Life can seem very hard and unfair at times.
When facing the loss a job, a divorce, illness, or some other serious problem, you might begin to ask yourself “when will God help me?” It may even get to the point where we may start to feel abandoned and alone.
And then someone like me, a friend of yours, or a minister comes along and tells you “to have faith in God because God will never leave you or let you fall completely” or that “this is the time He is working to make you stronger.” But to you these are only words. Your situation may seem so desperate that you cannot even relate to this.
Rather than just relying on the words others give you that seem to just be “words” without any basis in reality, look to the testimony from others who have previously been in similar situations as you find yourself now.
I previously went through an extraordinary time when it seemed as if the world was crashing in around me. God came to my rescue and I hadn’t even realized it until afterward when I had time to sit back and reflect on the whole ordeal. I wrote about this in my article called “Turning Obstacles into Opportunities” which can be read here
What I have learned is that God is with us all of the time even when we might not feel Him close to us. In fact, it seems to me that the times that I might feel He is not as close to me as I think He should be or would like Him to be is because I don’t recognize that those are the times He is working the hardest for me. I might get so wrapped up in my own despair that I don’t take time to slow down and feel Him close to me.
Sometimes keeping your faith in God can be very difficult. There are times that become so trying that you can’t imagine that He is even still with you. In fact, you may even feel that God might be testing you.
In the Bible we find the story of Job. Job is tested to see how far he could be pushed before He curses God. Job’s family, wealth, and health are taken from him. In fact, Job becomes such a broken man that at one point he even says:
“I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.” Job 30:20
We have all been in circumstances where this might sound quite familiar to us. But in Job’s case, even though he may question God’s actions and, in fact, express anger and frustration with God, he never speaks ill of God, questions God’s existence, or the fact that God is his advocate:
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” Job 13:15
Job also says:
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” Job 19:25
In the end, we find that through Job’s trials, Job learns to see God more clearly and that Job loves God despite everything he has been put through and as a reward God returns to Job everything taken from him and more.
It is through stories such as Job’s and the testimony of others who have gone through trials before us that we can gain some comfort that we are not alone in troubled times.
Take some time to read through the comments others have shared with us both on The Whisper of God website which can be found at www.TheWhisperofGod.com and The Whisper of God facebook page which can be found at www.facebook.com/TheWhisperofGod . In these comments you will find testimonies from others who have traveled the road of trial and tribulation before you.
Through these stories you can see how others came out stronger when they reached the other end of their journey. These stories that will help you keep the faith that God is always working for you.
Keeping the faith while going through troubling times may be one of the most difficult things to do. Yet keeping the faith is exactly what will help get you through those troubling times.
i dont have a clue what’s going on anymore… and God has got to be looking down on me as perplexed as I at how i got where i am…
Just about says it all. I ask for forgiveness , He forgave me . I prayed, he heard me .
We have had several of these kind of stories.. One just not more than a year and ahalf ago…My husband worked for that county as a sargent..We thought that we where going to lose our house, car, and we had bills to pay.. We prayed to find a way to take care of all of this…because we didn’t know where to start.. My husband ended up on LI from a injury at work.. So he could only work part time.. Things weren’t looking very good..(It is all about trust and faith in the Lord.) One of the days when he was going to work He had the radio on this one station. He was listening to this man talking to other people about debt and how to get out of it. He listen a few time to this guy before he finally told me about him..My husband said this guy make sense.. Lets see if we can fine a class in our area. So we scraped the money together to take this class. Trusting and having faith in the Lord that he would guide us to the Class.. We found a class in our area.. God truely Blessed us with the teaching that this man had for us..In less than a year we oursleves with God’s help where able to pay off $30,000 in debt.. We are one bill away from being debt free. And we owe it all to the Lord. We owe all that we have to Him..We Love You God For Being In Our Lives Always and Never Leaving Us Alone…You are Our everything…
I believe that God allows challenges to come into our lives to prepare us for some work He has for us to do.
This year has been a lesson in acceptance and learning to rely fully on God. I call it FROG(fully relying on God). This has been my FROG year.
My husband was laid off, I found out he had made some financial commitments without my knowledge, my son is unemployed and I learned that my job may not be there in the near future.
I have had to seek God more this year than I have in a long time. But through all this we have our house, we have food and my husband is going back to work in January. I know God has a plan and I seek His will everyday.
Thank you Jesus for saving my soul and my life!
