A Godly Response to Life's Trials

What a difference a day can make. Any of us could wake up on any given morning and by the time the day is over something unforeseen happens that alters our life forever....
Keep ReadingThis past week, the first deaths related to Covid-19 were recorded for Montgomery County. Hospitals across several US cities are working overtime to care for their patients. Medical workers are being recognized as heroes for their sacrificial service. And while recovery numbers increase, the spread of the Coronavirus continues across America. Return to “normal life” still seems so distant....
In light of the current, global pandemic, it’s important for us to realize that not all concern is sinful. My hope is that this article will challenge us to foster the right kind of concern and motivate the right kind of action. To accomplish this, let’s begin by examining how the Bible talks about worry....
Before Jesus endured such prayers as would turn sweat to blood, before He was abandoned by His disciples, before He endured the many humiliations and beatings on the way to the cross, and faced the full weight of God’s wrath to atone for sin culminating with the cry ““MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”, Jesus sang hymns....
Paul himself was a great example of what it looks like to rejoice no matter what. He remained joyful when was persecuted, slandered, falsely accused, mistreated, arrested, imprisoned, and even when he was facing the threat of martyrdom for the cause of Christ. Nothing could steal his joy because he was convinced that all the difficult circumstances he experienced ultimately served to advance the cause of Christ (cf. Col. 1:24)....
C.S. Lewis discovered that no matter how hard you try it is impossible to escape God. You can deny Him, ignore Him, or explain Him away, but you can’t get away from Him. He’s everywhere. No matter where we turn we are confronted with the reality of His being. God has made it abundantly clear that He is there by revealing Himself in four unmistakable ways....
Self-righteousness. It seems to spring up in the church like the weeds in the lawn after the cold of winter breaks. You glance across the yard and see green. You look closer, and there they are, grassy and broadleaf weeds sprouting up everywhere....
At the end of the summer, it’s not not uncommon for Christians to feel distant from the Lord and dry in their soul. During the summer months we typically get out of our normal schedules and routines, we go on vacations, things are generally more laid back, and it’s easy to become lazy. This naturally affects our spiritual disciplines. Our time spent communing with God in His Word and prayer often becomes sporadic and in some cases non-existent....
What a difference a day can make. Any of us could wake up on any given morning and by the time the day is over something unforeseen happens that alters our life forever....
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