By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
Some years ago, a newly elected politician proclaimed, “We are the children of the modern age!” If this is true, a good question for us to ask is “What has the modern age given us?” The answers that come to mind are disheartening; crack cocaine, satanic cults, instructions on safe sex, misdirected individuals who would rather save a spotted owl than an innocent baby inside a mother’s womb.
The modern age has given us a liberal media that paints Bible-believing Christians as right-wing zealots and fanatics. It has given us the institutional church, which has become so entwined with the radical left that it is difficult to distinguish between the church and the modern age!
Difficulties like these should not surprise us. Paul told Timothy that in the last days:
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:2-5)
Then he cautions us, “Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Timothy 3:5). Despite the wickedness of the world that storms around us, we can live in victory because we serve a mighty God who provides the wisdom we need for every situation.
When the winds of adversity blow hard against your life, take shelter in the Lord. When the world turns dark and lonely, place your trust in Christ, and you will receive the victor’s crown!
Remember this the next time trials come your way: It is a natural first reaction to ask God to remove any form of adversity from your life. However, it is often hardship and difficulty that provide the right atmosphere for spiritual growth.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You are with me in every trial and that You give me the strength to stand. Fill me each day with Your Spirit, I pray. Help me not to neglect Your Word that sustains me with Truth. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon Never Give Up, Part 7: LISTEN NOW | WATCH NOW
