Keep the Faith: When You’re in Trouble Devotional Guide
Monday: Read Romans 8: 35-37. “More than Conquerors.” These are three of the most powerful words in all of the Bible. Paul uses these three words to describe how Christians respond to pain and adversity. Paul didn’t say “God will give you the strength to get through it. One day you will get the better of it. You will conquer it. You will have victory over it.” No, Paul takes one more giant step and says that we as Christians are “More than Conquerors” through pain and suffering. Paul is basically saying we are “Super Victorious!” We are victory on steroids! Super overcomers! In other words, we don’t just win. Our trouble makes us stronger. We have stronger faith, more wisdom and greater love for Christ and others. We are more than conquerors because we are stronger by God’s grace and power. Have you ever thought of this phrase in that way? How is it helpful to you?
Tuesday: Read James 1:2-4. We apply this principle of these verses in strength training. What gives us stronger muscles? Resistance. Whether you are lifting weights or using a “resistance” band, you are using resistance to build strength. The same principle applies to our spiritual lives. There is only one thing that builds strength. Resistance! Strength does not develop without resistance. Plain and simple. We have to resist the trouble in our lives with God’s help in order to get stronger and move forward. Can you give an example of how a difficult time in your life made you stronger?
Wednesday: Read Matthew 14:25-33. A popular way to interpret this text is that Peter started to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. That’s not bad but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. Peter came to the place where he realized that he was powerless over the elements of the storm and he was powerless over gravity. He came to a moment of truth where he knew all he had was Jesus. You see, we never know that Jesus is enough until Jesus is all we have left. Once we come to realize this, we can begin our transformation into “more than conquerors.” How does this interpretation help you?
Thursday: Read Philippians 4:11-13. Paul didn’t say the secret was a different set of circumstances. He didn’t say the secret was will power. He said the secret was Christ in him! Christ enabled him to be “ready for anything” and made him stronger through the trouble he faced. Jesus is all Paul had and he learned that Jesus was enough. When trouble in life gets the best of us it is usually because we don’t believe Jesus is enough. So, we try to find peace and strength in other things and they never work. They simply make us vulnerable to the circumstances we face and our problems overwhelm us. Fear develops when we start believing that everything depends on us. Faith and strength develop when we learn that everything depends on God.
Friday: Spend some time in prayer today giving to God your fear, worries and concerns. Even though God knows what they are, it is helpful to name them out loud. Relinquish them and tell God that you are surrendering to him and trusting him to empower you through your trouble and have victory over it.