Dear God, Please Change My Circumstances.

How many times have we prayed asking God to change our circumstances, to end our suffering, to bring us out of a valley? Sometimes we go through periods of suffering that seem like they will never end.

Suffering is inevitable because we live in a broken world. Even King David, whom the Bible says was “a man after God’s own heart” (I Samuel 13:14 NIV), went through periods of intense suffering. Right now you may be going through marriage problems, grief, loss, depression, loneliness, sickness, problems with your children, or financial hardships. You may feel discouraged, hopeless, and possibly even angry at God.

Many of you reading this are searching for answers to these problems you are facing. Oftentimes the problem is so troubling that you cannot even focus on the other parts of your life. You may spend so much time wondering what to do and why this is happening to you, that you cannot concentrate on what you need to be doing in the present moment. Your whole life starts to feel like a chaotic mess that is going downhill fast, and you have lost control of the steering. I know because I have been there.

During these difficult times, I wondered why God was not answering my prayers. Had He forgotten me? Was I being punished for something I did? If God loved me, how could He let me hurt like this for so long?

Why won’t He do something…anything?

God, where are you?

When we are in the midst of suffering or dealing with life’s daily conflicts, we need to use the resources God has given us to strengthen our faith and fight the enemy. Whether we are in a valley or on the mountaintop, we need to be prepared. Don’t go out onto the battlefield of life unequipped. We need to be battle ready every day!

Read God’s Word

The number one thing we need to do every day is spend time with our Heavenly Father. One way we can do that is by reading and studying the Bible. God’s Word is alive, and the Holy Spirit speaks to you through His Word. We gain wisdom and insight on how to deal with life’s problems from God’s Word. If we want to make it to the other side of this wilderness trial, we need to renew our minds every day.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:1-2 NIV

Reading our Bible first thing in the morning is the best way to renew our mind. We start the day off right, and we are better prepared for whatever satan tries to throw at us.

For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12 NLT

Spiritual Warfare

I believe every single word in the Bible to be the true, divinely inspired word of God. Therefore, I believe that these evil rulers and spirits do exist, and their leader is satan. His goal is to bring us down, defeat us, and get us as far away from God as possible. Those are facts. It is not science fiction. We may not be able to see the spiritual warfare mentioned in Ephesians 6:12, but we need to be aware that it is happening. Whatever problems you are facing and whatever your weakness is, you best believe that Satan knows all about it. He WILL use it against you in his plan to draw you into sin and away from God.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. – John 10:10 NLT

We know that satan and his evil minions are looking for ways to trip us up. Therefore, shouldn’t we prepare ourselves for their attack? I mean, I don’t want to just sit here and let them ruin my life. Our country would not do that if we knew another country was preparing to attack us! We would prepare for battle! We would utilize all possible resources to put up the best defense possible.

Therefore put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Ephesians 6:13-17 NLT

Pick Up Your Sword

God’s Word is Our Sword

The sword is the word of God! So what do we need to do? Pick up your sword and use it every single day! If you are unsure about where to start reading, the book of Psalms is a great place to start. David wrote many of the Psalms while he was going through great distress and sorrow. He cried out to God about his circumstances. When reading the Psalms, you can relate to what David is saying. I have found it comforting to know that a king, anointed by God like David was, went through some pretty intense stuff. David cried out to God and told Him exactly how he was feeling.

Some people say they cannot find time to pray and study God’s Word. However, they somehow find time to maintain and update their Pinterest boards and scroll Facebook and Instagram throughout the day. Social media can be used for good things, but Pinterest and Facebook will not answer your questions about life. They will not tell you the right way to deal with the problems you are facing. They will not tell you of all the promises of God and how much He loves you. Neither will they teach you how you should live or give you the peace that you are seeking. We cannot say we love God and follow Him and then put other things before our time with Him.

Pray

God wants to hear from us, just like parents want to hear from their children. He wants us to want to spend time with Him. When we pray, God wants to hear us tell Him how we are feeling, what is bothering us, and what we are thankful for. He already knows all of this, but He wants to hear it from us.

We need to set aside time for prayer, instead of trying to cram it in before falling asleep at night. We can also pray throughout the day. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. We can pray to our Heavenly Father in our thoughts no matter where we are.

When we are going through trials, we need to pray, and if the trial keeps going, we need to keep praying. Don’t stop talking to God. Tell Him how you are feeling. If you are discouraged, you can tell Him that. Talk to Him just like you would to a close, trusted friend. If you are in despair, cry out to God!

When we are praying, we never forget to ask God to deliver us from our painful circumstances and suffering. However, we also need to praise Him in the midst of our circumstances as well. He is still a good God who sent His only son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. He has prepared a beautiful, perfect place in eternity for those who believe in Him and follow Him. God never wanted us to live in a sinful world where we would experience pain. However, He allowed us to have free will, and our sin has been costly. Therefore, when we are praying for help with our suffering, we need to remember to praise the one who loves us with an unfailing love.

