“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” (Ps. 125:1 NIV)
We are living in a time of unparallel shaking. We see the evil one at work trying to shake us in our beliefs to get us to move from commitment to compromise and from calamities to hopelessness.
At the heart of Satan’s attacks are lies to undermine our faith. Our faith is attacked because our beliefs determine our behaviors, which determine our destiny.
I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)
Today, we are seeing the very foundations of our ethical and moral values as a country being shaken. Everywhere we turn, we see good people believing and spreading bad lies.
We learned last week that God will empower us to take a stand. When we stand up, God shows up.
Our call, in many ways like Daniel, is to live as exiles, pilgrims, and outliers: Consciously aware we are here for a mission, to be in the world but not of it. We are here not to settle in its ways, but to be salt and light to influence the world to find God and hope and truth in Jesus.
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which seek to wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits you. I Peter 2:11-12 NIV
One of the key ways we remain unshakeable and overcome is to not only refuse to compromise our convictions but to stand in trust when calamity hits, and we suffer with disappointment, grief and loss.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NIV
We can be unshakeable by letting God help us go from trauma to radical trust in a way that God uses our trauma to bring ultimate triumph and glory.
The amazing good news of the Bible is that God never wastes a tear or sorrow. He is with us in the fire. He restores the years the locusts have eaten and provides a way for the places of our greatest losses to become the place of new beginnings and opportunities. The places Daniel was pummeled the most was where he was promoted the highest.
5 ways God can help us move from trauma, to trust, to triumph in our lives:
1. Refuse to let the lies of fear and hopelessness steal your faith in God.
Overcoming trials and traumas doesn’t mean you don’t feel the sorrow, grief, and pain; it means you let God walk with you through it to a place of peace and hope. Make a choice to take a stand and trust God no matter what.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because You are with me, Your rod and staff they comfort me. Psalms 23:4 NKJV
For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Heb. 4:15 KJV
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:17-18 NIV
2. Chose to claim God’s promises, expect miracles, and live in hope in the face of impossible odds.
Daniel replied, ‘No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. (Daniel 2:27-28 NIV)
Standing unshakeable means standing on the promises of God, chaining ourselves to hope in God’s ability when we have no human solutions. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoner of hope; today I declare that I will restore you double… (Zechariah 9:12 NKJV)
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Our hope and promises go beyond this life. Even if we don’t get the answers we want in this life, this lifetime is not the end of the story. We have an eternal, unshakeable hope that Jesus has prepared for us in Heaven.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
3. Choose to focus in and magnify the greatness of God in the problem instead of the bigness of the problem.
There are two kinds of people, those who look at their problems in the light of God and those who look at God in the light of their problems. One gives up trust, the other becomes anchored in trust.
A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils, whereas a high view of God is the cure to a thousand ills. What comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you. It will define how you meet every challenge you face.
I believe that every person, circumstance, and event that comes into my life God has planned and will use for the unfolding of His perfect plan for me. — E. Stanley Jones
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:18)
Praise be the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors… (Daniel 2:20-23 NIV)
4. Let your faith be sustained and strengthened by your furnace friends.
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Misahel, and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of Heaven… (Daniel 2:17-18a)
5. He expected and cooperated with God as He turned the trauma into triumph.
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Sometimes the good is a miracle God does for us. Daniel was promoted; Job was restored double. Always when we trust God in crisis, He does miracles in us, our character. God uses painful experiences sometimes to protect us, sometimes to correct us, sometimes to direct us, sometimes to perfect us, and always to prepare us to help others.