Put Your Trust In God When You Are Tested By Life

in Psalm 119 verse 71 David said it is good for me that I have been Afflicted that I may learn your statutes and I've always asked the question how can it be good for you to be afflicted how is there any good for you to go through pain tribulation and hard times now if I could draw your attention to acts 14 verse 21-22 the Bible reads they preach the good news to that City and made many disciples then they return to lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch strengthening and establishing the hearts of the disciples encouraging them to remain firm in the faith saying it is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God now I believe that Affliction although is unpleasant it is necessary for the Christian man or woman because if it were not for the struggle you're going through how would you know that God will never leave you nor forsake you if it were not for the Affliction in your body how else would you know that by his stripes we are healed if it were not for the financial challenges that you faced how would you have known that the Lord is a provider I believe that as we go through life and face different trials should we remain in the Lord should we continue trusting in the mighty name of Jesus Christ should we stand firm and believe God's promises to be true then we will experience what the Bible talks about in James 1 verse 2 to 4. consider it nothing but joy my brothers and sisters whenever you fall into various trials be assured that the testing of your faith through experience produces endurance leading to spiritual maturity and inner peace and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and completely developed in your faith lacking in nothing afflictions bring about a result in you it leads to spiritual maturity it produces endurance afflictions will result in you praying with a purpose afflictions will leave you with a desire to really connect with God because you know that you cannot go through this battle with your own strength when the Lord allows you to go through tough times when he allows you to face certain obstacles he is refining molding and shaping you in his divine plan he knows that this situation will build your character this situation will build your faith this situation will build your prayer life so be encouraged the Lord is Sovereign the Lord is in control I'd like to speak to you about how you can build strength and confidence in the Lord you can always stand strong on God's promises and I say this because in life there will come a time when you will encounter deep Waters the wind will blow and disrupt things the rain will fall but if you stand on God's word if you stand on his promises you are standing on firm ground God's word and his promises should be our foundation so that whatever comes against you the foundation that is the word of God it will shelter you chaos may be all around you but the promises of God will be your Refuge the waters may rise your life may be shaken that's reality for all of us but let me tell you this there is a place to run to there's a place to stand and there's a foundation that is sure and that Foundation is the word of God there are no limits to the power of God and his promises to his children Deuteronomy 11 verse 18 and the Amplified translation says therefore you shall impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul and tie them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as bands frontals frontlets on your forehead that's powerful God's word should be imprinted engraved etched in our minds how many things do we memorize and take to heart but those things actually offer no value to our souls we need to take God's word seriously because in a time of spiritual attack you and I should fall back on the word of God that's in our hearts when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil what did he say over and over again to Satan he said it is written he referred to the word he didn't open a Bible he didn't look for a scroll so that he could quote a passage from the book of Isaiah no he knew the word it was in his heart and we need to learn this Secret the word of God should be in our hearts so that we can defeat the evil one when we're tempted God's word has power and it's a valuable resource to each one of us I'm sure that each of us when we've gone through certain things in life when we Face difficulties or challenges if you're anything like me then you will go through that situation trying to figure out how will this work for my good when we are in trouble how many of us want details from God how many of us ask God why am I going through this how many of us ask God questions like God if you're going to make a way out for me how exactly are you going to do it at precisely what time will you come to my rescue how long will I have to go through this before things actually start turning around for my good but God doesn't always give us answers while we are in the fire all we can do is have faith in his promises promises like those found in am 1 verse 7 which says the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who trust in him we ought to hold on to the promises like those found in Psalm 55 verse 22 which says cast your burden on the Lord and He Shall sustain you he shall never permit the righteous to be moved [Music]