“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)”

“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10 NIV)

“Trials can be a means of building faith or an avenue to discouragement and self-pity—it’s up to you. But if you’ll apply God’s Word to your situation, your trust in Him and your faith will be strengthened through adversity.“

It always strikes me when God points out something multiple times to me. I think it is one way He speaks to us and I pay special attention to messages like this.

The three quotations above came from three devotionals I read just this morning. You may think that this was just, in some way, a theme for today. Yet, each of these came from very desperate sources that in no way tied together.

No, I believe that things like this come to us in a way that represents how God imparts special messages to us today. Especially when the message comes not in prophetic revelation but in a simple ways given in specific times of our lives.

These three speak to this specific time in my life. The message here as I see it?

Give thanks even in adversity for how God is protecting me even now. Know that this too will end and that God will bring me through it in due time. Now is a time for me to build my faith and and not allow self-pity to drag me down and allow the enemy a seat at my table.

God has messages for us all and to each He speaks through scripture, circumstance and learned friends.

If we will but keep ourselves open to the message.