When challenging times come, what helps us get through them?
First, we must be born again by believing God’s promise in Romans 10:9,10. When we confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised him from the dead, we receive the gift of holy spirit and have the faith of Jesus Christ. With that faith comes an inner spiritual peace by God’s grace. That causes us to rejoice in our future hope that Christ will return and we will be with him forever in glory. How do we know all this is true? Because God’s love is shed abroad in our hearts by that gift of the holy spirit. Paul explained this simply in his letter to the Roman Christians.
Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [gift of holy spirit we receive when we are born again] which is given unto us.
Faith…peace…joy…hope…glory…love—all by God’s holy spirit within us. Faith is believing. Peace is an inner quietness. Joy is unbounded delight in God. Hope is anticipating a blessed future. Glory is God’s power manifested now and throughout eternity. Love is what fills our hearts and will never cease. Thank the Lord for His gift of the holy spirit within us!
Endurance and Comfort in the Scriptures
Toward the end of that same letter, Paul reminded the Roman Christians of Jesus Christ’s example of service.
Romans 15:1-4:
We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience [endurance] and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
He suffered reproach and gave his life so that we (both Judeans and Gentiles) might be saved and have eternal life. The scriptures gave Jesus great endurance and comfort in his time of challenge. The scriptures regarding our future with Christ (when we have new spiritual bodies) gives us comfort and endurance today.
Romans 15:5-12:
Now the God of patience [endurance] and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse [Jesus Christ], and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Understanding the scriptures about what Christ has done for us gives us greater hope. We, as Christians, can agree on the truth of the scriptures about our future. This causes us to be likeminded and glorify God for His goodness to us. The Old Testament scriptures tell of both Judeans and Gentiles praising God together. That’s because of the great joy we have when we see God’s glory (manifested power) by His holy spirit within us.
Romans 15:13,14:
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [same Greek word as “faith”], that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost [gift of holy spirit we receive when we are born again].
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish [warn and encourage] one another.
God’s prayer for us is that our hope in Christ’s return will bring joy, peace, and greater believing. We have God’s spirit today and can manifest His glorious power in at least nine ways (I Corinthians 12:7-10). That “proves” that Christ will come back and we will have glorious bodies like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20,21). As we listen and obey our heavenly Father, we are full of His goodness and knowledge. This allows us to warn and encourage one another.
Peter’s Encouragement: Faith, Joy, Peace, Hope, Glory, Praise—All through the Gift of Holy Spirit
Peter had been with Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry, and led others into the new birth on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). When writing to Christians, he reminded them that they were made holy by God’s gift of holy spirit.
I Peter 1:1-2 [J. B. Phillips Translation]:
Peter, messenger of Jesus Christ, sends this letter to the exiles of the dispersed tribes (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia), whom God the Father knew and chose long ago to be made holy by his Spirit [gift of holy spirit we receive when we are born again], that they might obey Jesus Christ and be cleansed by his blood: may you know more and more of God’s grace and peace.
They received that gift of holy spirt and were cleansed because Jesus Christ shed his blood for us. Knowing this brings great peace to a believer.
I Peter 1:3-5 [J. B. Phillips Translation]:
Thank God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that in his great mercy we men have been born again into a life full of hope, through Christ’s rising again from the dead! You can now hope for a perfect inheritance beyond the reach of change and decay, “reserved” in Heaven for you. And in the meantime you are guarded by the power of God [by way of the gift of holy spirit we receive when we are born again] operating through your faith, till you enter fully into the salvation [new bodies and eternal rewards] which is all ready for the dénouement [revealing] of the last day.
Along with great peace today, the power of the holy spirit ensures us of our hope—that Christ will return and gather us together in the future. We continue to believe each day, guarded by God’s gracious power, and look forward to Christ’s return. At that time we will have our “full salvation” and live forever with the Lord.
I Peter 1:6-9 [J. B. Phillips Translation]:
This means tremendous joy to you, I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident – it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire. This proving of your faith is planned to bring you praise and honour and glory in the day when Jesus Christ reveals himself. And though you have never seen him, yet I know that you love him. At present you trust him without being able to see him, and even now he brings you a joy that words cannot express and which has in it a hint of the glories of Heaven; and all the time you are receiving the result of your faith in him – the salvation of your own souls.
When challenging times come, what helps us get through them? By knowing they are only “temporary.” Out of a loving heart, we find great joy in our hope of Christ’s return. That hope of future glory helps us endure the trials of today, and “prove” God faithful as we trust Him. We don’t see Jesus today, but we believe he is at the Father’s right hand and will come for us. That brings us great joy in the hope of future glory. What a day that will be!
Jehoshaphat: Faith, Joy, Peace, Hope, Glory, Praise—by God’s Spirit
These truths we enjoy as Christians today can be seen in the Old Testament. God has not changed. He always wants His people to believe and see His joy, peace, hope, and glory. This causes them to praise the Lord. Jehoshaphat is a great example of that. He was in a very challenging, even life-threatening, situation with his people. He turned to God for help.
II Chronicles 20:1-13:
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Jehoshaphat reminded God that He had promised to protect and help them. He was confident in God’s power and ability to deliver them. All of the believers—including wives, small children, and young adults—stood with Jehoshaphat in trusting the Lord. God worked by way of His spirit in a man of God, Jahaziel.
II Chronicles 20:14-19:
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still,and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will bewith you.
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
Notice that Jehoshaphat and the people believed God’s Word, spoken by Jahaziel. They worshipped and praised God even before they saw His deliverance. That is a great truth for us to acknowledge and live. We praise God for His help even before we see it come to pass. We pray always with all prayer and supplication in the spirt and watch for God’s help to come to pass in our lives (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6).
II Chronicles 20:20-30:
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets [worship and praise] unto the house of the LORD.
And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet [at peace]: for his God gave him rest [peace]round about.
These trusting believers praised God before His deliverance, and they praised Him after the deliverance came to pass! Once again, we see that there is great joy and peace in believing. God has given us His spirit so that we might know and love Him. He is always ready to save, heal, and deliver anyone who seeks Him. And Jesus Christ is still God’s plan for deliverance today, and the hope of a future glory with the Lord. We can’t lose by trusting God and His Son.
