Ed Strauss - Devotions for Difficult Times: Bible Encouragement for Your Life

2016 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Print ISBN 978-1-63409-723-9

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Scripture quotations marked MSG are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Jesus said, Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. Its a promise: You can expect suffering during your lifetime. Jesus went on to say, But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NLT ). This is good news, but it doesnt necessarily mean the Lord will quickly resolve any difficulties you encounter.

What He offers is not a problem-free life, but the strength to endure your burdens and overcome your tests. Christians today are not spared many of the griefs that assail humanityincluding financial pressures, bankruptcies, dysfunctional relationships, marital breakups, accidents, and diseases. This is why God gave us His Word, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope (Romans 15:4 NKJV ).

Devotions for Difficult Times draws from these deep wells of encouragement. It was written to breathe life into you when you are forced to walk a very difficult path. It doesnt offer simplistic answers to serious problems, but it does offer hopereal hopefor your darkest hours.

This devotional declares boldly that God will never, ever forsake you, even when your way seems impossible, your circumstances seem unbearable, and you are most tempted to despair. May you find hope in these pages.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.

I SAIAH 40:11 NIV

When the disciples tried to keep children away from Jesus, He said, Let the little children come to me (Mark 10:14 NIV ). He then took them in His arms and blessed them. Gathering the lambs in His arms has always been Jesus way.

But if you have suffered abuse or neglect, gone hungry, or experienced trauma, you may wonder where the Lord was. And where is He now? The Bible assures you: The L ORD is close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18 NIV ). God sees your pain. He loves you and cares deeply for you.

Whatever anyone has done to you, they have done to Jesus (Matthew 25:3445), so He empathizes with your suffering. In all their suffering he also suffered (Isaiah 63:9 NLT ). This is one reason Jesus was called a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3 KJV ).

God not only knows when you experience grief, but He feels your pain and is there to comfort you if you will let Him.

O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear.

I SAIAH 54:11, 14 NKJV

In these verses, God speaks to an afflicted person who has suffered from oppressors. Then He describes how she will be rebuilt with precious stones like a beautiful spiritual city (vv. 1112). The imagery God invokes is strikingly similar to the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 2122, and the similarity is intentional.

Have you suffered abuse in some form? Are you unable to find lasting comfort? Know that God can help you to gain victory over trauma, and He longs for you to experience peace. You can begin to enjoy a foretaste of heaven here and now.

God is able to restore your life and to build you up spiritually so that you will be strong and radiant. Allow His Holy Spirit to enter the darkest corners of your memories, wash away the fear, and cleanse you from guilt, anger, and insecurity.

Recovering from abuse can take years, but God can throw aside the curtains in sudden moments of revelation and splash His sunlight into your soul.

The Egyptians abused and battered us, in a cruel and savage slavery.

D EUTERONOMY 26:6 MSG

Women trapped in abusive relationships and children from dysfunctional families can identify with those words, abused and battered, yet they describe the desperate plight of Gods people in Egypt thirty-five hundred years ago.

The next verse says, We cried out to God. He listened to our voice, he saw our destitution, our trouble, our cruel plight (Deuteronomy 26:7 MSG ). The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help went up to God (Exodus 2:23 NIV ). God heard them and set them free.

God knows the suffering you have endured, He hears your prayers, and His heart is moved. He will take steps to deliver you from your plight and to comfort you.

He is with you, even in the silence and loneliness, and in your darkest moments when you feel the most damaged and worthless, He looks on you as His own child, of inestimable worth. One day you will meet Him face-to-face and He will wipe all tears from your eyes (Revelation 7:17). In the meantime, He is always with you, comforting you.

You make victims of the children and leave them vulnerable to violence and vice.

M ICAH 2:9 MSG

Frequently, children who are victims of abuse, violence, or neglect grow up insecure and, in later years, look for approval and acceptance in the wrong places. They may seek solace in alcohol or drugs, or search for fulfillment in unhealthy relationships, where they are vulnerable to further violence and vice.

You really have to admire those who had traumatic childhoods and yet are resolving and overcoming their issues to find wholeness and fulfillment. But it is not easy. God offers healing, but it takes a determination to rise above the past, to close the door to anger, and to build a new life in Christ.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV ). God does a major work in peoples heart at salvation, but complete transformation takes a lifetime. We beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV ).