What do you do when you start feeling anxious, troubled, scared? Do you pray? Do you run to a spouse, a friend, a family member?
I wish I could say I always cry out to Him first. But I don’t.
I feel like it’s up to me to fix something, deal with trouble, solve a problem.
But it’s not.
God is always there.
How can I focus every bit of my heart – in every moment of life – on Him first, rather than on worry or “self-sufficiency.” How do I train my heart to seek His shelter rather than scrounge for my own?
A few ways helping me so far (and maybe able to help you?): Store up His Word in our hearts! Seek out verses to memorize, leading to quick recall when those trying times occur. Place His Word first in our hearts over and over and over again so we form a habit of going to Him first.
How can we find these guiding verses?
- Pray first for God to open your heart to His leading and heighten your awareness of applicable verses for your situation.
- Use a concordance (found in most study bibles) to find a topic (I searched for grief, trouble, fear, worry…) and read verses listed.
- Use online bible study resourcesto search a specific topic.
Image from Microsoft Clip Art - Study one passage (a chapter, a book) for several days in a row, asking God to lead you to needed truths at the right times.
Ten Verses for Trying Times
Here are ten verses I’ve found helpful in getting through hard times:
- Hebrews 12:7 – Hardships train us.
- Psalm 27:13-14 – Wait for and trust in Him in all things.
- Psalm 16:7-8 – God counsels.
- Psalm 34:2-5 – God hears.
- Psalm 34:18 – Brokenhearted? He remains near. (Our Run To Him reading for this week speaks on His redeeming us from troubles!)
- 1 Thessalonians 5:8-11 – We need not hold on to grief for we have His hope and joy in the midst of grief.
- Psalm 10:14 – God sees our troubles and helps.
- John 16:19-24, 33 – Grief caused by this age will be wiped away in the age to come. (John 16:33 is one of my personal favorites.)
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 – God comforts our troubles, and then we can share His comfort with others going through similar troubles.
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – These troubles, no matter how severe they are, are nothing compared to the eternal glory coming. I have to remind myself of this perspective sometimes.
How does God share what you need through His Word?
Love your devotions…always very helpful…however one thing stuck out to me today that I just had to respond to…where you say in #6 “We need not grieve for we have His hope”…I totally disagree with that statement….even as believers we DO grieve and it is healthy and a necessary process in our lives….we are to grieve but not as ones who have no hope….there’s a big difference in how you state the truth of that verse and what the real truth is in that verse. God bless you and keep these great devotions coming!!
Kristina, you are very right that we do grieve and should allows ourselves to grieve! Even Jesus wept out of grief and sadness (John 11:35). Perhaps a better way to have to written that statement was “we need not hold on to grief…” because of the hope we expect and are graciously given. We grief the sadness in this world, but we know all sadness will be wiped away in the age to come.
Thank you so much for your comment for important clarification! I appreciate you!
Great post! I love studying the same passage several days in a row. I’m new to that and it’s been a such a blessing. By the end of the week, God has opened my eyes to so much. Thanks for this!
Me, too, Tracy! And the Run To Him studies have been perfect for forming a habit of studying verses several days in a row.
Thanks so much for joining us!
This is a great list, Caroline. I need to print it out and stick it in my Bible (or put it on my Kindle!).
Even though I’ve followed Jesus for years, I still struggle with being anxious about things, but meditating on the Truth in His Words is always helpful.
Lisa, that’s EXACTLY why I need to make lists like these for myself. I *still* struggle with anxiety and fear, too. And, just like you said, focusing and resting in God’s Word provides so much peace with that renewal of my mind and heart to His truths. Thanks, friend!
These are great verses! Thanks for sharing! My favorite go to verses in times of trouble are also in Psalm 34. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles…Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:17,19) These comfort me greatly because I can rejoice that God will deliver me from every single one of my trials. I know not one of my trials will last forever. All trials have expiration dates, either in this life or when we die. For that reason I can count it all joy when I face trials of various kinds (James 1:3) because I know it’s only a matter of time until God will deliver me. It’s never a matter of if He will deliver me, but when. And while I don’t know when that will be, I do know it won’t be until God has fully exhausted every bit of good that He can bring out of my trial. To deliver me before then would be to withhold good from me (Psalm 84:11) and that is contrary to who God is. So my suffering is never wasted. God is working every ounce of my trial for my good and He will be faithful to deliver me the second a trial has been fully exhaused of its good. For that I greatly rejoice!
Psalm 34 is so great for this topic, isn’t it, Brooke? And I love that this post happened to coincide with reading Psalm 34 this week for our Run To Him reading! Believe it or not, I totally did not plan that.
And, wow, Brooke, what amazing truths you’ve shared here in your comments. This is so comforting and convicting of our sufferings, isn’t it: “It’s never a matter of if He will deliver me, but when.” So we are to trust in Him in ALL things!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.