We begin to see our life as futile. Each day is the same as the next. We need to be reassured by God Himself that He has not forgotten us and there is a reason for our circumstances. But, often during these times, it seems our prayers hit the ceiling and bounce back. All of our strength is sapped. There is nothing, though, within the Bible that teaches God ever forsakes his children. He will strongly test us and He will allow us to endure much difficulty, but He will never forsake his blood-redeemed children.

The hardest thing we have to do is wait when heaven seems to be silent. God engineers every circumstance in our life and he knows how to tailor circumstances to each individual he tests.

Satan's part in all of this is to get you to lose faith. Stay in belief and God's plan for you will continue. When we are on the back side of the desert, we are not abandoned. God is working it out. He will teach us "His Way."

One thing you will discover is that your needs are not really as substantial as you like to think. Many times we have trouble distinguishing between a need and a want. God, however, does not have that problem.

God gave us the Bible to go to for every occasion and season of our life, and it is not surprising that the Bible is especially helpful to us when we are in the midst of crisis, perceived or real.

The Bible is God's inspired revelation of the origin and destiny of all things. Here heaven is opened, the gates of hell disclosed.

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's charter.

It is the power of God unto eternal salvation and the source of ever-present help - for body, soul and spirit.

Christ is its grand subject, man's good is its design, and the Glory of God its end.

It is a mine of wealth, source of health and a world of pleasure.

The Bible is God's will or testament to men in all ages, revealing the plan of God for man here and now and in the next life.

It will be opened at the judgment and lasts forever.

It involves the highest responsibility, will reward for the least to the greatest of labor and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents. It includes literature, history, biography, poetry, proverbial sayings, hymns, letters, directions for worship, laws, parables, riddles, allegories, prophecy, and all other forms of human experiences.

It is the only book that reveals the mind of God, state of man and the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the joy of believers.

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts binding, its histories true and God's decisions revealed in it are immutable.

It contains light to direct, spiritual food to sustain and comfort to cheer.

Man should read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy.

Read it to fill your memory, rule your heart and guide you to righteousness and holiness.

Just a week before when the rain began to fall I discovered that our new house was built in a flood zone! Our insurance didn't cover floods and our basement would have to be gutted and redone! It would cost thousands of dollars!

The magnitude of the situation caused my nerves to frazzle and my emotions to explode in ups and downs on how I was ever going to get this project accomplished! My son's room was in the basement and now he had no where to sleep. The few pieces of furniture that were saved were in the living room along with my son's bed. The house was in such disarray I wanted to pull out my hair.

We had moved to our new house just one year before happy that we would have to do very little fixing up, but now everything had changed. Our home business was growing by leaps and bounds. The phone was ringing off the wall and new employees needed to be hired and trained for our expanding business.

The pressure was so great that I found myself lashing out at my children and my husband and secretly plotting to jump in my car and leave everything behind. In desperation I went to a doctor and he put me on two antidepressants, but it wasn't making me feel any better.

We stopped going to church because we were working all of the time to keep up with the business and make the necessary repairs to our basement. I stopped praying except for emergencies and reading my Bible, "Well, there just wasn't any time!"

My husband had a child from a former marriage and this child was disruptive. Every time it was time for visitation I prepared myself for a fight. It wasn't just the problems with his daughter it was her mother and her husband too. They demanded that we give in and buy anything they needed for her because we had more money than them. All I could think about was we already paid child support and she should buy these things from that money.

To make my frustration even worse my husband gave into all of their demands and this caused a serious rift in our marriage. I kept telling him to stand up to his daughter and ex-wife. But no matter what I said he wouldn't listen! He loved his daughter and he wanted a relationship with her and he felt he had no choice but to give them what they wanted.

And then it happened, a man who I met through our business began to show me some attention. He was thoughtful as he listened to my troubles. He smiled and invited me to take a ride on his motorcycle. He would call me on my phone and encourage me. I began to think of him as my friend and I looked forward to his calls and text messages.

