I was invited to teach on the Luke 418 Youtube channel. I taught about how to handle when we are going through difficult situations. Below is the outline used for the teaching and the link to the video is at the bottom.

Walking Through Difficult Situations

What happens when life doesn’t look anything like we thought it would: divorce, sickness, loss of job, being passed over, relationship issues, being left out, bullied, people coming against us, feeling like God is not hearing us/our prayers going unanswered, being falsely accused, being rejected, abandoned, etc.

Sometimes we can feel like we are being tested and put through the fire, but we have no idea why. Being in the fire can be very difficult and we can often find ourselves feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Unchecked frustration leads to anger, anger leads to bitterness, bitterness leads to resentment, resentment leads to walls between our heart and God.

I will be discussing some tips on making it through the difficult times and stepping into victory. We will be looking at several familiar stories from the Bible and talking about how we can apply the principles to our lives.

First let’s look at one of my favorite stories in the Bible.

David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17

Saul and his men were facing a battle with the Philistines. Everyday Goliath, who was a giant, would go out and yell at Saul and his men taunting them. He did this for 40 days.

How often does our situation taunt us? It is right in our face, and we cannot ignore it if we try. It calls out to us day and night to remind us it is not going anywhere. It can seem so huge and impossible to beat. It mocks us and says here I am and there is nothing you can do about it.

David did not go to the battle, his older brothers did, but he was the youngest and stayed back to tend his fathers’ sheep. He was a shepherd for his father’s animals. Jesse, David’s dad sent him to the battle lines to check on his older brothers and to bring back word of how they were doing. David readily obeyed his father and went to the battle lines.

While David was checking on his brothers Goliath came down front and center to yell at Saul’s army. The men ran in fear because of the size of Goliath and the words he was saying.

David asked” Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?” David wanted to know the identity of Goliath and he called him out for exactly what he was: the one who was defying the armies of the living God.

Sometimes we must really get to the root of the issue and call it out for exactly what it is. It can be so big and daunting that we cannot even recognize the root cause. We can let fear take over and distract us from the root issue, but we must push the fear aside and get to the root cause. We must recognize it and call it for what it is. All the yelling could have distracted David, but he was able to ignore the noise and see Goliath for exactly who and what he was.

Saul told David that Goliath was way too big and too strong for him to fight. Saul did not believe in David at all and only saw him as a young small guy.

We must make sure we are surrounding ourselves with people who will support us and pray for us when we are in battles, and not point out how strong or bad the battle looks. When we are in deep battles, we need someone to remind us how big our God is and not how big our battles are. We need people who will hold us up in intercession and not hold a pity party for us. We need ones who will draw us closer to God and not further from Him.

David told Saul about the times he killed a lion and a bear that were trying to take his father’s sheep. He said Goliath would be the same as the bear and lion. He said the Lord who rescued him from the paw of the lion and the from the paw of the bear, would also rescue him from the hand of the Philistine.

We must remember the things God has brought us through. When we are facing major battles, we need to look back on our lives and let our faith build by all the victories God has already given us. David did not see the size of the giant because he had his eyes on the size of his God. Goliath’s size did not make David doubt for a moment that he would be successful in defeating him. He knew God was with him and that was all he needed.

Saul dressed David in his own armor, but it did not fit, and David said he could not wear it because he was not used to it and because it did not fit him.

We must walk in the calling and anointing God gave us. If we try to wear the giftings, anointing, and call of others they will never fit us properly. God has put in our life what we need for battles and for walking in our kingdom purpose. He created us to be exactly who we are, and we must stop trying to be someone else. We must embrace our identity in Him and walk in what He has given us.

David picked up his shepherd’s bag and put five smooth stones in it. Together with the five stones, in his pouch, and his sling he went to face the giant.

God already provided him with the tools he needed: the pouch to hold the stones and the sling. God had prepared him while he was working as a shepherd. It was his training ground, and he did not even know it. God has us on a training ground, and we often do not even know it. He has already prepared us to fight the battle we are in the middle of right now and once we are victorious in this one, it will be used to prepare us to defeat the next one.

When Goliath saw David, he laughed and jeered at him because of his size and age. He even made fun of his weapon. He did not take him seriously and did not see him as any kind of threat.

Our battles (enemy) may laugh at us and not even take us seriously. Fear may try to set in and convince us we are not strong enough or big enough to win the battle.

David told Goliath that he came in the name of the Lord, and he told him that on that day the Lord was going to hand him over to David. David said he was going to cut his head off so everyone would know there is a God in Israel. He also said everyone would know that the Lord did not save with the sword or spear, for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand Goliath over to them.

David knew and stood firmly on his faith that God was going to save him. There was no fear because he knew who his God was, and he knew that He would not leave him alone. He knew the victory was not dependent on his own power or ability, but the outcome rested fully on God.

David quickly ran towards Goliath, took out a stone and struck him in the middle of the head. He ran over to Goliath and used his sword to cut off his head. The men of Judah and Israel won the victory when David killed Goliath.

David did not wait for the battle to come to him, he ran to it because he knew God was going to deliver him. Sometimes we must take the battle head on and run towards it because we know the fight is based on God and not us. We do not always have to be on the defensive, we can run into battle offensively.

Practical Tips for When You are Walking Through the Fire

1. Learn. Use it for a teaching moment and ask God what you can learn. There is always a lesson in everything we go through. We just must look for it. Allow God to use it to refine you.

2. Praise and Worship. Even on the hardest days, don’t stop praising Him. Journal everything He has ever done in your life and then read the list often.

3. Fast. If you do not know anything about fasting I encourage you to do a topical Bible study on the topic.

4. Patience in the Waiting. Not that you wait, but HOW you wait. A 2-year-old will wait for cookies to bake because they have to, but they may also throw a fit in the waiting.

5. Spiritual Warfare. Put on the full armor of God daily, James 4:7 Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee. Verbally confront the enemy with the name of Jesus.

6. Prepare. Ask God what this situation is preparing you for. What tools can you gain as you walk through the fire?

7. Prayer. Resist shutting God out. Talk to Him.

8. Teaching. What can you share with others that you are learning. Use it as part of your testimony and learning experience.

9. Do. Ask God specifically what He wants you to do and do no more and no less, don’t get stuck and don’t get stagnant.

10. Seek. Above all else seek God first. Shut out all the noise and distractions and spend time with Him.

11. Submit. Measure your level of submission and make sure there is nothing you are holding back and refusing to submit to Him.

12. Grow. Use the situation as a chance to grow. Grow your faith, trust, character, relationship with God, and any other area that needs to grow.

13. Humility. Remove all pride and reach out for help if you need it.

14. Walk in His Truth. Found in His Word, read the Bible.

15. Fruit of the Spirit. Choose to walk in the fruit of the Spirit no matter how difficult life gets. Galatians 5: 22-23 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

16. Address all areas of needed healing.

17. Rest in Him.

18. Forgive anyone who has wronged you, including yourself.

19. Break all lies you have come into agreement with. Recognize them, ask God to show you any that you do not recognize, once you recognize them repent for believing lies, ask God to break the power of the lie, ask Him to uproot the lie and anything attached to it, verbally break agreement with the lie, and then verbally command any demons attached to the lie to leave in the name of Jesus.

20. Perspective. View God through the lens of His Word and not situation.

21. Build a Godly Support System. Surround yourself with people of prayer. Ask for prayer and have them pray over you.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8PhlsoReVQ&t=2513s

Blessings,

Nichole Henson

Fullness of Joy Ministry

Email: Fullnessofjoyministry@gmail.com