Always remember that God is greater than we can imagine. Nothing is beyond his ability; whether it is a problem to solve, relationships to heal, or sins to forgive. God has the power to create and sustain the universe. He can provide healing and restoration for us. ​

Reference: 
Groeschel, C. (2018). Hope in the dark. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Even though God is our light for the way, that does not mean our decisions in life will always be clear. There are often times when we want something in life—a new job, a family, a spouse, a house, new friends, less stress, relief, recovery, or removal from illness or disease. When it seems like God is not listening, be completely assured that He knows our needs and desires and is working for what is best for us in our lives. Through any situation in life, we can continue to rely on God, stay in His Word, and do our best to follow His will for our lives in our decisions.

There are multiple verses in the Bible that state the importance of waiting for the Lord. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7a. While we are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, the verses can also remind us to have peace about our current situations. No matter what our circumstances, we have God and that is enough. That does not mean that we should not have tenacity to pursue dreams that we feel God is leading us to pursue. Waiting does not have to be inactivity, but a sustained focus on God through prayer and belief. It is being optimistic about the future, not focused on worry, but on the glorious inheritance that awaits us in heaven and the wonderful life that we can have on earth doing the Lord’s work.

Reference
Stohlmann, M. (2017). The world's greatest provider. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 

When we face problems in life, we can realize that on our own we are not able to do what we would like. We need to rely more on God and Him working through others. Isaiah 40:29 is a beautiful verse to remember during these seasons of life. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. The Bible is full of stories where God provides strength and helps Christians through difficult times. The Israelites were saved from the Egyptians by God parting the Red Sea. Daniel was kept safe in the lion’s den. Samson is given strength to defeat his enemies. Paul persevered through many trials and imprisonments. In times in our lives when we face problems we do not have to be distraught but can be taught to seek God. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11. God can use these times to reassure us of His presence and power.

​When we realize that we have God on our side it makes all the difference. We can draw great encouragement from this in the midst of any problems in life. Pastor and author, Max Lucado, in one his sermons stated the power that Christians have by belonging to God.
I read that Christ took up residence in you when you became a Christian. He is a pulsating, living, breathing, growing, expanding presence. I read that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I read that you are an ambassador of Jesus Christ. I read that you are an heir of Christ. I read that you are the salt, the light of society. I read that you belong to the living God. I read that your name is written in the book of life and no one can erase it. I read that you have been purchased with the most precious commodity in the history of the world. I read that you belong to God.

​The Bible provides us with plenty of evidence of the power of God. God is more powerful than any problems that you are facing. God is with you and has promised to help you. Do not be dismayed or discouraged when trouble comes your way, but face it with confidence that God will provide the strength that you need and the determination to deal with anything in life. Let us remember what we have. We have the power of the Almighty God residing in us! We have the promises of God before us! We see evidence of God’s faithfulness all around us!

Stohlmann, M. (2017).  The world's greatest provider.  Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 
Lucado, M. (2016). “It’s a battle, not a picnic.” Retrieved from http://media.oakhillschurch.com/default.aspx?page=3679&item=528

​There can be plenty of reasons why we need strength for the day: too much to do at work or school, an illness or disease, strained relationships with others, a friend or family member going through a difficult time, financial troubles, loneliness, uncertainty about the future, failure, loss of a loved one, and being responsible for others or in a position of leadership. There are many people that have to deal with these problems in their lives. Christians know that God will give them strength for all the days of life. Here is the story of one famous Christian that persevered through all of the above difficulties.

When I was seven years old, my family was forced out of our home because of a legal technicality. I had to work to help support my family. At age nine, while still a backwards, shy little boy, my mother died. At age 22, I lost my job as a store clerk. I wanted to go to law school, but my education wasn’t good enough. At 23, I went into debt to become a partner in a small store. Three years later my partner died leaving me a huge debt, which took years to repay. At 28, after developing romantic relations with a young lady for four years, I asked her to marry me. She said no. At 37, on my third try, I was finally elected to the United States Congress. Two years later, I ran again and failed to be re-elected. I had a nervous breakdown at that time. At 41, adding additional heartache to an already unhappy marriage, my four-year-old son died. The next year I ran for Land Officer and lost. At 45, I ran for the Senate and lost. A few years later, I ran for the Vice Presidency and lost. At 49, I ran for the Senate again and lost. And at 51, I was elected President of the United States.
Who am I?
My name is Abraham Lincoln.

​President Abraham Lincoln knew that he needed to rely on God for strength for every day of his life. One of his most famous quotes states well how Christians know that God’s strength is sufficient from them. “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.” Lincoln felt that the Bible was one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. Through the Bible, Christians are encouraged and given strength.

A search on www.biblegateway.com for the word “strength” brings up 232 Bible verses. Strength is something that God knows that we need and provides this for us. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:10. There can be days when everything that is going on is overwhelming, but God promises to help us through our days. A couple of excellent Bible verses to remember are from Lamentations and Matthew.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Reference
Stohlmann, M. (2017). The world's greatest provider. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 

Pastor and author, Ravi Zacharias, states that Annie Johnson Flint was one of the best hymn writers in history. He describes further how her life was anything from easy. “She got rheumatoid arthritis till she was twisted up in bed for many, many decades. She had cancer inside of her, she was incontinent and lived on diapers, and blindness started to overtake her.” Through all of her pain and suffering her faith only increased. One of the hymns that she wrote was “He Giveth More Grace.” The lyrics powerfully state how God is the world’s greatest provider and is more than capable of taking care of us through all the times of life

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
​He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

For non-Christians it may be hard to imagine anyone going through so much suffering in their life and uttering the last line of verse number 4: He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again. There is a story of a weak, old coal miner whose body had been ravaged by his many years of hard labor in the mines. In his humble home there was a table with a small bowl of thin porridge on it. Holding a piece of bread in his coal-stained hand, he was ready to eat his meager meal. But first he knelt beside the table, joyfully exclaiming over and over again: “All this, and Jesus too! All this, and Jesus too!” 

