Hello, and welcome to Motivation Monday. Today, I’m going to teach you three strategies to help you face hardship and remain full of hope, able to tackle life with intention and a faith in God that runs deep.
These are all strategies that I have used for the past several years to navigate challenges of life while remaining optimistic and strong in my faith with God—and I’m really excited to be able to bring this to you because it’s my goal that by the end of this episode, you will have renewed strength and recommitment and a stronger faith in God.
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I want you to strengthen your faith too. Life is hard and, these days, everybody seems to want to take the easy road, but many are never able to keep a positive mindset because they’re not willing to do the work that’s necessary in order to live with intention. We have to set our minds ahead of time to be intentional that we are going to trust God no matter what happens. To have a fully fulfilling life, you need to do the work.
Think of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. They did not come out of the womb as good basketball players. They did the work. They had intent. They had a goal. And they did the reps. They practiced. In our Christian walk, that’s exactly what we need to do as well—to have the intent and the goals and to practice so that we become strong in our faith. It doesn’t happen by accident.
So that’s why I’m really glad that you’ve landed on my channel. By the time you get to the end of this, you will have a new life, faith, or reinforced tools that will help you to stand strong, to stay positive, and to strengthen your relationship with God. Because when you live with intention, you will shine like the diamond that you are.
From Royalty to Orphan
So we’re going to start our story in the Bible, from 2 Samuel, there’s this dude with a really weird name. His name was Mephibosheth. In 1 Samuel, we see that King Saul and his sons were slain in a battle against the Philistines, which paved the road for David to become king of all Israel.
And when David came into his full power and things started to settle down, he started to look around for anyone who might be surviving from King Saul’s household. David had been a good friend of Saul’s son, Jonathan, and so David wanted to find any remaining relatives for Jonathan’s sake to show kindness to them. So he asks his servants, and they said, “Well, there is a family servant from Saul’s household. His name is Ziba.” David directs them to summon Ziba and ask him.
Ziba is summoned and they asked him if there were any remaining relatives. He replies, “Well, yes. Jonathan had a son. He’s lame in both feet, and he’s living in another city in someone’s house. He’s still alive. His name is Mephibosheth.” So David summons Mephibosheth to come to Jerusalem and appear before him.
Can you imagine what must have been going through Mephibosheth’s mind when he got the summons? His entire family had been slain and the kingship gone to another family. Now here was Mephibosheth, probably hiding out, afraid for his life, and living in another man’s house. So he comes and falls face down to pay homage to David.
This poor guy was in a really tough position. He lived in a harsh world. Back then, when most new kings came to power, they would automatically execute anyone from the previous royal family, or whoever had been in power, so that there would be no additional threats to their throne. The Bible says that Mephibosheth also had a family to care for, so there was that added pressure. He was lame in both feet, which probably made it difficult to earn an income, and he was living in a borrowed house under someone else’s roof. Once he had been royalty, but now he was an outcast and probably hiding, afraid for his life. When David summoned him, I can only imagine that Mephibosheth thought, “Here it comes. My worst fears are being realized. Here it comes.” But he had no choice. So he travels to Jerusalem and throws himself down in front of David.
Let’s read 2 Samuel 9, verses 7 and 8. I love what David says:
“Don't be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.” Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”
Mephibosheth didn't have a very high opinion of himself, did he? But he didn’t have anything to fear. David said, “Don’t be afraid. I'm not going to kill you,” and then he gives to Mephibosheth everything that had belonged to his grandfather Saul. He gave him the farm. He gave him the servants to take care of the farm, which would have given him the ability for income. Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants who worked for him. And David assigned all of those to work the land for Mephibosheth so that he would have income.
But not only that, David also told him, basically, “You get to stay in Jerusalem and you’re going to eat at my table and like one of my sons.” David honored Mephibosheth for Jonathan’s sake and had him stay in Jerusalem. He gave him property, he gave him income, and he gave him a seat at the king’s table. From now onwards, Mephibosheth would always be provided for.
When I read this story, it appeared to me like a microcosm of how quickly things can change in our lives unexpectedly. We face a lot of hardship in our lives. The test is: how are we going to deal with that hardship?
