It seems as if these days can be very challenging to hold firm to your faith.  I think the devil and his crew are working overtime.  It’s as if they are doing to their best to use the current circumstances to wear the children of God down.  Have you wanted to quit?  Throw in the towel?  The thought has crossed my mind even, but does any of us know what serving God through hard times is really like?

The Apostle, Paul in his missionary journeys, suffered many hard times.  He was shipwrecked more than once, bitten by a poisonous snake, beaten, falsely accused, and was imprisoned.  If anyone living with God had a reason to quit, he did!

BUT HE DIDN’T!

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”  Phi. 3:12-14 (MSG)

^“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”  Phi. 4:6-7 (MSG)

^“So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.”  2 Thes. 2:15-17 (MSG)

“You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.”  2 Tim. 4:7-8 (MSG)

Paul revealed how he got through life with God, no matter what was thrown at him, and he wrote these words to encourage us to do the same.  Learn these words.  Remember them, but more importantly, live them.

Copyright © 2020 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.