God Has Not Forsaken You, Even in the Hard Times
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No one will get through this life without facing hard times.
Some people face harder times than others, but adversity comes to everyone. It’s a promise from the Bible.
This is probably not one of the promises that will be written on a greeting card or claimed by big-name preachers, but it’s a promise nonetheless.
Adversity visits every life.

Our response to adversity is very important, because it will determine if we have learned from it all of the things God would have us learn.
You see, adversity teaches us. It trains us. It trains our hands for war. It strengthens us. It stabilizes us. And most importantly, it leads us back to our Rock of Ages.
I love what Charles Spurgeon once wrote: “I’ve learned to kiss the ways that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.”
I wonder if Jeremiah felt similarly as he brought message after message from God to the people of Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar has already come and taken captive some of the people. Amongst them were Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed Nego.
This must have seemed horrible.
Between the first and second captivities, the city was destroyed, while the temple would be destroyed upon the 2nd captivity.
Jeremiah’s homeland is being raided, and destroyed, and his people taken captive.
And it must have felt as if his heart was being torn in two.
All the while, the prophets and diviners were prophesying peace and prosperity. They were prophesying what the people wanted to hear.
God, through the prophet Jeremiah, was telling the people something completely different.
He was telling them that when they are carried away, to settle down, have families, and seek peace in their new land because they were going to be there for a while.
This was not what anyone wanted to hear.
But He gave them a second promise…
His plans were for their good, not their evil. He would restore them and give them a future and hope.
His anger would last only for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime!
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
God doesn’t allow adversity to devastate us. He doesn’t allow trials and tribulations to defeat us.
His plans for us are always good, not evil. His plans are always for hope and a future.
We simply need to trust Him.
If we want to build our trust in God, we must do these four things
1. Renew Our Mind.
How do we renew our mind?
We renew our mind with the Word of God. But it takes more than just reading the Word. We have to memorize it. Think on it. Meditate on it.
Christian meditation is not like transcendental or New Age meditation. It doesn’t require you to empty your mind but rather fill your mind with God’s Word until that Word completely changes you.
2. Refocus Our Emotions.
Emotions in and of themselves are not wrong. Jesus showed emotion: joy, sorrow, disappointment.
The problem is when they lead us, instead of us leading them, or when we believe what they tell us. How do we refocus our emotions and lead them?
When they lie to us, we combat them with the truth of God’s Word.
- God has left me. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5
- This is too hard. I can’t walk this Christian life anymore! “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13
- I have no luck! What did I ever do to deserve this kind of a life with no hope! “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
3. Restore Our Vision.
Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the water around him.
Whenever we begin to look at the circumstances around us, at how sinners succeed in life while we follow biblical principles and are suffering for it, we will become envious.
We need to restore our vision.
We need to turn our gaze upward!
Being successful isn’t that important, but rather having eternal life! We can be successful and still go to hell where our success won’t matter very much!
It would be better to have achieved nothing in this life, while remaining humble and faithful and go to heaven where we will receive a crown of life from Jesus’ hands and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 24:21)
4. Redirect our Defaults
I don’t know about you, but when things go wrong I often default back to my old thought life. “Nothing ever goes my way.” “I really have no luck!” “You idiot, you’re so dumb. You can’t do anything right!”
I am really trying to correct those thoughts, because they are not from God, but from Satan!
God doesn’t think I’m am idiot and that I can’t do anything right. I don’t believe in luck and a lot of things have “gone my way”, not because of me but because of God who has opened up amazing and miraculous doors!
But those old thought patterns destroy my faith. When I look at the circumstances around me, I take my eyes off of Jesus and open the door for the enemy to lie to me with those old thoughts.
How do we redirect our defaults? By doing steps 1-3.
As we consistently follow these 4 steps, we will discover the joy of walking in full trust and confidence that in every situation God has a plan.
His plan is always that He is glorified and that we are being shaped in His likeness