Author: Larry Bennett

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The Battle for Control

For the first twenty years of my Christian walk I thought the greatest enemy to a successful Christian life was the devil. I believed that if I could keep myself from certain sins that the devil would throw my way, then I would be victorious. Therefore I developed a system of rules and standards that would keep me on the straight and narrow. I figured if I could combine that with faithful church attendance, tithing and daily Bible reading, then I would be able to overcome the devil.

After years of striving to measure up to a self-produced standard of performance and rule keeping, I realized that I was attempting to develop my own standard of self-righteousness. It was a standard that God never intended for any child of His to maintain. God in His mercy allowed me to experience a crash and burn experience that I call brokenness.

As a result, I had a major “coming to the end of myself” moment. For the first time in my life I realized that the real battle was a battle for control. My battle was not with the devil, but was with God. I wanted to be the captain of my own spiritual destiny. I wanted to prove my love for God by good performance. I wanted to measure up to what I perceived God wanted me to be or become.

Somewhere along the way I missed a major tenet in the teaching of God’s grace. On the cross God had provided my righteousness in Christ. I didn’t need to measure up to some standard or adopt a set of rules to earn God’s favor. I learned that the cross is not only the place where Jesus died and paid my sin debt, but it is also where He died to set me free from myself.

Picture it this way. There are two aspects of the cross. One aspect is Jesus died to save me from my sin condition (Romans 5:8). The other aspect of the cross is that Jesus died to save me from myself (Galatians 2:20). In other words, God never intended for us to go it alone and develop our own system of righteousness. God’s intention for us is not “I will do my best and then call on Him if I need His help”. But God’s intention for us from the beginning of our Christian walk is to surrender the control of our life to Christ and allow Him to live His live through us. It is not Jesus and me make a majority. It is Christ in me, living His life through me, and guiding me in all the affairs of life. The proper view of the Christian life is reflected in the following verse.

“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

Notice what God has done for us when we decided to become a follower of Christ. Before I was in Christ I was living for me. But now since my old man has been put to death (crucified), I am a new person. I no longer attempt to live life on my own, by and for myself, but I now live with Christ as the center, director and initiator of my life.

I have discovered over the years that there are many believers who were just like me. They have a genuine love for God. They are sincere in their faith, but struggled in their walk with God. No matter how hard they try to live a successful Christian life, they feel as if they never measured up.

Bottom Line
The battle is not a battle of trying to measure up, but the battle is for control. If you are struggling in your walk with God, let go. You are battling God rather than drawing on what He has already done for you. When you became a believer, He delivered you from the need to prove your love for God by good performance. He implanted you with the very life of Christ and given you the Holy Spirit to direct your steps. And as a result of living by faith you will produce good works and spiritual fruit. As Galatians 2:20 teaches us, “the life I now live… I live by faith.”

Our life is to be lived trusting the living Christ within us to guide and to direct every area of our life. So stop struggling, kicking and trying to measure up in your own strength. Surrender your rights and expectations to Him and allow Christ to manifest His life through you.

Here is a simple prayer that may help.
“Dear Lord I am tired of trying to measure up. I confess my sin of living my life in my own strength. I surrender my rights, my expectations and the control of my life to you. I will trust that the living Christ in me makes me complete and acceptable to you. Just as I have received Christ as my Savior, I now receive Him as my life.”

“For in Him (Christ) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made complete.” (Colossians 2:9-10)

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The Remedy For Our Sin

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 NASB)

I believe every true follower of Christ experiences defeat and spiritual setbacks in their walk with God. However, I am convinced that our success as followers of Christ is not dependent upon how few times we sin, but how many times we run to God to take advantage of His mercy and cleansing.

We all sin and need God’s mercy. It’s when we draw on that mercy that we develop a dependence on God. By having a sensitive heart toward sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and pushes us toward repentance. Because God understands our weakness and temptation toward sin, He gladly receives our confession/repentance (that’s mercy), and then gives us strength to overcome sin (that’s Grace).

