From Pity to Praise

We’ve all been caught in the storm watching flood waters rise, and wondering how we got there. Thinking where is God in our storm when our arms are weary, our souls are battered, and life has left us breathless.

It is here, in the midst of the storm, that we have two choices. Am I going to allow God to use this storm, or allow the storm to shatter us, and push us away from God? In the midst of stress, pain or heartache, it can be so easy to allow the storm to make us bitter, to let it drive us away from everything God has planned for us.

When it comes down to it, this is a choice only we can make. We can let God refine, shape, and define us through this broken place, or it can sweep in like a tornado and destroy everything in its path. We can hunker down in our pain or depression or loneliness, or we can lean into God, and allow Him to lead our steps and fill our souls.

It’s times like this, as we sit in the storm, it’s easy to feel alone, like no one sees and no one cares. But even in the storm, at the darkest moments of your life, He is there. And because He is God even in the storm, you cannot be list to Him, even in the storm you are still His child. He saw this storm before it even reached you, and had already worked out what you need to go through it. He will see you through the storm. But trusting God is the key.

At times it can feel impossible to trust God when we are struggling in the storm He knew was coming but did not save us from and from our perspective to see why we had to endure the storm. The answer is, because we live in a fallen world, or God had a plan through it all, or because we made poor choices.

Regardless of the reason why, God can show up “big” and pour His grace, mercy, and love into our lives in our storm-battered souls. Sometimes we have to go through a storm so that it can strip away everything false that we rely on so we are forced to rely on God.

Our storms are the thing He uses to reveal His goodness and love. Through it, we often see His power in great ways.

I think a great example of this is when the disciples Jesus performed the miracles of feeding the 5000 in Matthew 14. He immediately told them to get into the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while He dismissed the crowds. He sent them, and they obeyed.

Then while Jesus was alone praying, the wind started howling and their boat started rocking. They were afraid they cried out, after they had struggled for a long time, battered by the wind and waves before Jesus showed up to rescue them, the winds ceased. (Matthew 14:32). Then the disciples cried out, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Between the time Jesus sent them across the Sea of Galilee, and the time He arrived to save them, did they wonder if He had forgotten them? Were they angry that He had sent them? Did they doubt His faithfulness?

Even knowing He is God in the storm isn’t always enough in the face of the storm, it’s still easy to find doubt creep in.

God told us in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames we not set you ablaze.”

I think it’s important that when we are going through the storm, we need to cling to all the past storms God has been with us through. The storms of life are used to build on what we learned when everything was going right. As uncomfortable as the painful seasons are in our lives we need them to grow and stretch us.

The storms may not be sent by God, but He can still use them. They teach us to lean into prayer and lean into the Bible.

They reaffirm what we know in our hearts, for the next time we go through a storm. And give us a solid foundation to stand with confidence that He is God in the storm, and He will never abandon us.

“So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” -Isaiah 41:10

My pastor sends out a Psalm every week to pray and meditate on here is this weeks:

Jesus demonstrated a strong leadership style, particularly during his trial and crucifixion, he actively challenged the religious leaders and expose their wrongdoing. His actions reflect a refusal to be a passive victim, instead embodying a transformative approach to love and resistance against evil.

Many people mistakenly view Jesus as passive due to his acceptance of suffering and death. This interpretation overlooks His active engagement in confronting injustice and evil. Yet Jesus demonstrated a strong leadership style that was neither passive or violent.

The Third Way

Jesus exemplified what is known as the “third way, a response to threats that avoid both passivity and aggression. This approach included:

• Respecting oneself and the attacker
• Responding with compassion
• Challenging the oppressor without mirroring their violence.

An example of this was when He was being questioned by the religious leaders, Jesus turned their inquiries back on them, maintaining His dignity and identity.

Jesus took decisive action that reflected His active leadership.

• He drove out merchants from the temple, showing righteous anger against corruption.
• He consistently challenged societal norms and injustices and advocated for the marginalized.

He had an active and passive obedience.

This describes the different aspects of Jesus’s mission. His active obedience referred to His perfect adherence to God‘s law throughout His life, while His passive obedience pertained to His suffering and death, which paid the penalty for humanity’s sin. Both are essential for understanding His role as our Savior.

Jesus was not a passive figure, He actively engaged with the world, demonstrating leadership through love, compassion, and righteous action.

Jesus’s command to “turn the other cheek” is sometimes interpreted as a blanket instruction to be passive in all situations, rather than a specific command. Turning the other cheek means to refuse personal revenge and overcome evil with love, not passive submission or cowardice. It’s not about being a doormat or allowing yourself to be abused.

According to the Bible lawlessness in the last days, signifies a widespread increase in moral decay, wickedness, and disregard for God’s laws, leading to colder love and societal breakdown which is characterized by selfishness, rebellion against authority, and escalating sin.

