In a published article written by J. Blake Brown, he writes, “In 1516 M. Luther was reading Romans 1, and when he got to verse 17he was struck by Paul’s quote from Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous will live by faith.”

Those words launched Luther into what we, today, call the Reformation. He began by tacking up the famous 95 theses which pointed out the errors that existed in the Church at that time, but it quickly snowballed into an all-out reformation

In 1521, just 5 years after it started and church leadership was thoroughly offended that anyone would dare challenge them, Luther was ordered to go before a church council to explain his preaching and writings that were contrary to the church’s teachings. The site of the council was in the German city of Worms (“Varms”). Here Luther defended his writings before the Emperor Charles and all the dignitaries of the Empire. Towards the end of the council, the Emperor and dignitaries had had enough and demanded that Luther recant all that he had preached and written. And it was then that he made his timeless reply:

I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils, because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture . . . I can and will not retract . . . Here I stand . . . I can do no other. So help me God, Amen!!

This is a great statement of faith in God. One that looked right into the face of the circumstances, and despite their poised menacing attitudes, he chose God.

There was no reason, other than his faith in God, that Luther should have made this statement. His circumstances were looming dark clouds… he was facing excommunication, defrocking, and even death by uttering those words. After the council, Luther was declared an outlaw which meant that he could be killed by anyone without threat of punishment. Yet Luther trusted God and His Word more than the threats of man. He made a decision that cost him everything!”… Friends, now that was no small decision!

i often think it’s quite intriguing to put scripture into more modern-day language. Like Hab 3:17-19: Here’s the original:

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls — Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.”

Now here is the re-visualized version: Though I don’t have the money to buy more than rice and beans at the grocery store, and I can’t pay my electric bill, though the fuel tank in my car is nearly sitting on empty, and I can’t find a job, though there’s very little food left in the cabinet and only oatmeal to set on the table for my kids, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord will provide. He enriches my faith and opens the doors to His provisions. He supplies that job I need so badly and lifts me out of my poverty because I seek first the Kingdom of God.”

Joyce Meyer once said, “If you’re praying to God for the devil to leave you alone, he’s not gonna do it, so you might as well get over it, quit fighting with the devil and lean into Jesus.” The point is how good God is not how bad the devil is. Think about that and let it sink down into your thinking machine.

i have a phrase the Lord gave me, which is, “Not every blue sky is from Heaven and not every storm is from hell”, reminding me that The Lord is my focus, not my circumstances, and just because things are well in my circumstances doesn’t mean i’m in the throe’s of blessing, neither just because i’m surrounded by storms does it mean God is angry with me or i’ve done something wrong. Aiming fingers of blame are like having guns in your hand, and too many of us are spending our time and emotional capital shooting at everything that moves. i say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa there, nice shootin’ Tex, but put your guns away!” All our blaming never did anyone any good. When times are difficult, lean on Jesus, set your eyes on Jesus, and put your hope in Jesus because in Christ alone is our help and hope. In an old Lutheran hymn by Edward Mote, the first verse is “My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.”

Chances are good that many, if not most of us, are going through something difficult… it could be the loss of a job, a family member who fell ill, or overwhelming loneliness in the midst of a large church body. In fact, it could be a number of struggles all at one time. Probably, early on, someone told you life as a believer was not easy, but now that things are not easy, you didn’t know it then like you know it now… life may have been difficult on many levels before, but now… oh boy, now they’re maybe even more difficult. After all, Christians are certainly not immune to trials and tribulations.

Honestly, restoration is messy, revival is very, VERY messy, and life can be wildly messy. In spite of all that, i hope we can see the big picture here concerning having faith despite dark clouds.

i know everyone comes first to this O.T. guy when we think about trials and tribulations, but still, he’s a great example, consider Job. Right off the bat, scripture describes him in Job 1:1 as, “a man named Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” Right off the bat, God is setting the precedence about Job, and all that follows after vs 1, we need to remember that God has overshadowed Job’s story with the fact that he was blameless, upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

i’m sure you know the story, and if you haven’t it would do you well to read the book of Job which is right after Esther and before Psalms. The Lord asked Satan to consider Job who was blameless and upright. The Lord was obviously very pleased with Job. From the way i read the story, one angle was that satan believed the reason Job lived his life for the Lord was because of what Job could get from God… satan believed it was only a “hand level” relationship (or merely “what can be gotten”), and that if God allowed all Job’s stuff and family to be taken away, Job would curse God.

