“Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete” James 1:2-4

A friend of mine had been very successful in business, but after he became a Christian everything seemed to go wrong. Problem after problem seemed to plague him. Yet he never seemed to be discouraged or defeated.

As we counseled together, he assured me that there was no unconfessed sin in his life. So I rejoiced with him that God was preparing him for a very important responsibility in His kingdom. That is exactly what happened. He is now the director of a very fruitful ministry for our Lord. The problems and testing served to help equip him to be a better ambassador for Christ.

If you are experiencing difficulties in your life – physical illness, loss of loved ones, financial adversity – remember the above admonition from God’s Word. Be happy, knowing that God will work in your life to accomplish His holy purpose.

You can decide how you will respond to problems and temptations – you can either become critical and cynical, or as an act of the will, by faith, you can choose to believe that our sovereign, loving God is allowing this to happen in your life for your own good and for His glory.

Even the hairs of your head are numbered. “His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9, KJV). He is tender, loving and compassionate, concerned about your every need.

Bible Reading: James 1:5-12

Today’s Action Point: When difficulties and temptations enter into my life I will – as an act of the will, by faith in God’s faithfulness to His promises – rejoice and be glad, knowing that He is always with me and will never forsake me. As I trust Him and obey Him, he will supernaturally turn tragedy to triumph, and He will change heartache and sorrow to joy and rejoicing. I will trust Him in the darkest night of circumstances.

Does your life feel shipwrecked? We have mentors available to talk to you today.

“When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion we were like men who dreamed.” (Psalm 126)

God did the impossible. He returned the captives to Zion. They were so astounded they thought they must be dreaming. Imagine the wrenching parting that they had experienced and then the joy of returning home.

I’ve been considering the story of Ruth and Naomi. A story some of us can clearly relate to; women who suffered gaping losses. The story begins with a famine and goes downhill from there. Wasn’t God supposed to bless his people? Naomi’s kin belonged to Joseph’s line after all, yet Naomi experienced one tragic disappointment after another.

Recently I had the opportunity of being reunited with an old friend who I haven’t seen for many years. She confided that her life had not turned out the way she had dreamed even though she has faithfully served God for many years.

Naomi’s life appeared shipwrecked—washed up on the rocks in tatters. All hope lost. Naomi has no expectations that the tide of life would change now as we see in her own words. “Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons would you wait until they grew up,” Naomi asked her daughters-in-law.

We catch a glimpse of her raw heartache when she returns home. “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them, her grey head bent in sorrow. “Call me Mara because the Lord Almighty has made my life very bitter.”

Do you hear her brokenness? After all, Naomi wasn’t complaining or questioning God about a bump in the road, but a life pattern of disappointments, and sadness. They had woven themselves into the very core of her being. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Are you burdened by so many heartaches that you wonder where God is?

Unknown to Naomi God wasn’t finished with her. I’m sure if Naomi had been given a million years to sit and think of a solution to her life’s troubles she would have never come up with a plan like the one God had in mind. God still had an astounding seal of confirmation of His eternal love and mercy to place upon her life.

Naomi’s own grandson would become the grandfather of King David and his royal line would usher in the saviour of the world.

Ruth 4:16 “Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her lap and cared for him. The women living there said Naomi has a son.”

I can see Naomi holding that small babe on her frail lap, as all the heartache drains from her old bones and is replaced with inexpressible joy. Nothing is too difficult for God to mend, to heal or restore.

God is still writing your story today and even if it hasn’t turned out the way you’d hoped thus far, he isn’t finished yet.

“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Thank you God for the plans that you have for me, thank you that they far exceed anything that I could imagine for my life. When I feel discouraged and my heart if heavy with circumstances that I cannot endure, remind me that you are working all things together for good. Amen.

Question – How can Naomi’s story and the story of the returned captives to Zion relate to your own disappointments that you’ve faced in the past?

How can we pray for you today?

“For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:3)

That’s not fair, it really isn’t.  With wrinkled tissue in hand, we stomp our feet in frustration. We had asked, prayed and pleaded. But, to our utter disappointment, God still said “no.”

Have you been there? God didn’t smile at us with the answer we wanted. But that’s not the worst. We look around and what do we see? We see those who don’t follow God’s instructions. Don’t know God’s Word…not even attend church. But, they seemingly live happy, trouble-free lives.

“What’s with that, God?” we want to ask.

Confusion adds to the sense of injustice. But not to worry. We don’t have to know how to express that bewilderment. David did that for us:

I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else. They wear pride like a jeweled necklace and clothe themselves with cruelty. These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!” (Psalm 73:2-7 The Message).

Like David, I don’t let up my rant. This is not the way it should be. Why do they have it so good? Lord, after all, I’m not a bad chica. I really deserve better. But “[t]hen I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant—I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever” (Psalm 73:21-26).

