Posts Tagged ‘ Hard ’
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4, ESV
It is because of sin – individually and collectively – that we face hard times. Our God has given us His peace and a firm hope to endure and overcome through the cross of Christ.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11, ESV
It is not easy admitting we’re wrong or in need of correction, but God sends us through difficult times painful circumstances not to punish us so much as to purge disobedience and draw us closer to Himself.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14, ESV
Our world either wants to earn their own way to salvation or think they can get there anyway they choose.
We know it is in Christ alone we are saved, and it takes personal sacrifice to follow Him.
She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
Proverbs 31:20, ESV
Life is hard.
God has called each of us, especially in the Church, to offer help to each other and hope through the Gospel.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
Psalm 126:5, ESV
Hard work can lead to good results.
Doing the Lord’s work in this life often will be hard, but the eternal rewards are with any sacrifice.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24, ESV
Work is hard.
Nobody at church gets along or understands.
The kids (or parents) will not listen.
Nobody plays fair.
The government is corrupt.
You are not trying to please them or work for them!
You serve Christ. Reflect Him, not your world.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26, ESV
When life is so hard, so scary, and so wearying that we barely know how to think straight, God helps us talk with Him.
If you find it hard to pray, either sit quietly, inviting Him to speak, or let it all out at Him. He can take it. He will help you.
Find solid wisdom through the thoughts at Proverbial Thought!
There are some things in this world that are rock solid and others that are softer, more pliable.
Something that should never be seen as pliable is Truth. While some things may not be black and white, set in stone (such as one person thinking the weather is beautiful while another thinks it is horrible) most truths are firm (such as the weather is overcast and rainy).
One truth that is never negotiable, no matter how much someone may want it to be, is that God is real and sovereign, and Jesus Christ is His Son who died for the sins of the world.
On the other hand, there are some things that are just better the softer they are: some cookies and cake, gelatin (without being melted, of course), your seat on an airplane, water after you have been pushed from the side of the pool, Play-Doh, and on and on.
Something that should always be pliable is your heart and mind. While you hold firm to certain truths, you should always be willing to always learn, always love, and always seeking after truth. Just as Play-Doh is soft, pliable, and even fun to shape and mold, so must our hearts be in this world of pain, injustice, and competing attentions.
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
1 Peter 3:8
Here is the thing: you must entrust your Play-Doh heart to the Rock of Salvation. Only in His hands can it be properly and lovingly formed for the greatest good.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
Psalm 26:2
On our own, we will only have some fun, waste some time, and forget to put the lid back on at the end of the day. Then our Play-Doh hearts become hard. In hardness they either become brittle or useless … or both.
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”Psalm 95, ESV
a simple man of God 