Sabbath: Managing in Tough Times
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Chronicles 20:1-22, 1 Chronicles 21:1-14, 2 Peter 3:3-12, 1 John 2:15-17, Revelation 13:11-17.
Memory Text: “Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:14-15, , NKJV).
Sometimes our world seems to be spinning out of control: wars, bloodshed, crime, immorality, natural disasters, pandemics, economic uncertainty, political corruption, and more. There is a strong urge for individuals and families to think first of their own survival. Accordingly, much thought is given to seeking security in these uncertain times, which, of course, is understandable.
The toils of life do take a lot of our daily focus. With debts to pay, children to raise, property to maintain, it does take time and thought. And, of course, we do need clothes, food, and shelter. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed these very basic needs and then stated, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:32-33, , NKJV).
Amid trying times, when we need to lean on the Lord more than ever, there are some concrete steps, based on biblical principles, that we should follow.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 18.
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I have never really experienced tough times. I have always had food on the table (too much of it at times), a roof over my head, sufficient money for all my bills, and no expensive or debilitating illness. Nobody has persecuted me, nor have I lived in a war zone. So, I cannot tell you some mind-boggling experiences where we have lived through tough times. The worst that I have experienced is when our mortage went up to 13%. The rate went up to 18% but the banks were required to cap existing loans at 13%. But, we had planned for that. When we took out the mortgage we knew we were in a rising interest market and borrowed protectively.
So, what can I say to someone who is facing hardship in today's world? Anything I say would sound patronising or hollow.
So, I will only say this. For those of us who have been blessed with "good times" we need to ensure that our ears are not deaf to the prayers of those who are facing tough times. Listen carefully and you will hear the prayers of the destitute and the lonely. Sometimes they don't need or want material things. They just need not to be ignored. We had an old man living down the end of our street in a car in someone's front yard. He smelled. Every now and then, he would wander past our house, barefoot with his little dog. He didn't want money or food, but he loved it when you stopped and chatted with him. Sometimes that is all it takes.
This is when one realise the meaning of Godly empathy. One of the monsters that push people away from the church of God is not hunger or nakedness but loneliness
Thank you for that Maurice. It touched my heart.
So, Maurice Ashton, how well did you get to know this barefooted man with apparently only a dog for a friend? You say that he did not want money. Tell me more of how well you got to know this man?
Like many people who live that sort of life, he moves around a lot. He frequently goes to small outback towns and stays in other people's yards. He may come back to this area again. How do I know this? He is my Facebook friend. He likes my bird pics and comments from time to time, and when he does I always make sure I respond.
Thanks Maurice. I did not mean to come across like your experience with your barefooted neighbor was somewhat faulty. I noticed that you indicated that he sometimes walks barefooted. Is it because he has no money to buy shoes? I have an SDA friend that has a full time job but he gambles and drinks beer. And he is always asking for money for food and for gas and I find myself helping him with money so he can get to his job with gas and food energy to do his work at his job.
No worries Pete. It was a fair question. Some people choose a particular lifestyle for whatever reason. This guy is happy living in his car and going barefoot. But, a lot of people ignore him because of this. He is actually quite an interesting character.
Learning that Jesus acknowledges and affirms that we have daily, physical needs needing to be met, followed by the admonition in order to secure them to seek first the kingdom of God, has made a great difference in my life; it focused my efforts on what has to come first - 2 Tim.3:1-13.
Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness became a conscious way of life. All life’s involvements, thought or deed, are now subjected to this line-up of priorities; it results in the new nature being formed by living with this new heart and mind. It is time to step out of the classroom and into real-life applications of His Truth.
Lately, unfolding events have prompted me to scrutinize the daily news keeping Jesus’ warning of the coming last days in mind. Yes, it is a very slow, clandestine, process that brings mankind closer and closer to the brink of disaster, but we have been forewarned and are aware; but are we prepared?
Do we earnestly seek to live the life in the kingdom of God, are we seeking to be wise, able to discern spiritual truth and detect deception and falsehoods promoted by the world’s leaders? Do we keep careful watch over our spiritual house to be prepared to give up all that we ‘have’? Is there something not yet put under our Lord's authority?
For believers neglecting to actively prepare their heart and mind for the great deception, the snare of the adversary will slowly tighten its grip on their heart to diminish the desire to walk rightly with our God. Loving Him with all our heart and caring about our fellow man is not a cakewalk in ‘peaceful’ times. It will be challenged more and more in the days to come.
Well I have had my tough times in life.
