Amy Carmichael wrote Rose From Briar. She was a missionary in India who rescued temple babies. One night she stepped into an abandoned well and shattered her ankle. She was bedridden the rest of her life. She wrote from her pain to those in pain.

Page 113. “For grace to endure and to conquer is never given until the moment in need.” I have this written in the front of my Bible.

Here is a quote from Steve Saint when their daughter died unexpectedly from an aneurism. “If I asked God to change things, and He gave in to me, how would my change alter the rest of His plan? I do not want to ask God for what I desperately wanted in the short run, only to find out it had cost us what God wanted for us in the long run.”

Hebrews 5:8 says of Jesus, “…He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.”

2005 the Lord gave me a new song for a friend that was in a hard trial. The words are timeless. Here it is in part: Close To Me. Come My child. Take My hand as we walk into this trial. Do not be afraid, only trust Me step by step. I will show you things you could not know before. I’ve prepared your heart for this journey sore…

It ends this way. The trial won’t last forever. It will be over when My purpose is complete. Until then trust Me and rest in My arms as I carry you close to Me.

Psalm 57:1 are David’s timeless words from his trial. “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.” The Lord is always Present and He remains close. 

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” I love to think of how the Lord is Ever Present in my life. Psalm 139:2-3 says, “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” That speaks of His Presence.

Life is full of trials. They come in all shapes and sizes, and with various intensities. I’m reading the book of Job now. He was so pressed. Job 19:23 says, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!” 

Like Job, we do not know the fruit that will be born from our hard trials. I love Job’s conclusion. Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” God’s ways are higher than our ways. Isaiah 55:9. 

1 Corinthians 13:7 says that love, “Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” I heard the testimony of a pastor. When he was told that so and so was getting a divorce, he would say, “Who lied?” 

Marriage vows are a lifetime commitment. Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.” When one of my former pastors would officiate at a wedding, he would remind the couple that marriage is for your perfection, not your pleasure.

The same goes for our hard trials. The Lord is using them to conform us to His character. They squeeze us like the wheel potter squeezes wet clay to center it. All trials are God-designed to fulfill His purpose in our lives. Romans 5:3-4 says, “…knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Verse 5 says that kind of hope does not disappoint because of God’s love that was poured into our hearts at salvation.

Before I started memorizing 1 Corinthians 13, I only thought of love in the context of spouse, family, or friends. Memorizing it expanded my understanding to include character development. Feel the squeeze from verse 5? It says that love, “Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.”

Let’s unpack this verse. Emulating the character of Christ in all circumstances means that our behavior reflects Him. What provokes you, gets you riled up, or causes an angry reaction? Proverbs 29:11 Amplified says, “A (self-confident) fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.” Are you gracious when others press your buttons?

Thinks no evil means that we are not keeping a record of wrongs. The past is passed. If you were slighted five minutes ago, that is now your past. Forgive in the moment and let it go. Otherwise the seed of resentment will be planted.

As I started to memorize 1 Corinthians 13, I realized the chapter was another template for character development. Do you feel the squeeze to conform us to His way? They help us recognize and center on our need for the Holy Spirit. 

2 Peter 1:4 says that we are partakers of Christ’s divine nature. Paul did a great job of defining what  His character of love is. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, “…Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, love does not parade itself, nor is it puffed up.”

I know from experience that when pressed during a hard trial, it is easy to become sharp in our words. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. When we are under His control, our fruit will be sweet and nourishing for others. When we are in our flesh, our fruit will be bitter and cast aside. Luke 6:35 says that the Lord is kind to the unthankful and evil.

Psalm 4:8 says, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” How could David sleep? He relied on the Lord to protect him. His trust in the Lord calmed his mind, will, and emotions.

Verse 4 says, “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.” In 2016 the Lord had me meditate when I woke up in the night. During that season of seven and one half months, He gave me insights that became 35 ebooks. From those ebooks came five paperbacks, each with the same subject matter. 

Meditating in God’s word is a powerful tool to shape our thoughts.. Psalm 1:2-3 says that when we meditate day and night, “He shall be like a tree planted by the river of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

I often visit Psalm 131:2. It says, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned chid with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” I have learned a lot about our sympathetic and our parasympathetic nervous systems. We are so fearfully and wonderfully made.

Do you know how to take yourself from fight, flight, or freeze into rest and digest when there is no present danger? Do you know how to bring calm to your whole body in a few minutes? Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

Our chaotic thoughts can produce a fight, flight, or freeze response even when there is no present danger. Have you ever gone to bed and your mind keeps circling the wagons? David wrote Psalm 131. He also wrote Psalm 4 when his son Absalom usurped his throne and he was running for his life.

The book of Proverbs was written by a king that God endowed with wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29 says, “And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.”

Proverbs has 31 chapters. It is a worthy pursuit to read one chapter a day according to the date. Therefore today would be chapter 3. Verse 7 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

One way we can judge our opinions is from James 3:17. It says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

Here are some questions I need to ask myself about my motives. Am I being sincere? Am I expressing my opinion with a peaceful demeanor? Are my words gentle, forceful, antagonistic, calming or encouraging?

My dad used to say, “Convince a woman against her will, and she will be of the same opinion still.” Dale Carnage quote with my dad’s twist. As I was memorizing Romans 12:16, I took Paul’s words to heart. We often try to convince someone to go our way because we believe we are right.

The verse in the Amplified says, “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to (people, things) and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.”

It takes us back to James 4:1 which says, “Where do wars and fights come from among you?…” James 3:16 says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” Pride breeds contempt. One with a heart of humility is empowered with God’s grace to respond rather than react.