Although the sun rises up as normal every day, our life may not always be smooth. Living on the earth, we cannot avoid accidents, sickness, or death. In the face of suffering and difficulties we seem not to overcome, we seek help from God.
Not every calling and prayer is "heard" by God. When we pray for the healing of our diseases, again and again, God may not respond to our cries while we are still sick. It is quite normal that we fail to experience miracles or directly hear from God. God, the holy one who sits on the throne, hears our cries, and looks after our situation, may not perform miracles in our lives. However, His promises and answers have been written in the Bible. Thus, we need to often read the Bible as our faith is built on His word.
We should read the following verses in hardship, sickness, or pain, to remain convinced of God's salvation and providence even in a hopeless situation.
* Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
* Psalms 43:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
* 1 Peter 1:21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
* Psalms 147:11 The Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
* Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
* Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
* Hebrew 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
* 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
* John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
