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HOW TO HANDLE TROUBLE, PART II

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In this life, we are guaranteed to have trouble and trials. It’s a part of life, but God uses our trials to do mighty things in us! This week we are still talking about what to do when trials come knocking at our door. One thing is for certain… they will!!! Here’s how to handle those trouble God’s way…

Last week we discussed the WHY of a trial. Please go HERE to read the first part of this series.

This week we will discuss HOW to get through troubles…

Most of us, when faced with a trial, can become worried, upset, distracted, angry, frustrated, annoyed, snarky, baffled, moody, and a whole lot more.

Trials, even little ones, can be very uncomfortable. The really mess up our plans!  

We learned last week that a trial is a test. It is an indicator. It shows US what our faith looks like, and in WHOM we have faith!  

We also found out that if we go through a trial, big or small, there is something to be joyful about. A trial, if done God’s way, can mature us and make us more Christ-like. If we try to flounder our way through it, most likely it will break us down!  

Then, how does God want us to go through troubling times in our lives?  This is a very important question that we should be asking and it is life changing if we know and OBEY what God tells us to do in those hard times.

To find out how to go through a trial we need to go back to the book of James. James 1:5 says…  

“If any of you lack in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly without reproach or faultfinding, and it will be given to him”.  

My son Christopher hated school projects. And our school loved them and assigned them liberally! Sometimes, instead of doing them in a timely manner he would put them off to until the last minute. And then, when he could not put off the dreaded task any longer, he would panic because he was in BIG trouble!  


Why was this “big trouble”? You see, we had a rule in our family, if you did not do homework you could not play sports. And Chris was all about sports!!! And we were all about being consistent!  

He would eventually come to his Daddy or me, often the night before a big project was due, asking for help. Because we loved Christopher we would help him. But we would not do his work for him. When he was young that usually looked like helping him make a plan and then sitting up late into the night until HE got the project done.  

Although, these long nights were VERY frustrating for our son it really taught him about procrastinating and grit and showed Him how much we loved him because we were willing to talk through his long night with him.

God is our Heavenly Father. Our Abba! Our Daddy! He loves us and wants to help us.  

James 1:5 starts out with the word “IF”. The Greek word for IF really means “KNOW FOR SURE”. It really does not mean IF. Odd I know. But it’s a translation mistake from Greek to English.  

So God is saying KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO LACK THE WISDOM TO HANDLE THIS PROBLEM THE WAY I WANT YOU TO.   

Most of us can handle a trial OUR way but that is not the way God wants us to handle them. He wants us to seek Him out and ask HIM for the wisdom to handle each trial.   And God says that if we ask Him for His wisdom in times of trouble he will give wisdom to us and give it to us liberally and ungrudgingly without finding fault with us or disapproving or discrediting us!

Now doesn’t that sound loving? It sure does to me!   He is waiting with open arms! God lovingly wants to pour His wisdom out over us and give us the tools to come through a trial His way.

The two-fold question now is do we believe God can give us wisdom to get us out of trouble and do we want to get out of trouble God’s way?  

James 1:6-7 says:  

“Only it must be in faith (believing) that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating or doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates or doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the sea. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything (he asks for) from God”.  

As Christopher got older, he go better at coming to his Daddy and me to ask for help. He learned to come to us as soon as he got a school project.  We would help him map out a plan of success one that, if he would work on his project a little bit each night, would have the project done right and in time AND with much less stress!  

Sometimes he would follow the plan and sometimes, well not so much!  

When he would follow our wisdom he was successful.  But, when he fell back into his old habit of putting off a project until the last minute… I called that his default setting… he would find himself in a familiar mess again!  

I remember one night about 1:00 in the morning, Christoper came up to our bedroom in a panic. Shaking me awake he moaned, “Mom, I need your help I’ll have to stay up all night to get this project done”.  

Before I could answer, his Daddy, who was awake by now, answered.  “No son, we gave you a plan. You will have to work it out for yourself. We are going back to sleep.”  

That was it! Christopher left the room without another word. He knew his Daddy meant business! Bobby turned over and went back to sleep. I stayed up and in the dark of our bedroom worried about my precious son. I knew Bobby was right, but I still hurt for my son!  

God, our Father is ALL Wise! He knows the trials you are in and just what you need to get through them and become mature in the process.  HE  has a plan!  

He promises us that if we go to him he will lavish us with His wisdom! But we MUST, let me say this again, MUST believe that GOD will do this and believe we must follow the plan He gives us.  

