God’s Encouraging Word … when I’m suffering

Are you familiar with tunnel vision? Someone experiencing tunnel vision can see an object directly ahead, but they often fail to notice what’s around it. Maybe age or injury has robbed them of their peripheral vision. Maybe they grow fatigued during a long drive. Do you know what that’s like?

We’re also prone to tunnel vision when we’re suffering. Face it, we’ve all been there. No one is immune from problems and pain. Everyone experiences hurts or hang-ups. But when we’re hurting, is the bad all we can see? Do we focus on the problem so much that we ignore everything else? We can see no help. No hope. No good. No God. Do you know what that’s like? It’s not a happy place to be.

It can be especially tough as we prepare to enter the holiday season. How can we put on a smile for Thanksgiving and pretend that we are just fine?

No need to pretend. Listen to the psalmist: “My comfort in suffering is this: your promise preserves my life” (Psalm 119:50). Remember how God worked so wonderfully to solve our greatest problem. The burden of sin we could never carry. The consequence of guilt we could never dodge. The sentence of death we could not avoid. So Jesus stepped in for us and shouldered them all. The cross and the tomb—both empty now—mark Jesus’ great victory.

And his victory is your victory. So resist the urge to give in to those feelings of defeat. Don’t shrink back in fear. Don’t separate yourself from others. Don’t become bitter. Don’t give up. Otherwise, you will miss the help God wants to give you.

All around the problem of suffering, God’s help is ready and waiting. Look up and find confidence: “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121). Look into God’s word where he promises, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Look back and recall how God has helped you through past challenges. Look around and find Christian friends eager to give you a hand and fold hands for you in prayer. Look ahead and see the open heaven God has in store for you through Jesus.

God promises to bring you safely through the tunnel of trouble. Trust his goodness!

God’s Encouraging Word … when I am tired

Sleep experts advise getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night.  We need rest for our tired bodies to recuperate. 

Even on the most regular day, life is draining.  The work day is long and the demands are great.  The commute, getting the kids to school, work schedules, meeting deadlines, grocery shopping, getting dinner ready, children’s activities, only to get ready to do it over again the next day.  Getting older doesn’t help matters.  By the time you hit the pillow at night you may feel like a smart device that has only 2% battery life left.

But what do you do when you become tired emotionally?  It’s the exhaustion that comes from strained relationships, heated arguments and being rejected by those from whom you want acceptance.

Then there’s that inner weariness—the kind that no one else knows you have except you. The weariness that comes from the burden of sin and guilt.  It comes when you must live in the brokenness of past mistakes.  When things don’t go so well on any given day, you wonder if God is angry and out to get you.  The earthly consequences of your sins and knowledge of your guilt is…well…spiritually tiring.

God comes to you today with an encouraging word recorded in the book of Isaiah: The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.   

The LORD is the everlasting God.  He is the Creator.  He never gets tired.  He has perfect understanding; he knows what it’s like when you feel tired for any reason at all.  He promises to give strength to you when you’re tired.  The LORD God is Jesus, your Savior.  He took your sins and guilt to the cross and died for you.  It’s a fact!  Jesus took your sins and guilt away from you, buried it all in his tomb, and rose from the dead.  Your sins are forgiven.  That’s rest—rest for your soul.  Talk about strength for the weary!

And don’t forget!  It’s the LORD God who gives the blessing of physical rest too.  It’s been said that a clean conscience is a good pillow.  God gives you this clean conscience in Jesus Christ.  He also provides you with home, food, and bed to become recharged to tackle the new day with all its challenges.  So do it with all the energy and strength that Lord God gives you as his own through faith in Jesus!

God’s Encouraging Word … when I’m worried

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7

Erma Bombeck once told about Donald.  Donald was worrying about going to school.  Here is how he expressed his anxieties: “My name is Donald.  I don’t know anything.   Read more…