I started blocking the bad from my mind and entertaining a brand new life with my motorcycle man. He didn't have any children, because he had never been married. Sure he told me he had been in jail for a few years, but he was a changed man and he wanted a wife and family.

Every time I thought of him it seemed easy, but when I thought about my own life it was a disaster. I began to pull even more away from my husband and family. I treated everyone badly and I left most of the phone calls over our business and the work for my husband to manage. All I could think about was myself and how horrible my life had become.

It amazes me how easily good people can be deceived because of the traumas everyone faces in the world game of life. This is the reason it is so important that we understand why bad things happen to people and how to avoid a massive disaster in the making. Our fight in this world is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan.

Ephesians 6:12, "For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age."

Natural disasters happen because Satan has the power to create havoc in our world. Jesus came to open our eyes to the devil's attacks. He came to teach us to be patient when we are forced to rebuild after a flood. He heals our broken hearts and gives us supernatural strength so we can stand up while we put our lives back together with joy and peace. He tells us in the "Lord's Prayer" how to pray so we can win the fight against Satan's evil tricks.

Matthew 6: 13, "Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One."

Satan will take a disaster and overwhelm us to the point of paralyzing our ability to function. He will tell us over and over again that we have too much to handle. He is a constant voice of deceit that takes place in the battle field of our mind. A war that pits good against evil by taking our weak human thinking and making us believe that our suffering is overwhelming and impossible to overcome.

This is the reason why there are twenty million people depressed in the United States alone. When we don't understand that the battle of good versus evil takes place within our minds we are subject to how the world believes. Satan is the god of this world and his answer for people who are under mental fatigue from anxiety is medication. He tells us to think only of ourselves and numb the reality of our lives with alcohol and drugs.

Satan wants to destroy families. He wants a second marriage to fail because of complications with children from other relationships. He wants us to take our frustrations out on them and harbor grudges against the other parents. He wants to make us blame our mates so we will hate instead of love our families. Jesus tells us to forgive as many as seventy times seven.

Matthew 6: 12, "Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us."

Satan is so evil that he will provide us ways to escape, which really are meant to make our lives even worse. This is the reason why many husbands and wives commit adultery when they are faced with a hard problem. They reach out to another person instead of Jesus for comfort and become lured away and trapped by compounding a situation into a substantial problem evolving a messy breakup that only leads to more frustration!

James 1: 12-15, "Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. If a person is tempted by such trials, he must not say, 'This temptation comes from God.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But a person is tempted when he is drawn away and trapped by his own evil desire. Then his evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

This is the reason why it is so easy for Satan to deceive people into believing that God caused a natural disaster. The media proclaims when a disaster occurs that it is an "Act of God". This simply is not true, God cannot commit evil. But Satan has the freedom to cause evil. He has the ability to tempt a person. He is the great deceiver, who came to bring every evil problem that can destroy people's lives.

1 Corinthians 10: 13, "Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out."

I gave my pastor a hug as he explained why all these bad things were occurring in my life. I knew Satan was a terrible force against Christians but I had no idea how easily he could persuade me to hate instead of love my family. I really did love my husband and his daughter. Just acknowledging this helped me to feel stronger.

Truth is living for the Lord and believing the Christ came that we may live an abundant and prosperous life is a choice we make made regardless of the trials that come along; and they will come no matter who you are.

It doesn't matter how long you've been saved, how much you do right, or how much you love God. 1 Peter 4:12 says, "Do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something (unusual and alien to you) were befalling you" (Amplified Bible Version).

No one is exempt from trials! Why? Because there's an enemy whose only mission is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He works hard to influence our thinking and cause us to make choices that are not good. These choices, which are the "cause," lead to an "effect," which are a result.

Oftentimes we can also find ourselves in negative circumstances because of the choices others make.