Speak Life

When we are going through hard times, it is easy to fall into the habit of speaking negatively about our situation. We may allow discouragement to permeate our every thought and our every word. But we have to break that habit! We have to change the way we are thinking, or we will steer ourselves right into more hopelessness and total defeat. Our faith needs to show up in our words. We need to speak God’s Word with our mouth!

Declare God’s Word

In Matthew 4, while Jesus was in the wilderness, he was tempted by satan three different times. Each time that Satan tried to tempt Jesus, Jesus spoke the scriptures out loud against satan. Jesus said, “The scriptures say…” Jesus used God’s Word, the sword, to fight back against satan, and satan had to flee.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword. – Hebrews 4:12 NLT

We need to use the sword, the Word of God, like Jesus did. When we are under spiritual attack by satan, we need to proclaim God’s Word with our mouth. We know that satan is out to destroy us, and he wants us to believe his lies. When negative thoughts come to mind, declare God’s promises with your mouth.

Instead of saying that things are always going to be bad, say “Life WILL get better.” Romans 8:28 tells us that “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.”

If you are thinking that God has forgotten about you, declare with your mouth “God is always with me and he will never forget about me.” Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “He will never forsake you.”

Whenever you are thinking that God does not love you, say out loud, “God’s word says that His love never fails.” Isaiah 54:10 states “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain.” David also speaks of God’s unfailing love all throughout the book of Psalm.

Remind yourself of God’s promises and speak them out. Declare them with your voice. Write them down where you can see them throughout the day. Put them on post-it notes on your mirror or in your car. Satan will try to defeat us with his lies, so we have to declare God’s promises to ourselves and to others.

Speak To Your Mountain

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11:23-24 NLT

Take note that in this verse, Jesus says “whoever SAYS to this mountain.” In order to move our mountain, we have to speak to our mountain in the name of Jesus and tell it to move! We have to speak to our circumstances, our suffering, depression, pain, marriage problems, finances, or whatever our difficult situation may be.

We do not have to ignore or deny our pain. However, when we talk about it, we need to proclaim that God is good and will continue to be good in our lives and in our circumstances. Let the devil hear you declaring victory instead of defeat. Let him know that your God is greater than your pain. Speak out in faith!

“Refuse self-pity. Refuse it absolutely. It is a deadly thing with power to destroy you. Turn your thoughts to Christ who has already carried your griefs and sorrows.”

Elisabeth Elliot, Christian Author and Missionary

Do Not Lose Hope

Do not allow the enemy to cause you to lose hope when you are going through a period of suffering. When you are a child of God and you are spending time with Him through prayer and reading His Word, then God has got you. He is holding you up with his right hand.

God is With You

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NLT

It may not feel like God is holding your hand. Your situation may be so discouraging and painful that you may not feel God’s presence at all. However, we need to remember that we cannot always trust our feelings. Our feelings are fickle at times. We have to believe what is truth. God’s Word says that God is with us and will never leave us.

For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.’ – Isaiah 41:13 NLT

God uses times of suffering to shape us and mold us into the person He created us to be. Sometimes He allows us to go through a wilderness trial so that He can refine us in a certain way. Maybe I have to walk through the wilderness in order to become the woman He created me to be. If I had taken the easy route around the wilderness, it is probable that I would not have gained the character trait God needed for me to have. I would not have been strengthened in the way God needed me to be.

This difficult time will produce something in you that God wants you to have to fulfill His purpose for you. The enemy may try to tell you that your trial is not going to produce anything useful, but that is a lie. God is allowing you to go through this trial for a reason. God has a purpose in mind for you. He has big plans for you!

Trust God

We have to TRUST God. There’s just no other way about it. We have to let go of trying to figure it out and let God handle it all. Even in the middle of all of the hurt and all of the pain and suffering, trust God. Take one step at a time. Pray. Read the Word. Go about your day with Jesus by your side. I know from personal experience, during times of suffering, I spend more time with God and His Word. I learn more about who He is, how to trust Him and lean on Him.

Letting go and trusting God completely is not always easy for us to do. This is because as humans, we cannot see everything God is doing and what He is working out. We cannot see the end result. God holds the future. He is already there. Times of trials allow us to learn to trust Him like never before. When we are at the end of our rope, we have to let go and let God. Trust like that does not come naturally, BUT it can develop and grow during times of suffering.

God wants us to draw close to Him. He wants us to have a real, personal, intimate relationship with Him. We live In a world where doubt, danger, and evil run rampant. However, if we develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, no matter what type of suffering or trials come our way, we can trust that He loves us and will take care of us. We need to change our perspective about difficult situations and trials and look at them as stepping stones towards God’s plan and purpose for our life and a closer relationship with Jesus.

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again. – Psalms 71:20-21 NLT

All of us go through periods of suffering in our lives. However, we do not have to go through those difficult seasons alone. God will walk right along beside you, holding your hand. He will protect you from the enemy and bring you out on the other side better than before. He has provided us with the tools we need to help us through the wilderness. Read God’s Word, talk to Him, speak life, and do not lose hope. Pick up your sword!