Tag: Trials

Our Declaration

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

In the LORD I take refuge.
– Psalm 11:1a

David knows where to turn in his trial.  He turns to the LORD. 

This isn’t a prayer; it is a declaration. 

David declares what we should declare: 
In the LORD I take refuge.

What about us? 

When faced with trials, suffering, struggles, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When you have struggles with your health, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When there are struggles in your family, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When there are problems at work, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When you read or watch the news and see mess our world is in, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When you are afraid, anxious, or worried about something, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

When you are weary, exhausted, feeling overwhelmed, do you declare?
In the LORD I take refuge.

Whatever the trial, whatever the trouble that springs up in our lives, let us boldly declare with David:
In the LORD I take refuge.

His Grace Is Enough

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

My Dad made all kinds of wood art with a scroll saw. One of the first shelf sitters I remember is shown here:

He made a lot of these. The truth is found in II Cor 12 as Paul struggles with some thorn in flesh, some trial in his life. Paul begged God to take it away, but Jesus responded:

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

My Dad faced some thorns, some trials in his last years, as I suppose most people do in their final years. And yet my Dad’s testimony through this simple shelf sitter is that the grace of Jesus was sufficient. His grace was enough.

A pretty big thorn pierced our hearts with the passing of my Dad. But as we cry out to God – looking to Him, trusting in Him – we too can find that His grace will be sufficient for us, that His grace is enough.

And what thorns are you facing in your life today? Jesus bids you to look to Him, to rest in His sufficient grace, to find that His grace is enough for you.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Can I Sing ‘Amazing Grace’ If I Was Saved at Six? – John Piper (DG)
There are six reasons that Christians like me can feel the greatness of our sinfulness, and the wonder of grace, even if we have no recollection of ever being an unbeliever….

Envision the End of Your Sin – Garrett Kell (TGC)
Gracious Lord, we need help. Make us sober-minded. Keep us vigilant. Help us see the end of our sin.

Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of My Diving Accident – Joni Eareckson Tada (TGC)
Grace softens the edges of past pains, helping to highlight the eternal. What you are left with is peace that’s profound, joy that’s unshakable, faith that’s ironclad.

7 Reasons God Commands Us To Sing To Him – Mark Altrogge (TBC)
Our God is so great, and so good and so glorious, he’s worthy of all of our praise. And one of the easiest ways to praise him is by singing. Let’s “sing the glory of his name!”

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church singing praises to our gracious and glorious God!

We Can Have Great Peace in a Life Filled with Trials

On By BrianIn Books of the Bible, Virtue Miscellaneous

A lot of circumstances can lead to anxiety – that unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach, that fear in your heart and your mind. But God calls us to peace (Philippians 4:6-7). Indeed he calls us to a peace that surpasses all understanding. He calls us to a peace that guards our hearts and minds, our feelings and thoughts. Through Christ we can have great peace in a life filled with trials. But how can we know this peace? How can we apply this peace he offers to our lives? Our passage gives us three important answers:

First, we must remember the presence of the Lord. Right before we are instructed to be anxious for nothing, we read that the Lord is at hand. We need not be anxious because the Lord is with us. We need not fear even in the valley of the shadow of death because God is with us (Psalm 23:4). We can be strong and courageous because the Lord is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9). God Almighty is by your side. Remember his presence.

Second, we must bring our cares to the Lord. We are to bring our requests to God (v6). We cast our cares on Him, knowing that he cares for us (I Peter 5:7). The Psalms are filled with prayers to God in the midst of trials. A regular pattern is that as the psalmists cry out to God, they come to a place of trust, of rest, of peace. Psalm 55 is a good example. The first five verses are a cry to God for help. But as the Psalmist looks to God, he finds a God who hears him (v17), sustains him (v22), and answers him (v16). And so he closes the psalm with a declaration of trust (v23). As we pray to the one who is greater than our problems, one who hears us, sustains us, and answers us, we can trust him and find peace.

Third, we must give thanks to God. In the middle of Paul’s instructions to pray, he drops the phrase “with thanksgiving.” In your trials and struggles that tempt you to worry, count your blessings. Remember the countless ways God has been and continues to be good to you. And give thanks. Our minds can get so stuck on a trial that we forget our blessings. We replay the trial over and over again in our minds like a broken record player. We dig a rut of woe and anxiety. But step out of the rut and get some perspective. The trial is real, and you bring it to the Lord. But the blessings are also real. Remember to give thanks.

We can have great peace in a life filled with trials as we remember his presence, bring our cares to him, and give thanks to him for his continuous blessings.

The Greatest Good

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

It is difficult for us to see God’s hand of love in the adversities and heartaches of life because we persist in thinking, as the world does, that happiness is the greatest good.  Thus we tend to evalute all our circumstances in terms of whether or not they produce happiness.  Holiness, however, is a greater good than happiness, so God arranges and orchestrates circumstances to produce holiness before happiness.  He is more concerned about our eternal than or our temporal welfare and more concerned about our spiritual than our material welfare.  So all the trials and difficulties, all the heartaches, disappointments, and humiliations come from his loving hand to make us partakers of his holiness.

– Jerry Bridges in Transforming Grace