Spiritual Goggles
It’s easy to get frustrated and discouraged during hard times, no doubt about it. Walls close in, lights go dim and we dig deeper. And don’t you love it when somebody that has got it all together tries to encourage you by saying; “There’s joy in this situation.” “Good things will come from this!” As big of a pill as that is to swallow, there’s God’s truth in that. You can find joy in all situations, and I’ll tell you how.
First thing’s first; you won’t hear from God if you refuse to listen. Chances are he’s not going to send you personal text and comment on your Facebook Status. He invites us to talk with him in prayer and answers all of life’s important questions through his Holy Word, The Bible. When you talk to God and hear from God, you begin to understand Him and His ways. His ways are not our ways and we won’t fully appreciate that until we meet Him face to face. Though in this short time we have on Earth, we can go through the tough times and find joy when we look through our Spiritual Goggles. That is looking to the world and our situations through God’s Word, giving us God’s perspective.
When we see His truths even in the hard times, and trust that He is who he says He is and He does what He says He’ll do, then we know that He works all things to the good of those who love Him. We begin to understand that He is our Father, and He allows us to go through trials in order to build our caricatures, strengthen our faith, grow our trust, draw nearer to Him, submit and rely on His Truths and mold us into servants for His Kingdom. A butterfly would die if you cut it out of its cocoon to ‘save’ it from the struggle. Gold is refined by fire and athletes are great because of the fight it took them to get there.
If life is just honky dory for you all of the time, then that might be an indicator that you need to check yourself. The devil will do everything in his power to keep life happy and fun for people because he knows it’s the tough times that put people to their knees and turn to God. I’ll tell you first hand that my life was just one big fun party for 22 years. During that time God was trying to get my attention time and time again but I refused to listen. It took an enormous wake-up call to get me to realize where my life was heading and quite honestly it’s been a struggle ever since. However, even in the struggles, I find my joy in Jesus. I look through the dirt and see God’s hand even when I can’t hear Him. He’s still there, molding me, guiding me and preparing me. When I can’t take any more pain, He shows me all the things I should be thanking Him for instead of complaining about. I don’t know what’s in store for the future, but I rest easy and confidently knowing that it is in the hands of the One who saved me from the pit of Hell. God is good all the time
Ref. II Corinthians 4:17-18 “For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”
James 1:2-4 “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,”
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”