This culminated with the rise of the “man of lawlessness” -the antichrist, before Jesus’s return.

Matthew 24:12 tells us, “Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold.” This points to rampant iniquity and a decrease in love for God and neighbor.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 tells us, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction” (Antichrist). He who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5 details the characteristics of people in the last days as selfish, proud, disobedient, and unloving, and lovers of pleasure rather than God, which is a direct consequence of rejecting God.

There are characteristics of lawlessness:

• Moral decay: A decline and moral standards, with people rejecting God righteous standards for their own desire.
• Contempt for law: Not just breaking laws, but holding God‘s law and the lawgiver in contempt, ignoring conscience and nature restraints.

• Societal breakdown: A prevalent turning toward evil, escalating violence, immortality, and anarchy, often seen as a sign of the times.

• Spiritual deception: The “mystery of lawlessness” is already at work, leading to a great falling away and deception by the lawless one.

Among this Jesus still offers hope, saying in Matthew 24:13, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”

The antichrist is the ultimate manifestation of lawlessness is the man of lawlessness, who will b revealed as a deceiver before Jesus’s return.

I learned a long time ago that what you feed your soul matters. If we feed ourselves on social media or anything else we won’t be hungry for God.

There are three keys to having a spiritual hunger for God. It involves actively pursuing God through consistent practices like prayer, worship, and reading the Bible along with intentionally associating ourselves with spiritually minded people, while cultivating a deliberate choice and the discipline to seek Him, even when we don’t feel like it. This is where true satisfaction comes from God, and not worldly things.

There are three keys to having practices I believe that help us become spiritually Hungary for God:

1. Consistent engagement with God’s Word and prayer: Treat scripture as spiritual food, read it daily for nourishment, and actively engage in prayer, asking God to stir up your desire for Him.

• 2. Community connection and righteous influence: Surround yourself with people who are hungry for God, your appetite is influenced by your associations.
• 3. Intentional choice and action: Don’t wait for feelings, use self-control to seek God through prayer, worship, and seeking Him, even when motivation is low. This helps us to understand that action itself builds a deeper desire for God.

By actively choosing to pursue God through these three disciplines, we can build a deeper appetite for Him, finding fulfillment that the world cannot provide.

The average person spends two to five hours on social media per day. Imagine if that time was spent connecting with God through prayer, worship, and reading the Bible, what a different world this would be.

Satan likes to dangle temptations in front of our faces, hoping to lure us into sin and then pull the old bait and switch trick to bring us to destruction.

Fortunately, Jesus’s gives us examples of how to face temptations in Matthew 4:1-11. He gives of cues into Satan’s tricks and gives us ammo to defend ourselves against getting caught in Satan’s snares.

Matthew 4:11 teaches us crucial lessons on resisting temptations through complete reliance on God’s Word, prioritizing our spiritual needs over physical desires (our flesh), trusting God’s timing and protection, all while recognizing Satan’s deceptive use of scripture to lure us into foolishness and idolatry, and demonstrating Jesus’s perfect obedience and setting a pattern for our own victory over sin.

Jesus resisted turning stones into bread, showing that we can live by God’s Word. Not just in a physical sustenance, but, trusting God’s provision.

Matthew 4:7 teaches us a powerful lesson about the importance of trust in God in moments of trial. “You shall not test the Lord your God.” We will never have enough strength to overcome temptation without God. By seeking Him and trusting in His support we can find the strength to resist any temptation. And we shouldn’t put Him to the test or demand miraculous proof of His care for us.

Jesus countered Satan by quoting scripture, I read once that Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than any other books in the Old Testament, when Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, all three answers were in the book of Deuteronomy.

1. Deuteronomy 8:3 “man lives by every word the proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
2. Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
3. Deuteronomy 6:13 “You shall, fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.

Satan twisted every scripture Jesus quoted, showing that we must rightly interpret God’s Word, and not use it self-servingly.

Jesus was lead by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested, teaching the importance of prayer, fasting, and focusing God before making major life decisions.

Jesus’s victory should be our example. Jesus’s sinless perfection and resisting temptations, qualified Him to be our High Priest and shows us that victory over sin is possible y following His pattern.

There are a few practical applications to help us resist temptation.

• Fill your heart with scripture: Meditate on God’s Word to be ready to combat temptation.
• Prioritize Your Spiritual needs: Seek God’s Word and presence over immediate physical or worldly gratification.
• Trust God’s timing: Don’t try and force God’s hand or take matters into your own hands.

• Guard yourself against misinterpretation: Be aware that Satan uses distorted scripture, so study diligently.
• Submit to the Holy Spirit: Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life.