in decisions that were contrary to the Lord’s commands. For example, having defeated the Philistines, the king reasoned that he should take some spoils of war, even though God had said otherwise. When confronted by Samuel, he replied that his plan was “to sacrifice [the animals] to the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:15). God saw through his words to a heart of pride. If self-centeredness controls our thinking, we’ll seek ways around divine commands in order to serve ourselves. When caught, we may try to justify our disobedience, as Saul did.
David—Israel’s second king, chosen while Saul was still on the throne—didn’t try to initiate his own reign. Instead, he waited for God’s timing. That meant enduring Saul’s jealous rages and murder attempts, but still he wouldn’t retaliate. In fact, even when he had the opportunity, David refused to seize the throne; he didn’t allow pride to dominate his thinking. Later on, he coveted another man’s wife and committed adultery, but when he was challenged, his humble heart prompted repentance (2 Samuel 12:13).
To prevent prideful behavior, we must refuse to act independently of the Lord. Like David, we should handle self-centeredness by turning to God in confession. David’s sins were forgiven. Saul, on the other hand, never admitted he’d made any mistakes, and that led to his downfall.
