adversity – Praying Pint

28.z. “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small”

Colossians 1:11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Isaiah 45:24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.

Ephesians 3:16    that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13     I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

2 Corinthians 4:7  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Proverbs 24:10     If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

2 Corinthians 6:4-6   but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities  beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;  by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;

Hebrews 12:1-2   Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

His strength is there to help us meet all of life’s challenges and to endure and overcome problems with circumstances (patience) and people (long-suffering) with joy. We find it easy to be patient and long-suffering when everything in our lives is free from trials and troubles. In other words, we think we will be patient and long-suffering when they invade our lives. We think we will be strong, steadfast, face it with courage, and will honor and glorify Jesus Christ through it, and then, Bam!! life happens and just the opposite happens. Our greatest failure is trying to or thinking that we are facing the trial or trouble alone and in our own strength. When we do, subconsciously we may know it is beyond our ability, but still, we plod on trying to overcome it in our self-reliant way. We may even consciously concede to the fact that is beyond our ability, but we still try to rely on ourselves. Why is that? Sometimes it is because of our spiritual growth or lack thereof, living in sin, not having a desire to surrender it into God’s hands, shallow faith in God’s power, thinking that we are not worthy of God’s help, or a host of other reasons. It is hard to yield to God’s power, strength, purpose, and plans. It is hard to wait on the Lord. Should it be? All throughout our lives, we must continually grow in faith, hope, trust, reliance, understanding, knowledge, and wisdom. Learning to do this takes continual practice, surrender, and yielding. It is with an intentional choice and desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do that we find learning applicable. God’s Word becomes more than food for our souls. It satisfies, fills, empowers, and we learn to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. How do we begin to apply this in our lives? Commit and Discipline yourselves to be in His Word and then practice surrender, yielding, seeking, and waiting on the Lord. Will we fail at times? Yes. However with continual practice, we will become more and more steadfast and resolute in our daily lives, and when trials and troubles fall upon us our natural reaction will be to place it in God’s control, power, purpose, and plans.

4.n. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Proverbs 17:17     A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24    A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Job 6:14     “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

Job had recently lost all of his flocks and all of his children. Now Satan’s attack is physically upon him. When his friends heard of what had happened to Job they came to him and for 7 days they spoke nothing to him for he was suffering greatly. It is nice to have friends who care about you. Who visit you in your time of trial. Who comes to, in some way, comfort you and give you support. Having a comforting friend around in a time of trials and troubles has a way of sharing the load of this burden together. Their presence encourages and strengthens us, or should I say “can or will” if we are open to receive their comfort. If we reject them, if we turn away from them, if we close our eyes and ears to their help we will not experience the comfort, strength, and encouragement they offer. It is as if we choose to go it alone. I am not sure if it is out of pride, shame, or some other reason but whatever the reason, some can reject the very comfort their soul and mind are searching for.

Jesus Christ said that after His death and resurrection He would go to His father and send the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) to lead us into all truth, to teach, lead, encourage, strengthen, and comfort us. Still, it falls upon us to seek, desire, and be open to these from the Holy Spirit. If our heart is hardened and our mind turned away and our soul standing firm in self-centered self-reliance the working of the Holy Spirit in our life is void. We do well to confess our hardened ways and seek/desire the Holy Spirit to fill us from the inside out, softening us to the point of being able to hear, trust, and obey the whispers of truth, leading, encouragement, strength, courage, and comfort.

Who Understands?

Psalms 53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Psalms 92:6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;

Psalms 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Psalms 10:6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

Psalms 10:13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Ezekiel 16:47 Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Ephesians 5:12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

Romans 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

For sure scripture is clear that mankind has a natural heart deep track away from God and if left unchecked and not acknowledged tracks further and further away. With this is the natural bend of our heart we have to be mindful of it, confess it, train it, replace it by the renewing of our heart and mind with His word. What we put into our mind and heart is what comes out of our mouth. We are bombarded constantly by our culture with things that are approved by man but far from what God desires. If we use this culture for our christian expectation gauge we will not be on a path following God. We fool ourselves if we think we can stay close to Him without daily feeding our heart, mind and soul with His word and desiring to be a humble servant that honors, follows and obeys Him. We need to encourage each other to stay in His word and speak hope into the lives of those without it. Our heart, mind and soul desire for Him needs to be one of single purpose. There is so much out there that will invade, overtake, and replace humbly serving Him.