One of the rewarding parts of my twenty plus years of counseling was the opportunity to share this truth with my counselees. I found many believers were carrying around a lifetime of guilt. Their continual failure to measure up to what they perceived as God’s standard brought frustration. Therefore, they just stopped bringing their sin to God for forgiveness because they knew they would fail again. Their concept of the Christian life was based on trying to measure up rather than being dependent upon God’s grace and mercy. We know where that way of thinking comes from; it comes from the enemy of our soul.

There must an effort on our part to “set our mind on things above” (Colossians 3), but beyond that, one of God’s objectives when we continue to fail and fall short is to drive us to Him. He wants us to live every moment dependent upon Him. He wants us to become Holy Spirit sensitive to sin. Every time we sin, every cross word we say in anger, every impure thought, He wants us to immediately be aware that we have offended Him.

By becoming sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, we will find that there is something supernatural at play here. It’s like God is screaming out to us that He is most willing to give us mercy (that is to forgive and cleanse us), and then He will give us the ability to be victorious over future sin.

Bottom Line

Building a “victorious resume” depends upon how we respond to our present sin. God never intended for us to carry around a weight of sin. He has provided a spiritual relief valve if we will become Holy Spirit sensitive by taking every thought captive to obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). That will lead to a greater sensitivity to hearing God’s voice in every area of your life.

The Lord longs to have intimate fellowship with His children. He wants to reveal more of Himself if we will be willing to let go of more of ourselves. It would be good for us to remember the old saying, “the water of life rarely flows through a dirty vessel”.

Begin today by asking the Lord to help you develop Holy Spirit sensitivity toward sin, and then when you sense you have sinned just “come with confidence to the throne room of grace, so that (you) may find grace and help in the time of need.”

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God Always Has A Plan

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Christian life is we are to live by faith. The quality of our relationship with God is predicated upon our level of trust. Through various trials of life we are to grow in our trust level. That’s because one day each follower of Christ will face trials that just seem too hard to bear or, are so overwhelming it thrust us into various stages of despair. God’s goal in all of this is to lead us to His ultimate purpose for our lives.

The familiar story below is a great example of how a deep trust in God leads to God’s ultimate purpose.

In 1871, Horatio Spafford lived in the Lake View suburb old Chicago. He was a young lawyer with a wife, Anna, and four little girls. In October of that year the whole center of the city was devastated by fire. No one is certain how the fire started, but it killed hundreds of people and destroyed whole sections of the city.

All across town, people were wandering homeless and hungry. The Spaffords were deeply involved in doing what they could to help families in distress. They soon discovered the it was not a short term ministry. Two years later, exhausted from their work, they planned a trip to Europe for rest. But at the last minute, business kept Horatio in town. His wife Anna and the four girls boarded a ship and left the harbor.

Late one night during the voyage, another ship rammed the steamer, which sank within twenty minutes. Anna was one of only forty-seven who were rescued. She was pulled from the water unconscious and floating on a piece of debris. The four Spafford girls had perished at sea. Anna sent a telegram from Paris to her husband: “Saved alone. What shall I do?” She remarked to another passenger that God had given her four daughters and taken them away and that perhaps someday she would understand why.

Horatio boarded a ship to find his wife and bring her home. When the ship’s path crossed the very point where his daughters had been lost, the captain called him to his cabin and told him so. Horatio, deeply moved, found a piece of paper from the hotel in which he had stayed before the voyage. He jotted down the words to “It is Well with My Soul”, now one of the world’s favorite hymns.

Back in Chicago, the couple tried to start over again. A son was born to them, and then another daughter. Maybe the worst was over. But then, another tragedy: the boy died of scarlet fever at four years old.

Unfortunately, the family’s church took the view that these tragedies were surely the punishment of a wrathful God for some unspecified sin on the part of the Spaffords. An elder in church asked Horatio and his family to leave the church. Horatio had helped build the church and instead of being taken in and comforted by a healing community, he was turned away.

