Category: Trials and Tribulations

Bible Verse of The Day – 6-27-22

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There are many things humans have a hard time with.

Here are a few of them; waiting, discomfort, humiliation, trials.

Many of us get terribly impatient, hate being uncomfortable, are appalled when we are humiliated and despise trials or hard times.

Because of this, we can never see beyond our disdain for them and see the good that can come from many of these types of things in our lives.

This can be a terrible weakness that has major consequences in our lives. But we may never know or recognize those consequences because we don’t even know that they are, in fact, consequences at all.

We just never connect the dots, so to speak.

Let me explain.

Sometimes we have things happen to us that are the result of choices that we have made. Maybe those choices were made in an effort to avoid something uncomfortable.

But, because we have avoided something uncomfortable, we may miss out on a blessing or a reward that God had for us.

And we never know that we missed out on it as a consequence of not wanting to do the uncomfortable, unpopular or difficult thing.

Look at what Jesus did, referenced in the verse above.

First, He looked beyond what was immediately in front of Him in order to see the joy (reward) that was in the distance; pleasing His Father, taking the place of honor at the Father’s right hand.

Second, He endured the cross; the most brutal, agonizing method of capital punishment that Rome had come up with to execute human beings.

Third, He despised (disregarded, pushed aside, ignored) the shame that came with being crucified. This was due to the stigma that was attached to crucifixion. Jews considered it a curse.

Jesus did all of this because He allowed Himself to see beyond the discomfort and inconvenience of the short term in order to reach His goal and consider the long term.

Oh, what we can learn from Him!

Let us also do the same, looking beyond the short-term inconveniences of life, that we might see the blessings on the other side of them.

Maybe, just maybe we will become more resilient, less likely to complain or give up when we face tough situations, and more likely to walk in the blessings that come from pushing through instead of giving up when things get hard.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-20-21

Job 40:3-4 (NJKV) 3 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 4 “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.

It’s funny how tough, uncomfortable situations can show us who we are and what we’re made of.

Times of trial can squeeze us, putting pressure on us and causing us to act in ways that aren’t always pretty.

When we get squeezed, stuff comes out; nasty stuff that we’d rather not see or have others see.

Look at what happened to Job when he was going through his time of trouble.

At first, he played it very cool. He sat quietly and chose his words carefully.

But as time went on, he began to share what was really inside. And it wasn’t pretty at all.

Ultimately, he railed against God and demanded an audience with Him so he could proclaim his innocence.

You see, Job was getting squeezed. And the more he got squeezed, the more he got to see himself. And he didn’t like what he saw.

In the end, God spoke to Job and reprimanded him for his attitude and his behavior.

And Job repented. Why? Because he saw that who he was displeased God. And he was also displeased with himself.

He had acted foolishly, and it made him ashamed.

But you see, when Job repented, God forgave him and blessed him.

Let us learn from Job. Let’s take what he learned and put it to work in our own lives, so when we get squeezed, we don’t do the same things he did.

Let God lead. He will bring us through the trials in ways that we can’t do ourselves.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-26-21

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Are we having to start over today?

Maybe we lost everything we had. Maybe we got let go on our job. Or maybe our spouse left us or they passed away.

It can make us feel empty, hopeless and scared. But, we have learned that God can bring good things out of the hardest of times.

Starting over doesn’t have to be scary when we have a God who knows us better then we could ever comprehend.

He’s the One that loves us and cares for us; a God that knows our future. And if we let Him, He will make sure it goes the way it needs to.

In the midst of loss we can sometimes forget how marvelous our Father is toward us all.

Wait on God’s directions.

The first thing we have to do is learn to listen and see with our hearts, as led by God’s spirit. Our fleshly desires will fight us. But if we stand firm against them, and wait on God, He will give us the desires of our heart.

Psalm 37:4 (NKJV) 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The next step we have to take is to adjust our attitude and the way we think, knowing and trusting that God will lead us if we give Him the lead.

Many times, if things aren’t happening quickly enough, we will try to take back the lead.

God will let us have it back. But we are in danger of being on our own at that point.

He will always help us, no matter how far off the path we go, if we realize it and ask Him for His help. The best thing to do is stay the course.

The most important thing to do is guard our attitude about where we are, even if we are at the beginning stages and we haven’t yet seen any changes.

Stay strong. God will come through.

The desires of our heart will come again; just maybe in a different way than we had thought, as we surrender ourselves to Him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-5-21

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NKJV) 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,

Paul went through some things in his lifetime. As an apostle, he was beaten many times, stoned and left for dead, survived shipwrecks and much more. And he suffered all of this as a result of his work to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Because Paul knew what it meant to suffer, I tend to pay attention when he says something like what he said above; “we despaired even of life”.

