A HOPE IN THE "STORM"

People all over the world are facing many troubles nowadays. Many people are affraid of the global crisis that comes like a tsunami devouring the earth. We face so many difficult situations and circumstances and so often all those conditions make us complaining to God. We forget to thank Him for all good things God gave to us. I read a small book wrote by Joe Stowell and so blessed with that book and I want to share the main points with you with a hope that you will be strengthened and keeping your faith to Jesus.

"Pilots flying in a storm or in darkness quickly become disoriented and deceived by their senses. Pilots say that when they are flying without visibility, they can be flying in a tight circle while their senses assure them that they are going straight ahead. When a pilot becomes disoriented in this way, his body is telling him one thing and his instruments are telling him something completely different.To keep flying safely, he must rely on the instruments in his plane. Those instruments will tell him what is actually and absolutely true.What we know to be true when we're in trouble is the instrument panel that provides certainty regardless of how we feel.

People who are hurting have often told me,"I know what's true from the neck up, but somehow it doesn't make sense in my heart." We assume that if it only makes sense in our heads, it's not helpful. But it is. Part of the process of working through pain is learning to hang on to what we have from the neck up. When our hearts are broken and hurt, there won't seem to be a pipeline from brain to the emotions. That's okay. Just don't let go of what you know.That's the key to making it in the midst of difficulty. That's exactly when God's Word says, 'Consider it pure joy... because you know that..." (James 1:2-3). What can we know in the midst of trials? What are the reliable instruments that track ussuccesfully in the midst of difficulty? In James 1:3-4, the stabilizing truth is that we can know that "the testing of our faith produces endurance" and that we should "let endurance have its perfect result, so that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing". James is saying that we can know that pain is a process with a purpose. That specific piece of knowledge will enable us to implement the joy response. There are at least six mental anchors in Scripture that give stability in the midst of trouble.

1. COMMONALITY
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13).You haven't been singled out by God to be the one individual in the history of the humanrace selected to experience a situation like this. There were others before you, and therewill be others after you.

2. BEARABILITY
First Corinthians 10:13 goes on to say,"And God is faithfull; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." That statement guarantees that God never gives us anything more than what we can bear. It's like the country road that has a sign posted before a bridge,"Load Limit 5 Tons." God, who knows our "load limit", limits the loadHe permits us to carry.

3. SUPERNATURAL OPTIONS
The third reality we can know for sure is that God has supernatural options available for delivering us from trouble. The closing portion of 1 Corinthians 10:13 says,"But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

4.GOD'S POWER
The fourth truth we know is that God's power is at work in our difficulty. Sometimes we see very little evidence of His work. Yet His power is busy at work for us.

5. GOD'S DIVINE SUPPORT
The fifth truth we can affirm in difficult times is the reality of God's divine support. His grace is His unmerited help to us. In trouble, it will be there. How much? Is there a problem that is bigger than the reservoir of God's grace? The answer is no. That's why Paul said," God's grace is sufficient."

6. A PROCESS WITH A PURPOSE
The sixth principle we can count on during times of difficulty is that God uses trouble as a process with a purpose in our lives. God never wastes our sorrows. Any pain He permits is to be used by Him as a process with a purpose.

I hope The Holy Spirit will help you to understand and to see your problem in the angle of God's view. You will understand at last that God supports you and all the trouble is a process for us to rise up to higher level in life.

(Billy K. Tambahani)
Email: diakonia@ymail.com