"After this the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance." (2 Chronicles 20:1, 3 NLT)

Sometimes it seems the odds are against you. Brian Hice from Provo, Utah, had a day like that. First, his apartment became flooded from a broken pipe in the apartment above his. When he went to rent a water vacuum, he discovered that he had a flat tire. He changed it and went inside again to phone a friend for help. But standing in water and grabbing the phone gave him such a startling electrical shock that he accidentally ripped the phone off the wall. By the time he was ready to leave, water damage had swelled his door shut, and he had to yell for a neighbor to come and kick the door down. While all this was going on, somebody stole Brian's car. That evening, he attended a military ceremony at his university and injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet, which had been tossed on the front seat of his car. Doctors were able to stitch up his wound, but no one was able to resuscitate Brian's four canaries who were crushed by fallen plaster from the wet apartment ceiling. When he got back from the university, he slipped on the wet carpet and injured his tailbone. Brian said he began to wonder if "God wanted me dead but just kept missing."

Have you ever had a day like that? What do you do when you're facing insurmountable, overwhelming problems?

Before you do anything else, you go directly to God. You say, "God, I am overwhelmed!" and you ask, "God, what do you think about this situation?" Your perspective is limited while God's perspective is eternal, so he can see the beginning and the end. He can see past, present, and future all at once. You need to get a bigger picture of what the problem really is that seems so overwhelming to you right now.

Too often we see prayer as a last resort rather than as our first thought. Prayer is usually something you do way down the line after you've tried everything else. People will say, "I guess all we can do now is pray!" like it's their last option.

Prayer should be your first choice, not your last resort. If you want God to help you overcome the odds in any area of your life, you have to turn to him first.

2 Chronicles 20:1, 3 says, "After this the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance" (NLT). The "this" refers to a great national revival, a spiritual awakening. There was great prosperity and blessing in the land, and soon after there was war. 

With every high, there is a low. After every victory, there is a letdown. And with every blessing, there comes a testing. You may not be in a battle right now, but you're going to be in one tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. You should expect blessing in your life, but you also need to expect battles in your life. You're going to have difficult times. 

But you should never let an impossible situation intimidate you. Let it motivate you to pray more and turn to God first.

Talk It Over

• What are the seemingly impossible situations you are facing today?
• Where do you usually go when you have a problem? Who do you want to talk to first?

"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold." (1 Peter 1:7a NLT)

God has promised to "meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19 NIV). But with every promise there is a condition. God wants you to learn to trust him more so that he can meet your needs and bless your life.

You learn to trust God more by having your faith stretched by trials. The more your faith is stretched, the more God is able to bless your life. 

You might find yourself experiencing one of the first two trials - the tests of pressure and people. Yesterday, I mentioned two common trials that God uses to develop your faith so you can trust him more. Here are two more:

3. The Persistence Test

The persistence test answers the question: "Will I keep my commitments?" Life is about making commitments. The problem we have today is that most people are half committed to two dozen things instead of being totally committed to the one or two things in life that really matter for now and eternity. That's a waste!

Weak people give excuses. Wise people find the time and way to do what they say they will do. Do you want to be a weak person or a wise person? This is a test of the kind of character you're going to develop. 

4. The Priorities Test

This is the most important test, and it asks, "Who will be first in your life?"

How do you know if God is really first priority in your life? Ask yourself three questions: What do you think about the most? Where does your money go first? How do you spend your time? Your answers will reveal the priorities in your life. 

God has eternal rewards in store for you if you pass these tests: "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12 NLT). A crown of life is a symbol of all that God wants to do in your life - all the blessings he wants to bestow on you, all the needs he wants to meet, all the rewards he wants to give you in Heaven. What a deal!

Talk It Over

• How would you rate yourself at following through on commitments? In what areas do you need to simplify so that you can give 100 percent to your commitments?
• How would you answer the three questions that reveal your priorities? How do you need to change your priorities?

"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold." (1 Peter 1:7a NLT)

The Bible repeatedly says that God has promised to meet your needs: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19 NIV).

But the Bible also tells us that with every promise there is a condition. One of the conditions for this promise is that you have to trust him. The more you trust God, the more God is able to meet needs in your life.

So, how can you learn to trust God more so he can meet all of your needs? How can you learn to have greater faith? 

You don't get faith by sitting in a Bible study group or just talking about it. Faith is like a muscle; it develops by being used. The more you use your faith, the more it gets stretched. And the more it gets stretched, the more God is able to bless your life. 

We call the circumstances that God creates to stretch our faith "trials": "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold" (1 Peter 1:7a NLT).

There are four common trials that God uses to test our faith, and, chances are, you're in one of these tests right now. When you go through them, you can know that it is an opportunity for you to develop your faith so you can trust God more. I'll talk about the first two today and the next two tomorrow.

1. The Pressure Test
   The pressure test asks the question, "How will you handle stress?" Will you depend on yourself, or will you depend on God? Psalm 50:15 says, "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me" (NIV). Do you turn to God when you're in trouble and not to other things?
    
2. The People Test
   God often uses people in your life to test and stretch and develop your faith. This test asks the question, "How will you handle disappointment?" Life is often disappointing. Careers, marriages, and even plans don't turn out the way we planned them. But the most disappointing thing in life is people. Why? We get disappointed by people because we expect them to meet a need that only God himself can meet. This is a test!

Your problem is not the people in your life. Your problem is your response to the people in your life. People are not the problem, and they're not the answer to the problem, either. The answer is God. When you expect other people to be your savior, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. 

Jeremiah 17:7 says, "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence" (NLT). What happens if you trust in the Lord? Look at God's promise in Isaiah 49:23: "Those who hope in me will not be disappointed" (NIV).

Talk It Over

• Which of these tests is God using in your life right now to stretch your faith?
• How will you choose to respond to the stress and people in your life that are testing your faith?