I know that God is out there, but sometimes i feel like he has turned his face away from me. I have lost my job just a week ago which could be a good thing because i keep telling myself that God has something better for me. But when is it going to get here? I lost both my parents, two weeks apart in June of 2008 and had a really hard time with it. I thought that the coming of 2009 had to be a better year but it wasn’t. It was worse and now i sit here in 2010, unemployed, bills piling up, and i wonder what am i going to do? Where are you God when i need you the most? I find it easy to get into the thinking that “poor me” mindset and think that God doesn’t like me, but i know deep down that it’s not true. He saved me at a time in my life when my whole world fell apart and now this is just a hurddle i have to get over. I will wait on him because i know that he loves me and has a better life out there for me.
I have ALWAYS known God is there ~ or so i thought. The last few months, I am alone, scared, tried suide, I am spinning out of control with every part of my life. MY 15 year old son is putting me to the test major, my marriage stinks, and I am at a dead in job that pays nothing and they want perfection. I give so much ~ i try so hard. I even work off the clock at work to do extra because of the people that work there …….. most do not care what gets done or not. I out down rules for my oldest son, and my husband takes them away, and lets him come and go as he pleases, and does what he wants. Children need boundaries, I try to put that in motion and I am the “B”. If I say ONE word, have an opinion or anything I am a nag or the “B”. I am in a no win situation. I have been begging God for guidence and help.
I have prayed and prayed and prayed and begged SOOOOOO much and so hard.
I dont know where to turn anymore, or where to go. I used to be a self confident woman, now ~ it is everything i can do just to get out of bed in the morning, or find a reason to.
I am so lost ~ and it seems like God is not hearing me. I pray so much for help and guidence. But not hearing or seeing anything different. My life is spinning MORE out of control instead.
I have NEVER doubted God – NEVER. But this last few days ~ i have to admit, if this is a test ~ i am failing.
I dont know what to do anymore ~
I listened and read some of the replys from people on your site…
I’m amazed at all the people that are hurting inside…..
I know this may sound cruel..but wake up..help yourselves and God will help you….you just can’t set back and expect him to do all for you..
I recently lost my husband of 46 years…I have never been alone in my life….
I was like you before he died, always worried about something in my life that wasn’t going right…I would pray to God all the time and it seems like “where are you” then when my husband pass on to be with God, my emotions ran wild and still are but I will tell you that when I truly needed God he “WAS THERE” I felt this power come over me when I prayed.. “How am I going to make it through the service”…I don’t want to go..I can’t, I said..
But I did go and God was there holding me up
“I could feel it” he is still holding me up…It is truly the most difficult time in my life..I cry and mourn. but I know in my heart God is near by and my husband is too.. I’m not ALONE..
I have been plagued w/an illness for the past 30 years. I was able to cope with it until 11 years ago. I get so tired of being ill, I don’t understand why I am, and my ability to live life as before is very sad. However, I do know that God is with me everyday. We spend a lot of time together, sometimes hours just to help me get through a single day. My friends have deserted me, some of my family memebers don’t include me in their lives, and it’s very lonely. But I’m never alone. God is always with me. I can’t say that I love the situation that I’m in, but what if I am to be an example to someone who may be going through the same problems I am. I may not have met this person yet, and God may be preparing me for that purpose. I trust in God, and will always have hope. Thank you Father for your love, grace and mercy !!
I have been through many hard times in my life the loss of my mother at the age of six,verbal, mental,emotional abuse and have even seen physical abuse.One thing I know for sure GOD has my back. I have had a relationship with the Lord for six years but I have I have known him for ten years I truly did not develop a relationship with GOD until I got to know him for my self these past six years has been test after test after test in 06 I almost died had a illness that rocked my world, lost my Pastor and through the years have lost close friends and family memebers, my husband has backslidden the one who brought me to CHRIST and that has been very difficult to see, havehad many financial struggles, the list can go on and on BUT GOD IS STIIIL GOOD I LOVE HIM I THANK HIM AND I WILL GIVE THANKS AT ALL TIMES FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD CONCERNING MY LIFE!