In 1881, the little family left the United States to begin a new life in Jerusalem. They rented a house in the Old City section, with the goal of imitating the lives of the first-century Christians as closely as possible. Soon the family was widely known for their love and service to the needy, as well as for their devotion to the Scriptures. Even today, the Spafford Children’s Center serves Jerusalem and the West Bank by providing health care and educational support to as many as thirty thousand children annually under the leadership of the Spaffords’ descendants. (Copied from “What Are You Afraid of?” by David Jeremiah)

Bottom Line
Anna and Horatio Spafford suffered severe testing of their faith, but they did not blame God for their suffering. They knew He was in control of all things, and because God could not be defeated, neither could they. Their faith allowed them to learn through their various testing and to use their pain to bless others and further the Gospel.

Remember, whatever you are dealing with, and whatever unpleasant circumstances life has sent your way, God always has a plan and purpose, even though you cannot see it at the moment. The ultimate lesson we can learn from this story is to rekindle and keep fresh our trust in God. If we will depend and trust Him in the small stuff, when the storms of life come along our instinct will be to also trust Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NAS)

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Three Stages of a Crisis

“Our God can deliver us — but even if he chooses not to, we will not bow!” (Daniel 3)

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three Hebrew captives. They had been put into King Nebuchadnezzar’s service and were well known for their wisdom and quality work. But because the astrologers were jealous of these men’s position and standing, they convinced the king to erect a large golden statue. At an appointed time, the music would play and everyone in the kingdom would bow down and worship this image.

The astrologers knew that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow to the image. It was their plan to entrap them and have them destroyed. Just as they had planned, when the signal was given to bow down to the statue, the three men refused to bow.

When the King heard the news of their refusal to bow he was furious and ordered them bound with ropes and thrown into the fiery furnace. Because of their intentional refusal to bow, the King ordered the furnace to be made seven times hotter than normal.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were is a crisis situation. I am sure they thought, we have been forced from our country, lost our homes and displaced from our families, and we have to eat all this Egyptian food. How much worse can it get?

Have you even been in a situation where you thought, “How much worse can it get?” Then to discover, yes, it can get worse? These times can be the most fertile time for spiritual growth. Growth during this time is usually reflected in three stages.

Unbelief
The first stage is Unbelief. How could this happen to me? Or, why me, what sin did I commit to deserve all of this? We have all been at this place before. Sometimes anger and grief is present at this stage. If we could just get our arms around why this is happening it might ease the pain. The three Hebrew men must have thought, “Lord, what more do you want from us?”

The key is not to stay in that position of unbelief, but to make a conscious decision to see God in the midst. That’s just what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did; they put their situation in God’s hands. They acknowledged that their problem was bigger than them and only God can change the situation and deliver them.

It’s the same with us. We must admit that God is in control. He wants us to turn our unbelief to belief. We must acknowledge that God’s ability to deliver us is greater than the devil’s ability to destroy us.

Testing Our Faith
That leads us to the second stage, Testing Our Faith. Is our faith real or is just an academic faith? Do we really believe God is in control and can move the king’s heart? This is the pivotal moment of our faith journey. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

The three Hebrew men’s faith was tested. They could either beg for their life using human reasoning, or they could put their lives in God’s hand and rest assured that whatever the outcome, God’s will has prevailed. Their response is evidence that they passed the test and their faith was real.

“(They) said to the king, “…we do not need to give you an answer concerning this. If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire: and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

Deepened Faith
If you are familiar with the story you know that they were indeed delivered from the fiery furnace. As a result they entered into the third stage of a crisis, Deepened Faith. Their faith not only delivered them from the fiery furnace, but their miraculous deliverance shook the king and the rest of Egypt. However, the greatest benefit is that they were changed men. They were never the same, they were changed forever. Their faith was deepened by a direct encounter with God.

Bottom Line
That’s what crises are all about, moving us from unbelief to a place where we can encounter and experience the power of God. As a result, we are changed, our faith is increased and our walk with God is deepened.
The world longs to see what God can do through men or women who will chose to trust God and live a life that is driven by simple faith.

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What’s In Your Hand?

“She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head. Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” … (Jesus said) “Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to… She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.” (Mark 14)

What a great life lesson for the disciples as they were about to be cast out into the world without Jesus’ physically being with them. It is apparent from the life the Apostles led after the resurrection that they took this life lesson to heart.