Beloved, if you find yourself in a negative circumstance today, just know that what Satan means for your harm, God will use for your good. I have seen it over and over in my own life. You may not be delivered out of your problems immediately. But rest assured God will use your negative circumstances for your benefit and for His glory.

Even though many things in life are not within our control, one thing is - how we react to negative circumstances. Our attitude is the determining factor that moves us out of negative circumstances and into more positive ones. One thing I know for sure that helps to get out of a negative attitude is Praise.

Praise absolutely stops the enemy in his tracks and confuses him. He is bewildered at how we can still praise God in the midst of his relentless attack.

After praise is Prayer, a prayer of confession. The Word of God declares that we overcome by the Word of testimony. The word of our testimony is what comes out of our mouth.

Let confuse the enemy a little bit here. Let's declare (speak out loud) that as children of the most High Almighty God.

Our God is the God who gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak " Isaiah 40:29

Our God is the God who has redeemed us and summoned us by name; we are His" Isaiah 43:1

Our God is the God who is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Our God is the God who is faithful, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deut.7:9

The God who whose unfailing love for us will not be shaken nor His covenant of peace be removed." Isaiah 54:10

Our God is the God who instructs us and teach us in the way we should go; who counsels us and watch over us." Psalm 32:8

Our God is the God who turns darkness into light before us and makes the rough places smooth. Isaiah 42:16

Our God is the God who sustains us, who made us and will carry us and will rescue us. Isaiah 46:4

Our God is the God who adds years to our life." Proverbs 9:11

Our God is the God who said no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what He has prepared for us his children." 1 Cor. 2:9

Our God is the God who longs to be gracious to us; so much so that He rises to show us compassion. Isaiah 30:18

Our God is the God who gives us His peace which transcends all understanding, and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:7

Our God is the God who despite His sovereignty we His children call upon Him and He will take the time to us." Jeremiah 29:12

Our God is the God who says "Before we call He will answer; while we are still speaking He will hear." Isaiah 65:24

Our God is the God who says that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." 1 John 5:14

Our God is the God who keeps us from all harm both now and forevermore." Psalm 121:7, 8

Our God is the God who walks with us through the waters and keeps them from overtaking us. Who covers us and walks through the fire so we will not be burned, keeping the flames from setting us ablaze." Isaiah 43:1,2

Our God is the God who loves us so much that our Saviour appeared and saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour. " Titus 3:4-6

Our God is the God who showers us with me riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. Whose fruit is better than fine gold surpasses choice silver." Proverbs 8: 18,19

Now let's confuse Satan some more and pray the Word of God! Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I declare that I have your favor today! I declare that I am strong and well able to fulfill my God given destiny; I know you are fighting my battles for me. I declare that I am a victor and not a victim. I may have been defeated in the past but the past is past, this is new day.

Your word says that "I am the head and not the tail" "I will lend and I will not borrow". Every thing I touch will prosper and succeed according to your perfect will because of your favor my Father. I declare that by your stripes I am healed today. I will live and not die. I declare that you are restoring health unto me, and with long life you satisfy me.

Father, today, I declare your favor in my relationship with you, favor in my relationship with my spouse and my family, favor in relationships with my friends, and favor in relationships in my business. I want to thank you for causing me to be at the right place at the right time. I want to thank you for causing people to want to help me and making me a blessing to help others.

Today, Father I want to thank you for blessing me with creativity, I want to thank you for causing me to make good decisions with a clear mind. I declare that you are smiling down on me today and that your favor will be in everything I do because I am pleasing to you. I declare that I will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country, blessed coming in and blessed going out.

I claim right now, Psalm 84:11 that you are blessing me with favor and honor and no good thing will you withhold from me because my walk is blameless. I claim Habakkuk 2:3 that my vision is for an appointed time. Though it may tarry, I will earnestly wait for it, for it will surely come.

I declare today that I am filled with your can do power my Father. Between you and me, we are the majority and I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I know that your Word says that, "no man has seen, heard or even imagined the wonderful things that you have in store for those that love you" and I want to tell you this morning that I love you and I want to thank you for loving me.

