Paul expressed concern for the church of Jesus Christ when he prayed, “May God reveal to you not just the past greatness of Christ but his present greatness.” Here is his specific prayer: “That you may know what is the hope of His calling … what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:18-19).

We have a great reverence for Jesus who walked on this earth, turning water into wine, feeding the multitudes and healing the sick. And we believe Jesus can forgive our sins and relieve our guilt. We believe he can provide us with peace and joy and even give us eternal life. But too few of us know Jesus as God of the natural world we live in. We often don’t recognize him as Lord over our everyday affairs, as God of our home, our children and marriage, our job and bills.

When Jesus was called upon to heal his friend Lazarus, he faced limited faith. “When Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’” (John 11:32). The passage goes on to show that Mary and her friends had faith only to the point of death. “Some of them said, ‘Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?’” (11:37).

It is no wonder there is so much commotion in the lives of so many of us Christians. Why such grieving and mourning? It is because we don’t believe Jesus can resurrect what seems dead. We don’t believe he has a life-giving plan for us or perhaps he is too late. Things are too far gone.

Beloved, Jesus has never been more willing to show his resurrection power than he is right now. It is not enough to love, serve and worship Christ only to the point of hopelessness. Why don’t we trust him when all hope is gone? Scripture says we have been provided the very same energizing, resurrection life that is in Christ: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

The Holy Spirit dwells in you to bring forth the present greatness of Christ. Believe in him!

Satan cannot shake or test the faith of any child of God without the Lord’s permission. Simply put, God has a purpose and plan behind every trial that Satan brings to our lives. Jesus gave a warning to the apostle Peter: “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31).

The Word makes it clear that Satan’s main objective is to destroy the faith of those who serve Jesus. But many believers find it astonishing that the Lord granted Satan access to Peter in order to test him.

Most Christians remember Peter’s boast about his own faith: “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” (22:33). What Peter says here may come across as spiritual boldness, but in truth it represents a fleshly audacity that the scriptures warn against: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

When Peter was questioned about his faith, rather than boldly declaring his allegiance to Jesus, he denied that he knew him. And then, in panic, he ran from the scene of his denial. However, this once fearless disciple, now broken and anguishing over his failure, was never for a moment on his own. Jesus had proclaimed earlier, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luke 22:32).

This is one of the most encouraging verses in all of Scripture. Jesus was telling Peter here that no matter what he faced, no matter what he would go through — including his denial of Christ — his faith would not fail!

Just as he has done throughout history, Satan demands God’s permission to sift us today. He wants to attack our homes, our marriages, our children, our health, our jobs and careers, our very belief in the Lord. But be assured, God has not forsaken you — and he never will. Indeed, right now he is saying to you, “I will never leave you. Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the world.”

Our society is desperate to find hope and peace in these troubled days. They long to know the truth of Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” They will be watching God’s children to see a testimony of his provision and care for his own.

It’s interesting to note that the world observes believers who face challenges. They expect us to sing a song in the midst of our hardest times. We see examples of this in the Word of God. Psalm 137 describes Israel’s captivity by the Babylonians, when God’s people had lost everything, including their homeland. Still, their captors wanted to hear the songs of victory that the Israelites were known for.

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’” (Psalm 137:1-3).

The Israelites were famous for singing songs of victory; their captors insisted, “Sing to us! We have heard about the great victory songs you offer to God so play them for us!” Some might suggest that this demand was made in mockery, but I believe the Babylonians sincerely longed to hear a testimony. Their own religion had left them empty, dry and hopeless.

Likewise, the world demands a song of victory from God’s people today. What they really want to know is, “How are you going to react in this present crisis? We have heard that you think your God is faithful and powerful, but do you trust him in times like these? Does your faith really hold up in times of crisis?”

“He has put a new song in my mouth — praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3). Your tender, loving Father who is touched by the feelings of your infirmities gives you a song no matter what you’re going through.

Nothing stirs the heart of our God more than the soul that is overcome with grief. Grief is defined as “deep sorrow” or “sadness caused by extreme distress.” Isaiah tells us the Lord himself is acquainted with this most wrenching emotion: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

Even in judgment God grieves over his children. The Psalmist makes an incredible statement regarding Israel: “For their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive” (Psalm 106:45-46). When God sees his children hurting, he not only grieves over them, he makes their enemies pity them!

Perhaps you are burdened with some sort of heavy grief. It could be over someone dear to you who is suffering, in trouble, or hurting. It could be a son or daughter who is backslidden, slowly sinking into the death of sin. Or it could be a loved one facing a severe, looming financial crisis. I say to all: Jesus Christ is moved by your grief.

It is wonderful to have Jesus walking with us through our pain; yet even when a miracle is on the way, there can be delays. Consider the woman who suffered with chronic hemorrhaging and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment for healing. For twelve years she had bled nonstop and she was literally dying a slow death. Luke, a physician, wrote that she “had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any” (Luke 8:43).

“[The woman] came … and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped … Jesus said, ‘Somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from Me’” (8:44-46). Jesus felt this woman’s pain and he met her need when she reached out to him!

Sadly, multitudes of people today are doing just what that woman did — running from place to place looking for answers. They explain their problem again and again, hoping this time they will find relief. All they want is for someone to stop the bleeding in their heart.

When the suffering woman reached out and touched the man Jesus, merely making contact with the hem of his garment, she was instantly healed! The compassion of Jesus flowed out to her and made her whole.

If you ever truly loved and followed Jesus but now are cold and indifferent, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, inviting you to come back to the merciful arms of Christ. Please listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says” (see Revelation 2:7).

Spiritual coldness leads to hardness of heart. Paul refers to this when he says that prior to Christ’s return, “That Day will not come unless the falling away comes first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Those who “did not receive the love of the truth” (2:10) will fall under a great delusion; they will believe lies rather than truth.

Hebrews offers this warning: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).

This present generation has lost their fear of him, and when there is no fear of God left in the land, destruction follows. Scripture speaks again and again of the fear of God: “Fear the Lord and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil” (8:13). “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil” (16:6).

We have been given a great hope. Here is the invitation: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

The world may cast aside the Bible and reject the real Jesus, God’s own Son. The world may even deny there is a heaven or hell. But Jesus himself said that after death there will be a day of judgment. The Holy Spirit is calling us to wake up and surrender all to Jesus — now, today!

You belong to Jesus and he has a claim on you. I urge you today, right now, to just come to him and find rest for your troubled soul. God promises to meet you.