We live in a world where people are experiencing ever increasing fear and uncertainty about the future. The believer is commanded to walk independent of adverse circumstances, and to live by faith in the unseen—God's word. When God's people are successful in doing so, there is a difference between them and the world, and God can move in the earth (and in your life) as He desires.
Christians should show forth the goodness and glory of God to a world that is without hope, without help, and hurting. Believers should demonstrated the riches of God's grace and kindness to those around them. It is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance according to Romans 2:4.
Christians don't have to lie down and let life run over them. It's true that we all experience trouble, tests and trials at one time or another (some more than others), but we serve a GREAT God who has already made provision for us to overcome them. We simply need to know how to cooperate with Him in order for Him to deliver us from whatever tries to negatively effect us.
That's where many fail to receive the blessings of God as He intends. They don't know how to cooperate with God to allow Him to move by His power on their behalf. They become weary in their faith and often give up short of receiving their total victory. Weariness in faith sets the stage for total defeat.
God wants you to stay positive in the tests and trials of life. He does not want you to become worn out and beat down by circumstances. Yes, circumstances are real, and they can be big, but always remember that God is GREATER than any circumstance you may face!
The Bible tells us of Jacob who had a covenant with God, yet became weary in his faith. Let's look at Genesis 42:36-38.
Can you relate to Jacob's feelings of helplessness and hopelessness? He said, "All these things are against me." We all have had problems that didn't come our way one at a time, but they came in twos, threes, and even fours!
Let's look at Jacob's situation more closely. He was well advanced in age and was experiencing many problems in his family. He had lost his wife, his favorite son, and another son was now in prison in Egypt. On top of all that, there was a famine in the land. Jacob was tired, lonely, hungry and defeated. He began to do what most of us would do, he complained! "Everything is against me."
This is the same man who year earlier wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night and saying, "I'm not going to let you go until you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). Jacob was a great patriarch in the land and is offspring had become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Yet, here he is, distressed, and defeated in his mind.
Our attitude today would be like Jacob's if we began to give in to the negative and defeat, saying, "What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of this mess? God, why did YOU let this happen to me?" Sound familiar?
You know what I'm talking about. You've had that same attitude where you felt like you'd been run over by a fleet of trucks. You felt worn out and defeated. We all have felt like that.
In the midst of his trouble, Jacob forgot one thing, at least for a fleeting moment. He forgot about his God, El-Shaddai, the One who is more than enough! He forgot about Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides!
We need to continuously remind ourselves that God is greater than any circumstances we may face. He will deliver us and show us the way out of trials and adversity if we will only look to Him—and if we will remember Him!
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! That's what God wants to do in your life. He wants to turn your destructions in to restoration. He wants to turn your bitter into sweet. He wants to get you out of that "beat up" mentality that has been controlling your thinking, that God won't be able to help you move through this trial. If you're constantly wringing your hands and crying, "Oh, Lord, why me?" you will hinder the power of God to turn your situation around for good. You'll lose your perspective of a positive attitude.
Having that "beat up" attitude is just what the enemy ordered for you. He wants us to consider the circumstances that surround us and allow those circumstances to make us feel defeated. Once we become "beat up," he can dominate us.
Looking at things in the natural it would be easy to justify having a "beat up" attitude. Jacob said, "All these things are against me!" Remember with God, it becomes unreasonable, because we have that mentality. We underestimate not only the ability of God, but also His love and care for us.
God cares deeply for each of His children and He does not want any of us to succumb to the tactics of the devil. He wants to take our negative circumstances and turn them around. Your Bible says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). God does not want you to go through life "beat up." He wants you to cast all your care, all your worries, and concerns on Him. Then straighten your shoulders, hold your head high, and begin to rely on the God that is MORE THAN ENOUGH! Depend on the GOD THAT PROVIDES EVEVRY NEED for you!
All this is a choice you have to make. If you're not mindful of God's love and power in your life, you will be "up one day and down the next," what I call a yo-yo Christian.
In 1 Kings 18, we read that Elijah called fire from heaven and killed 450 prophets of the false god Baal. God used Elijah to win a mighty victory that day. Although there had been a severe drought for over two years, Elijah prayed to God, and the sky darkened as the rain clouds formed and the winds began to blow. A great rain came and the Spirit of God came on Elijah and he outran King Ahab's chariot all the way to the city of Jezreel!
Then in chapter 19:1, Ahab reported to his queen, Jezebel, that Elijah had killed all the prophets and she sent a message to Elijah, " . . .Let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time" (verse 2).
Notice in verse 3 and 4 what the mighty man did when he heard what this evil queen said.
One day, Elijah was performing exploits and wonders by the Spirit of God, then the next day he's running for his life! After forty days, Elijah came to Horeb and entered a cave (verses 5-8). The Lord said, "What are you doing?" (verse 9).
Elijah cried to the Lord, " . . . the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away" (verse 10).
Moving on to verse 13, God asked Elijah again, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" God said to him a few verses later, " . . . I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hat not kissed him." In other words, God was saying to him, "You're not the ONLY one left!"
The enemy wants to make us think that we're the "only ones" or we're the only one facing this kind of trial. But you're not the only one! 1 Peter 5:8-9 declares that by saying, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."
So you are not the only one going through that test today. We all face tests and trials. We each have to make the decision about our attitude.
The apostle Paul met great challenges too. But in contrast to Jacob's attitude, the apostle made a faith stand in the face of adversity.
Romans 8:37 declares, "Nay, IN ALL THESE THINGS we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
Notice the difference in the attitudes of these two men: Jacob said, "All these things are against me. I have had it!" Paul said, "Yet in all these things, I am more than a conqueror!"
It seems that Jacob forgot about El-Shaddai and Jehovah Jireh. Paul, on the other hand, focused on God and His greatness. Jacob forgot that God was bigger than all his trouble; Paul considered the power of God. Jacob forgot that God loved and cared about him; Paul was ever conscious of God's loving care.
"Well, Paul was a great apostle and wrote 2/3's of the New Testament." Nevertheless, Paul knew what it was to experience hardship. Check out 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.
Paul accounts for all his troubles. He didn't deny his problems. But you see, it's one thing when you have troubles; it's another thing when troubles have you!
When you have a "beat up" attitude, troubles have you. But in the midst of trouble, you can take a lesson from Paul and be upbeat, or you can respond as Jacob and say, "All things are against me."
It's our choice what kind of attitude we take in the trials of life. It's up to us what attitude we demonstrate when folk talk against us or lie on us. A negative attitude will dampen our spirit and weaken us, and it will hinder the power of God from working in our life. A "beat up" attitude will cause us to want to give up and quit—to give up our will to succeed.
But with faith in God, an upbeat attitude will buoy up our spirit and keep us strong through the storms of life so that we can walk in victory. An upbeat attitude can help us to rise up and face our challenge with confidence. We can walk out triumphantly on the other side of our test, if we will make a stand for God.
