I want to introduce you to the DIMES framework. This is a tool you can use to identify any hidden gods in your life, those things we treat as only God Himself should be treated. Each letter corresponds to a question. Today’s question is:

D – What do I DEPEND on most?

It took 15 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. The tightness in my jaw was getting worse. My arms felt like lead. The “heartburn” wouldn’t stop. For 20 minutes they stabilised me and got me prepared to be taken to the hospital for an emergency angiogram. Less than two hours from the initial 999 call, I was already on my way up to the ward after receiving a stent in one of arteries on my heart.

Although there was concern, and rightly so, neither Heather nor I had any sense of panic. There was an unnatural but welcome peace in that moment that could only have come from God.

Any born-again child of God who is walking with Him and has encountered a crisis can testify to the strength they discovered in that moment – not a natural strength from themselves, but the strength that God gives as and when it’s needed.

Thankfully, these kinds of crises are few and far between. The only way to be prepared for them is by making sure we’re walking as close to the Lord as possible.

But far more common is the daily worry concerning the future and what it holds. There are the concerns over the direction of the country we call home. Especially in light of the migration crisis the West is encountering and our governments’ reactions to it, we may fear what lies ahead for the nation.

On a more personal level, there may be an uneasiness over health, knowing there’s something not quite right and a fear that it could be something serious. Perhaps it is a financial worry, or stress over the behaviour of a son or daughter. It could be a bombshell at work that has put the company’s future in peril.

The question in all these circumstances is “Who are you depending on?”, and the answer reveals who or what has our faith.

If you’re a believer, you know what the answer should be: prayer to our Father on His throne, trust in the character of God, remembering the promises of God, and holding onto the glorious future God has prepared for us, a future that will far eclipse all suffering in this world.

But when blindsided by a crisis or burdened over the future, what’s the real and honest answer?

For some it means a phone-call to the doctor. For others it will mean putting money into a solution. Others will seek the counsel of someone they trust, bottle it all up inside, or start blaming God, lashing out in anger and frustration, and woe betide anyone who is unfortunate enough to be within their radius at that time. What our instinct is in those moments reveals where our faith is truly placed.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing inherently wrong with ringing the doctor or seeking advice, but at what point do we turn to the Lord? If He is the One we trust and depend on above all others, should He not be our very first port of call? And then take all the sensible and reasonable steps we should take. The difference is that by calling on the Lord first we are given the wisdom to make the most appropriate moves to handle our crises.

There is a confidence and strength that can only be learned through bitter experiences. David understood that when he wrote out of his own circumstances:

And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
2 Samuel 22:2-4

This great declaration by David had to be learned. As David saw God’s love for him at work in his circumstances, it grew into confidence in God’s faithfulness.

Circumstances overtake us. Emotions overwhelm us. Pain and sorrow can make us feel overpowered, like drowning in the suffering. But why does God allow the suffering?

The answer is often limited to, “God has a plan and purpose for your life, so just keep trusting that He knows best”. There’s truth in that, but when you’re about use up the last of your resources just to trudge forward another step, it’s small comfort. Surely there’s a better answer.

Allow to suggest three responses to this question of why God allows suffering.

1. To enable growth in faith and character.

Our trials are like spiritual resistance bands, just strong enough to give us something to struggle against, but not so strong as to overwhelm us. Paul wrote:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

If this is true, and it is because it’s God’s Word, while at times we are pushed to our absolute limit, we will never be asked to endure the impossible, no matter how much it feels like it. We need to take that as a promise from God.

• To be an object lesson to others

People will watch to see how we respond to suffering. What a testimony to the lost to see a believer cling onto God and endure a major crisis with dignity and strength only found in Him. Parents caring for their sick child in hospital or a church gathering round a brother or sister in Christ who has just experienced the greatest tragedy of their lives bear witness to the power of the Spirit in the everyday life of a child of God.

• To learn more about who God is

If we were never afraid, how would we know the power of the peace of God that passes all understanding (Php 4:7)?

If we never got sick or injured, how would we know God’s power to heal?

Living in a sinful world means being surrounded by triggers for temptation. If God shielded us from all of these, how would we know His forgiveness or the strength to resist that comes from a closeness to Him?

All of these reveal through experience something of God’s character. That becomes a comfort to us that we can then give to others in similar circumstances:

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Speaking of comfort, we are reminded in 1 Thessalonians that the rapture of the Church is a truth we should use to provide comfort to one another. The day is coming very near when Christ will return for His own people, and all of us who are believers will disappear from this world and be caught up into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we have these truths in our heart, we have tremendous resources for facing life with all of its trials and uncertainties. While many rely on other gods, fate, wealth, political connections, “meditation”, or many other things to get them through life’s challenges, our goal and privilege as believers is to place all our dependence upon the Lord.

If our first instinct isn’t to turn to the Lord, to depend on Him with hope and confidence, then perhaps He is being denied the role of God. It is His rightful place to be our first thought. While it is difficult to make this an instinctive response, it is worth our time to develop such an instinct. Making this our practice honours Him and exalts Him in our lives.

Whatever trial, suffering, or crisis you are experiencing, He is always sufficient to give the strength to see it through.

Will you start DEPENDING on Him first?

Keep looking up!