​ Supernatural Response to Trials

Everyone has trials at some time or another. Sometimes they are determined by our season in life:

• Moms dealing with sleep deprivation or disobedient children
• Career women working an unbearable job or for an unreasonable boss
• A wife in a tough marriage relationship
• Older women with health issues

There could be financial challenges, loneliness, fears, or a multitude of other such problems. And who knew we would ever be part of a pandemic and its ramifications? 

As we are met with these obstacles to happiness in our lives, we tend to focus on them and cannot see beyond our own hurt, pain, and inconveniences.

​To this point in my life, the hardest thing the Lord has asked me to do over an extended period of time was being a caregiver. It was full time, confining, and drained me of my physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. Although I desired to have the right attitude and respond correctly, it became apparent very quickly that spiritual battles were going on around me constantly and inside me as my own selfishness and wickedness were exposed. I continued to stay in the Word and found some interesting responses to trials there. It became a challenge and blessing to me as I worked to respond in a supernatural way instead of a natural way to the trial God had allowed for me. The following is what I found.

First, I read about Job. Job 1:13 says, “And there was a day….” ​

And what a day it was because on that day Job lost everything (but his wife)!
​This included his livestock, his property, his wealth, and his ten children. Talk about having a bad day! But Job’s response was…wait for it…worship!

Next, I considered Isaac who was to be sacrificed on an altar by his father. ​

Trials don’t get much more intense than that! 
​Genesis 22:6-8 indicates that Isaac was a willing participant, and v. 9 says that Isaac was bound by his father. Isaac’s response to this life and death trial was obedience even though he was undoubtedly stronger than his father. ​

How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego?

These young men were going to be thrown in a fiery furnace if they didn’t bow to the king’s image. Their response to this heated trial was steadfastness and faithfulness no matter what happened.

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail, 

not for an evil crime but for preaching Christ! ​
What was their response according to Acts 16:25? They were praying and singing!!

​"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." Acts 16:25

All of these men mentioned were eventually delivered from their great trials, but what about when we are not released?

2 Corinthians 12:7-8 tells us about Paul begging the Lord to take his infirmity away, but God chose to deny Paul’s request. God gave Paul grace to endure instead. So what was Paul’s response to God’s denial? Verses 9 and 10 tell us Paul gave God glory and took pleasure in his trial for the cause of Christ!

​"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Paul wasn’t just okay with God not releasing him from his trial he was happy he could depend on God’s grace to help him endure the trial.

How are you responding to the trial you are going through right now?

• Are you taking time to worship as Job did in spite of the loss?
• Are you being obedient with each thing God gives you?
• Are you steadfast in your faith like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego?
• Can you look beyond your circumstance to pray and sing like Paul and Silas?
• Are you willing to endure the inconvenience and pain like Paul, in order to see God’s glory being revealed in you?

​God’s reputation is at stake as people watch you respond­ to the trials He has entrusted to you. Depend on His grace so you can respond supernaturally.

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Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, by Harold Myra, will refocus your spirit, calm your heart, and remind you of God’s promises when you feel worried or anxious. 

It gives you forty days of hope-filled meditations immersed in the teachings, stories, and prayers of Jesus. Each day provides:

• Devotional thoughts on the intersection of the reader, the world, and Jesus
• A Bible-based prayer focused on a single chapter of Scripture
• One or two short lines to pray and consider throughout the day

It’s designed for you to read in the morning so that the example of how Jesus dealt with troubles and the Bible-based prayers will carry you through the day resting in Him—unburdened by worries.
 
Yes, we live in a chaotic world of rapid change, personal crisis, and global tragedy, where fear and anxiety are on the rise. But you don't have to respond that way. Read Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled and see how you can have a different mind-set based on Jesus’s example.

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Can you say, like Paul. "For when I am weak, then I am strong" 2 Corinthians 12:10? How has God helped you respond supernaturally to trials?