Father, thank you, in your loving way, you set me straight. I will trust in your ways, look to your justice, count on your healing and expect your glorious solutions. You are fair with your love that extends to those who call upon you. In Jesus name. Amen

Questions: Whom do you desire more than God? When looking at your difficult situation, is He enough? What brings you out of despair?

Do you struggle to be honest with God about how you feel? Can we pray for you today?

“Let us draw near to God, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (Hebrews 10:22)

One of my favorite authors, Madeleine L’Engle wrote a telling poem,

Dear God,

I hate you.

Love, Madeleine

To some Christians this poem would seem blasphemous. I encounter something different. In the midst of immense disappointment, anger, frustration, and disinterest I find love. Underlying Madeleine’s relationship with God is love. Love moves her towards God, not away. Human nature tells us to run away from the reality of feelings, but Christ encourages us to embrace them allowing their grip to move us towards Him.

The Bible tells the story of two sisters.  Swiftly one moves towards the kitchen with another batch of hospitality as she over hears her sister just sitting with their guest. Dare to peek inside her head and you’ll find…anger, resentment, and disgust at her own sister and this man in her house. Tensions flare. And then she opens her mouth,

“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40)

Anger arose and opened its mouth. Now what? Will He rebuke and leave her? He draws her near with His response.

 “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” (Luke 10:41)

This passage often used to highlight Mary’s nobleness, overlooks the powerful interface between an honest, angry woman with the definition of love, Jesus. Just like Madeleine, Martha, discovered that emotions can’t overtake the foundation of love. Rather, they’re often used to reel us into a deeper, abiding relationship with Him.

It’s not often preached from the pulpit, but God desires honesty that builds intimacy.  Madeleine and Martha challenged God and proved Him right. Moving towards Him is never wrong.  Unpackaged feelings can be handled and trusted  in His care. Dare to share and discover He is still there beckoning an abundant relationship based on His unconditional love. And with that, I’m off to write my own “Dear God” note as I desire to experience oneness with Him.

“Let us draw near to God, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (Hebrews 10:22)

Questions: Do you have unresolved anger and resentment towards someone? Ask the Lord if there is any unresolved anger you hold towards Him.

Please open your Bible and read Matthew 20:1-16.

There’s a line in a song by Relient K that goes “the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” I thought of this line as I read this passage, the “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-16). I also thought back to when I read it for the first time.

I was not a Christian then, and when I read this passage, I thought, “How ridiculous! How unfair! The workers who did more work should be paid more!” I didn’t understand the meaning behind the parable. I didn’t understand God’s grace. And I didn’t recognize myself, the one who had grown up apart from God, as the one in the parable coming late!

If each one of us received what’s “fair”, we would not like the result very much. In truth, when we ask for fairness, often we’re really asking for special treatment. The sins others commit that cause us to turn up our noses are often the very same ones that we’re hoping God will overlook.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8, TNIV)

Whether you have been a Christian all your life or only came to know the Lord very recently, God has graciously offered you so much more than you deserve: Eternal life spent in glorious relationship with Him. We are all equally undeserving, and we are all equally given this gift. Praise God that grace is “not fair”!

Praise the Lord!
For he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart. (Psalm 28:6-7a, NLT)

Question: How has God blessed you lately that is far beyond what would be “fair”?

It was sixth hour. The dreaded hour. Eighth grade gym class was upon me, and it was dodge ball day. The teacher picked the captains and off they went. “Jimmy.” “Tracy.” “I’ll take Josh.” And on it went until there were two kids left. “Ok, I guess I’ll take Will.” The teacher motioned me to step over to other team as their last resort.

Being picked last didn’t come as a surprise. After all, I had been the “fat girl” in my class of twenty-eight since the age of five. I was used to being last. Still, every gym class, I held on to a silent hope that a classmate might see the real “me” and not judge me according to my appearance or lack of athletic capabilities.

These moments of embarrassment do not define us as individuals, unless we allow them to. Sadly, I did. I allowed other people’s perceptions of my outside ugliness to seep and fester inside of me to the point that I believed if I weren’t outwardly pretty like the rest of them, my inner self was full of ugliness, too. This ugliness reared a fifteen year struggle with bulimia, along with a whole host of other emotional and physical sufferings.

You may not be able to directly relate to the suffering of an eating disorder, but you don’t have to. You have your own “fill in the blank” life experience that has bred similar emotions. So, what does our Lord, the one who created us in His image, have to say about our human sufferings?

Surely, his intention was for us to be perfect, yet He knew the temptations would be too great for his first creations to resist. His word, in Romans 5 reads, “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.”

He uses our human sufferings for His greater good. Without experiencing pain, heartache, failure, how would we learn to lean on him in faith, to press on, to develop the character of a Godly woman or man that He so desires us to be? Through my years of dealing with an eating disorder, depression and anxiety, I held fast to these verses in Romans, but with a deluded focus. “Recovery is my hope. Only then will I be happy. Only then will others see the real me,” I foolishly told myself. While recovery has brought relief and restored health in a most amazing way, true lasting happiness can only be rooted in the hope of the Lord. He sees the real you, and he unconditionally loves you.