They expected to die as a result of the persecution that they faced in Asia.

Paul calls the intensity in which they were persecuted as being “burdened beyond measure, above strength”. He was so sure he would die for the gospel that he had literally pronounced a death sentence upon himself.

It was that very situation, though, that caused them to stop relying on themselves and to turn fully to the God who raises the dead for their help and their survival.

Isn’t this just like all of us? We get backed into a corner and try with everything in us to fix the problem ourselves. Then, only when we realize that we can’t fix it, we finally hand it over to God for His help.

We know about this too. We have been in situations where we exhausted ourselves and were laying with our backs to the floor. Then we finally gave our situation over to God for His help. Once we did that, we started seeing light at the end of the proverbial tunnel pretty quickly.

Let’s change this up in our lives. Let’s start going to God first, instead of waiting until we are in dire need and on the verge of dying.

If we would do this, most of the struggles we face will be resolved much more quickly, and we will learn to trust God even more as we see Him work on our behalf.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-21-21

Romans 8:18 (NKJV) 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

This verse brings us a message of great hope!

Not a single one of us likes suffering. It’s hard, it’s disheartening and it can be miserable at times.

Sometimes suffering can make us want to throw in the towel, give up and never try again.

Yes, it can be that bad.

But in the verse above, we are told that the suffering we encounter and endure here on earth can’t even begin to compare to the glory that will be revealed in us!

What does that mean?

It means that when we are bodily resurrected and we join Christ in heaven for eternity, our earthy suffering will pale greatly in comparison to the glory that will be revealed in us at that time.

In other words, the things that we suffer here will look like nothing when we compare it to being in God’s presence with Christ in the hereafter.

So, take heart!

Yes, suffering is hard. But it is only momentary. And the pain we endure while suffering here will fade away immediately when we are in His presence.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NKJV) 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-12-21

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Have you ever had something happen that made you feel like someone had kicked you square in the gut?

Life can sometimes deal some harsh blows. It’s just the reality of living as a human being.

Being a child of God does not make us immune to those harsh blows, contrary to what some might say, think or teach.

Trials and tribulations come for each of us.

The thing we need to remember is Who it is that brings us through those trials.

Sometimes it can be easy to feel hopeless and like we just want to throw in the towel and walk away. But the reality is that doing so accomplishes nothing. Nor does it make us any better off.

Giving up is easy, or so it might seem. But even in giving up there will be wreckage and debris to clean up afterward.

The best thing we can do is to pick ourselves up, let God help us to face our adversary and work through whatever we’re facing.

It is placing our hope in Him that keeps us from losing heart.

He needs to be our anchor in the midst of the storms that we face. Does that make it easier to face them?

That depends on us. If our minds are set on being angry, disappointed and miserable, then there is nothing that anyone can do to help us, including God Himself.

But once we understand that He is our source of strength and help, and that He is the well that we draw from when our joy is running out, then we can start taking steps forward and leaving our misery behind, one step at a time.

Why should we be hanging out in the land of the dead and miserable when He wants us to stay with Him in the land of the living?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-30-21

Daniel 3:19-20 (NKJV) 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had angered Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to worship the gold statue he had created.

They showed their loyalty to the one true God by stating very boldly to the king that “we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up”.

Needless to say, Nebuchadnezzar was irate. At this point he commanded that the furnace be heated up to 7 times hotter than normal.

The fire was so hot that it killed the men who threw them into the fire.

A short time after they had been thrown in, the king couldn’t believe what he saw.

In verse 24, He exclaimed, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”.

The people confirmed this.

And then he proclaimed (in verse 25) that he could see “four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

King Nebuchadnezzar immediately called the three men out from the fire and was in awe that none of them were hurt.

None of them even had so much as the smell of fire on them or their garments.

Because of what he had witnessed, Nebuchadnezzar glorified God and immediately made a proclamation that no one would be allowed to speak anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego without punishment by death.

So often in our own lives, we pray and ask God to deliver us from the things that we are facing. We don’t want to go through pain or discomfort.

But if we look at the example above, we will see that these men of God actually had to go through the fire before they were delivered!

They didn’t see a hand sweeping down and removing the trial in front of them. Instead, they were allowed by God to be thrown into an incredibly hot furnace where He then showed His hand and prevented them from being hurt or burned alive.

By this God was glorified.

Had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego not been thrown into the furnace, the king would never have glorified God. Neither would the men of God have been able to witness God’s miraculous hand of rescue from such a dire situation.

None of us likes the fire of trials. In fact, we probably despise them and will go to great lengths to avoid them or prevent them.

