Finding Strength in Life's Challenges

We are living in a unique time in history. While access to information is universal, wisdom seems increasingly rare. As society becomes more confused about the basics, catastrophic thinking is becoming common, and fewer people feel safe.

But there is authentic good news: Don't give up. Don't give in.

God Fights Your Battles

Psalm 121 reminds us to lift our eyes to where our help comes from - our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. That's expert help right on time.

Are you concerned about enemies like sickness, disease, poverty, or lack? God is an enemy to your enemies. Psalm 35:1 says that God fights against those who fight against you.

You are in this exciting time in history by design and for a purpose. God wants to show off His glory in your life. Even your problems can be opportunities for God to demonstrate His wonderful goodness.

What About My Past Mistakes?

Perhaps your heart has been beating you up lately. Maybe you feel you've made so many mistakes that you're disqualified from hope or a future.

We've all fallen short. Romans 3:23 confirms that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But thankfully, it doesn't end there. Romans 3:24 continues, "but by the free gift of God's grace, all are put right through Him, through Jesus Christ who sets us free."

God says in Hebrews 8:12 that He will "forgive our iniquities and remember our sins no more." God doesn't forget - forgetting is a failure to remember. Instead, He makes a conscious choice of kindness and mercy to remember our sins no more.

Finding Strength When You're Weary

Isaiah 40:28-31 offers powerful encouragement: "Have you not known, have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary... He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might, He increases their strength."

Those who wait for the Lord "shall change and renew their strength and power. They shall lift their wings and mount up close to God as eagles... They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."

Why Jesus Wants Us to Be Persistent

Jesus told a specific parable to encourage His followers never to give up. In Luke 18:1-8, He shares the story of a persistent widow who kept coming to an unjust judge seeking justice. Though the judge neither feared God nor respected people, he eventually granted her request simply because of her persistence.

Jesus concluded: "Will not our just God defend, protect and avenge His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He defer to them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily."

Your attitude determines your response in trials. A faith attitude keeps believing in God, relying on and trusting Him, no matter how difficult your circumstances. Be persistent - keep asking, seeking, knocking, and believing.

How Do You Respond to Adversity?

Consider this parable: A father placed potatoes, eggs, and coffee beans in three separate pots of boiling water. After twenty minutes, he showed his discouraged daughter how each item responded differently to the same adversity:

• The potato went in strong but became soft and weak
• The egg was fragile but became hard
• The coffee beans changed the water and created something new

Which are you when adversity knocks? Things happen to all of us, but we must decide how to respond and whom to trust for guidance, help, and rest.

Finding Rest in Jesus

In the midnight hour, when the world seems to be on fire, you need to know where to find your hiding place. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls."

If you're hearing demands, religious finger-wagging, and condemnation, you're listening to the wrong voice. Jesus doesn't push you under the boiling water - He refreshes, revives, and encourages you.

How God Transforms Us Through Challenges

2 Corinthians tells us that as we behold the Word of God, we "are constantly being transfigured to His very own image in ever-increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another."

When you truly see yourself reflected in God's Word, you become what you gaze at with the Lord's help. Remember Isaiah 40:29: "He gives power to the faint and the weary, and to him who has no might, He increases strength."

Your weakness and emptiness actually qualify you for God's infilling of power and strength. When you reach the end of yourself, you qualify for all of God.

Why Do We Face Difficulties?

Romans 5 explains: "Let us exalt and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patience and endurance. Endurance develops maturity of character, and character produces the habit of joyful and confident hope."

Character is not just good - it's priceless. It's the mark of God's original image within humanity. You can pray for hours, but like going to the gym without working out, it won't produce spiritual muscles or endurance.

The challenges you face aren't meant to destroy you but to activate the character within your design. When Christ is in you, the trying of your faith activates destiny in your life. Be cautious that the fire you're praying away isn't the energy that will light up your dreams.

Life Application

God is invested in Christ's character being shaped within you so the reborn you can shine. You were made for this moment. The character of God inside you says, "Don't give up."

Even if you feel you're totally out of hope, God has an unlimited supply of unfailing hope just for you. It only takes putting your last grain of faith into action.

This week, challenge yourself to:

• Speak words of faith daily, even when circumstances seem dire. Try reciting Psalm 23 in your own words as a daily practice.

• Look for opportunities to be "the smile" that someone else needs - you never know whose life you might save with a simple act of kindness.

• When facing adversity, ask yourself: "Am I responding like a potato, an egg, or coffee beans?" Choose to be the one that transforms the environment around you. 

• Identify one area where you've been tempted to give up. Write down three reasons why God might be developing character in you through this challenge.

• Practice praising God even in your difficulties, knowing that He is working to help you and that your testimony will encourage others. 

Remember, life is more than this mortality. In this small window of time, we are training to reign with Christ for eternity. Don't be so focused on the horizontal that you miss the character of your true heavenly design.