Pastor Claude Thomas Information Blog

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

Promises are powerful. When we are sick and our physician tells us the treatment we are experiencing will help us recover our health, we are encouraged. And when we are in the straights of life, we can look to God for a promise from Him. But the question is: How do we get a promise from Him in tough times? Let me make a few suggestions.
Search the Scriptures… you can find direction from God there!

On one occasion when I visiting with my mother she reminded me of a time when she was able to get hold of a promise from God. My dad returned from WWII with dreams and challenges in life. He was a pilot who wanted to experience a lot in life. He was a gregarious, good man…but he wasn’t giving his best to the Lord. So, my mom became greatly burdened for him.

She told how she faithfully prayed that her young and loving husband would recommit his life to the Lord. One day she prayed as she did house cleaning. In her time of prayer God challenged her with verse of Scripture and a promise. It was a difficult moment because to believe the Scripture and accept the promise called for great faith. By faith she took hold of the challenge and the promise. And she held on to it until she saw God fulfill His promise to her from His Word. My dad did return to walking with the Lord and in greater measure than ever. He never retreated in his personal walk with the Lord!
My mom received a biblical promise from the Lord and held on to it!
Ask God to give you a promise from Scripture!
Pray fervently… your earnest prayers are heard by God!
In his book Legacy of Sovereign Joy, John Piper writes of Augustine’s mother:
At the age of 16 in the year 371, Augustine sailed away from his mother. He left her alone to her tears and her prayers.
How were these prayers answered? Not the way Monica [Augustine’s mother] hoped at the time. Only later could she see that praying is the deepest path to joy.

Augustine himself wrote, “And what did she beg of you, my God, with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing? But you did not do as she asked you. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart.
“For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers. You converted me to yourself, so that I no longer placed any hope in this world, but stood firmly upon the rule of faith. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish, far sweeter and more chaste than any she had hoped to find.” 1
When in trials, trust God and talk to Him about the problem!
Listen with an open ear… God does speak to us!
Wait on the Lord… His timing is always perfect!
God gives us promises in the tough times of life. And we can trust Him!

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

Does following Jesus mean you live a trouble-free life? We’d like to believe that difficulties, disappointments, and distresses are not part of the Christian experience. And because that desire is so strong, we may want to believe a man-made theology that says, “Trust Jesus and all troubles will vanish and smooth sailing will be ahead.” That is in stark contrast to the Bible and reality. Devoted followers of Jesus have known storms from the beginning of the Christian faith.

Early in Christian art, the ship became a symbol of the Christian community…body of believers… the church. No doubt the symbol was taken because ships experience storms on the seas… and Believers experience storms on the seas of life. And it certainly reflects an incident recorded in the Bible. “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling.”(Mark 4:37).
The storm was a great and powerful.

Storms strike our lives. Relationships are tossed about and verge on breaking. Illnesses suddenly appear on the scene. Death unexpectedly comes knocking. Financial reversals visit. We all experience storms in life.

And when they do, we want to be certain Jesus is in the “boat of our lives!”