Learning from Steve 3: Tough Times, episode 116

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at When You Love a Prodigal, and also help and hope for your own life journey. Today we are continuing a month of episodes from my sweet husband, Steve, who moved to have an almost a year ago now. I believe his experience, wisdom, and relationship with God offers great help as we live with the tough circumstances, concerns, and responses that we face or have to take action on.

0:45 Today I'm sharing with you an article he wrote on living through tough times. We know about tough times, don't we? I might make a few comments through it as I am reading to you what he wrote, but this is basically coming straight from Steve to you. He wrote this article in the midst of COVID, so it's coming at a time of some pretty tough experiences and challenges. So he wrote, in the midst of this shutdown, life seems so uncertain, even out of control.

1:26 Perhaps you can identify. So what can you do when things seem out of control? I've asked that question, Steve, and God has reminded me what has strengthened me time after time. These three things about God really help me cope when I remember them. The first is that God is all-powerful. In Luke chapter 1 we understand that nothing is impossible with God. In Job 38, in God's response to Job, who was suffering a great deal, we find an overwhelming list of examples of his great power.

2:11 For example, God asked Job, where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? And he said, do you send the lightning bolts on their way and tell them where to go? And many other things like that. Have you been to where the frost lives? And many examples, and God is saying, do you know what I know? He's all-powerful. He's in control. And along those lines, Steve says, I heard a story a while ago where the Jesus film team was about to show a showing in a rural remote area.

2:54 And there was a rainstorm that was advancing, and it was going to arrive right as they were showing the film. And they prayed, and they said, Lord, can you stop this rainstorm so that we can show the film? And God did just that. He stopped the storm a very short distance from where they were doing the showing, but it was within view all of those who were watching the film. They could see that God himself had stopped it. So God is all-powerful, but he's also all-knowing. Psalm 139 is one of the classic biblical passages on how intricately God knows the details of people's lives.

3:40 He says, before there is a word on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord, in Psalm 139, we can't hide anything from God, and he doesn't fall asleep or forget about us. He knows about us, about the rest of the world, and about decisions that our loved ones might make. So God is all-powerful, and he's all-knowing, and this is really important. God is always loving. One of my favorite Psalms is 136. Steve wrote. Why? Because 26 times it repeats the refrain, his love endures forever.

4:29 Does that just really touch your heart? His love never, ever goes away, and it won't. In John 3.16, that familiar verse, it says that God sent Jesus to die for our sins. Why? Because he so loved the world. I will never be able to thank God enough for forgiving my sins, and I'm very grateful for his many provisions. For example, during this time of being sheltered at home with Judy, me, Steve says, I am freshly reminded about how gracious and generous he has been to let me be married to her for 45 years.

5:14 Only it was 47 before he left for heaven. Remembering these facts about God that he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always loving should lead us to the following responses. First, we can trust him. God alone is worthy of our total trust. He can and will implement his perfect will for our lives if we just trust him. In recent months, I and others in leadership in our ministry have had to face some significant challenges such as seeking to keep our staff around the world safe and praying for our finances to stay strong.

6:01 On several occasions, I have sensed God saying to me, Steve, I've got this. Trust me. Notice that he was pointing out that the all-powerful God of the universe was handling this. I just needed to put my trust in him. As we ask God for protection, provision, restoration, we must trust that God will work his perfect will. It may well involve our ongoing prayer and action, but we need to come to the point where we really put our complete trust in him.

6:42 So first our response is to trust and then to walk with him. Trust goes in proportion to relationship. If we don't talk to him much, he can seem a bit intangible and even distant, but if we talk to him as often as possible, we will be walking with him. In my daily life, as I engage in various interactions, thoughts, problems, I try to pray specifically about them. And as I am praying about those things, it really does seem like the peace of God that transcends all understanding guards my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus, especially need that peace in the middle of these current circumstances, or you need that peace in the middle of your current circumstances with your loved prodigal.

7:44 So we trust, we walk with him, and then we cast our cares on him. That is what 1 Peter 5.7 invites us to do. Truly, putting our trust in God and not ourselves means we should cast our cares on him versus retaining them and think we can make this happen the way we want. About two months ago, Steve wrote, I had a memorable opportunity to do that. I had a second surgery on my scalp to be sure all of the melanoma skin cancer there had been removed.

8:24 It took a week for the lab report to come back to indicate there was no more cancer. But during that week, I was able to cast that care on the Lord, waiting to hear and having peace because I knew I could have peace because I had casted that care on him. Changing circumstances can generate all sorts of cares. And when those cares arise, we need to remember that God can be trusted. We can give them to him. So as you face the difficult situations buffeting you and those you love, remember that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always loving so you can know that he alone can be completely trusted and as you walk closely with him, you can just give those cares to him and he is going to take care of them.

9:29 So thank you, Steve, for some clear, simple guides for tough times which surely come when you love a prodigal. God is all-powerful. He knows it all. And he always loves us and our prodigals. So we can trust him as we walk with him and choose to cast our cares on him. What about you? What has helped you trust God in challenging times? Is there some trial, some challenge with you and your prodigal going on right now? That you need to give to the Lord?

10:11 Next week we will wrap up these four sessions with Steve on practical helps for the challenges we face. Be sure to check out the show notes. We list some resources from Steve I think you will appreciate. God bless you.