Just like our son Christopher if we follow God’s plan we can get through our trials and come out better in many ways.  

But please hear this God’s plans are not always our plans!

We might have our own ideas about how WE want a trial handled. We might not want to go through a trial and do it God’s way.    God’s wisdom in a trial is available for all. But if we doubt and waiver, if we fall back into our comfortable default settings, God says we will receive nothing.

He wants the best for us. Many times our way of handling things is the easy way out, the way of least resistance, the path of destruction. Our plans in times of trouble don’t grow us! God’s wisdom does!  

We could have done the projects for our son, or run to help him when he disregarded our original plan but how would that have helped Christopher in the long run?  

Chris learned a very valuable lesson when he had to stay up all night working on his project.  The next day he went to school exhausted and with a very poorly done homework project. One day after an all-nighter he came home sick from exhaustion and could not go to football practice!

Although my heart ached for him I knew we had done the right thing. We were teaching him. Equipping him. Teaching him to obey, to find the way of wisdom. We were teaching him that actions have consequences. All valuable lessons!  

God is our great teacher too! He wants to teach us into Christian maturity. He wants to grow us and move us on the right path. The path of looking more and more like Christ.

So each trial can have a positive, although sometimes painful, effect on us.  

So here’s how to get through a trial God’s way…

  • Come to God in trials and ask Him for His wisdom in handling it.  
  • ASK!
  • Don’t doubt that He WILL give you wisdom, a plan!
  • Believe in God and don’t waiver! When the temptation to second guess God or go another way cling to Him! Believe in the wisdom He gives you!
  • Stay with God’s plan no matter what. Don’t let a trial’s circumstance have power over you.  
  • Know that if you do waiver and do things your way God will have no part of it.  He has nothing to do with self-destruction!    
  • Memorize James 1:5-7. Read it every day! Three times a day.  

James 1:1-7 needs to be a part of all of the very fiber of our souls!!!

God’s word is so wise and practical and helpful to us.   Again, I will not be checking homework it’s between you and God!          

The Bible says…

The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteousness run into it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10. Here is a printable suitable for framing with the names of God and their meanings.

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Comments

  1. There are some times in life when we just give up. My brother in law has just been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and given 6 months to a year to live. He is 67 and in excruciating pain. He and my sister in law retired in March after working so hard all their lives. In the past weeks I’ve prayed very hard but find that now, I just can’t pray at all. What do we ask for? There’s nothing to make this better. I find myself thinking about the two of them constantly and cannot begin to know what to pray for. This is just so devastating to them and their family.

    Reply

    • I am so so sorry Margo! These are the times where there is just no words. The Holy Spirit knows your prayers and brings them before the Throne Of Grace!

      Reply

  2. I very much enjoy your Sunday posts. Although I appreciate the fact that sponsored ads pay your salary, it is very distracting with your Sunday messages. Videos with Charlie the Tuna playing, Cesar dog food ads, Saks Fifth Ave sales and 40% Lens Crafters distract from the message. Maybe you can consider taking one day off a week from advertisements to allow us to concentrate on your posts about God.(which are so wonderful!!)

    Reply

  3. Thanks, Yvonne, for another wonderful devotional! There is always so much to think about and apply to our life. I always look forward to these posts and have also shared them with friends. You are such a blessing to us! Blessings!

    Reply

  4. I really do appreciate your wisdom, Yvonne. He is there for us; we just have to go to Him in prayer. The key is He answers the way He knows best and that’s where some struggle. Our will vs. His will.

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  5. This is a great piece you have posted. Really enjoyed reading it.
    Faith! Gotta have it to get through these days we are living in now!❤️

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  7. Hi Yvonne, thanks for your timely message. I accepted Christ when I was 12. My life has been pretty much textbook, troubles, and good times alike through our almost 50 yrs. But for the last 2 yrs, it has been excruciatingly difficult. Our oldest son fought an 18 mos battle with colon cancer and passed over to heaven 4 days after Christmas. I prayed continually for his healing and really believed it would come…….even in remaining days at Hospice. He was a wonderful man, so full of life and used his remaining strength to preach 2 times at church using the “white rope” of eternity as an illustration. How I miss him!!! But after all this happened, our daughter in law suddenly decided she was walking away from our lives with their three daughters. Our middle son found out his wife was in love with someone else and she wanted a divorce. He has been basically homeless up till now, but is finally in a place of safety. I feel like JOB!!! I am really struggling!! I pray for guidance as to how to handle all of this, but don’t seem to get an answer. We love our DIL unconditionally and want her back in our lives……………..this loss is so difficult. Would you pray for our family? I love your blog and read every post.