But it’s safe to say that it is only during times of great trial that we can see great moves of God on our behalf.

James 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-2-21

1 Corinthians 1:9 (NKJV) 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I think these are the words I use most whenever I hear of troublesome times for people.

I remember when my Dad was going in for heart surgery. I felt so weak at the knees that day that I could have literally just dropped.

But Someone held me and carried me through. That Someone was God.

When we are in our weakest moments, and we feel like we are just going to drop right to the ground, God’s arms are right there, waiting to carry us and bring us through whatever battle we are facing.

Yes…it’s OK to admit we are weak at times.

I remember crying out to God. All I could say was His name. Those are the moments when we know that God has our back.

Let me say to those who are weak today, “You’re tired from the battle and your strength may be all used up. Call on the One who can carry you the rest of the way”.

Psalm 57:2 (NKJV) 2 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.

He is faithful!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-26-20

Psalm 34:19 (NKJV) 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Affliction; Something that causes pain or suffering. Ailment, trouble, indisposition, menace, trouble.

We have all experienced something that falls into at least one of those categories. Maybe we’re even facing something like that right now. They are a part of life that there is honestly no escape from. Stuff just happens, and we all have to deal with it on one level or another.

It’s interesting to note that the Psalmist states that “many are the afflictions of the righteous”. There is an inference here that says righteous people may well face more afflictions than the non-righteous.

This may be quite true, since afflictions sometimes come because of our faith.

Sometimes they may come in the form of persecution for our faith. Other times they may come because we make choices based on our faith and our convictions that put us in precarious situations.

Whatever way they come, the verse above says this about it; “The Lord delivers us out of them all”.

That’s something we can count on.

The thing to remember is that the way out might not always come in the timing we’d like it to, or in the way we’d like it to. That doesn’t mean, however, that it doesn’t come. It just means that it comes in God’s way, not ours.

So, that thing that’s plaguing you right now? That thing that doesn’t seem to want to go away and let your life return to normal anytime soon? Those consequences that came about because of a choice we wish we hadn’t made?

God sees and He knows what’s happening. And if we’re willing to let Him, He is working them out on our behalf, moving things and putting things in place to help us.

All we have to do is to make sure we don’t get in His way and try to “help” Him, derailing the plan He has in place, causing it to take even longer than it already has.

Trust Him. We may not always understand, but He is working on our behalf.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-19-20

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

As I sit and ponder today on these past few months, I see change that has come not only in my own life, but in those around me. In the lives of all people around the world.

I am in awe at how God has given me such a peace that, through the hard times, through the decision making, through the learning experience, He stuck it out with me.

I have such wonderful memories to hold onto and reminisce about. Things I would never have experienced if I hadn’t gone through the fires at different times in my life.

Boy, I definitely know it’s not easy facing some things. I’d say sometimes it is even gut-wrenching hard.

But, instead of dwelling on the trial, I choose to keep the good at the forefront of my heart; the happy things that have brought me joy. And, I rejoice and thank God for all the new memories that I have!

We can always look around and see bad situations, and spend time talking about them. These things are there in all of our lives at one time or another. Or, we can choose to focus and move on with the good things.

Finding the good things in the land in which we live is a challenge sometimes. But it’s there and well worth the effort when we find it.

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Enjoy the goodness of the Lord and don’t stop praying. He is faithful to turn things around.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-30-20

James 1:12 (NKJV) 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Did you know that if we endure trials, God says we are blessed?

This is an interesting statement.

Before we dig into this a little deeper, though, I have to admit that I was not intending to write another devotional about trials. The Coronavirus pandemic is already wreaking havoc in a way that has most people on edge, and most of us are probably tired of hearing about it and talking about it by now.

Nonetheless, God directed me to this scripture as I sat down to write, so it’s best that we proceed and see what it is that He wants us to learn from it!

Despite the fact that the English translation above uses the word “temptation”, the Greek word is actually better translated as “trials”.

So, we are blessed when we successfully endure trials.

Really? Let’s be honest here. Trials never feel much like we are being blessed, do they?

But if we step back and look at the big picture, as God likes us to do so often, it’s not the trial itself that is the blessing so much as what we gain from enduring the trial.

Enduring a trial means that we do whatever is necessary to come through it, not only with victory in our situation, but with our faith still wholly intact, looking fully to God for that victory.

To say that we are blessed means that we are happy. Coming through that trial is definitely something to be happy about. And as we have let God lead us through it, our happiness is more than just a fleshly, fleeting emotion that quickly disappears.

Oh, and the Word also says that if we endure, we are approved, literally meaning that we have passed the test.

Now, how cool is it that even these seemingly-ugly trials that come along hold something good for us?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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