1. Difficulties Happen. This too Shall Pass
There are three things that I want you to remember when facing hardship. The first thing is that difficulties happen. Life is hard. While this is true, it will pass. The cycles of life are like seasons. The ebb and flow of life keeps us on our toes, but things happen where life throws things our way that we don’t expect. Mephibosheth knew the truth of this statement. He didn’t do anything wrong that put him in this terrible position of being an outcast and hiding for his life. But God saw him and God smiled on him and said, “You’re going to be okay.” But Mephibosheth didn't know that at first.
Life is really chaotic for all of us these days. There are a lot of things that we don’t know. But life is like a season. It ebbs and it flows—and this too shall pass. Hard times don’t last forever. That’s the first thing we need to remember.
2. God Always Provides for His Children
The second thing that we need to remember is that God always provides for his children. God can turn things around in an instant. Well, at least it seems like an instant to us. But the truth of the matter is, God is always working on our behalf behind the scenes. He’s working on deals, provisions, and other things that we don’t know anything about. We may never know anything about the details, but God is always working for our good. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
That’s the truth of the matter. What might look like a challenge to us now, God can turn around for our good. That’s what the scripture says. And the scripture also says in several places, “Don’t worry.” That’s because God’s got your back. You are on his radar. He sees you. He knows what you’re going through—and nothing happens to us that surprises him.
When my property flooded, God sent me a scripture from Psalms that says he is enthroned over the flood. That was like a little love note where I knew God saw me and I knew that he was in control and he would help me deal with whatever came afterwards. Rough things happen. Life is hard, but God is always working on our behalf.
3. Our Job: Keep Hope Alive
The third thing that I want you to remember is that our job is to keep hope alive. That’s it. Keep hoping, keep working, keep growing, keep developing and believing. In John 15, Jesus talks about how he is the true vine, the Father is the gardener, and we are the branches. Every branch that does not produce good fruit gets trimmed off. God trims out our dead wood so that we can produce more fruit.
I know that with my roses, if I’ve got a branch that’s dying, I need to cut that off or it’s going to kill the whole plant. It’s the same thing with fruit trees. The dead wood needs to be trimmed off so that the tree can produce more fruit in a new season. And that’s what God does for us. Unfortunately, that pruning process is not always fun. In fact, it can be quite painful. It can seem like a trial. But it’s making us stronger in the long run.
Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another” (John 15:16–17).
See, our job, our assignment is to produce fruit for the kingdom and to love each other. Our job is to keep that hope alive, to know that the hardship is not going to last, that God’s working on our behalf and everything’s going to work out okay.
Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your activities to the Lord and your plans will be established.” And that’s what we do. When we put our faith in the Lord’s provision for us and we commit our activities to him, he establishes our plans. He takes care of us. He brings us what we need because he is a loving Father.
Bringing God’s Kingdom to Earth
So to recap, three things that we can look for in any unexpected hardship: The first one is that difficulties happen. This season will pass. Be patient. Stick with it. It’s not going to last forever. The second thing is that God always provides for his children. Never forget that. He’s always working behind the scenes on your behalf and on my behalf, and he’s going to take care of us. Everything’s going to work out okay.
And that leads us to the third point. Our job is to keep hope alive, keep trusting in God, and that’s how we build our faith. We trust that he’s going to work everything out okay. Keep growing, keep helping others, and keep loving others. That’s our assignment. That’s how we bring God’s kingdom to earth. And that’s how we strengthen our relationship with God by trusting in him and having faith that he’s going to take care of everything. Life might be chaotic, but it’s going to be okay.
If this blessed you, there’s another resource that I want to share with you. I wrote a book, “Be the Warrior Queen: Practical Christian Strategies for Women to Achieve Victory in a Chaotic World.” I wrote that because I could see how women needed something to hold on to because everything that’s been thrown at us lately has just been absolutely crazy to help us be strong in our families and our faith. I have put together a special Warrior Queen book bundle. More info on that HERE 👉🏻 “Warrior Queen Book Bundle.”
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Such impeccable timing! Thank you for sharing. 😊