“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
We all experience some hard times in life. Some of us seem to be a magnet for hard times! Whether the challenges are brought on by other people, life situations, or our own selfish choices, we all have to face difficult scenarios in our journey.
Sometimes we get the idea that God (who can do anything) has the obligation to help us out of every situation. We pray, “Lord, I need
money to get me through. Lord, heal me. Lord, make life easier!” We pray for things that we think will make life more comfortable, and we want answers immediately. The fact is that we’re not in a place where we can tell God what to do, or boss Him around! That’s an area we don’t have control over, or have the final say.
Every time we come up against tough battles in life, we as believers can pray to God. God doesn’t always answer by taking away the
hard things (like we want Him to), but instead God allows us to go through this hard time or heartache. He can see ahead to how much
good can come out of us wading through that negative experience.
It’s definitely not the most comfortable way we can imagine, but we know that God’s way is always the right way, and we know that He
will always be with us no matter what we’re going through. The next time we come to a situation where our immediate thought is, “Let me out of here!” it would be good to ask ourselves, “What is God trying to teach me through this struggle?”
Lord, thank You for Your presence and Your guidance as I go through this hard time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
– Milly Jackson
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org