Joyful and Confident Hope
Learning to Trust God in Every Circumstance
There comes a place in our walk with God where we begin to look at the circumstances of life very differently. Things that may have got you down, overcome you, or overwhelmed you two or three years ago suddenly don't affect you in the same way anymore. It is not necessarily because the circumstances have become easier. It is because something has become established in your heart and you have become strengthened within. You have learned to trust God. You have seen Him move, answer prayer, and do things for you that nobody else could do, and your confidence in Him has become stronger.
Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my impenetrable shield. My heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.”
I want you to see yourself surrounded by that impenetrable shield. It is around you like a cloak. Wherever you go, God is with you. He is not only with you, but by the Holy Spirit He lives on the inside of you.
Now, that does not mean difficult things will never happen. We receive news we did not want to receive. We face circumstances we do not understand. Things happen that can hurt us emotionally and put tremendous pressure on us. But that does not make God's Word untrue. God's Word is constant. It is yea and amen. It is the truth, and it will never falter.
As you walk with God and learn to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you begin to see Him move in your life. Your faith grows and your confidence grows. Eventually, you begin facing life from an inward knowledge of an outward outcome. It's almost like you have inside information concerning the situation you are facing. You may not know exactly how or when God is going to do it, but you know He is faithful.
Second Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.”
That changes the way you look at things. Instead of seeing everything only through your natural circumstances, you begin seeing things the way God sees them.
This is also why rejoicing cannot be something we do only when everything is going well. Psalm 28:7 says, “Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.” That has to become a lifestyle. We have to learn to worship God in every circumstance, and particularly during difficult times.
Paul and Silas demonstrated this in prison. They had been beaten, imprisoned, and fastened in stocks. They had every reason in the natural to complain, but instead they prayed and sang praises to God.
Acts 16:25–26 says that while they were praying and singing hymns of praise, “suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.”
They worshiped until the prison shook.
There are times when we have to make the same decision. Instead of allowing doubt and unbelief to determine our response, we choose to trust God and praise Him.
Get up in the morning and say, “Lord, I thank You for that impenetrable shield that is surrounding me. I don't know what's going to take place today, but I'm expecting good things because I'm covered with the shield of God's favor. My heart trusts in You. I rely upon You. I'm confidently leaning upon You, and You are helping me.”
That is how we learn to live from a position of trust instead of fear.
There will also be times when worry or anxiety tries to overwhelm you. My wife Loraine experienced that when something began weighing on her mind. Suddenly she heard her spirit singing, “And I will run to You.” Instead of running from God, we run to Him. She continued singing and rejoicing in her heart, and the burden lifted.
That is the Holy Spirit working on the inside. We need to become aware of what He is saying to us and how He is directing us to respond.
Psalm 28:8 says, “The Lord is their unyielding strength; He is the stronghold of salvation to His anointed.”
There is a strength that flows from within that is far greater than anything coming against you from the outside. I am not necessarily talking about something demonic. I'm talking about life. Ordinary circumstances can emotionally drain and strain us, but there is an inner strength that God is teaching us how to lean upon.
First John 2:27 says, “The anointing that you have received of Him abides in you.”
God wants His Word to become real in our hearts, not merely something we quote. A Scripture may be completely true, but we have to believe it personally and walk in its truth. The answer may not manifest immediately, but that does not change what God has said.
Whatever life produces, God is equal to it and greater than it. Whatever bad news you receive in the natural, God is greater than that news.
Ephesians 3:20 says that He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
That is the God we serve. He is great, awesome, omnipotent, and almighty. But we have to learn simple trust. We do not have to understand everything before we believe God. Sometimes we try to reason everything out and ask, “How is God going to do this?” But faith says, “God said it. I believe it. I receive it.”
Isaiah 60:1 gives us a powerful picture of this: “Arise from the depression and frustration in which circumstances have kept you. Rise to new life. Shine. Be radiant with the glory of the Lord. For your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
God is telling us to arise.
You may have experienced a painful loss, a financial setback, or difficult news. Those circumstances are real, and dealing with them can be difficult. But God is telling us that we do not have to remain under the depression and frustration those circumstances have tried to put upon us.
The danger comes when the circumstance becomes our final focus. One negative thought produces another, and before long our minds begin imagining the worst possible outcome. Second Corinthians 10:5 tells us to cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
This is especially important when everything becomes quiet and your mind begins working overtime. We are surrounded by negative information, and if we continually feed on it we can begin feeling as though everything is hopeless.
But God is able.
Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. Your mind may be imagining the worst possible scenario, but God sees something you cannot see.
That is why He says, “Rise to new life.”
Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” and Ephesians 6:10 tells us, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
You are a new creation. God has placed His life within you. So recognize that new life and learn to live from what God has placed on the inside rather than allowing circumstances on the outside to determine your inward condition.
Then Isaiah says, “Shine.”
You may not have a reason in the natural to shine, but you have every reason in the spirit. The circumstances may still look difficult. The news may still look bad. But God has not changed. His Word has not changed. His promises have not changed.
So when tomorrow comes, don't fear it. Don't believe the voice of doubt.
The Lord is your strength. The Lord is your impenetrable shield. Trust in Him. Rely upon Him. Confidently lean upon Him.
Whatever you are facing today, God is greater. Arise. Rise to new life. Shine. And live every day with joyful and confident hope.
Scriptures and Key Thoughts
• Psalm 28:7 — “The Lord is my strength and my impenetrable shield.” God is our strength and protection. As we trust, rely upon, and confidently lean upon Him, He helps us and our response becomes rejoicing and praise.
• 2 Corinthians 2:14 — “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” We can face circumstances with an inward confidence because God has promised that He always causes us to triumph in Christ.
• Acts 16:25–26 — Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises while they were imprisoned, and suddenly the prison was shaken, the doors opened, and their shackles were released. Their circumstances did not determine their worship; they praised God in the middle of the difficulty.
• Psalm 28:8 — “The Lord is their unyielding strength; He is the stronghold of salvation to His anointed.” God's strength within us is greater than the pressures and circumstances that come against us from the outside.
• 1 John 2:27 — “The anointing that you have received of Him abides in you.” The anointing of God is not something distant from the believer. It abides within us, and we can learn to depend upon that inward working of the Holy Spirit.
• Ephesians 3:20 — He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Whatever circumstance we face, God's ability is greater than what we can see, ask, think, or imagine.
• Isaiah 60:1 — “Arise from the depression and frustration in which circumstances have kept you. Rise to new life. Shine.” God does not tell us to deny difficult circumstances; He tells us that we do not have to remain under their emotional weight. We can arise and live from the new life He has placed within us.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 — “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” Negative thoughts and imaginations must not be allowed to become greater in our thinking than what God has said.
• Isaiah 55:8–9 — “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Our minds may imagine the worst possible outcome, but God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” We are new creations in Christ. Our identity is not determined by outward circumstances but by the new life God has placed within us.
• Ephesians 6:10 — “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Our strength is not found merely in our own ability to cope. We learn to draw our strength from the Lord and from the power of His might.
Whatever the circumstance looks like, God is able. Let His Word become more real to you than the circumstance, and continue to live with joyful and confident hope.
Taken from : Pt 2 “Joyful And Confident Hope” #27 TMM (YouTube)
God bless you richly,
Gil Howard-Browne
www.revivaltimes.com