This lesson is for us also. Our attitude is to be “doing what we can,” but it may not be as you think. This lesson is not about “doing something for God,” but it is about being faithful to trust God for every moment of your life.

We are to take whatever the Lord has placed in our hands and use it for His glory. Ecclesiastes 9:10 reminds us, “Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.”

In other words, the Lord never intended for us to look for things to do for Him, but just be faithful in those things that He places in our hands and brings across our path.

Instead of saying, “Lord I think I want to do this for you”, it should be “Lord, what would you have me to do?” If we will learn to live every day in obedience to Him, and let go of our life in full surrender, He will bring thoughts, circumstances and people across our path that will lead to spiritual fulfillment and abundant fruit.

That’s a difficult lesson for me to learn. I am a doer/performer by nature. My life motto is “You are holding up production, get out of the way and let me do it.” Waiting on God is not one of my virtues. So brokenness for me has been to learn to back off, wait till God speaks and then join Him in what He would have me do. I am sorry to say there have been too many instances when I took things in my own hands and have gotten ahead of God.

While we are waiting on God to lead us we can be like the servant woman in Mark 14, “we can do what we can.” We can love those who are hard to love. We can practice giving away our life to others. We can provide Bibles for those who have never seen or read a Bible. We can bake cookies for our neighbors. We can help someone who is struggling. We can identify a single mom and give them a helping hand. You get the idea, we can give what we already have in our hand and God will open more doors for us than we can ever imagine possible.

During the late 80’s I left the full-time pastorate, received some additional training and opened a pastoral counseling ministry. I was immediately covered up with counseling clients. As a matter of fact, there were times when it would take several weeks to get an appointment with my office. I was perfectly content with spending the rest of my life in this ministry.

I wasn’t impacting a whole community nor ministering to the masses in a pastoral role, but I was reaching a few, one counselee at a time. I was doing what I could and being faithful to what God had placed in my hands.

One day I was approached by a mission leader and asked if I would allow him to translate my conference material into Russian and then go Moscow to teach several hundred pastors. This was just after the curtain had fallen in the communist Eastern Bloc countries. I must admit, I was a tad uneasy about this new opportunity. First, it was Russia. They had been our enemy for most of my life. Secondly, other than a Caribbean cruise, I had never been out of the country. Besides, what could I possibly teach pastors who had been persecuted and thrown in jail for their faith?

But God had once again placed something in my hand and I must use what He had placed in my hand and trust him for the results. On that trip, God took what was in my hand and used it for His glory, far exceeding my expectations.

God used this event to open up a whole new world to me, literally. During the next couple of decades I had the privilege to train thousands of pastors and church planters on five continents, all because I used what was in my hand and trusted God for the rest.

Bottom Line

The Christian life is about surrender. It’s about surrendering all that we are, and all that we hope to be. The Lord wants us to be faithful using what He has already placed in our hand. He wants us be like the woman who washed Jesus’ feet, so it can be said about us “we have done all we could.”

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The Subtlety of a Hardened Heart

“They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed; for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.
”(Mark 6:50-52)

Can you imagine walking with and living with Jesus 24/7 and not fully grasping who He was? After hearing Him teach the masses, seeing thousands converted, and watching many healed from crippling diseases, their maturity level was at best basic. The Scripture says, referring to all the miracles they saw Jesus do, “Their hearts were too hard to take it in.”

From our modern day Christian perspective, it would be easy to criticize the disciples. But a careful observation will reveal that we suffer from a similar hardness of heart.

The hardness of heart that the Scripture is referring to is not a deliberate, stubborn unbelief, like the Pharisees and Sadducees possessed. But it’s a hardness of heart that is a result of spiritual immaturity. It’s an immaturity caused from a self-centered, unbroken life.

Were the disciples zealous? Yes, they were even willing to die with Him? Were they serious and committed? Yes, they left their business and family to follow Jesus. The disciples were all those things and more, but they lacked one key ingredient, a brokenness that is a result of surrender and abandonment of the self-life. They were committed followers but their scattering at the arrest of Jesus was an indication of their lack of abandonment.