So, the Lord allowed Satan to take away his blessings. Job lost his oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants, camels, sons, daughters, and eventually even his health. Now we’ve gotta see this, so listen: Here’s a man who walked blamelessly before God, and yet the Lord allowed him to suffer. How could this be? Well, Job’s supposed “friends” had all kinds of ideas of why this might be the case, everything from telling him his sins had caused his misfortune, to his wife telling him he should just roll over and die. If you are in a difficult situation, let me encourage you again to read Job’s story, and i don’t mean just glitz over it, but take it in, roll it over in your mind and ponder upon it in order to see the Lord’s real heart.

Here are a couple of points that i found interesting: First off, it is obvious that bad things happen to “good” people. It’s a fact of life. In Luke 13, Jesus is addressing, again, the issue of retributive theology, meaning your well-being is directly dependent on YOUR ability to be obedient and get life right, and that’s just not true. In vs 4, Jesus speaks of some local news as an example. He says, “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?” The Jews, and even many people today, seem to think if they do good they get good, and if they do bad, they get bad, that’s retributive theology. Now i can see where it would be sort of true in that if you hit your hand with a hammer, it will hurt, and if you don’t then it won’t hurt. Or, if you don’t pay your electric bill, the lights will go off, and if you DO pay it, they will stay on. But that’s not what God is talking about here. Many seem to think that if THEY are well and you are not AS well as THEY, then obviously you have more sin in your life than they do… and that’s simply a lie, which Jesus was addressing.

i’m not saying we shouldn’t avoid pain and suffering, of course we should, probably no one woke up one day and thought, “Gosh, i sure hope i suffer today.” However, if it can’t be helped, and the Lord doesn’t change the situation, learn to live well where you are until He does change things… it can be helpful to accept pain and suffering when we have no choice, and that acceptance can help us get through difficult circumstances.

Secondly, notice that Job still honored the Lord despite his horrible circumstances. He didn’t sin by charging God with wrongdoing. He didn’t try to blame himself or everyone else for his circumstances. And while we’re there, let me suggest we quit blaming God. C’mon guys, cut it out. After all, God is God, and He is our standard of what is right – the Lord is the ultimate justice and adjudicator, who do we think we are to judge the Lord? Put your guns away, or quit blaming everyone and everything, and live well where you are until such time as things change.

“When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

Acts 5:17, “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation,”.

Further on in Acts 5:40, we read the apostles were beaten because they were speaking in the name of Jesus. Scripture says, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” Wow. They did two things after being beaten: they rejoiced because they were counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name of Jesus, and they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

i’m sure, as many others who have read these scriptures, they possibly think, “How can I be strong when I’m going through a difficult time?” i, personally, have never gone through something as terrible as what the apostles endured, but there have been numerous extreme circumstances, which, at the time, i thought things were so very terrible that i was dying. i find it incredible that all through the apostles terrible circumstances, their hearts were in the right place, even when being beaten… and don’t you know, the stripes from the whip didn’t stop right then… the suffering was extreme and went on and on, the sting continued for days, but yet they persisted. i’m sure the Lord strengthened them… and i ask myself, no matter what I’m going through, would i still honor the Lord as well? i hope so and hope i don’t have to find out, but wouldn’t be surprised if i did.

i believe those who endure such difficult circumstances are given the great gift of faith, The Lord intervenes at our most extreme moments, extending us grace to endure, but we also have to be willing to persist and endure in our circumstances.

i wonder to myself, how will i act? What will i say? Will i be like Stephen standing firm to the end, or will i be like Judas who betrayed the Lord and just ran away?

Mark 13:11, “But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.”

i like to think of myself as being a spiritual man, standing on God’s word, faithfully testifying Jesus is who God says He is, standing on His promises and all that… and, in truth, i am that person. But i’ll tell you what, not too long ago my wife became ill and had to go to the hospital for a few days, and in those few days, i was so shaken to my core, i couldn’t seem to find all my super-spiritual stuff, i couldn’t find the courage to bind this or that, or the strength to cast down principalities and powers, and what’s worse, having been that guy who prayed those sorts of things and has seen people healed on the spot, but this time, none of my words seemed to impact anything. i was reduced to a quivering gelatin mass and all i could squeak out, through my tears, was “Help us Jesus, i don’t know what to do.”

