Tag: difficult days

No More…

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When brokenness is healed, the recovery of wholeness is known.

When wrongs are made right, sorrow and tears are no more.

How often do we look for days like that during our living?  Alas, we are not promised the absence of these worldly foes.  The promise we do have and hold so dear is that one day their grip on us will be no more.

The thought of “no more” is a beautiful thought.  It’s not the joys of life we want to erase.  Nor the happy moments we seek an exit from.  Rather, it’s the things that squeeze our hearts with pain and despair.  The things that press upon us like a heavy weight that we can’t seem to get relief from, searing us with sadness and dread, and so we seek to get away from it as fast as we can. 

But despite it all, we have an assurance that we won’t face these days forever.  There will come a time when their mark will be but a distant memory. 

With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and His shed blood giving us access to heaven, those within the walls of that beautifully eternal city will no longer be associated with the disturbances of living that being in this flesh brings. 

There, there will be peace unimaginable and joy inexpressible.  Because there, the things we warred against and worried over in this flesh will be no more.  Instead, there the hand of our loving heavenly Father reaches out and gently and tenderly wipes the tears of what we experienced fighting through this life on earth, away. 

I try to imagine the absolute freedom that will bring.  I try to think of the final release of letting everything go from here that we dealt with, what will it be like?

It may be hard to imagine what that time of no more will look like while we are still in this flesh. So, we hold on to His promises for dear life that strengthen our daily hope for that day.  Because we know when the Bible says, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17), that promise is our very real reality when all this will pass away.

No more.  What could you do if you didn’t have to deal with _______________ no more? 

Although we are not there yet, we can foster an environment that will shore up our faith for the wonderful future that awaits us.

Some principles we can incorporate are:

  • Watch and pray.  “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  Remain vigilant and be on guard against any detractors in contradiction of your holy destiny.
  • Feed your faith.  “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,” (Jude 1:20).  The authority of what you have coming as a holy inheritance is based on what Christ has already done, and what the Word promises is yours.  Continue to feed on that Word like a starved man seeking to be truly filled. 
  • Live honorably for that day.  “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).  Continue to live what you believe to be true and right.  Your daily steps will speak more about who you really are than a million well-to-do messages ever will.
  • And produce the Fruit of the Spirit.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).  Your living is not just for your own inheritance, but to help others see the light (Matthew 5:16) so they will be drawn to experience Him who can give them the gift of “no more,” too. 

These principles will help to keep your heart, mind, and faith concentrated on the reward ahead and not the messes of today. 

The idea of no more may seem hard to comprehend, but the realness of it is as sure as God Himself wiping every tear from your eyes.  It will come to pass.

In the Good and the Bad

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“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” Ecclesiastes 7:14

Let’s talk about bad days because we all have them.  Bad days are like clouds that block out the sun.  When they move in, they overshadow the beauty around them.  If they hang around long enough, the dreariness accompanying them can settle in your surroundings, obscuring your view, and warping your perspective.

People tend to shift their perspectives based on experience.  Experience can be subjective due to knowledge and/or feelings.  In all, it is easy for one to think or feel a certain way regardless of what the actual fact says.

Here’s what is true for the Christian, if the Bible says something, then that’s a fact.  With that as our springboard, let’s unpack Ecclesiastes 7:14 to gain a better understanding of whatever kind of day, the season of life, or challenges you may be facing.

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.”  Know this, we will have both good days and bad days.  Yet, we are always surprised when our good days are interrupted by the bad.  Part of that comes with the shock and awe of the adverse moment.  And it’s not as if we are totally divorcing ourselves from all the feelings we feel when facing difficulties, but we are also to realize that this is a part of life.  Peter writes, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12).  Some days, hard stuff will happen, if for no other reason than we are living.  We are alive.  In that, our experiences in the ups and downs of life may vary from day to day.

Ecclesiastes tells how to handle those variances: in the good days, when everything is fine and prosperous, going your way – rejoice.  Be “joyful!”  Be thankful for those moments.  Live with an appreciative heart in gratitude for them.

