10. How Do I Deal with Difficulty?
We live in a world that has been damaged by sin. We encounter all sorts of problems such as broken promises, failed relationships, sickness, natural disasters, and our own struggle with sin. The salvation provided through Jesus removes the penalty of our sin. We have the promise that one day we will be in heaven removed from the presence of sin. Now, we follow God as he delivers us from the power of sin in our lives as he guides us to be like Christ. But still we encounter difficulty on earth. The good news is that God can use whatever trial we are facing to grow us in our faith and also impact others for his glory.
As we encounter the storms of life, we can know that God is in the details. He will never leave us or forsake us. People in the Bible who were very close to God often encountered difficulty and we can learn from their encounters. David, who wrote many of Psalms, shares in Psalm 55 how he dealt with his difficulty. Take time to read this Psalm and then consider the pattern below for dealing with difficulty:
As we encounter the storms of life, we can know that God is in the details. He will never leave us or forsake us. People in the Bible who were very close to God often encountered difficulty and we can learn from their encounters. David, who wrote many of Psalms, shares in Psalm 55 how he dealt with his difficulty. Take time to read this Psalm and then consider the pattern below for dealing with difficulty:
- Pour out your heart completely to the Lord (v1-8). We should avoid bottling up our emotions. We should also avoid the misuse of things such as social media to bring ultimate comfort to us. As we pour out all our fears, frustrations, and anger to the Lord, we are able to unload the grief we are carrying. We don’t have to hide anything from the Lord, as he already knows our heart. As we share our grief fully with him in prayer, he can replace our anxiety with peace.
- Ask the Lord for help (v9-15). Only the Lord can provide true solutions to our difficulty. As we pray, we can ask the Lord to change our situation, or to change us to handle our situation. Sometimes the Lord removes us from our challenge, and sometimes he walks us through our difficulty to teach us to depend on him in a greater way.
- Respond in trust and praise to the Lord (v16-23). Affirming our trust in the Lord who has been faithful to us the past will help us remember that he will be faithful to us in our present dilemma and any future obstacle we encounter. As we praise the Lord in our difficulty, our faith is increased and we are better suited to see our difficulty in a new perspective.
Remember that the Lord is with you even in your darkest hour. 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.†Trust the Lord for whatever season you are in to bring you through and make you more like Christ