Let´s talk about step number one of What To Do When Trouble Comes. How do we cooperate with God so that His reasons for allowing this pandemic to fall upon us will cause His goals to be accomplished in our lives?
Do you remember Charles Shultz “Peanuts?” I read the cartoon strip “religiously” from the time I learned to read until I went off to college and did not have a daily newspaper handy.
Why do I feel inadequate to assure that I keep my family and myself safe from COVID-19? Why do I feel so inadequate to navigate the financial troubles that this pandemic has brought? Why do I feel so inadequate to make the necessary decisions to let the church re-gather at the right time and in a safe way? The answer is easy to figure out. It is just hard to accept. I am inadequate! And that brings us to the first thing we need to do when walking through difficult times. Step # 1 - WE MUST ADMIT OUR INADEQUACY. Who is sufficient? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NKJV 14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? Not me! 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NKJV 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. I am insufficient to handle this by myself and with my own power.
Galatians 2:20 NKJV I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Let me raise a translation issue. It is a matter of great consequence. The Greek can be translated both ways. So, is it
When great trials and difficulty come, and if you have matured enough in your walk with the Lord that you recognize God is up to something, then purpose in your heart, “I want God’s will to be done in and through me,” and start your cooperation with what God is doing by admitting “I am inadequate to handle this by myself. It must be Christ in me!”
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