Now, some folks may say that is just downright pitiful and faithless, but i believe the prayer, “Help us Jesus!” is one of the most powerful prayers we can pray. Sometimes, in the midst of terrible circumstances, that’s all we’ve got. The Lord began to give me endurance and the courage to persist, even though i had gnawing butterflies in my stomach, in a bad way, 24 hours a day, all week long. i refused to use alcohol or drugs to squash my anxiety because i believed God would sustain me and He did… i am absolutely determined to be present, unhampered and un-anesthetized… in my heart, i knew not only did He hear my prayers, He was, in the present tense, answering and healing … it’s just something i knew in my heart of hearts. There was faith in me despite my dark clouds… those dark clouds which seemed to overshadow everything, the creeping ominous gloom of doom that whispered, “you don’t”, “you can’t”, “you won’t”, “you didn’t”, “you should have”… the whisperings of the enemy, whispering destruction to me through the crack under the door and at the windows of my house…regardless of all that, there was rising faith in me regardless of dark clouds.

In the midst of all that grief, a friend, many, many miles away, over the phone, spoke a Heaven-shifting prayer, declaring light and healing to my wife… within the hour she was resting and asleep, on the road to recovery. Since then i’ve found my spiritual legs again. All that to say, we may see ourselves as hero warriors, but when the poo hits the fan, i marvel at how quickly we can find out the depth of our faith… .we also learn that in the necessary moment, faith will rise and the tide will turn… if it doesn’t then we must trust, in the eyes of the Lord, that God had a better idea and it’s on its way. The idea is to go with God not get what you want, and just because you’re uncomfortable and don’t get what you want, when you want, how you want, and God doesn’t agree with you … .. doesn’t mean He is no longer God. We are to conform to HIS image, not Him conform to ours.

Eugene Peterson wrote, “Jeremiah lived during one of the most troubling periods of Hebrew history. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and he was in the middle of it all, sticking it out… praying and preaching, suffering and striving, writing and believing. He lived through crushing storms of hostility and furies of bitter doubt. Every muscle in his body was stretched to questioning; every feeling in his heart was put through fires of ridicule.”

“What happens when everything you believe in and live by is smashed to bits by circumstances? Sometimes the reversals of what we expect from God come to us as individuals, other times as entire communities. When it happens, does catastrophe work to re-form our lives to conform to who God actually is and not the way we imagined or wished Him to be? Does it lead to an abandonment of God? Or, worse, does it trigger the stubborn grasping to the old collapsed system of belief… holding on for dear life to an illusion?”

When the poo hits the fan, whose side are you on? Let the Lord reveal to you where you really live, and what is your real faith level despite dark clouds. The Lord our God is loving and kind, not cruel and abusive, so we have no reason to be afraid. Let me encourage you, Let God reveal your true heart to you and then take action as He leads you to make some course corrections. Think about it, and amen.

I don’t have all the answers. In fact, in the entire scheme of everything there is to know, i know nothing except what God has given me, and other than that, whatever i think i know, i don’t. But, what I do know is, one day, for those who trust in Jesus the Messiah, God will wipe our tears away and bring us into a glorious communion with Himself, Revelation 7:17.

When man is the builder, the structures are judged by God as either good or bad, and here is the tipping point… the standard of His judgment is according as they conform to his character and purpose. In Genesis 8:20 Noah’s altar was accepted by God because it conformed to the Lord’s character and purpose. And in contrast, the Lord rejected the high places and altars to foreign gods built by Aaron, by Solomon in 1 Kings 11, and Rehoboam in 1 Kings 14.

Not every blue sky is from Heaven nor is every storm from hell. Despite dark clouds, our faith should continue on, regardless of whether we’re surrounded and cornered by thousands. Stand Up Church! i don’t know much about suffering, but what i do know is that suffering reduces everything to its lowest common denominator. Now before you go getting offended, which seems to happen far too easily and too often for many, that doesn’t mean depressed, bottom of the barrel, broken, sick, and sad… it means when all things are boiled down in the life of a believer, Jesus stands tall in the middle. We are coming into the likeness of the Son and when all things of the world are removed from obstructing our view, what our eyes see is Christ, the Son of God.

Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

Be strong and courageous and let your faith do it’s work despite the dark clouds and, what appears as looming doom. Your faith is there, let it rise and see God shift the Heavens on your behalf, truly all other ground is sinking sand.

Pray for your friends, go see someone who can’t come see you, drive carefully, and i’ll talk to you next time.