It’s easy in these very difficult times not to be totally consumed with all the news about the Coronavirus and the horrible effects it is having on so many lives. On top of all that, we have the unrest and lawlessness taking place on our city streets our nation.

We can’t stop there; we also have the issue of people being out of a job and also all the division we see taking place among people, in homes and everywhere else yone could imagine, concerning how to deal with the Coronavirus and the chaos taking place in our city streets. Even the most seasoned Christian/believer in Christ can get very discouraged and experience feelings of hopelessness because of all that is taking place.

We’ve all experienced difficult/trying times in our lives, as non-believers and as believers that we thought would surely take us out.

When I was an unbeliever and I went through difficult/trying times in my life, I would immediately began to form a plan in my mind as to how I would get through whatever crisis I was in. I am sad to admit that for the most part it always involved not very many Godly ideas/ways.

I always prided myself in being able to get through stuff but as I look back on how that took place, I can clearly see I never really solved any of my issues/problems; I just covered them with lies and deception.

When I became a believer in Christ, I thought my life would now be forever great; all my problems in life would instantly go away. In all reality, my life was forever great for the guilt of all my sins had been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ and I was now one of His precious children!

Yet, as I began this wonderful walk with Jesus Christ it seemed that trying times continued to come my way, in fact the difficulties became more difficult and lasted more than I would have liked. I soon became very confused and wondered if the Lord actually was in control of my life.

When I went to my mentor with my concerns about how my difficulties would not go away, he led me to what David wrote in the midst of a very difficult time in his own life in Psalm 31:14 “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, You are my God” (emphasis added)

David went on to say in Psalm 31:22 “In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from Your sight!’ Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to You for help” David ends by declaring in Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (emphasis added)

We read where Jesus declared to His disciples then and to His disciples, you and me, today in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world (life) you will have trouble (NKJV tribulations) But take heart! (NKJV be of good cheer) I have overcome the world” (emphasis added)

We are in some very difficult/trying times today and to be quite honest, if we are not careful, these very difficult/trying times will take us out if fail to keep our eyes on the Lord and His promises.

I believe in these very difficult/trying times, we who call ourselves believers/Christians/followers of Christ need to seek the Lord about our personal walk with Him to see if we have allowed ourselves to become distracted from what the Lord desires of us. I also believe it’s time for the pastors/church leaders to ask/seek the Lord to see if we have allowed the ways of the world to creep into our ministries, our messages, our teachings.

Our prayer must be as David’s in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”

Difficult/trying times like the ones we are currently experiencing are hard but when we allow the Lord to use them to better our spiritual lives and the life of the church, they change from being difficult/trying times to times of great spiritual growth as we become more like Christ in each and every way!!!

Photo by Regina Calvo on Unsplash