testimonies of seemingly impossible situations turned around.
I have had people who could be dangerous, where I am ministering. And often ones can come to mind, with imaginations of how I could be killed or tortured. And I might spend hours stewing about it and pacing in circles, imagining how I would put them down. But it comes to mind, something like, "This is not how Jesus wants you to love and bless them, and forgive them even if they did do something to you."
So, then I trust God to quiet me down and have me loving and caring for them in prayer. And then I go and see what is really going on with these people, and I can be quite surprised at how they are doing so better. Because God does better than we can.
In any situation, what can work is simply asking God, "What do You want me to do?" And do what He has us doing in His peace.
Below, I offer what I understand about God's word working in our lives >
We have our New Covenant, and Isaiah 55:11 says God's word will do what God desires. So, we can feed on every word of the New Testament and understand how God is committed to having His word do in us all He means, which He Himself will do in us.
So, even if we have failed, well . . . that's because what we ourselves do can not work. And it takes time to grow and go through God's correction into how Jesus is pleasing to God and how Jesus loves.
Grow stronger, keep going
This is my experience.
For handling hard things, you can feed on Paul's experience which he shares in 2 Corinthians 12:7-15. This is Paul's testimony
We can discuss this scripture, if you want, after you have read and fed on it.
But the main focus of our Covenant, I now understand, is not only having God take care of us in problems, but most of all is how God changes us in our character so we are His way and we can personally submit to how He rules us in His own peace >
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)
With Him in His peace, we share with God our Creator in His creativity for taking advantage of any trouble, using it for His love purposes.
But . . . even so > beware how our troubles can be our own making because we have not done things God's way; and so I always need to first submit to God and seek Him for Himself, and trust Him to evaluate me, myself.
Did I do things not obedient, so I could attract the problem and get myself into the trouble? We ourselves can be our own real problem > how we can attract a problem, and how we are able to react to things the wrong way.
Is my own character making me so I can take things in a hard way, instead of being prayerful and simply trusting the LORD??
His peace is almighty to protect our hearts and minds, and in this harmony of God Himself we share in His creativity for how to love any person who may be a problem >
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (in Psalm 23:5)
