Desperate Measures

by | Oct 11, 2012 | Uncategorized | 4 comments

Desperation can change a person completely.   The result can sometimes be good and sometimes be bad.  It all depends on the individual and their circumstances.

If you’ve ever met someone in desperation – they are easy to recognize.

Desperate people become willing to do anything that ends their suffering and helps their situation.  Basically, they have two choices:  Ask God to guide them.  Or, sell their soul to the devil.

Sounds harsh, but it’s true.  We either turn TOWARDS are Maker or we turn AWAY from Him (and that’s where we meet the other guy).

Clearly, not all of us have had to deal with despair in our lives as of yet (WHEW).  However, there may come a day for many of us where we are dealt a difficult hand that might lead us down the dark road of despair.  Oh, man.

Those bleak boulevards may come in the shape of sickness, death, financial loss, divorce, unemployment, depression and the list goes on and on.

Regardless of the form of anguish, the outcome depends on the preparation we do NOW.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.  2Corinthians 4:8-9

Are you equipped to handle affliction if it knocked on your door tomorrow?  Uhhh.

Here are a few ideas that might help ease the angst….

  • Remember we live in a fallen world.  Job said it best.

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:10

  • Know WHO is in control.

That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.  Isaiah 45:6-7

  • Rely on GOD.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

You see, we live in a world where awful things happen and we don’t have a clue WHY – completely stinks, I know!

The best approach is to begin TODAY building our FAITH and TRUST in God so that we develop a fool proof plan to guide us in a time of desperate measures.

Some Wisdom for Today:  Proverbs 13:12 – Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

4 Comments

  1. Dale Martin

    When you do run into hard times or illness and you are blessed , God will watch over you and your friends who are Christ followers will walk with you comfort you. Thank you

    Reply
    • meghays

      Absolutely!!! I love how God teaches us lessons even in the hard times. He shows His love by leading us through. Can’t imagine doing life without HIM! HUGS!

      Reply
  2. Jason

    I am a firm believer that God allows desperation & brokenness to happen within us, to draw us closer to Him. If I can bore you with a short story; In 2001, I was doing great in my business. Financially, things were rocking and I was sitting on top of the world. Spiritually, God was definitely in the lower half of the Top 10 things that my life focused on. Within a 6 Month period, I lost over 75% of my customers and sales in a virtual collapse of the industry. It became a huge financial crisis for me and I even had to let go of my employees because I could not afford to keep them. I found myself in massive debt and trying to get the train back on the track by myself. While my family knew that business was down, they had no clue to the extent. I was very bitter over it. I should have been humbled. Still, I tried to hold on to my arrogance that “I can handle this. Hey, I’ve got an MBA. There is nothing that I can’t handle.” If you have ever been in that situation, there is a tendency to even try to blame God. “How could He let this happen to me? I believe in Him! I know I haven’t been living for Him… but come on!” I stumbled along for several years just barely holding on and trying to keep the doors open and the bill collectors at bay. To say that things get desperate is an understatement. Predictably, that type of struggle empties you daily and you don’t go to work the next day with a fresh bucket from the well. Without such a wonderful wife, I don’t know what would have happened.
    I came to a turning point where I started to realize that I had tried everything else but turning to Him. Out of the blue, I was seeing a customer in Augusta, GA and she started talking to me about me rather than business. It completely turned my spiritual world upside down. She has an incredible, admirable Faith and I think now that the Holy Spirit was talking to me through her. For the 6 hour drive back to home, I was a total wreck (sobbing, shaking, I probably should have pulled over). While I felt like I knew my Maker, I had never put my problems at the foot of the cross and said “Lord, I know that I am not walking close to you. I can’t handle this. I need your help. I will surrender control. I want to walk closer with you and let you take the wheel.” I said that prayer and a sense of peace overcame me like I have never had before. In Obedience to Him, I was Baptized a few weeks later. It has been a total life change.
    Whatever is God’s Will, is going be done. While business is still a struggle, I’m not worried as I know that it is in God’s hands. I don’t have to worry. My Top 10 list has been completely re-ordered. Pre-collapse, wealth accumulation was in my top 3. Now it doesn’t even make the top 10. God is amazing and is now securely in the Top Spot! I have come to appreciate that what happened was necessary for me to see what was important and make that change. Desperation is not always a bad thing, if it brings you to the right destination.

    Reply
    • meghays

      Oh dear, Jason! What a wonderful story! Thank you so much for sharing! God SO uses every opportunity to bring us closer to HIM and it’s a wonderful thing when we listen. Thank you again for sharing such a personal experience and I’m sure He will continue to use you for His purposes!!! You have made my day with your testimony!

      Reply

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