• Sometimes, we have problems.
• Sometimes, we experience life-struggles.
• Sometimes, we just want to hide underneath our umbrella as the rain of distress falls upon our head.
• Sometimes, we just don’t understand the “why,” as in “Why me?”
• Sometimes, we can only throw back our head, throw up our hands into the air, and cry.
• Sometimes, we just don’t understand the reasoning for our trials.

All we can really ever do is bow our spirit, our soul, and our being before the LORD GOD and pray,.

“Why Me, LORD?  It is what we want to pray, but Father, You tell us in Your Word that Your Ways are so much Higher, and Your Thoughts are also so much Higher…..than ours……so we may not understand the WHY, and God, that’s okay because we also know that You tell us in Your Word how our faith increases whenever we place our trust in YOU.”

In the Bible, we learn of a man of faith, one who goes by the name of Elijah.  He was not born a man of great faith; his faith grew in the LORD during his times of struggles, of issues, of trials, and of problems.

The same is true with us today.

Clearly, it does not ever matter the size of our struggle, our issue, or our problem; no, size does not matter if we focus upon the size of the trial.  THE ONLY SIZE THAT EVER MATTERS IS THE SIZE OF OUR GOD….WHO INCREASES OUR FAITH IN HIM AS WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN HIM (more than our own abilities).

Notice the commonness of words “the word of the LORD” found in these Bible passages from 1 Kings 17.

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.’ The word of the LORD came to him, saying, Go…”  (1 Kings 17: 1-2).

“Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Arise, go…”  (1 Kings 17: 8).

“For thus says the LORD God of Israel,…according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah” (1 Kings 17: 14 & 16).

“He called to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God,…’”  (1 Kings 17: 20).

“Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.’  The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived” (1 Kings 17: 21-22).

“Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth” (1 Kings 17: 24).

Thank You, God, for giving us hope when all hope seems gone.

Thank You, God, for taking care of us even when we cannot see Your plan in the midst of our struggle.

Thank You, God, for being You, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

We experience problems, life-struggles, distress, fear, and turmoil.  It is with confidence that we can know our security can only be found in Christ, who sets us free from our bondage.  JESUS, OUR LORD is the key to living victoriously as we trust in “the word of the LORD.”   As we do, then we are…

• Strong IN HIM,  &
• Accepted IN HIM,  &
• Made Righteous IN HIM,  &
• Justified & Made Right IN HIM,  &
• Forgiven THROUGH HIM.
• Our worth is worth anything because of HIM, of what JESUS has given to us through HIS BLOOD.

So today, we lift our hands in honor and praise, and we exclaim, “Thank YOU, GOD, for increasing our faith as we learn to rely upon You, in both the easy times of life & in the hard times.”