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  8. AMEN!! Bless you both for giving your son a most valuable lesson! The best lessons of life I have learned have been those like the lesson you gave Chris! You stood firm in your beliefs and your faith! Just what the sermon was about today! Stand firm! Blessings this holiday weekend!

    Reply

  9. I have been following your blog recently. I am impressed with the decorating and menu ideas. However, when I opened the ‘How to Handle Trouble”…section, it was as if it was a reminder to me to follow what someone is trying to tell me. I have great love and respect for God and Jesus and everyone up there that is looking out for me and yet, I find it difficult to ask . It’s almost like I only have one wish, and only one, so I’m saving it for the worst but each time I realize that everything has gotten worse and the ‘cup is running over rapidly’ and I cannot save what is spilling over. I find it difficult to ask for ‘me’, personally. I’ve prayed for others close to me and I’ve prayed hard. On a daily basis, I know they are looking down and watching over me. I know God has a plan for all of us and I’ve been waiting to see if He will intervene. I don’t think of these roadblocks everyday but I try so hard to overcome them but it’s difficult.

    Reply

    • Hi Barbara, I hope you don’t mind if I make a suggestion. Get in your Bible. You might want to start with the book of John. And see what God’s very words say about Him. He says His mercies are new every day. It says He loves us more than we can ever know or imagine. It says He is a good Father. Wouldn’t you love it if your children came to you and trusted you for the answers to their problems? Wouldn’t you love and lavish help on them.
      God LOVES us, in fact GOD IS LOVE! Not the unreliable and often selfish love we love others with but a perfect sacrificial love.

      God is waiting for you to ask for wisdom. And He PROMISES to give it to you! Read God’s word every day and find out just how WONDERFUL He is.

      Reply

  11. Yvonne,
    You know just where I am! I have a Christian lady who has deeply hurt me. I’m waiting on God to direct me in handling this. She is a new believer whom I am mentoring, so I need to pray for a direction that will not upset her.

    Our Bible study has a A.S.K. program which stands for ask, seek and knock. This is our prayer list. I praise God for your spiritual leading.

    Reply

  13. Yvonne – The lesson from you last Sunday and this Sunday were an answer from God thru you. It came at a time when I really needed it. Thank you and may God bless you and yours.

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  14. Yvonne,
    I have just begun to follow Stone Gable and I am always in awe at your creativity and beautiful decoration ideas.
    This afternoon, I am reading your Trouble Part two after church and your words are so profound,
    they should be in a sermon. What a wonderful parable you shared, and a great lesson for us all. Thank you for your message. To Him be the glory. God Bless! Happy Sunday.

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  15. Amen…We need to hear, practice & study this message often. These 3 verses can “shore up” faith when default is imminent.
    And …we knooow who loves “default”!!!!!
    Thank You, Yvonne

    Reply

  16. Loved this! When we remain open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and trust God with the direction of our lives, we will have God’s blessing and even become a source of blessing to others.

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  17. This message of wisdom is so timely for me today. Thank you for sharing His word. It lifts my spirit and straightened my path. God bless you and happy, happy blogging and God’s love to your Christopher and Bobby too. And I love your orange little trouble on the front page. We have the same color and troublesome creature in the dog type. ~ Deb

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  20. I love these Sunday lessons! I have a friend who is going through a hard time and I am going to share these verses with her.

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  22. Wow!!!! Yvonne, you have hit the nail on the head!! I try so hard but sometimes I am like your son!!! Thank you so much for putting this in perspective and for the verses in James! God bless and have a blessed Sunday and a Labor Day. XXOO

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  23. Thank you so much for the wonderful words of encouragement. God’s word. So refreshing in these times of social media to have someone like you encouraging her sister’s in Christ

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  24. Excellent, Yvonne! I’m loving this series. Your Sunday scriptures are so valuable and such a blessing. Have a wonderful day!

    Reply

  25. Thank you, Yvonne, what a wonderful message to wake up to this morning. James 1:5 is a big part of my life. Our church’s theme for the youth this year comes from this verse, and is “Just ask!” Many, many of us are asking with sincerity better than we have in the past, and we are receiving answers to our prayers. I am not always sure about the specifics of my answer, but I know the general direction I should take. And what I do know is that Heavenly Father is there, guiding me and encouraging me.

    I really appreciate your thoughtful encouragement as well. You inspire me in many ways! Have a wonderful sabbath.

    Reply