It's Not Over Yet

You can praise your way through trials and hard times rather than suffering and barely making it through life. Learn how by looking into God's Word.

Why doesn't everything work out perfectly? The Bible says in Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good to those who love God" - but what if your current situation doesn't seem good? Don't worry, it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong or that God doesn't see you as a person who loves Him. It could just be that He isn't done working in your situation.

There have been plenty of people throughout the Bible who clearly loved God and served Him, but had situations that were less than ideal come up. Look at Paul's life - he had that radical change from persecuting believers to leading people to Christ and he still had so many trials. He was thrown in jail and he was bitten by a poisonous snake. Job faithfully trusted in God, even when all of those trials occurred and everyone else in his life told him that he should be cursing God. Jesus, Himself, had trials throughout His life even though He was the Son of God. How did these men, along with so many others, make it through their trials to find the good?

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NLT)

Many people throughout the Bible's history had encountered challenging trials, but they were not discouraged right off the bat. They continued trusting in God and believing that everything would work out in their favor. Paul didn't die because of his snake bite and ended up leading many people to believe in God because of that. Job was blessed even more than he was before the trials had come upon him and lived one hundred and forty more years. Jesus, though He was unjustly crucified on the cross, came against all odds and rose from the dead - He ascended into Heaven, which is definitely a wonderful ending to His trials. All of these stories can help us see how we should handle our trials. We shouldn't be upset that God has forgotten us or that He's not handling the situation the way we would like Him to. We can't assume that our unpredictable God is going to handle every situation the way we want Him to - that wouldn't leave any room for Him to do something that only He could do.

It's so easy to become run down or anxious when a situation isn't seemingly going our way, but we have to remember what God tells us in the Bible. Take heart because He has overcome the world! Just because everything is going wrong right then and there doesn't mean it's always going to go wrong. God can and will turn your situation around and make it into a testimony of His goodness and faithfulness. Life isn't perfect and it never will be, but as long as we can grow from our past mistakes and situations as well as keep our trust in God we will make it through this life just fine.

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This passage gives us perfect advice about how to navigate through life when things get tough. "Always be joyful." I challenge you to find one thing that brings you joy every day rather than focusing on what went wrong. "Never stop praying." Prayer is so powerful and helps you in so many ways. Pray about your problems, what's bothering you, what happened that day, what made you happy, what you're thankful for. As I stated before, don't just focus on the negative things. "Whatever happens, give thanks." Whether you just lost your job or just got a new one, be sure to thank God for the opportunity of having that job in the first place. I want to add to that challenge: Share one thing you're thankful for every day. I'll start. Today, seeing my children at work after three days of being home brought me joy. I was thankful we had a scheduling mishap that allowed me to leave early so I could bring my car to the shop well before it closed, rather than me getting out of work at my normal time and probably barely making it there before the shop closed. The scheduling mishap was something that could have really upset me because it was an error on my part, but I stopped and found the silver lining. Having this perspective really helps you see life in a new way.

It might be hard to remember at times, but I'm going to tell you right now - you are not the only person struggling with a trial. It might seem like it, but I can assure you that you are not the only one. Know that you have family, friends, church family, and God to help you through the hard times in your life. I hope you take my challenge to help find a new perspective in life. Remember, "All things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28).