Post by Michael on Oct 15, 2007 4:12:56 GMT -5
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How To Deal With Difficulties - 1
In the past have looked at James 1: 1f many times. If you had to give these verses a title it could be " How to deal with difficulties and persecutions. "
In James 1: 2 the word count means to consider, account, suppose and think. Also James didn't write, "Count it all joy IF …" but WHEN. As mentioned elsewhere the word fall into ( in the Greek ) is like the man who "fell among" thieves in the story of the Good Samaritan.
Verse 3f When difficulties come, a person can respond in a number of ways:-
- panic / fall to pieces
- rest in the fact that God is in control and display confidence in His goodness, wisdom, power, etc.
We profit from difficulties when we see them as an opportunity to get more wisdom from God. To get wisdom from God during our trials, we have to ask (verse 5).
On good illustration is found in 1 Samuel 30.
1 ¶ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.
4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
7 ¶ And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
8 And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
David and his 600 men returned to Ziglag the place they had been living only to find it burned and all their women and children taken captive. To make matters worse, David's men turned on him and spoke of stoning him.
Verse 6 says David was greatly distressed. The natural / carnal man at this point would probably have done one of two things: (1) give up (2) go right after the Amalekites; but David did neither he " encouraged himself in the LORD his God. "
Jesus said, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." ( Matthew 11: 28 ).
For people seeking a word from the Lord it is important for them to go to the Word!
Going back to 1 Samuel 30 verse 8 we see that David inquired of the Lord and in other
passages we see he made a practice of this …1 Chron.14:10, 14; 2 Sam. 2: 1, 21: 1.
In 1 Samuel 30, David not only got direction from the Lord but he also received a promise that he would win and recover everything. As we read on we find that he not only recovered all but he also obtained the spoils of battle.
One of the significant things about 1 Samuel 30 is that it is the turning point for David. In the next chapter Saul dies and in in 2 Samuel David is anointed king over the house of Judah and later over all Israel.
How To Deal With Difficulties - 2
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25 ¶ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. (Acts 16: 23 - 27).
Paul and Silas were beaten with many stripes, cast into " the inner prison " and their feet fastened in stocks.
In the natural they had a great reason for moaning and complaining. And the story might have been like this!
" At midnight, Silas nudged Paul and said, " Are you sure the vision you had in Troas was from God? " Paul looked in the general direction of his friend and could see absolutely nothing …it was pitch black. Paul didn't reply!
After a few minutes, Silas continued and said, " If the word was from God how come we are in such mess! …"
BUT the scriptures state, " And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." ( v. 25 ) .
Note they sang praises unto God not songs about themselves. Also they weren't quiet about it; they were praising God out aloud because the prisoners heard them.
The result of the prayers and the sacrifices of praise was a mighty deliverance ( v.26 ).
During the time of PRAISE it is not uncommon for people to be healed without the laying on of hands. Merlin Carothers (1) discovered the power in praise and shares in his books the miracles wrought by the truth that we should thank God for everything. People with various problems consulted with him and in many cases his advice was to praise God for their unfortunate situations. The result was salvation, physical healing and restoration of lives.
An example from my own circle of friends involves a lady who broke a collar bone. Subsequently during a time of worship she felt led to raise her arms and praise God despite the pain ... immediately God healed her. The doctors confirmed afterwards her healing and also that her reflexes were normal again.
For personal testimony see also www.angelfire.com/md3/pafn777/outofjam.html
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1. Merlin Carothers, "Prison to Praise" www.foundationofpraise.org