In challenging times, it is comforting to know that there is one thing that will always remain constant and unchanging in our lives, throughout every season— the Word of God.
Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee you a storm-free life, but it does promise a storm-proof one. When God is on your side and walking with you, you CAN and WILL overcome any obstacle to God's will for your life that dares to present itself. Absolutely NOTHING is impossible for our great God and for those who rely on Him and trust in His promises for their lives!
Following are a few Bible verses that are sure to energise your mood and help you refocus on the God-possibilities in every situation you may be facing:
BIBLE VERSE #1
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
The first thing that the enemy seeks to steal by stirring up storms in our lives is our peace.
In this Bible verse, the very first thing God commands is that we do not worry about ANYTHING! (see verse 6). He knows that He has things under control and is working everything together for our good, so let’s not listen to the fears and disappointments of our past that can so easily distort our thinking and rob us of our peace and faith. Instead, the Bible encourages us to do something very productive and effective with our concerns—pray about them! Prayer is powerful and effective to bring about change!
Remember that we are God’s children and He cares deeply about the things that worry us. That’s why He invites us to pray about them and surrender every concern into His hands so that we can stop carrying the emotional weight of things that we are powerless, in our own strength, to change. Learn to hand them over to the One who can turn anything around and enjoy the peaceful life that results!
Another important key to our breakthrough in trying times, found in this verse, is thankfulness. Why? Because focusing on God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives shifts our focus away from the perceived ‘bigness’ of our problem to the true ‘greatness’ of our God. We can change our perspective of the problem by exalting God and His character above it.
When we intentionally practise thankfulness, regardless of our circumstances, God promises to give us His perfect peace that ‘exceeds (rises above and is superior to) our understanding’ (see verse 7). This is the wonderful confidence we can have in knowing that God has everything under control, even when the enemy would try to convince us otherwise!
Focusing on God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives shifts our focus away from the perceived ‘bigness’ of our problem to the true ‘greatness’ of our God. We can change our perspective of the problem by exalting God and His character above it.
BIBLE VERSE #2
Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.
God is our Saviour (One who saves another from danger, ruin or defeat). That’s why He encourages us to not give in to fear and the empty threats of the enemy. He has ALL of the power and authority to protect us and lead us into victory, and He loves us more deeply than we can imagine. God simply asks us to have faith in Him and to intentionally move our focus from the problem at hand, to the probability of victory— in Him. He has promised in His Word that He will fight on our behalf, if we will trust Him and allow Him to. We are never alone in the fight! God is with us and when He is for us, who can prevail against us? (see Romans 8:31) What a great promise!
BIBLE VERSE #3
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
How comforting it is to know that there is a future that God has already planned out for each one of us personally—one that is full of promise, hope and fruitfulness!
It can sometimes feel like all hope is lost when we’re going through a ‘valley of hardship’ season in our lives. It can feel like we have been forgotten by God, are being punished by God or are in danger of missing our destiny and purpose because of our constant human weaknesses, failings and shortfallings. We can believe the lies of the enemy that we have wandered too far from the right track, have squandered our opportunities too often or have failed too often to meet God’s impossibly high standards. In short, we can be left wondering what, if any, use would God have for us.
This Bible verse stands out like an oasis in the desert, reminding us that we are not forgotten and that the God of the universe loves us deeply, thinks about us continually and has a wonderful plan for us that cannot be thwarted. He is constantly ordering our steps, re-directing us back to the path of destiny and causing everything we go through—both good and bad— to mould and shape us for effective Kingdom-purpose.
No matter what is going on in our lives, God is working His plan. This is an incredibly comforting promise!
God’s Word stands as an oasis in the desert, reminding us that we are not forgotten and that He loves us deeply, thinks about us continually and has a wonderful plan for our lives that cannot be thwarted.
BIBLE VERSE #4
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Did you know that when we are feeling weak (physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually etc.,), we can draw from God’s own strength any time we want to? Wow! What a promise! Not only does He give us unlimited access to His strength and power, but He promises that it will work most effectively when we are weak! In other words, our human weakness is actually an advantage if we recognize it and surrender it to God in exchange for His supernatural strength (power, ability and might), in the face of life’s challenges!
Our human weakness is actually an advantage if we recognize it and surrender it to God in exchange for His supernatural strength (power, ability and might), in the face of life’s challenges!
A simple example of how this works is the care label on a new garment. When it is time to wash your favourite new shirt, you will get the best results if you follow the recommendations. If you ignore this advice, it is likely that your shirt will come out of the wash a different size or colour than it was designed to be.
In the same way, God’s Word offers recommendations that we can either choose to follow or ignore. That is our choice. The Bible recommends that we do not tackle life’s challenges in our own strength, but instead, seek out God’s strength and wisdom to accomplish the task. In following this advice, we are promised the very best results possible! How many times have we proved this to be true by taking on problems ourselves, in a way that seemed logical at the time, only to make the situation a whole lot worse?
Why not establish a new habit of turning to God and His strength and grace whenever you encounter a challenge or difficulty. He receives ALL of the glory for the supernatural interventions in our life when we turn to Him, and we get to enjoy the very best outcome possible!
It’s a WIN-WIN deal!
BIBLE VERSE #5
For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.
God is the only One we can truly rely on. He is absolutely unshakable, trustworthy, reliable, faithful and true to His Promises, and He invites us to lean on Him— shifting the entire weight of our worry or anxiety onto the unshakable Rock of His character.
