EXHORTATIONS (PART 6)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Life brings challenges and sometimes they come fast and furious. Here’s a snapshot of how my week:

First, my wife and I get the news that her sister-in-law had passed away. The funeral arrangements were made quickly which put the service today and I have obligations at church and a full work schedule tomorrow that kept us from attending, even though we both wanted to be there.

Then I got a message from my youngest daughter in Pennsylvania saying she had tested positive for COVID. Her fiancée had just had it which led her and our three grandchildren to be quarantined for two weeks. Now, she is back in quarantine and although she is feeling well, she is unable to go to work.

Finally, we learned our neighbor of some 23 years now was rushed to the hospital where they found he had stage 4 cancer in his lungs and spine. The doctors have given him days to live.

Any one of these would have been enough to deal with but all three coming in rapid succession has definitely created a lot to deal with, all this on top of the normal day-to-day life matters I deal with between a full time schedule at work, church responsibilities, and home life.

Maybe you have your own life testimonies about how hard this or other weeks have gone. It can be all too much for us to handle sometimes, right?

But that could be the point. Perhaps God places elevated times of difficulty and trial in our lives for a reason, so we can learn to rely on Him more than we do ourselves.

To that end, we turn to verse 12 of Romans 12, a verse that forms the foundation for our message today, the sixth in this series titled Exhortations.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Here we find the Lord giving us a three pronged approach to dealing with the life difficulties that can come our way.

First, we are to be joyful in hope.

What hope is this referring to?

It’s definitely the hope of eternal life that we have in Christ Jesus, the hope that was created for us by our loving God.

You see, no matter how tough and hard life gets, it can never overshadow the salvation we have through Jesus. It assures us that the best is always yet to come, that death no longer has any sting because we will live forever after this life is through.

When life tries to bring you down, allow the hope you have in Jesus to bring you joy and lift you up.

The second was we can respond to life’s afflictions is to remain patient.

God brings us into trials to refine our faith and strengthen our trust in Him. He wants us to patiently wait for Him to help us work through our trials and tribulations, fully knowing that He doesn’t bring us into a situation that He isn’t going to help us get through. After all patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit and our Lord is always laboring to make us a more spiritually fruitful people.

The final exhortation given to help us deal with life’s challenges is to be faithful in prayer.

Need wisdom and guidance in how to deal with your problems?

Go to the Lord, the source of all wisdom and instruction, in prayer.

Need to share your feelings with the Lord, seeking His comfort, assurance, and peace?

Go to Him in prayer.

Need strength to endure and persevere.

Ask the Lord to empower you with His power through prayer.

Friends, life isn’t easy and no one person can make it through on their own. This is by design by the Master Creator and Controller of all things. Yes, He brings us to trials in life but He doesn’t lead us into these issues without purpose nor is He not walking alongside us through them.

Rather, the Lord is ever seeking to make us better versions of ourselves through our tribulations, leading us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. When we submit ourselves to His Word and will, all three of these will come alive in our lives and we’ll all be better because of it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com