Ever had one of “those” days?

James 5: ¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

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Everyone was loaded in the car headed to breakfast. My wife reminded me that we needed to take the car in for inspection because it had been acting a little strange. On the way to the mechanic the transmission went out and that was the start of the day. It seemed like every part of the day was filled with more and more bad news.

News of pending death, disease or disaster kept coming in. During times of problem solving something else would go wrong. As we sat at the end of the evening trying to resolve the largest issue the light blew out.

• There will be days when everything goes wrong.
• There will be days when problems seem to mount higher than plans.
• There will be days when it seems like there is no hope to be held.

Job was an extreme example of wealth and peace and GOD allowed him to go through many disasters because HE had something much better in this life and after. GOD knows the troubles I will encounter and allows me to go through them in order to strengthen my faith.

• I have to persevere during troubled times because there is something better waiting for me.
• I have to persevere during troubled times because it really isn’t as bad as it seems.
• I have to persevere during troubled times because GOD truly does have a good plan for me that includes “this” problem.

GOD knows exactly what HE is doing when HE lets me go through trouble. HE knows exactly how to strengthen my faith and bless me in the middle of pain. Only GOD knows the future so HE patiently watches me and applauds when the situation doesn’t get me down.

GOD loves when I realize HE is “full of compassion and mercy” for me.

• Are you going through troubled times?
• Does it seem like life is not going in the direction you planned?
• Can you rust GOD to bring you out of your troubles?
• Even if HE doesn’t, can you trust that HIS kingdom has more to offer than this life?