In a similar way, we are no different than the disciples. Many of us are committed followers of Jesus. In many ways, we are an example to our community and neighbors, and that’s a good thing. But there is more. The Lord wants to move us to another spiritual plain. This comes to us when we are willing to abandon ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s examination and let Him reveal our self-centeredness. We must give Him permission to reveal our lack of surrender, our selfishness, and our dependence on our own strength.

That’s what suffering, disappointments, and set-backs are about. The Lord uses those things to strip us of operating out of our own strength. He is bringing us to the Cross. The Cross is the death process that must be constantly at work in each of us. (2 Cor. 2:9)

Roy Hession, a gifted writer of the past, says it best regarding our personal death process.
“Every person who crosses us, every person who discourages us is God’s way of breaking us. It creates a deeper channel in us for the life of Christ. The only life that pleases God is His life, never our life. Our self-centered life is the exact opposite of His. We can never be filled with His life unless we are prepared for God to bring our life constantly to death.”(Calvary’s Road)

Bottom Line

The goal of the committed follower of Christ is to desire a “deeper channel in us for the life of Christ”. The more we are willing for our flesh and self-life to be revealed and put to death, the more we will experience the fullness of the life of Christ. What is the end result? The life of Christ will be manifested through our life to others – which is God’s intention. Others will be affected by the quality of your life. You will be free to be the person God created you to be and you will be a sweet aroma to all those around you.

“Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.” (2 Cor. 2:14-16 NLT)

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Seeing Things From God’s Point of View

“Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matthew 16:23)

Jesus had just shared with the Disciples that he was going to be arrested and crucified. Peter immediately rebuked him and said, “This shall never happen to you.” As the above verse indicates, Jesus rebukes Peter and tells him that he is seeing things from a human point of view not from God’s perspective.

Seeing things from God’s point of view is a key component to a successful Christian life. Matter of fact, I think it may be the greatest struggle most believers encounter. If our main purpose for existence is to glorify God, then it stands to reason that one important element of daily living is being able to see life’s circumstances from God’s point of view. In other words, we are to develop a God consciousness.

How do we develop this “God consciousness” toward life? We develop a God consciousness by getting to know God. As you get to know God you begin to know His character. When you know His character you begin to learn His ways, how He thinks and views certain aspects of life.

For example, by learning the many names of God you get a picture of His character and His ability. Here are a few of the names of God found throughout Scripture.

1. Elohim – Indicates His strength, the strongest of strong (Ps 19:1)
2. Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will provide (Gen. 22:13-14)
3. Jehovah Shalom – The Lord of peace (Judges 6:24)
4. Jehovah Rapha – The Lord is my healer (Exodus 15:26)
5. Jehovah Rohi – The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 21)

These are just a few of the names of God that indicate His power, strength and superiority. From these few names we can understand that God will provide, take care and watch over us and He is able to overcome any power in the universe.

That’s the reason it’s important to read, study and memorize the Scriptures. For in the Scriptures we get to know the character and ways of God. It helps us recognize when we may see things from a human perspective rather than from God’s perspective.

It is important to be able to relate to our culture. The Scripture tells us that we are to be salt and light in the world. However, our perspective of life and our worldview is to come from God’s Word, not from our culture.

Bottom Line

God gives us two supernatural elements to guide us through life, the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. The Scripture gives us a Biblical worldview and the Holy Spirit brings illumination and guidance for everyday living. As we look to the Scripture to learn of God’s character, we develop a trust that He will take care of every need and He is watching over us 24/7.

When we depend on the Holy Spirit’s guidance He will help us navigate life’s tough decisions. He is our divine “checker” giving us promptings when something isn’t right. He will always lead us in the right direction, helping us to see every challenge from God’s point of view.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NAS)

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New Years Resolutions

I like New Year’s Day, and it’s not just because of the party food and football games. I like to think of it as “reboot day”. It’s a mental thing. Yes, we can make a decision to reboot on any day of the year, but there’s just something about a new year that makes our resolutions more official and legitimate. It’s a chance for the first day of something new.

Over the years, I have heard comments like, “Making New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time, besides most people never follow through.” That may be true, but they are missing the point. It’s not about how long you will last, but it’s about the fact that you saw a need, constructed a plan and made a decision.

