In Times of Trouble

"Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into His heavenly Kingdom.  All glory to God forever and ever! Amen"  2 Timothy 4:18

Sometimes the Lord doesn't deliver us from troubles in the way we think He should.  We want to be completely removed from the situation.  In the case of my Mother, I want complete healing from the Alzheimers disease.  But that is not what God has intended at this moment and I am assured according to His promises that He will heal her once she reaches heaven for there will be no sickness there.

I journal.  I write my prayers, thoughts and devotions to God and as I was looking backward on past entries, I came upon an entry from March 13.  The devotion I read was from Charles Stanley's In Touch magazine.  The devotion sheds light on thinking about adversity and pain and asked us to take a different look at adversity from God's perspective and not ours.  Think upon these questions:

 1. Which is a greater demonstration of the Lord's power changing something around me or changing something within my heart?

2. Which is the greater faith builder, seeing God's deliverance for every difficulty or experiencing  His presence and strengthening in the midst of trials?

3. Which is greater, the immediate relief from discomfort or a tested and refined faith that will result in praise and glory when Christ returns?

4. Which answers to prayer is greater, that God has removed something and given me extended peace or that He's left me in a trial and given an internal peace that nothing can steal not even my circumstances?

God uses our trials, pain and adversities to grow our faith and trust in Him.  Father, give me strength and wisdom in the midst of trials to remember who You are and that You see the complete picture and I only see the moment.