“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
WE ALL WILL HAVE CHALLENGES and difficulties in life. The question for each of us is not why or how bad they are. The QUESTION is how will we respond?
Here are 8 practical ways in which to respond to life.
1. Affirm the truth – God is in control, and He has my best interests at heart. He cares, He is present, and He knows the situation. Don’t focus on the size of the problem; focus on the size of your God.
2. Gain perspective – Many are in far more difficult circumstances, and many over time have suffered and died.
3. Rejoice, choose to be grateful, and always be thankful – James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Romans 5:3
4. Persevere in trials – Press on. Christ becomes your strength. Do not let worry or doubt slow you down.
5. Don’t ask WHY (Why me? Why now? Why this?). Ask WHAT (What do I learn? What do I change?).
6. Share your difficulty with others – It is difficult to go it ALONE; we need people.
7. Give yourself away – It takes your thoughts off of yourself and on helping others who maybe worse off.
8. Be thankful – Attitude is important when walking through pain and suffering. It is not PMA (positive mental attitude); it is BMA (biblical mental attitude).
Practice these when the trials come, and you will experience Christ in an unusual way.
“There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of divine grace.” — A. B. Simpson
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Purchase the Entire Devotional – “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader”
The devotion above was taken from the 52-week Devotional entitled “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader”.
Many give a mental assent to this teaching yedft are often asking, “What do I do? What does Christ as life look like?“ Too often Christians err by moving too far to one side or the other—reducing the Christian life to a list of do’s and don’ts, or they actually do nothing.
These inspiring weekly devotions are just some of the actions that reflect the life of Christ in each of us, and they explore four areas as we follow the One Leader, Jesus Christ –
- A Foundational Focus
- A Personal Focus
- A Relational Focus
- A Missional Focus
Be challenged, encouraged, and spurred on to a deeper walk with Christ.
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