That is an amazing part of a life lived with Christ. The benefits of having Jesus as your Lord and Savior are too many to describe. All Christians have had difficulties in life and can tell their own story of how God has provided strength or peace. In my first book, Bible Verses in My Pocket , I describe problems and suffering that I have had with Crohn’s disease. I had surgery to remove part of my intestine, my appendix, and tumors. I ended up losing about 60 pounds, but even in my weak state I felt God’s strength and power all the more. It is great to remember that if God brought you to it, He will bring you through it. This of course does not mean that Christians will not experience trials throughout life, but that God will help and sustain us. 

Of all the things that God provides us in our lives, His undying love and grace are the most important. God’s love is unfailing, unending, unequaled, and indescribable. God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to earth to die on a cross to pay for our sins. Jesus gloriously rose from the dead and defeated the devil and death giving us the free gift of eternal life. We can trust in God’s love because it is pure and self-sacrificing. God has everything, but still loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him in heaven forever. Corrie ten Boom stated it this way. “The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that he gave his only Son. The only requirement is to believe in him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.”

 Knowing that the all-powerful God loves us is a wonderful feeling! As a result of this, we have what we need for our life on earth until our work here is done. We can share God’s love with others because we have been richly blessed! We can praise His name our whole life!

God is the world’s greatest provider because He takes care of all of our needs. In our time on earth we may still experience hardships including health, financial, and family problems. However, God has freely given Christians the only thing that they need; eternal life in heaven. Because of this we have joy, peace, and hope in our time on earth. Having Jesus as our Lord and Savior means that we are blessed beyond belief.
​
Psalm 84:11 states, For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Based on this verse it might be easy to think that if a Christian is experiencing troubles then something must be wrong because the verse states, no good thing does he (God) withhold. Christians are certainly sinners and so our lives are not blameless. The beautiful thing is that because Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, Christians are viewed by God as forgiven, holy, and blameless people. The Gospel message is a proclamation of prosperity that Christians will experience. Prosperity is not defined by earthly standards though. It is not wealth and health. It is the joy and peace of living life with the Holy Spirit as our constant companion and the blessed true knowledge of a place in heaven awaiting us.

When we remember that all good things come from God we can remain humble and use these opportunities to praise God.

No matter what our accomplishments are, we matter because God cares for us and values us. Author Dale Carnegie once said, “We all have an innate, unquenchable desire to know we are valued, to know we matter. Yet affirming this in each other is among the most challenging things to do in our day and age.” We can remember the parable of the lost sheep. The shepherd searches for one lost sheep out of a hundred and rejoices greatly when it was found (Luke 15:1-7). God wants all to be saved and share in the joy of heaven. We matter because God has created us and cares for us. Our purpose, to glorify God in all we do and share His love with others, is able to be accomplished through His power. We can keep this in mind throughout the day and at the start and end of each day.

​Dietrich Bonhoeffer states, “We are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word also belongs to God.”

References:
Carnegie, D. & Associates (2011). How to win friends & influence people in the digital age. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1954). Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. New York: HarperCollins.

Stohlmann, M. (2015). The world's greatest engineer. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 
​

Everyone likes to be a part of the winning team and that is what we have in Christ.  Billy Graham, speaks of this confidence, “I’ve read the last page of the Bible, it’s all going to turn out all right.” But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.
           
Jesus Christ secured the victory over sin, death, and the devil once and for all with His death on the cross and His victorious resurrection. Because of this, death and the devil have no power over us.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. That does not mean that evil does not exist and the devil is going to give up. However, we know that we are victors in Jesus Christ and that God triumphs over evil. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. Psalm 60:12.
           
​God wants us to pay attention and focus on His love in our lives through studying and discussing His Word, worshipping in church, and being active in prayer. That way we can block out the lies of the devil. Max Lucado had a sermon on our thoughts and what we should focus on. Gnats are annoying and pestering creatures, but instead we can focus on the thoughts that come from our free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Each day we need God as the focus in our lives! There is an old saying that seven days without God makes one weak. For each day there is a different name. Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday and Shatterday. We need God’s presence and help in our lives every moment of every day.

In the Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s will to be done. Luther’s Small Catechism explains what happens when God’s will is done. “He breaks and hinders the plans of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which try to destroy our faith in Christ Jesus…He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith and helps us lead God-pleasing lives.”

No matter what moment it is in our lives, we are better off being close to God. A beautiful hymn written by Sarah Flower Adams is “Nearer My God to Thee.” It is based on Jacob’s dream at Bethel in Genesis 28:11-19. Through the dream God spoke to Jacob and let him know, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Genesis 28:15. It is the same promise that He makes for us.
​
When the ship, the Titanic, was sinking, the band members choose to stay on board and play this song so that others could be saved in the life boats. They knew that they faced almost certain death, but were confident in their sacrifice because they knew that heaven awaited them. This was the act of people that know they are victorious through Christ. Only Christians could have this sense of calm and peace before meeting death because they know that death is not the end. It is only the beginning of a beautiful life in heaven. The second line of the hymn means that Christians are willing to bear their crosses even to the point of death and still sing with gratitude their hearts desire of nearer my God to thee. 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song would be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

References
Luther, M. (1529). Luther’s small catechism. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

 Adams, S. F. (1841). “Nearer my God to thee.”

Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.