Hmm… Looks like 2008 – 2009 – were tough years for many of us and we are still recovering from it now. My story not quite as simple as I may state it, but lets just say I can completely empathize with all of you in one way or another. In those years, I’ve been laid-off from one job after another, my mother went “psycho”, parents divorced (hmm.. wonder why..); boyfriend, who was verbally and emotionally abusing me, broke up with me; house is now in foreclosure (but I did managed to hold off the bank for those two years!), I did file bankruptcy, currently on unemployment (which amazingly I would have been out of except the extention was approved), I’ve been to 8 funerals in the past 3 years who were relatives, friends, and friends’ relatives, yet I have heard of many more who have passed on. I had been severely depressed and prayed God would end my life. I’ve been seeing a therapist for the past few months and have been on a mood stabilizer for 2 weeks and let me tell ya! I thank God all the time for giving someone the brains to come up with this stuff.
So…here is the deal. GOD IS GOOD! HE IS NOT PUNISHING US! Ok now I’ve got that said, I feel even better yet. To those who can relate to anything I might have mentioned above, you know its not an easy battle to overcome any of it. Those of you who feel lost, alone, abandoned, worthless and so forth (I really don’t need to go on).. YOUR NOT! When we seek, we find. That find is what God sent. God is only going to give you as much as you put in. You have to get out there. To find a purpose you have to search and listen. I’ve been on a two year quest. Everything I touched or tried seemed to fail. I’ve prayed and prayed. Yet I knew that no matter what, I know things will get better. Everything will work out. Why? Because I believe. I have faith. Because I am a part of his creation, I am His child, therefore, I and am perfect in God’s eyes. We all are. And God will not let any of us down. Outside factors are what happens to us, not God.
To those who are depressed, please seek some help. I reiterate, God works through people – do not be ashamed in the seeking. Many people do not understand depression. They do not understand that you would rather have deep cutting physical pain rather than deal with the horrible emotional pain and darkness you may be feeling. But if your reading this, you are stronger than you think. God wants you strong, He needs you stong. Remember… Do not worry!! I mean that!! Keep your faith because God will make everything right in time. Everything happens for a reason, you may no know it yet, but in time you will, when you need to know. We have to weather the cyclones that have hit us. We just have to believe and trust in Him; he will deliver you from it.
I take one baby step at a time. As many people have told me, they are amazed I haven’t had a nervous breakdown, yet I was darn close to that edge a few times. Life nearly broke me. Giving me one cyclone after another without time to recover. Then I found my faith again, I believed, I steadily became stronger with each step, with each decision, each hour of every day. I learned, I sought truth, I sought peace. I would feel strong, then I’d get hit again. Again, I crawled, then stood straight again. But this time, I didn’t lose my faith. This time I continued to believe. This time I listened. I was told what I should be doing all this time, but I didn’t want to do it – so I stayed in hell. I finally am listening, bending instead of breaking. Even in my current situation, I have found happiness within and appreciate for all things around me. I believe that death is a graduation, to where I look forward to old age, yet never will I be old. God will give me blessing and has given me so many blessings now even in my own personal tough times. I just had to open my eyes and heart to see and to receive. I could go on and on – as I have had so many experiences beyond anyone’s imaginings these last two-three years which would completely break some, but I’m still here. God has a purpose for all of us. This is our journey to learn all we can – so make the best and most of it. Find something good out of something bad that happens. Find humor in situations which you normally wouldn’t – because laughter heals the souls. And as I always say – if I don’t laugh, I would cry. Our situations suck to put it bluntly, but we are not failures! We are victims of circumstance. We are God’s children and have been gifted with (hellish) opportunities/challenges to grow stronger and to learn from. I don’t know about some of you, but I don’t want to repeat this part of my life EVER again.. so I’m gonna learn and listen this time. I’m going to go where he leads me, not where I want to go…Control/do what you can – then let it go. God will take care of the rest.
You can take (this novel that I wrote) as you will. Usually I don’t post on these things, but I felt I had to this time.. Maybe because I saw a little of each of you within me. I can relate. But anyway – I wish you all well and best in and of all things. I believe and have faith each one of you will be gifted with an abundance of blessings soon. Listen to Him and he will guide you to them. God bless.
This message and the comments have really helped me tonight. I’m having a Job year! My best advice is to be honest with friends and family about what’s happening in your life. Ask them to pray for you and for your specific needs. Before you know it, you have an army of prayer warriors. Prayers do get answered! PRAISE THE LORD!
God does have a plan for all of us. The hardest thing we all deal with is patience. My family has been thrown a lot of challenges, but with God, He has gotten us through every one of them. A lot of times we don’t realize why some things happen the way they do, but God knows, and He is watching out for us each and every day. My prayers are being sent to all of you.