For many of us, most of the time life seems good and we take pleasure in living. We enjoy the simple things — flowers, the aroma of fresh coffee and we love to see the sunrise. However, during other times strong emotional undercurrents threaten to drag us down as a result of grief, anxiety, difficulty, depression, fear resulting from health problems, family problems or loss of financial security.

For believers saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ — we have great news. When you fall into the pit of discouragement and wonder “where is God?” rest assured He’s still there. When you wonder if God has lost His power or doesn’t care about what you are facing, He’s still there. He never changes and He always cares.

God knows life can be tough, but the difficulties we face never take Him by surprise. Along with numerous other passages in the Bible, I find great assurance in a verse God gave to His people through the prophet Isaiah when they were in need of encouragement, hope and assurance. Isaiah 41:10 says “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” I find three assurances from our Father in this verse:

• God promises His presence with us — 10a
• God promises His strength for our hour of need — 10b
• God promises to sustain us by His power — 10c

Bad things do happen to good people, that is a fact, but that does not necessarily mean those individuals have done wrong. Second Timothy 3:12 reminds us that godly people can expect to suffer persecution. Do you ever wonder why we can entertain the idea that God has forsaken us when we are hurting? At times, our emotional pain doesn’t allow us to trust God completely in that instance. Also, if we are lacking spiritual maturity, we can easily misunderstand how God is at work and become vulnerable to the temptation of doubting God’s faithfulness. It becomes easy to think that our desires are more important than God’s plan. In John 15 we read how God shapes our life as a gardener prunes a grapevine.

Storms of life will assault us, but God is greater than any difficulty we will ever face. It makes a big difference when we can look at our circumstances from God’s viewpoint. Reflect on God’s goodness to you in the past. Realize He has never failed you.

Recognize that He does not change. When Christ is your Savior you can be confident that He will take care of you. He never, ever fails because He is perfect and possesses all power. Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”