I want to thank you for your favor today, not because of who I am, but because of whose I am. I am a child of the most high God, the creator of the whole universe. I commit this day to you.

In Jesus name,
Amen

We can be certain that during our journey through life, dark clouds bringing life’s storms will gather and overtake us. It could be said that throughout all our life either a new storm is looming on the horizon about to come upon us, or we are in the midst of a storm, or a storm has just passed over us.

Life’s storms can be in the form of financial, health, family, employment, accident, injury, disaster or any number of other minor and major issues that will occur during our lives. Even the simple stresses of daily living might qualify as a storm for some people. Sometimes pride will enter into our life as a type of storm, often without us realizing it, and manifest itself in many ways. However, the real question that must be asked is: ‘How do we handle the storms of life that we know will come our way?’

On the surface, people seem to cope with these storms in various ways. Some will just try to get through them the best way they can with much stress and heartache as the result. Others have lives that are constantly in such a state of chaos and disruption that they might not even recognize them as storms that must be dealt with rationally. However, the Bible believing Christian’s faith and trust must be in the Lord allowing Him to guide them through the storms. By the way, don’t think that Christians won’t have storms in their lives just because they are trusting in the Lord. They will have troubles too, perhaps even more of them. The big difference though is that when the storms come, they know they can lean on the One who can cause the mountains to bow down and the seas to roar just at the sound of His name. He alone has the power to calm the angry and raging storms just through the power of His spoken Word.

The Apostles learned that great lesson of faith and trust as found in Matt. 8, Mark 4 and also Luke 8. Jesus had been teaching to the multitudes along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When evening came, Jesus and His disciples entered into a boat to cross over to the other side. During their journey, a great windstorm came upon them with waves breaking over the boat threatening their lives. The disciples became very much afraid and awoke Jesus who had been sleeping in the boat. They said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He rose from His sleep and commanded to the wind by saying, ‘Peace, be still!’ as recorded in Mark 4:39 (KJV). Immediately, the wind ceased its raging and the sea became calm.

Jesus then said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you have no faith?’ The disciples after being rebuked were fearful and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and sea obey Him!’ Although they had seen Jesus perform other miracles, now they had just witnessed His awesome power over nature and suddenly realized He was even greater than they had thought.

Just as the disciples were taught a valuable lesson in faith and trust, we too must learn to lean on Him, not only during the storms in our life, but in all things. We must remember that God is in complete control of everything, even those storms that we must face in life. We need to seek the Lord in prayer and search His Word not only during the storms, but also every day even when things seem to be calm.

Many scriptures speak of His awesome power; His comfort, care and help toward us in our times of trouble; our dependence on Him; and our never ending need for strength, faith and trust in Him and His Word. Also, many Christian hymns and gospel songs use portions of those same scriptures in their lyrics as well. Some of those scriptures read as follows:

Josh. 1:5 ….I will be with you; I will never fail you or forsake you.

Psm. 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psm. 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psm. 107:28,29 (v28) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. (v29) He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.

Psm. 121:1-2, 8 (v1) I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? (v2) My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. (v8) The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.

Isa. 25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall.

Isa. 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Isa. 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Jere. 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Sometimes God allows things to happen in our lives to get our attention. If we truly belong to Him, we know from Heb. 12:6 that, ‘For whom the Lord loves He disciplines’. All true believers need, and will receive, reminders from God that prompt us to strengthen our faith and trust in Him. Those reminders might also mean we have un-confessed sin in our life; or perhaps we need to spend more time in prayer and in His Word; or we just need to be more dependent and draw closer to Him. Many times the storms of our life are trials or stumbling blocks God places in our path to test our faith. They can cause us to grow spiritually and reinforce our foundation in the Lord. Jesus said in Luke 11:28 that blessed are those who hear and keep the Word of God. We must also remember that 1 Thes. 5:18,19 tells us to pray without ceasing and give thanks for all things in Jesus’ Name.