Despite our human inadequacies and insecurities, God constantly accepts and affirms us, and gives us access to His strength. We can confidently say, “I can do it!”, in the face of any challenge when we call on and draw on His supernatural strength and enabling.
This is a great comfort to us all and leaves us without any excuse to shrink back or hide away from the great Kingdom exploits that He has called us to achieve in HIS strength!
BIBLE VERSE #6
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Put a different way in another Bible version...
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.
Wow! There is truly NOTHING God cannot do in and through us when His supernatural power is activated in our lives. We must never take for granted or doubt the awesomeness of His power and presence residing inside of us each and every day, waiting to be released into a world that is in desperate need.
God seeks to display His glory in and through our lives at every opportunity. His glory is His character and nature on display for all to see and every time He moves supernaturally, He can be seen, experienced and known by His creation. If we insist on relying on ourselves to solve problems, we fail to give Him the opportunity to shine in our lives and to reveal who He is to a world that needs Him more than it cares to admit.
If we insist on relying on ourselves to solve problems, we fail to give Him the opportunity to shine in our lives and to reveal who He is to a world that needs Him more than it cares to admit.
How incredible that God chooses to partner with us to demonstrate His power and glory—constantly working in and through us to see our God-given dreams fulfilled. While He could easily leave this world awestruck with random supernatural ‘wonders’, He chooses instead to manifest Himself through His children, setting them apart from the world, marking them with His favour, provision and protection, and using them as conduits of His grace and power. What a privilege to be a child of God!
BIBLE VERSE #7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Trusting in God means letting go of what seems logical in our own eyes in order to embrace what we may not understand.Trust is something that is built over time and testing, and the longer we know Him, the more we are able to trust Him at His Word. Every time He proves faithful in our lives, the more confident we can be that He will prove faithful in the future. Essentially, we learn who God is and that He is EVERYTHING He has promised He would be!
The part we play in this growing relationship of mutual trust, is to step out in FAITH and believe God at His Word, even when He leads us off the beaten track and into unknown, scary territory. Even when our questions go unanswered and life doesn’t turn out the way we imagined, we must trust that He is ordering our steps and working everything out for our good because He is always true to His promises.
Even when He asks us to let go of the plans we have for our own lives, we can trust that His plans for us will always prove to be more wonderful and excellent than anything we could have ever planned for ourselves.
While we will probably always be tempted to put our trust in ourselves or others, material things or our skills and abilities, we must be aware that these are shaky, unreliable foundations that come with no guarantee to lead us faithfully, reliably and safely into our God-given destiny and purpose. Much better to place our trust in God, acknowledging Him and allowing Him to direct our steps. He will NEVER fail us. That is His promise to each and every one of His children.
BIBLE VERSE #8
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
God loves us so much that He invites us to cast all of our overwhelming thoughts, concerns and worries onto Him.
The action of casting is to throw something far away, out of one’s reach where it is not easy to retrieve. God doesn’t want us to wallow in the depths of worry because He knows that to do so inhibits us from exercising faith in Him. To hold onto our anxiety is to provide a foothold for the enemy to wreak havoc in our physical, emotional and spiritual health, and to lure us into making decisions that oppose faith!
Instead, God encourages us to throw our worries away onto Him—the only One that can bring breakthrough—and not pick them up again. He will carry and deal with the things that concern us, releasing us to enjoy a life of peace and joy. This tells us how much we are loved by our devoted Heavenly Father who wants us to live free of the bondage of fear, worry and anxiety. We are His precious children, but we must choose whether or not we will release our worries into His hands or continue to hold onto them unnecessarily.
BIBLE VERSE #9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God commands His children to be strong and courageous. Why? Because He knows that nothing can touch us while He is by our side and without His consent. The idea that His beloved children would shrink back in fear is unacceptable to a devoted heavenly Father who knows that He holds all authority and is in absolute control of their circumstances— every moment of every day! This is a truth we need to allow to sink into our hearts and become an unshakable belief that guides us when we are confronted with the very human response of FEAR.
The idea that His beloved children would shrink back in fear is unacceptable to a devoted Heavenly Father who knows that He holds all authority and is in absolute control of their circumstances— every moment of every day!
Once again, this verse is a challenge for us to TRUST Him and His intention for our lives. Remember that trust takes time to be built and is established as we take ever-increasing steps of faith and experience God’s faithfulness in delivering on His promises. There is no short-cut to this process which begins by choosing to believe Him at His Word TODAY.
What a comfort to know that even if we stumble along the way on the journey of faith, surrendering to the enemy’s empty threats, Our Father will never leave our side and will remain faithful to deliver us in testing times. However, it is good to be reminded that fear is a CHOICE, as is COURAGE. Holy Spirit is ready and willing to strengthen, empower and embolden us, from the inside out, when we turn to Him for help and dare to choose courage in the face of fear!
BIBLE VERSE #10
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
God calls Himself our ‘refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). When we call on Him, we can be certain that He hears our cry and is quick to respond. He is a Father, after all—the very best kind who is always listening and ready to provide help and protection for the object of His affection.
When life presents intimidating circumstances, we are faced with the choice to either cower in fear, take matters into our own hands and apply human logic or force to the problem, or run straight into God’s arms and leave the fighting to Him. What will you choose?
We hope these verses have stirred your faith to believe that you can face any situation and be victorious when you learn to look to and depend on God for His help! You can be confident of victory because your great God is FOR you and not against us, and delights in showing Himself faithful and strong in your life. With Him, you are more than a conqueror! (Romans 8:37).
The real question is, do you trust Him?
