If you’d like to hear me to share this story, I tell it in this podcast episode. He didn’t. Miss part of the sermon or want to share it with others? Joy in Hard Times. How would we pay our bills? You didn’t just come here to read some nice feel-good stories, right? When people say God is a God of love and wouldn’t let anyone go to hell, sure God is love, but it only applies to people who have asked for it. Home. So that man will not discover anything that will be after him. It was a prayer! “He delivers the afflicted in their affliction,And opens their ear in time of oppression. And He will be the stability of your times,A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;The fear of the Lord is his treasure. Then he must pray. What is mercy? We clung to Bible verses about trials and hard times in order to survive those first few months of Diabetes. I was immediately taken by ambulance to a speciality intensive care unit and spent the next few days hearing scary words like “stroke” and “you are lucky to be alive.”. Don’t miss this chance to discover–for yourself–how to keep the faith through trials! Plans. Copyright 2013-2020 Vibrant Christian Living. If something is not spelled out, it can be applied in a general manner. Sign In to Save Event. We’ll see what I mean as we go through it. We’re going to look at Psalm 86 today. Like a bad tooth and an unsteady footIs confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. There are times when the headaches (a result of the dissections) come back and I’m forced to clear my schedule and rest for a few days. Our family’s world stopped. Dover Assembly of God . Michelle & Noah Landis for setting up, making the hotdogs and cleaning up after it was over! Drop them a card or call to set up a time to visit. Your joy doesn’t have to depend on your circumstances. To top it off, my hard-working husband traveled nearly 50 percent of the time. Catch the replay on Vimeo! When I first became a Christian, I went through years of pain and loneliness. Or your life will be over and you will have missed the good things God HAS given you. You are so despondent or so weak or feeble, that you can’t muster the strength or desire to stand. Our most recent trial ended less than a month ago when my husband lost his job and we were unemployed for over 18 months. We’ve encountered everything from job loss and unemployment to parenting issues and life-threatening illnesses. You must lean on Him and trust Him to get you through. You’ve got to share those questions honestly before God, and then seek HIS WISDOM as found in the Bible for answers. Here are four inspiring stories about finding faith and joy during trials—everything from job loss and unemployment to parenting issues and life-threatening illnesses. NEXT Sun. 2 Timothy 3:1. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to Alamoth. When we can process godly truth–meditating on it and applying that truth to our lives in practical ways. It is the most holy of the names God gives himself. I truly didn’t know if I was going to make it. New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. Don’t wait for the answer to ask or have joy. I have a list here of 19 joy in trials Bible verses especially for those with chronic illness if you or a loved one also struggle with a chronic illness. Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them. Not just “I-don’t-want-to-do-this” defiant, but yelling at me, throwing things, and constantly causing a scene in our home. Questions like these during a trial could rule my heart and wreak havoc on my emotions if I let them. the loss of my grandpa and the untimely death of a good friend; when I dealt with depression and suicide. We know that David wrote it and we know it was written as a prayer. Normally before we study and section of scripture, we try to find out what is happening to cause a portion to be written. A Song.God is our refuge and strength,A very present help in trouble. Great wealth is in the house of the righteous,But trouble is in the income of the wicked. Last week, the teens raised $240 towards convention with the sales of the hot dogs and soda. Sign up in the lower foyer. I certainly didn’t do it perfectly. How many have ever just read the psalms as your prayers? And I chose to believe, over and and over, in the foundational truth that God loved me and my family no matter what. Alicia is a wife to her best friend and husband of 19 years, and a mom of four very vibrant children (ages 17 to 8). How many times have we prayed that prayer? If would like to be a part of this vital ministry, please put your name and “nursery” on a blue card and put it in the offering plate. It’s nice to have a different diet every once in a while, right? David is asking God to draw him closer to he has this joy. However, during that time I was rooted in the Lord. And are not his days like the days of a hired man? Why was this happening to us? And so I clung to Bible verses about trials and hard times and I again, chose to count it all joy. We know David wrote it, but not much in the way of specifics. This time I had a mini stroke and was taken back to the emergency room. He served him constantly, called on him constantly. No matter how fervently I prayed for things to change, each day’s events repeated themselves and day after day faded into the next. You have made Your people experience hardship;You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger. Not getting what we DO deserve. They had never seen anything like it. But I kept reading my Bible and talking to God each day about everything I was going through. Getting him to and from therapy (while finding childcare and rides for my other 3 kids) was extremely taxing in itself. The God who keeps his promises. Please see Katie or Brad if you are available to help! Today I want to take you to the Scripture and show you not only that it’s possible, but how that can happen for you. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! And of course there was all kinds of opportunities for fear, doubt and worry to steal my faith in God. Have a great week! Today I can truly say that, yes, trials are difficult and can be horribly painful to endure; but that because of God’s presence through them all, you truly can “count it all joy when you face trials” because there is so much beautiful spiritual fruit that comes from a trial! The term for God that David uses is Jehovah. A Psalm of David. Read. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;He will lift me up on a rock. When we pray, we need to remember that our God is a God who keeps his promises. I was constantly seeking His face in prayer and in His Word. Thank you for your generosity! If you won’t like your life until you get a different job, meet someone, or even feel better, then 10-20-30 years are going to pass and you wouldn’t have enjoyed them. And real distress and misery cry out for God’s mercy. “He delivers the afflicted in their affliction. He will prove Himself faithful when times get hard… but you have to choose to cling to Him and to seek His ways as better than your own. Keeping faith in God during hard times can be extremely difficult. We pray you are blessed as you allow the Lord to work in your life. As I look back, I know the reason for my joy during those hard times was the Lord. dedicated adult who would be willing to rotate as a leader in our infant nursery. And today I’m going to share those stories with you: Stories of how we’ve learned to have faith during trials, and how God has (a little at a time) taught us to even rejoice in trials. Everyone should be ecstatic that God forgives. Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time. 4790 Carlisle Rd, Dover, PA 17315, USA. We are promised His joy. And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. We need to let God’s words about joy change us bit by bit, and that only happens when we connect these truths about joy to our real world circumstances. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I felt like a zombie many days as I spent every last ounce of energy trying to keep life going for our all four of the kids (who of course still needed my constant attention). Let’s talk about how going through trials can strengthen your faith and even bring you more joy! These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. 3.10.2019 | Psalm 86: Joy In Hard Times. I’d had a headache for weeks. Would you please have mercy upon me? Oh how my character has been shaped through this experience! For the first time, he showed me how to really have joy during trials. And then, one week later, the unthinkable happened. David was asking God to protect him not only from his enemies but to protect him from the temptations that come along with his situation. David truly believes in God’s goodness, so he is confident, not in his own goodness, but because of God’s goodness (not his), that God will hear him. And trust God for the future. As host of the Vibrant Christian Living Podcast, she inspires thousands of women each week with practical tips and powerful inspiration on how they can create the life of their dreams and live out God’s best plan for their lives. “You have a reason for me to go through this, Lord,” I prayed. Isaiah 37:3. Sometimes we may not like where we are, so we can’t enjoy what we DO have, while we wait for what we want. Sign In Sign Up. Because of God’s blessings? A Song. On the ambulance ride to the hospital (as my body was shaking violently from the stroke symptoms) I prayed continually for God’s peace. However, I want you to know that not only can our faith grow in times of challenge, but we can discover great joy through trials (some of my favorite Bible verses about joy echo this truth). They will be blessed! But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,For You have been my strongholdAnd a refuge in the day of my distress. But during a routine doctor’s visit, our physician followed a hunch after noticing my husband had a “fruity” odor to his breath (which we later learned is a sign of high blood sugar). The people’s renewed commitment to God reignited the joy in their hearts that only He can produce. P.S. It’s a great weekend of fun, fellowship and spiritual transformation. You have to take action. You need to spend time discovering God’s answers and then, bit-by-bit applying those truths to your life. And of course, since Type 1 Diabetes is an incurable chronic illness, we still must cling to verses like “count it all joy” to find joy through the daily trial of Diabetes. Expand. We are also in need of a few men to help our platform decorators, Brad & Katie. Dover Assembly of God. WOW, what a blessing. God saved me that day. Each of the Bible study lessons take under 10 minutes a day since they use the highly powerful Spiritual Growth Rhythm. There were many ups and downs in the process! In the day of prosperity be happy,But in the day of adversity consider—God has made the one as well as the otherSo that man will not discover anything that will be after him. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 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