How to Be Prepared for Tough Times

How to Be Prepared for Tough Times

prepared for tough times - flowingfaith.comOften we have big why questions when horrible things happen. But that question does not help us to deal with disasters. Because we can’t understand why certain things happen. Some of the evil things are caused by humans, directly or indirectly. But there are a lot of mysterious, inexplicable suffering in the world too. Whatever the cause of the current suffering is, taking it all in is taxing. Then it’s just time to lean on God, trust Him for seeing us through these hardships. But there are ways how we can become prepared for tough times. Let’s find out.

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. (Hebrews 11:1, MSG, emphasis added,*)

How to be prepared for tough times

So when disasters strike, there’s no time to learn to handle them. The learning needs to happen beforehand. If we want to learn to handle tough times, we need to dig deeper into faith. Because our faith is our handle on what we can’t see. We need to find out why we believe what we believe and why we live or what’s our ultimate purpose in this life. So when tough times arrive next time, we don’t need to be paralyzed with fear or spend time speculating why something happened. We can move on to deal with the reality based on our beliefs that we have tested beforehand. Hence the best way to be prepared for tough times is to know 1) why you really believe in Jesus and 2) why you live, what’s your purpose.

Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:4-5, MSG,*)

I would have never chosen my hardships but through them, I found out faith really works. And having a war-tested faith gives you boldness to live because you know from a first-hand experience that God will see you through no matter what happens. That’s our God. He can change even the bad in our lives into good if we let him take over. I believe in Jesus because he has proven to me that he will never leave me nor forsake me. When you know why you believe in Jesus, nothing will shake your faith either.

Our purpose is to glorify God in all we do

What gives me the confidence to keep on keeping on when things get tough, you ask. Sure, I’ve learned that God knows the big picture and is working behind the scenes. I can trust him to be good even when it does not look like it. But this faith, this trust is not all I have. I’ve also learned the purpose of my existence is not just to have fun but to glorify God. And that changes the game for me, that makes me prepared for tough times.

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. (2 Tess. 1:11-12, NLT,*)

I don’t need to understand what’s happening or why it is happening

But I do need to truly know God is good all the time and he will see me through anything and everything. Meanwhile, I can bring glory to God with my actions. I am God’s beloved and he has called me to share his love with others. Hence I know why I live. That gives me the incentive to keep on keeping on even when nothing makes sense. And God will provide me everything I need to accomplish all the good thing my faith prompts me to do. In the end, it’s all about letting God fill us with his grace. Then when we are weak, his grace makes us strong. When we are clueless, he gives us wisdom. And when we are helpless, he comes to our aid. Hence we are always blessed. Even if the world is shaking around us, Jesus is our peace. Hence we can be at peace at all times.

Gracious God,
Help us to learn to lean on you
when things get tough.
Instill in us unwavering faith and trust in you
so that when things get tough,
we can keep on praising you.
We want to bring glory to you, Lord.
Be our strength, be our wisdom, be our everything.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you prepared for tough times? How do you handle hardships?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you dig deeper into faith to be prepared for tough times!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses toBiblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.].

Photo by Mikael Kristenson on Unsplash. Linking up today with Dance with JesusFive-minute Friday. (Okay, this was supposed to be a five-minute post but I forgot it once I started writing. Sorry!)

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