For several years I lived in constant and ever increasing pain which was caused by damaged discs in my spine, ultimately leading to my being diagnosed with depression. Frankly, the depression meds weren't that helpful. They made me feel like I had fire burning inside me. But I was told to continue taking them. I eventually took myself off the meds. I simply could not stand them. Ultimately, and by God's grace, I had surgery a couple of years ago and now remain with the lesser evil of neuropathy. That was one of the worst periods of my life physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. There were difficult questions I harboured, and when the pain reached the highest I ever experienced, death was a welcome thought. At least then I would have relief, and my wife could tell I was giving up. But I held on, surrendered myself to God (it was a process), and accepted what He would make of me.
The other was my bout with the delta variant of Covid 19. I fell ill, did all the tests but all the results were negative. I only got worse and worse, until a cardiologist recommended that I take a CT scan. It was only then it was discovered my lungs had taken a heavy blow and were scarred. I was treated for Covid, recovered, but to date struggle with long Covid symptoms. And that is not the end....
Last week I did an endoscopy and it was found that I have what is called a hiatus hernia. I am still waiting for the biopsy results this coming Thursday and then a decision will be taken. I have already been cut open twice before, and the last thing I need would be another 8 inch wound to deal with. But maybe I am getting ahead of myself on this one. My point though is this obviously affects my psychology.
Despite the negative health challenges I have gone through, and being wrongly accused and disfellowshipped on trumped up charges some years ago, I have learned that God is ever present, and has a purpose for all things that befall us.
In hindsight, after my infamous disfellowship and two surgeries, I have helped a lot of people who have fallen in the same exact path. Recently I was helping someone who was recommended to me by a former workmate. And it was such a joy.
I have always been encouraged by two verses, three actually when tough times come, including the latest one which is just unfolding. The verses are listed below.
The third one is the second part of this week's memory text, and my late father's most loved:
And I have a song too I love:
I do apologize for my rather long comment.
Dear Melusi – I am happy to find that throughout the trying times you experienced, you have decided to direct your heart and mind to continue to be comforted by our heavenly Father’s assurance of His love and care for you. I hope and pray that you will always remain close to Him in all that you experience.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. Your testimony about how God is working with you spiritually is very encouraging. May God bless you mightily and bring you healing according to His will.
Thank you so much for your testimony, Melusi! Reading how God has sustained you through such great difficulties has the potential to make a powerful impact on readers who may be going through trials themselves.
The song you love is the same one that helped sustain me through several periods of great trial.
I pray that the Lord will continue to sustain you and guide you and that your hiatal hernia symptoms may be resolved without surgery.
In the King James Bible, 2 Peter 3:12 the wording there is not "Hastening." The wording is "Hasting unto..." Hasting" is the present tense for "Haste." Yet the Greek word there is "Speudo." Speudo has the connotation of "Eagerly awaiting for something to happen." And there is no connotation of somehow those who "eagerly await," to make it happen faster than planned. The Apostle Paul indicates in the book of Hebrews indicates that "He (Jesus) that will come will come and will not tarry." So, God in His own time and in His own way, will send His Son to return to this earth soon and very soon and no matter what we do, it will not make it happen sooner than He has already planned for it to happen.
Hi, Pete. I'm not quite sure what this has to do with the day's lesson, but I tend to shy away from oversimplifying and dogmatic conclusions when we are dealing with the way a God who knows our future decisions makes His plans -- especially when our entire argument hangs on the precise meaning of one word in an ancient language.
Of course God has set a time for the 2nd coming of Christ. He has also decided who will be a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy (see Romans 9). That doesn't mean that we have nothing to do with determining whether we shall be saved or lost. And, in my opinion, neither does it necessarily mean that we have nothing to do with the timing of Christ's return. Why unnecessarily remove a potential motive for sharing the gospel, without positive proof for our position?
My dear brother Ndhlovu, I admire your faith in God and pray for you to receive good results and, even if you don’t, our God will never forsake you in this crucible too!
Today's lesson is practical and informing in terms of daily life affairs. I really appreciate the comments made, for I also do relate on times when I was in the disadvantage of life. To which my assignment which bothers me, is the text that says "do to others, what you would like to be done to you."
Otherwise thank you for today's lesson
I've come to realise that what makes us fail is not even lack. We have plenty. We have more than enough. Since I was orphaned back in 2002 when I was 15, I've never gone hungry or slept outside because I lack. God has been opening doors for me amazingly. The only problem that makes me find myself failing is not even financial literacy. The monster is management. Fail to manage and you will find yourself being choked by debts.
Tough times are not necessarily related to money. All of my tough times came for my own growth. I think is very strange to live in this planet and not to go through tough times, at least emotionally, as an example.
Without any tough times how can I change? The most efficient changes in my life happened because of tough times.
Yes, there might exist people like Enoch, who was always so close to God that God Himself decided to take him. As for me, unfortunately, my fallen (flesh) nature is always fighting against my own good. If this compels me to get closer to God, ok, I accept it. But if I feed this flesh nature only I'm not able to withstand it.