Speaking of storms, do you know for certain where you will spend eternity? Five million years from today we will all be somewhere. The question is where? It is certain we won’t just simply ‘cease to be’ in some non-existent ‘never-never’ land, because the Bible tells us the soul will never die. There are only two possible places where we will spend all of eternity.

If you don’t know Jesus, and if you’ve never trusted Him, and if you’ve never invited Him into your heart as your Lord and Savior, then you can expect a coming storm that defies all imagination. That storm is on the horizon for you if you have chosen to reject Jesus and His message of salvation during this life. This storm will never go away because it will continue on forever and ever, and it could begin for you tomorrow. It will be dark because Jesus who is the light of the world will not be there. You will not be able to call on God for help and comfort either. He will never hear you since you chose not to accept Him and follow Him while you had the chance in this life. Along with the never-ending torment, demons, unquenchable fire, darkness, screams of despair and indescribable evil, you just don’t want to be caught in that storm. But sadly, many will choose to go there because they did not choose Jesus. God does not send us there, because it’s clearly a choice we make of our own free will. Also, no one can ever be ‘good enough’ by the things they do, or by being the kind of person they are, or by living a good life, to avoid the horrors of Hell. Many good, loving, caring, upstanding, and yes, even church-going people who claim to be Christians will be there. Soccer moms will be there, dads who would live and die for their families will be there, caring grandparents will be there too – all because they didn’t really know Jesus.

How can we really and truly know Him? Just simply knowing about Him or just believing that He exists is not the answer. How do we avoid that horrible final storm? How can we know that we will spend all of eternity enjoying the splendors of Heaven on the Hills of Glory?

The Bible teaches that we are all born in sin. Also, it teaches that the wages of that sin is eternal separation from God. He hates sin and cannot look upon it. However, He loves us so much He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross in our place to carry the sin burden of the entire world on His shoulders. That also includes you and me. He only requires that we repent, confess our sins to Him and put our faith and trust in Him. That is the way we are ‘born again’. If anyone tries to tell you there are other ways to Heaven, don’t believe it because many will try to deceive you. Scripture is very clear about that.

We must be convicted of our hopeless condition and that we are worthy of death in His eyes. We need to sincerely humble ourselves before Him and cry out, ‘Oh God help me! I am a lost sinner! I am lost without you! I can’t go through these storms alone any longer! I need you in my life! Oh God help me now!’

Then, our sins must be confessed to God for Him to forgive them as He has promised to do. We need to repent or turn away from our old sinful life. He will help you do that if you just ask Him. As you talk with Him and pray, just imagine that He is sitting next to you holding your hand or that He has His strong arms around you. He is that close to you, just the two of you there wherever you are. It’s just awesome that we can be talking with the Creator of all that exists in this personal and emotional way. There are no ‘proper’ words to say, just say them from your heart and He will hear you. Don’t be afraid of tears because He will wipe them all away.

Tell Him you believe that Jesus came to die for you, to shed His blood for you and then, invite Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior. Just say, ‘I believe what you did for me and I invite you into my heart now, today. Forgive my sins and wash me whiter than snow’. Then just thank Him and praise Him for saving you in Jesus’ name.

If you just gave your heart to the Lord, your life will never be the same. You will have the comfort, strength and assurance that only He can provide. The storms of this life can be given to Him in prayer. He will truly be your friend as well as your provider and protector. You will learn to pray and find guidance and comfort through His written Word in your daily life. Just live for Him with all that is within you. The rewards are out of this world and for all eternity. As for that final storm we talked about earlier, well, now you will never experience that one. Instead you will spend all of eternity in a much better place that He is preparing for His own. Praise God!

The words of the songwriter say it all much better than I can possibly do it.

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry; everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful; who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear.
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer,
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

Don Mehl