Hardship arises so often that it seems like the never-ending revolving door. You come through the door, into hard times and back out again. Round and round we go, where it stops nobody knows.
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I remember going through my financial struggle back from 2009-2012. They were tough years. I lost my house, spent most of my savings on getting out of debt. It was rough, and the only thing that got me through was the grace of God.
Because of my own experience, I’ve often wondered how it’s possible for someone to come through hardships without being a believer in Jesus Christ? Life is difficult. It loves to throw curve balls. Not everyone will bat .500. So what do we do when hardships arise?
Here are 6 ways we can treasure God’s amazing grace when life gets tough.
1. God gives us grace to pull through. Think back to a time when you were going through a hardship. Maybe you’re in one now. You’ve been walking around discouraged, frustrated and worn-out. You need a break from what’s happening. My question is: have you been surprised by a peace the surpasses all understanding even in the midst of trials? James, the brother of Jesus tells us to ‘count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.’ James 1:2, 3. It is simply this joy that helps us move forward and onward.
2. God’s grace gives us power in our mind’s battlefield. It’s not easy being human. Remember Rocky Balboa? His trainer Mickey dies of a heart attack and Rocky loses all hope. He falls into a pit of distractions. These distractions are what causes us to lose hope.
Our minds are powerful. They can create or destroy, build up or tear down. Yet, when trials come our way we tend to allow our minds to run away with us. We don’t give negativity a second thought because it comes so naturally. God calls us to gird up our loins (vs 13) and prepare for action.
When we keep our eyes focused on Christ, who’s the perfecter of our faith, our strength will return and we will win the battle. Our minds are powerful, but as long as we keep our mind focused on the incorruptible things of God, our lives will be without spot or blemish. Yet, if we allow fear to enslave us we will pay a price and lose the war.
3. There’s no contest between God’s grace and hard times. Why do we have hardships? Because we need them. It is out of hard times and tribulations our relationship with Jesus becomes strong. Hard times gives us the motivation for prayer. E. M. Bounds says this about prayer; “The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer.” If we want a life free of trials and tribulations, we’re out of luck. We were not promised an easy life, but rather we were promised a victorious life.
4. God’s grace brings season’s of change in our lives. God has a reason for every season in our life. We may think the world is crashing down upon us and we have no hope, but God has us where He needs us so we can see the plan he has for us. His grace remains in every season of life. Yes, we’ll have the why questions, but when we realize where God is taking us, the adventure begins.
5. Grace is scandalous. This may seem like an odd statement. But God’s grace is scandalous. God has the ability to love and accept far beyond our ability. Those we don’t like or despise, we are called to love them. We must not love out of obligation or godliness, but truly love beyond our dislike and emotions of them. I cannot imagine what the early Christians thought when they heard Paul was now a follower of Christ. God’s ways are higher than our ways. His desire is that all come to His saving knowledge.
It doesn’t matter what we’re going through, those we despise are going through their own trials and tribulations. The difference is, we have God’s grace and they do not. We can draw our strength from God and they cannot
6. God’s grace arises in our space. What does it mean to have God’s grace arising in our space? When we believe things could be worse, our praise goes out the window. We are relying on our own intuition. To recognize God’s grace in our lives is to develop a new way of thinking. This thinking should cause us to realize we can have comfort regardless of our situations; to arrive a place (space) where we have complete peace while recognizing God is moving in our lives.
Grace: What’s So Amazing About It?
I’m excited to share my coming book: Grace: What’s so Amazing About it? This book is packed with 30 days of devotionals, just like the one you read. It’s designed to take your faith to the next level and help you go from looking at one facet of grace as only for salvation, but looking at the whole diamond.
Inside this book you’ll learn:
- Understand what God’s grace is.
- Why we need God’s grace.
- Learning to forgive others and extend grace to them as God has already extended his grace toward us.
- Walk you through a journey of deepening God’s in our daily lives.
- Help you study God’s word.
- Learn to journal your thoughts.
I’m excited about this product. I believe it will help you draw near to the heart of God. If you would know when GRACE: What’s So Amazing About It? is available I encourage you to give us your name and email address and you’ll be the first to find out when it’s available for purchase.
And the best part – I’m giving away nearly 1/2 of this book–FOR FREE–all you have to do is subscribe below to take part of this very special giveaway!
[reminder]How will you thank God today for the trails He’s taking you through?[/reminder]
Jason (J.B.) Sisam. Best-selling Amazon author of the Christian Early Reader book, 
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