Richard Hollerman

We all face increasing difficulties in life, with physical disabilities, with marital problems. with financial struggles, and with children issues. It seems that wherever we may look and whatever we may do, we face numerous trials and it is hard to know how to deal with them without Divine help.

It seems that when we are preteen or teens, we may assume that life will be “a bed of roses” but when we are twenty and above, we discover that massive problems surround us and we may wonder how we can overcome.

When our wife has breast cancer, when our father or mother dies, when there is a marriage breakdown, when there is a job loss, when we have expenses that are overwhelming, and so much more, what are we to do? And when there are no insurance issues, when we suffer housing debt, when our fellowship rejects us, what are we to do? When our spouse refuses to work, when we can’t work, when we lose our employment through no fault of our own, what are we to do?

This may sound like a difficult situation in which to find ourselves, even an impossible situation. Suppose you are 35 and discover that you have cancer. Suppose that you have no insurance, that you have no spiritual fellowship to depend on, that your wife is not working or she refuses to work, that you have six or 10 children, and that you have no way to pay your utilities or pay your rent or pay your mortgage payment. What can you do? What should you do? Where can you turn?

Friend, I don’t have the final solution for this “mess” and predicament. I too have faced the same dilemmas. I am presently beyond working age. And have only worked low-income type of jobs. And the last work I did have, I was fired since I refused to work on the Lord’s Day. Further, I was without a place to live for a long time. God did not give children, or this would bring additional issues into the relationship. Further, I have no idea how housing could be provided, but my wife did have a means of finding housing. With 11 different families as competitors, we were able to find this housing, by God’s grace.

So I don’t know how to solve this issue, especially if we were to live in an area where there was no government help, if the income level were lower, if jobs were scarce, and if other factors came into play. We know that there are about nine billion (9,000,000,000) people on earth and many of them don’t have the means to even support their families and those near to them. And if they were to give ten percent or twenty percent to the Lord, how could they survive?

We have found that these principles do help in such dire circumstances:

  1. One of the most comforting passages would be Psalm 103. Consider this portion: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness” (see vv. 8-14). God knows how to help and bless us in our terrible needs.
  2. Another would be: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; who shall I dread?”(Psalm 27:1 and following). God understand and cares. He will somehow help.
  3. Consider also Hebrews 13:5: “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'” From this passage we can see that we are not to be overcome with money and can depend on God to care for us!
  4. We might also want to read Philippians 4:6-7 and there find that God cares for us in every circumstance regardless of the surrounding issues of life. God sees and cares at all times. In Matthew 6:25-34 we learn that everything around us may fall but still God is with us and will pull us through. We are not to worry or fret.
  5. Let’s remember that even in the darkest circumstances of life, God can use this for our good and His glory. He works all things for good and will bring order out of chaos and deliverance out of calamity (see Romans 8:28).
  6. When we face some of the “giants” that I mentioned earlier, let us remember that God will use them for His glory. We may not see how now, but He will bring deliverance and blessing.
  7. Even when trials come and we cannot find a suitable way to escape, we are called on by God to trust Him and continue regardless of the circumstances. (See especially the case of Daniel and His friends at Daniel 3:16-18).
  8. If we must lose our house, if we are without a car, if we lose our job, if we are without meaningful fellowship, if financial distress overcomes us, and if physical pain should surround us, we know that God will use all of this for His purposes. “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18; cf. vv. 17-19).
  9. If we are afflicted, we need not be crushed. God will provide a way that is good in His deliverance. For instance, though God may not give the children we would like, we know that He will help us at all times. If some of these children go astray, let us remember that it is better that they turn from the truth as six-year

These are some of the principles that I have found helpful and relevant in the midst of life’s trials. May they be a help to you as well.