For as many years as I can remember, I have made some sort of New Year’s resolution, and most of the time I fell by the wayside on my commitment. But on a few occasions I followed through and developed life changing habits. I look at it like the game of baseball. The most successful hitters fail 70% of the time. For every 10 times they stand at the plate they only get 3 hits. But it’s the 30% success rate that makes them a champion. It’s not about hitting a home run, but about making enough good swings to get you around the bases to score.

Where would we be if we hadn’t decided to draw a line in the sand and make a decision to do something to improve our life? You can’t improve your life if you don’t take a risk and try.

Why make a New Year’s resolution, knowing that there’s a good chance that we will bail somewhere along the way? Because every plan, however short lived, results in incremental changes.

Bottom Line
Make a bold decision this year. Draw a line in the sand and make one or more life changing resolutions. For some, that may be to read the Bible through in one year, or set a goal to read at least one self-improvement book this year. For some, it would be connecting with a small group at your church. For others it could be a decision to make a really bold step, like getting married, losing weight, starting a new business or changing jobs.

Whatever your resolution, take time to write it down, develop a plan, determine to see it through, and then make yourself accountable.

“Commit your actions to the LORD and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

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A Christmas Poem

Jesus Is The Reason

In Bethlehem, God gave to us
The source of Christmas joy;
A star shown on a miracle:
The virgin birth of a boy.

He was born both God and man,
A Savior for us all,
The way to get to our heavenly home,
If we just heed His call.

So as we shop and spend and wrap
And enjoy the Christmas season,
Let’s keep in mind the sacred truth:
Jesus is the reason.

By Joanna Fuchs

I trust you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New Year.

Blessings,
Larry Bennett

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Adversity

Have you ever heard the saying, “Adversity makes you stronger?” We would all agree that the statement on some level has validity. However, our real-life experience teaches us that adversity often leaves us confused, angry, hurt or depressed. Depending on the level and intensity, adversity often puts us in a weakened and vulnerable position. We are weakened because we don’t know what to do next and vulnerable because we often have a sense of desperation.

I believe the Lord has a purpose for us experiencing adversity. Here are three things to consider.

It’s about perspective
Adversity in and of itself has no value. The value to us lies in our perspective. We basically have two choices when adversity comes. One is a perspective of doom that keeps us in a confused, angry, hurt and depressed stage, or a perspective of hope that will allow the Lord to teach us a life lesson that will indelibly mark our life to the good.

The first step to getting out the “adversity funk” is to decide to change your perspective. Instead of living in an overwhelmed mode, decide to get up, dust yourself off and be intentional about discovering a good side to the situation.

It’s About Being Positive
Immerse yourself in positivity. I don’t mean the touchy-feely kind of emotion. But I am referring to the faith kind of positivity. You can be genuinely positive because you have the promises of God’s word to give you hope. Whatever situation you are facing God promises that He is “able to do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:29) In other words, there is no situation too hard for God.

It’s Time to stop talking and start listening
I had a good friend who had a bad habit of finishing my sentences. When I would engage in a conversation with him he would inevitably finish my sentences for me. He thought he knew where I was going in the conversation, so he would attempt to complete my thoughts. But most of the time he was wrong. He had terrible listening skills. I would often think, if he would just be quiet and listen we could make a decision.

Sometimes we are just like that with God. Because we so strongly believe in consistent prayer, we sometimes don’t take time to be quiet and develop spiritual listen skills. Once we bring our case to God, we are to leave it there, then rest and listen.

Bottom Line
God wants us is to fully trust Him through our adversity. When we worry, that’s a sign of a lack of trust. Taking things into our own hands is an indication that we know better than God.

When we face adversity, our perspective should be to look for God in the midst. He is there, but we must look for Him. Then we are to display a positive attitude based on the promises of God. The promises are for us, and they are based on absolute truth. Then we are to be intentional about listening for His voice. He promises us, “call upon on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not. “

The proper response to adversity is God’s way of deepening our fellowship, teaching us valuable lessons and building our character.