And in the bad, when things don’t look so rosy – those days you want to hide from the world, he says to “consider.”  There are fewer things in life that will slow you down and give you a long pause to reflect, like adversity.  It provides a place to mull over some things and to deeply think about this life and the many facets it brings.

The word consider is used in a specific way in this verse that I will deal with in more depth when we get to the next section.  But to know for a fact that both experiences of good days and bad days are just a part of our human living, can be almost liberating.  In that, it allows us to prepare our hearts and our responses in how we want to act for either/or during those times, even if we sometimes do it imperfectly. 

“God also hath set the one over against the other.”  God is sovereign over any and all days.  One of the things we like to say is that a situation may have taken us by surprise, but it sure didn’t take God by surprise.  And that’s so true!  I can write a book on the verses of Him ordering the days, and times, and seasons – oh wait, they already did that.  It’s called the Bible, and in it, we see from the first page to the last, God’s sovereign hand moving.  In the middle, there are a lot of lives, with a lot of stories – some good, and some not so good.  But our God, who Ecclesiastes 7:14 assures us regarding these differences of days, “hath set the one over against the other.”

Our God, who is the Creator of the world, is the Creator of our days.  And even when the days don’t look right or feel right to us, we have this promise: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Did you see what I saw in that verse?  Even if it doesn’t appear good to us, God is able to make something good out of that experience.  It doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good, but whatever happens, God can use it for good.

“To the end that man should find nothing after him.”  You never know what’s ahead, so strive to thrive in all seasons and days you experience.  Life is a gift, and while we may not like some of the things and days we face, and we may wish they were all full of joy and celebrating, we can remain in hope in our God who has never failed.

The children of Israel experienced many days of a time of prolonged captivity under the rule of their enemy when they thought it would never get better.  Because of what they were experiencing, some struggled with the picture of their future God provided through the prophet Jeremiah when he said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). 

My friends, when the days are good, we claim to see the hand of the Lord moving in all kinds of ways in our lives.  But when approached by the bad, we fail to realize He’s still there, and no matter what we are facing, good or bad, our reliance, dependence, and hope are securely anchored in God alone and in what He can do and has done for us – not in ourselves, our present circumstances, or experiences. 

And while we may struggle to see the end, our trust is to always be in the God who knows the end.

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We Will Get There!

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“But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.  And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.” Acts 27:14-15, Read Acts 27

Tempest-tossed and storm-worn.  The waves of this world crash about us, around us, and sometimes within us.  What do we do?

When we did not heed proper directions, but sailed the course that we thought was right.  What do we do?

When considerable time has passed and many days have been spent in the dark, and the helps that we use is no help at all, what do we do?

Our Euroclydon may not be wind-driven, but it is just as opposing and just as fierce as if we were upon that boat drifting at the mercy of the raging waters.  We try to redirect.  We try to fight our way through, but we can’t seem to catch the way on our own. 

In our own power, we run, strike the sail, and even try to lighten the ship.  Everything we try is to no avail but then God steps in to send a word.

For Paul, it was through an angel.  For us, it can come through a preacher, a friend, a song, or from the authority of His Holy Word itself. 

Belief sets in and courage is awakened in the storm. 

Soundings are then made – let’s see how deep this goes.  Anchors are dropped to hold her steady from the motion of the raging seas.  The day comes, and while we may not recognize the place where we are, the morning light shows us the safety of the land ahead. 

Raise the anchors and commit to moving ahead! The shoreline is coming close and if we persevere, we will get there. 

Don’t give up, dear one.  And stop trying to do it on your own or figure it out on your own.  We will never see our whole life from the perspective that God sees it, so we must let it drive forward in faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Friends, we have all had storms to ride out or weather through, but our God is faithful to His promises.  If He declared we will get there, we will get there.  Even if tempests, storms, disruptions, and brokenness is the route, we will get there. 

Text Free pic by Pixabay

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com articles/lessons/worksheets may not be copied or redistributed without the express written permission of WordforLifeSays.com.  Please see the COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.  Blessings to you.

Please Note: Ads below or referenced on this site are prefabricated and mass-produced (of which I currently have no control over) and DO NOT necessarily represent the views and/or beliefs of this site and its admin.