SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE

I. Who really knows what I am going through?

(Prov 14:10 NASB) The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.
(Psa 139:23-24 NASB) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; {24} And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

II. What should I expect?

(John 16:33 NASB) "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

III. What should I seek?

(Heb 13:5-6 NASB) Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," {6} so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT SHALL MAN DO TO ME?"
(Phil 4:12-13 NASB) I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. {13} I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

IV. What should I do?

(Eph 4:22-24 NASB) . . . in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, {23} and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, {24} and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
(Eph 4:29 NASB) Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
(Phil 2:14-15 NASB) Do all things without grumbling or disputing; {15} that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
(Rom 13:13-14 NASB) Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. {14} But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

V. What does faith have to do with it?

(2 Cor 4:17-18 NASB) For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, {18} while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(1 Tim 6:12 NASB) Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
(Jer 32:27 NASB) "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"
(2 Chr 16:9 NASB) "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His . . ."
(Rom 8:28 NASB) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(Luke 18:1 NASB) Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart . . .

VI. What last bit of advice does the Spirit have for me?

(Mat 7:7-8 NASB) "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. {8} "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.
(Mat 6:33-34 NASB) "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. {34} "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(Psa 106:13-14 NASB) They quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, {14} But craved intensely in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.
(Psa 27:13-14 NASB) I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. {14} Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

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