Psalm 34:6 says, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Consider your thoughts when you first fall into a new trial. Then consider your thoughts during a long trial that seems to have no end. We can bring trouble upon ourselves through negative dialogue. 

Negative dialogues against ourselves, others, or our circumstances war against our faith. They reel in our anchor of truth that is designed to keep us steadfast and immovable. Worry divides our minds with preoccupation. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that He has given us sound minds, which means disciplined thought-patterns.

Jeremiah was in dire straits. Lamentations 3:18 were his words of conclusion. It says, “…My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.” He turned his spirally down into praise. Verse 21 says, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.”

When we allow our thoughts to pull us down, we will become despondent and hopeless. Like Jeremiah, we can raise our spirits by proclaiming truth. Experiential truth sets us free. John 8:32.

I love 2 Timothy 2:13. It says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” When we are faithless, we fall into the temptations of doubt, fear, and unbelief. We lose sight of Who He is at all times.

No matter what our hard trials are, His Presence will be with us in them because He is faithful. I encourage you to gather some verses that will anchor you during those times. They give us barnacle faith to cling to Him, no matter how the storms beat against us tempestuously. In His faithfulness He tempers the storms.

2 Corinthians 10:13 says that in our trials, He will make the way of escape by bringing us through them. Notice the ‘through’ is used three times in Isaiah 42:2. It says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

He doesn’t take our trials from us ~ He walks with us through them.

It is good to rehearse the stories of God’s deliverance from His word. Here is an interesting verse about God’s judgment. Ezekiel 14:14, 16, 18, and 20 named Noah, Daniel, and Job. Even though these three men were in that time, God would deliver only them because of their righteousness. 

What was significant about their lives? God told Noah that He was going to destroy all flesh and the earth. He instructed Noah to build a boat because He was going to bring a flood. Genesis 6:22 says, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.”

Hebrews 11:7 says of Noah, “By faith…which he condemned the world and because heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

Daniel 1:8 says that he, “…purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…” Daniel 6:3 says that he had an excellent spirit. Daniel was given vision of the end times.

Job went through a hard trial at the hand of satan. Afterwards his losses were restored WHEN he prayed for his miserable comforter friends.

Make no mistake. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, but it was God alone who could have delivered him. The lion’s mouths were supernaturally shut. Yet read this carefully. Daniel 6:24 says that the king gave the command. All those who had accused Daniel wrongfully were thrown into the lion’s den.

It says, “…and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.” They were ravenous beasts that destroyed. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

What does your character reveal to others? We are saved to be conformed to His image. The Lord uses our impossible circumstances to expose the hidden that would destroy our faith. The intensity of the crucible’s fire only burns off that which would tarnish our testimony.

When the three Hebrew young men were thrown into the fiery furnace, only what had bound them was burned off. I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit what is keeping you bound.

In the face of the impossible, Daniel did not waver in his dedication to the Lord. Daniel 6:10 says that he prayed and gave thanks, “…before his God, as was his custom since early days.” Daniel 1:8 reveals a key to his excellent spirit. When faced with a temptation it says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…” No circumstance caused him to deviate from his purpose to honor the Lord. 

The king was told that Daniel disregarded the decree. Daniel 6:10 says that he was, “…greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him…” Nevertheless Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den.

The king arose very early and went to the den. In verse 10 he asked, “…has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel answered that his God sent an angel and shut the lion’s mouths.

Verse 22 says, “…so they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

Our inner character is revealed as we face impossible circumstances. Whether behind closed doors or in the open, it is a testimony to those around us. Daniel had been appointed as one of three governors to oversee the 120 satraps in the kingdom under King Darias.

Daniel 6:3 says, “Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.”

The ugly head of jealousy rose up. The governors and satraps searched to find some fault in Daniel. Verse 4 says that they couldn’t, “…because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.”

They devised a plan to have him destroyed. They convinced the king to make a decree that could not be changed. The decree said that anyone who petitioned any god or man except the king would be cast into the den of lions.

Daniel knew about the decree. Verse 10 says that he went into his upper room. He opened the windows toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times that day.

As I was memorizing Psalm 40:10, I thought about a personal application. It says, “I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.”

In Jesus’ prayer He asked the Father to protect His followers. Verse 18 says, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” Why did Jesus come? He chose and trained disciples to take His message of salvation to the world. 

Mark 16:15 is our commission as well. It says, “…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

What happens when we walk into a dark place and light a match? The light overcomes the darkness. Let us be proclaimers of the gospel through all that we say or do. My dad always had a car with Scripture on it. His motto was: preach wherever you go.

Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” What causes the soil of our hearts to become fallow? Verse 13 says, “…You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way….”

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” We trusted the Lord for salvation. With that same trust, we follow Him moment by moment.

Fallow ground has clods of hard compacted dirt. Joel 1:17 says, “The seed shrivels under the clods…” Haggai 2:19 says, “Is the seed still in the barn?…” Mark 4:16 was about the seed sown on stony ground. Verse 17 says, “…they have no root in themselves…”

If you would like to explore more about spiritual cultivation, I encourage you to get my book or ebook entitled, “Cultivating Our Heart: repurposing fallow ground.” Fallow ground diminishes our abiding in Christ that alone bears fruit for His glory. John 15:8.

I typed this sentence to a mentee. “That is where we get the truth that keeps our hearts free of emotional swampy ground where alligator lies lurk.” It reminded me of this verse in the Amplified. Proverbs 13:15 says, “Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the transgressor is hard (like the barren, dry soil or the impassable swamp).”

Past unresolved issues are not erased at the moment of salvation. The Holy Spirit helps us to resolve and bring closure through our journey of progressive sanctification. It is during our journey that we learn to guard our heart with all diligence. Proverbs 4:23.

We also learn how to acknowledge and release sins against us. Luke 17:1 says, “…It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!” When they come, we circumvent them from festering by not judging the offender.

Matthew 7:1 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” It is like catch and release fishing. The moment we are offended, we forgive and release it to the Lord. Our True Judge.

2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” Though this verse is in the context of giving, we can make personal applications. 

We need to wallpaper this truth in our hearts ~ God is able. Think of it through the eyes of your relationship with the Lord. Are you thirsty for more? Think of fallow ground. Your heart is the soil. It is dry and uncultivated. It needs to be saturated and tilled through His word.

That’s our journey of progressive sanctification ~ designed to water our hearts through intimate communion with the Lord. We will never arrive this side of heaven. It is a pursuit, not a destination. 

Mark 4:26 was about the farmer who planted seeds. Verse 27 says, “And should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.”