Trusting God During Tough Times

One of the most difficult things we face today is the task of remaining focused on the promises of the Lord during tough or difficult times. The devil delights in doing his best to cause the saints of God to doubt the promises of God. However, it is our responsibility to remain faithful and to remember that all of the promises of God are true. The Bible plainly states that, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Num. 23:19; NLT) This lets us know that our God does not make promises haphazardly. He always knows what He is saying and is always able to make good on all of His promises even though it seems that we sometimes experience problems while we wait on the materialization of the promises. All we have to do is to hold on to the Words of God because they are all true. Therefore, all we need to know is that anything God says will happen will happen.

Let us be reminded of the dream He showed to Joseph. Even though Joseph had to experience periods of horrible difficulties, that which God showed him did come to pass. One of the problems we are faced with today is the fact that we are so used to having it our way and in our own time. But we all must remember that the promises of God are not like going to a fast-food restaurant. We have become so used to having things on demand that even when we are praying we tell God to ‘do it right now.’ We cannot approach the Throne of Grace in the same manner as we do when we go through the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. We cannot place demands on God and expect to receive our order at the time of our request. There is a proper way in which we are to approach the Throne of God.

The Bible says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14; KJV) Note that the Bible says we are to approach the Throne of Grace in a state of humility. It is not necessary to seek God for ‘things.’ All we have to do is to seek God’s face and not His hands. He already knows what our needs are and has already promised to fill all of our needs. Our difficulty comes when we seek God for the wrong things and in the wrong manner.

Some of our problems come because we reveal the promises of God to the wrong people. Every person we associate with may not have our best interest at hand. In other words, some people may be jealous of the way the Lord is blessing you.

Joseph told his dreams to his brothers only to find out that they were not happy for him and they eventually sought to do him harm. Indeed, they did sell him into slavery to a band of mercenaries who in turn sold him to the captain of the king of Egypt’s army, whose name was Potiphar. Potiphar saw that God blessed the work of Joseph’s hand and he liked Joseph so much that he placed him in charge of all of his affairs. Although Potiphar respected Joseph highly, there was yet a problem with Potiphar’s wife, which caused Joseph to be cast into jail. But God’s hand of protection was still with Joseph, even while he was in the jail.

While in jail, God gave Joseph favor with the Jailer, who in turn placed Joseph over the affairs of the jail, which was actually the responsibility of the jailer to do. God’s hand of protection was still over Joseph and this shows that even through much difficulty, the hand of God was still guiding Joseph’s destiny. We too, must remember that even though we may not have seen God’s promises materialize yet, we should remain faithful and trusting in the Lord because God’s Word is always faithful and true.

It was during his stay in jail that the king had a dream which he wanted to know the meaning of and a former prisoner told the king about Joseph. Because God was faithful in giving Joseph the interpretation of the dream, the king also liked how God was using Joseph. Because of this, Joseph was placed into the position which was second only to the king. Joseph was now in the position of guiding Egypt through a mighty famine. It was during this famine that other nations sought relief through Egypt. Again, the hand of God was guiding Joseph’s destiny. He has now gone “from the pit, to the prison, and now he is in the palace.” Only God can show us this kind of endless favor.

It was during this mighty famine that Joseph’s family also sought relief and came to Egypt for substance to maintain them during the great famine. Joseph recognized his brothers even though his identity was not revealed to them. Even though they were in his presence and engaged in conversation with him, they failed to recognize him. And even through these years of persecution, God was yet blessing Joseph and guiding his destination as Joseph never gave up in honoring the God of his salvation. We too must remember that even though we will sometimes face difficulties, we should always remain faithful to God and trusting in the promises of God.

It was indeed during this time of famine that the dream God showed to Joseph materialized. His brothers and his father eventually bowed down to him. But the end result was a great and mighty family reunion.

Let us always be reminded that we too should forever trust in the promises of God even during our tough times. For the Bible has said that we shall suffer persecution. As 2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV) says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” So just hold on and keep being faithful and trusting in God. Remember that the Bible says, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Hab. 2:3; KJV)

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Tags: 2 Chronicles, 2 Timothy, Christian Living, encouragement, faith, Habakkuk, Numbers, patience, spiritual strength

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