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The final foreclosure notice. The unwanted divorce papers.
The devastating prognosis. The unexpected pink slip.
These are all just little pieces of paper with the power
to knock your faith to its knees. You know God is able
to deliver you and the Word of God declares he is faithful.
But your mind, reeling from life's blows, wonders, "God, how will you help me? Oh God, when will you help me?"
Have you ever asked
God those questions (especially when your circumstances
seem unjustified) and received an answer you didn't
like? Or, maybe you didn't get a response at all. While
we are waiting for the answer to our prayers, we have
two choices--we can use our faith or we can lose our
faith. Making the right decision will determine
whether or not we feel peace or pressure in the midst
of adversity.
If you focus on
the negative report, you will lose your faith. Before
Jesus' greatest victory, he shared some bad news with
his disciples.
Mark 8:31-32
Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must
suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the
elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious
law. He
would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the
dead. As he talked about this openly with
his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand
him for saying such things. (New Living Translation)
The disciples believed
Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. He was supposed to be
the one who would deliver Israel from oppression. They thought
he would re-establish the kingdom of David. How could the
negative report be true? The disciples didn't want to believe
the bad news.
When you receive bad
news or when you begin to realize that things are not going
to go the way you envisioned, how do you react? Do you
get angry and go into denial? Like Peter, we would probably
see the bad news as an opportunity to use our faith to avoid
difficulty. We would pray and ask God to remove the situation.
Yet, Jesus had a different perspective.
Mark 8:33-34
Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded
Peter. "Get away from me, Satan!" he said. "You
are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from
God's." Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples,
he said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you
must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and
follow me." (New Living Translation)
The disciples understood
Jesus' mission, but they didn't understand his method (the
how) or his timing (the when). Because they didn't have a
revelation about God's entire plan of salvation, the process
of deliverance (Jesus' crucifixion) shook their faith to the
core.
The disciples didn't
realize God would use something bad to produce something wonderful.
They focused so much on the horrible present, they forgot
about the glorious promise--Jesus would be raised from the
dead! Even Jesus had to resist the temptation to lose faith.
How did he do it? He prayed for God's will to be done in spite
of his feelings about the ordeal to come.
Luke 22: 39-43
Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs
room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told
them, "Pray that you will not give in to temptation."
He walked away, about a stone's throw, and knelt down
and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of
suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not
mine." Then an angel from heaven appeared
and strengthened him. (New Living Translation)
As Jesus submitted his
will (his natural desires) to the Father's will, he received
supernatural strength and faith to go through a horrible experience.
Jesus' disciples missed their opportunity to strengthen their
faith because of their sorrow over the current circumstances.
Luke 22:45-46
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he
found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. "Why are
you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray
so that you will not fall into temptation." (New
International Version)
Do you realize that
excessive sleeping can be a way to avoid problems you should
face? The disciples were exhausted by sorrow, which means
a deep distress, sadness, or regret especially for the loss
of someone or something loved. Their sorrow was a sure sign
they expected Jesus to be defeated--they were already mourning.
When we really believe God's promises, there is no reason
for sadness. We can wait with expectation until the very end
no matter how bad it looks. We can experience joy in the midst
of our pain because we are confident in God's plan.
So how can you know
and be confident in God's plan? You can pray. When
life knocks you down, it's not time to get angry, be sad,
give in to self-pity, or attempt to sleep your problems away.
It's time to PRAY. During our prayer time, God reminds us
of his promises and gives us power to handle adversity. Prayer
strengthens our faith, fuels our endurance and helps us focus
on God's final outcome just like Jesus did.
Hebrews 12:1-2
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before
us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion
who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.
Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.
(New Living Translation)
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