What kind of suffering is in your life today? Are you persevering or faltering? No matter your struggle, you can be certain the Lord will sustain you and build your character in His sure and unchanging hope. Ask the Lord to reveal his hope to you in the face of your suffering today.

Lord, in the face of suffering, we thank you. We thank you because we know that the trials you have placed in our lives are for your purpose. Continue to strengthen our perseverance, build our character, and hold fast in the hope of the glory of God.
In your name, Amen. 

Question: What kind of suffering is in your life today?

Are you facing a tough road today? Our mentors are available. Can we help?

We have many hopes here on earth, don’t we? Before my nephew, Conner, was born, we all had many hopes for his birth. Our biggest hope was that he would make it through okay and that my sister-in-law would also be ok. Well, Conner has surpassed our hopes and has progressed even beyond the doctors hopes at this point. That was a pretty big hope that God answered as part of His plans.

Something small that I hope for every year during winter time is Spring! Now, I know that many of you love your seasons, but I do not. I don’t like to be cold and that’s all there is to it. I like the weather to be warm, all the time. So, I am hoping for Spring to come again. That’s a pretty small hope, because it happens every year, right?

What about the hopes that don’t get answered? I don’t even have room to list all of those because we each have them, don’t we? But, we do have something that we can ALWAYS count on, something that is beyond this earth…..

So, here it is: “These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, where Jesus has gone ahead of us and for us. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:18-20.

No matter what we hope for, or what we are facing today God is with us, our strong hope.

Question: What are you hoping for?

“Above all else guard your heart for it is the well spring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

We have a small garden in our yard. In the busyness of life, our garden is often neglected. When it really starts to look bad, I am motivated to do some weeding. Some weeds are easy to pull, but others resist because their roots are strong and deep into the soil. The longer the time between weeding the more difficult the task will be.

My heart is like our garden, sometimes neglected for long periods of time. Weeds of anger, disappointment, fear, frustration, critical attitudes, worry and guilt are allowed to grow to the point that the garden of my heart is in bad shape! The solution? God’s Spirit, as the Divine Gardener of my heart has to deal with my neglect.

Today, allow God to do the needed weeding in your heart.  Ask Him to reveal the weeds that are growing by confessing sin and being honest with Him about the state of your heart.  Thank Him for his forgiveness through Christ’s death on the cross. He already knows how rooted some sin has become. Ask God to direct and empower you for a fruitful life through His Spirit. Some weeds will be uprooted easily; others will require daily attention in order to make the deep roots are removed and ensure they don’t grow back.

Solomon in all his wisdom said, “Above all else guard your heart for it is the well spring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Question: How does a person “guard [his] heart”?

Something is awry—we feel disconnected. We connect with a career, find meaning in family, yet long for something more.

We feel the frustration I felt on Christmas morning, 1964. I assembled a nine-year-old’s dream gift: a genuine Santa Fe Railroad miniature train set, complete with battery-powered engine and flashing crossing lights. I placed the locomotive on the tracks and watched in sheer glee as three pounds of pure steel wound its way across my bedroom floor. Around and around and around and . . . around . . . and around . . . After some time I picked it up and turned it the other direction. It went around and around and around . . .

“Mom, what else did you get me for Christmas?”

Similarly, our lives chug in long ovals, one lap after another.

First job. Promotion. Wedding day. Nursery beds. Kids. Grandkids. Around and around . . . Is there anything else? Our dissatisfaction mates with disappointment and gives birth to some unruly children: drunkenness, power plays, eighty-hour workweeks, nosedives into sexual perversions—all nothing more than poorly disguised longings for Eden. We long to restore what Adam lost. As someone once said, “The man who knocks on the door of a brothel is seeking God.”

Where and when the brothel fails, Jesus steps forth with a reconnection invitation. Though we be “dead in [our] transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18), whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1). Reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.” (John 1:13)

Don’t miss the invisible, inward miracle triggered by belief. God reinstates us to Garden-of-Eden status. What Adam and Eve did, we now do! The flagship family walked with God; we can too. They heard his voice; so can we. They were naked and unashamed; we can be transparent and unafraid. No more running or hiding.

“Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!” (1 Peter 1:3–4 MSG).

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: What do you look most forward to in your life?

After watching this short film, consider: What happened between Sara & James, Gerald & Mind, Sara & Gerald? Why? The film ends with: “The thing you love in life most might be the thing that ends up killing you.” Have you ever loved anything so much, but it turned out in the end to be harmful? If you’d like someone to talk with about a relationship or a broken heart, privately & confidentially, contact an online mentor today.

Related reading:
Has Love Ever Left You Gutted?
A Conversation About Love & God