My Guide to Dealing with Hard Times

When things get tough, we tend to not think, do, pray, or view God in the way we are suppose to. I mean in the way that God tells us to in His word. Our Lord has it all laid out for us, He tells us everything we need to know to make it through the trials in life. No matter how big or small they may be. The more I grow in my relationship with God the more I want to make sure that I am doing things the way He wants me to do them. So I have been searching for answers about how to be in times of trouble. I have found that no matter what denomination, any Christian preacher will preach the same thing about the first chapter in the book of James. This chapter tells us all we need to know when it comes to facing trouble.

Jam 1:2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
Jam 1:3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.
Jam 1:4 And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

So first of all, how are we supposed to THINK in times of trouble? James tells us to count it all joy. So what does this mean? Well it means that no matter how bad something is and no matter how sad or mad or whatever that it may makes us; we are to count it as joy. So how are we supposed to do that, say when someone dies or when someone we love is suffering from an illness? Well he goes on to tell us that we should know that we are going through these trials to make us stronger in our faith and in our patience. James goes on to explain that the trials that we are going through, they are supposed to make us stronger in our faith, they are going to make us perfect in the fact that we will want nothing! In other words, we will want nothing of this world, only God and His kingdom.

Jam 1:5 But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jam 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
Jam 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
Jam 1:8 a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

Next we need to know how to PRAY during times of trouble. It is first instinct to usually just ask God to help us get out of the trouble we are in and call it good. We all know that is not the way we are supposed to do it, but most of us tend to do it that way anyway. We think that He should just let us pray about it and ask it to be over and it will be done. He says He answers all prayers, right? Well, He does answer all prayers, but we are supposed to pray a certain way! We are supposed to ask for His will to be done, not our own. So just how are we suppose to pray in times of trouble?

Well in verse 5 James tells us that we are to ask for wisdom. We all lack wisdom, we know this. There is only one that knows all and that is our Father in Heaven! We ALL lack wisdom, so we are supposed to ask for that wisdom. James goes on to tell us that if we truly believe and we put all our faith in God, that He will give us the wisdom we need to overcome whatever trouble we are going through. James lets us know that if we doubt God we are unstable. Doubting God is a huge insult to our Father! We should not doubt anything about Him, we should have complete faith that He will give us the wisdom we need to overcome our trouble. We will never be stable if we do not let God have total control over our situation. Only He can fix it, which does not mean we are to just sit back. We ask for the wisdom that is needed and we move forward.

Jam 1:9 But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
Jam 1:10 and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
Jam 1:11 For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass: and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
Jam 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.

So how do we VIEW LIFE in times of trouble? Of course, James tells us how to do this as well. If we do not have the right view on life along with the right thoughts and prayers, we will never overcome our trials. James tells us that we are to rejoice in our heavenly riches. We will leave this earth one day, no matter what! We will leave this earth and what we have here on earth will not go with us. What we have awaiting us in heaven is so much greater than we could ever imagine or possible have while alive on this earth. So, we are not suppose to worry about what we have in our lives here on earth, we are just suppose to rejoice in what we will have when we reach our eternal home, heaven. We all need to take the time to evaluate our earthly riches. What we have here on earth will not help us out in heaven; we won't need any help there! We will have everything in heaven! So we need to take the time to think about what we have here on earth that means so much to us, you know that stuff that should mean nothing to us! We will demonstrate that our faith is genuine when we forget about what we have here on earth and rejoice in what we will have in heaven. We will receive the crown of life when we pass this test!!!

Jam 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
Jam 1:14 but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Jam 1:15 Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
Jam 1:16 Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.

Time for a big one now, how do we VIEW GOD in times of trouble? James tells us that we need to know that God is not to blame for the bad things that happen. Every man is tempted and put through trials and faces hard times in one way or another. God is never the source of temptation and will never cause us to do bad things or go through bad things. Many people use the excuse that goes something like "Well if God would not have allowed me to lose my job, I would not need to steal this money to get ...". You get the picture! That is an excuse for being tempted to do wrong! It is NOT Gods fault things went bad. Yes, we will all go through trials but it is not Gods fault when we do wrong because of those troubles. Remember that everything good in your life is from God! So, we need to view God as a wonderful Father who truly hates when things go bad in His children's lives, because that is indeed who He is. He loves us more than we can possibly understand. I think about the love that I have for my children . . . I would lay down my life for them at any given moment. . . I will do whatever I have to do to protect them; I love them so very much! Well, when I think about Gods love for me, I think about the love I have for my children, and multiply it by about a bazillion!!! That is how much God loves His children and when things are bad for us, He hurts too!!!

Jam 1:19 Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jam 1:20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Jam 1:21 Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jam 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
Jam 1:23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:
Jam 1:24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jam 1:25 But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

So now for the last part of this study . . . How do we ACT in times of trouble? First of all I think that James is telling us here to be eager to hear Gods word. When things get tough in life, the first thing we should want to do is run to God and His word. There is absolutely nothing more important than what God says and we need to especially know that in times of trouble. We need to make sure that we prepare ourselves to receive Gods word and know what He is telling us. That means to pray first, before ever reading a word in the Bible, pray about it. Remove all negativity from your mind and ask God to forgive you and make you teachable. Make me teachable God, that is something that I know I need to say and mean more before I ever even touch the Bible to read and learn His word. When we are in Gods word, even if it is not in times of trouble, we need to ask Him to make us susceptible to what He is telling us. We need to pray to be teachable!! Then James tells us that we need to live the word, not just read it and learn it, but do it!!! Live Gods Word, be a doer's of His word!!!

I truly pray that this has helped you to know what to do in times of trouble. We will all face trials and hard times. We can make a difference in how those times affect us and everyone around us if we just do what God tells us here in the first chapter of James. He lays it all out for us folks; there is nothing left to figure out. You now know how God wants you to think, pray, view life, view Him and act in times of troubles, what are you going to do with what you just learned?