Most of us increase our pain by dwelling on it or by analyzing it. We throw a pity party and expect others to join us. We spiral downward into depression, withdrawing into self-preoccupation. But the way to overcome is not to focus on ourselves or on the pain, but to focus on the needs of others.
Would you get your eyes off yourself and your problems and your pressures and your pain and look around? Who do you know who is suffering or struggling in some way? What can you do for them? Ask God to bring to your attention those you can care for. Because as you do, you will find joy in easing their burden, and in the process, you will ease your own.
One day God will call us forth from the dead, and we will rise again! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! All of our suffering will be over, and God Himself “‘will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said . . . , ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true'” (Rev. 21:4-5, NIV).
When you don’t understand why, just trust Him!
Trust His heart! Trust His purpose!
Trust His goodness!
Trust His plan to be bigger than yours!
Trust Him because . . . God is enough.
When God had told Noah He was “going to bring the floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens,” He had also said He would establish a covenant with Noah and his family to keep them alive along with all the animals who would come to him (Gen. 6:17-18, 20). Noah had God’s promise that God would bring him through the Flood to new life on the other side.
Have you been in a situation that has proven to be extremely stressful? It may not have been as stressful as a nuclear holocaust or a devastating flood, but has the pressure been great enough so that consuming fear and worry have been your constant companions?
When you find yourself drowning in overwhelming circumstances, ask God to give you a promise to which you can cling – a promise on which you can base your hope. Hope that is based simply on what you want or what you feel is not a genuine expression of faith. Our hope must be based on God’s word.
