sometimes life is hard

Life is hard sometimes. The Bible is clear about that. Isaiah 43 describes life this way…

When (not if) you go through deep waters.

When (not if) you go through rivers of difficulty

When (not if) you walk through the fire of oppression.

Life is hard sometimes. But that’s not the full picture of Isaiah 43.

Isaiah 43:2-4 God speaks through the prophet:

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.

When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God…

Life is HARD sometimes … but we don’t go through it alone. God goes with us.

If you have ever wondered if hard times are an indication that God has forgotten about you or that you aren’t important to Him, read the next verse.

Verse 4 because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.

LIFE IS HARD BUT GOD LOVES YOU AND YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM!!!

Remind yourself of this truth on your hardest days. On the days when life seems like too much and you are at your breaking point, remember, God loves you and you are precious to Him.

If you don’t, something else is going to happen on the hardest days. If you aren’t whispering this truth to yourself, someone else will be whispering a lie to you.

This is the end.
You can’t fix this.
You are worthless.
You’re getting what you deserve.
It will never be any different for you.
It’s only going to get worse.
God doesn’t love you.
God has abandoned you.

Does some of that sound familiar? That type of thinking can be pretty common.

If you don’t KNOW and REMIND yourself of the truth that God loves you and you are precious to him, the devil is going to show up and whisper these types of lies to you.

1 Peter 5:8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Lions hunt the weakest at their weakest. He is going to show up on your worst day and whisper lies to you. He’s going to wait for the hard days. When you’re worn out, weak and susceptible. That’s why you have to KNOW and REPEAT the truth. God loves me and I am precious to Him.

We can do better emotionally if we do this. Know you have a lying enemy and counteract his lies with truth … begin with God loves me and I’m precious to Him. If you know he’s a liar and learn to recognize his lies, you win. Here’s something else about the devil. He is already defeated.

Colossians 2:15 In this way, he (Jesus) disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. The devil is already defeated. All he has left are lies but he is really, really good at lying. We fall for his lies all the time.

John 8:44 When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. If you know anything about the devil, know this: He is lying to you.

EXPECT THE DEVIL TO LIE TO YOU. BE ON GUARD – WATCH FOR IT.

What sort of lies have you been listening to? Rolling them around in your mind? Letting them settle in your heart. Believing them and then living them out … letting him win.

Who are you listening to? The father of lies or the Father of promise? God made big promises to Israel about their future, about the good life He had planned and prepared for them.

Deuteronomy 11:16-17 Be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.

If you are deceived – believe a lie – you’ll miss out on the promise.

God follows up with how to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.

Basically, God is saying, ‘Keep reminding yourself that what I say is true.’

Knowing and repeating God’s truth is key to walking in God’s promises.

Our thoughts shape our experiences. What we believe shapes our life.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Your life is moving in the direction of your thinking so be careful with what you are thinking. Cognitive behavioral psychology agrees. Relational challenges, eating disorders, addictions, some forms of anxiety are all the result of toxic thinking.

What lie has the devil whispered to you that you have let stay planted so long it now seems like the truth?