 I want to talk to you about how to thrive spiritually in any circumstance. This will be a simple message and I pray it encourages and challenges you. But first, I want you to type in the comment section, God is my refuge. Type those four simple words right now. Let that be a declaration of faith. God is my refuge. It doesn't matter what's happening around you. So long as you're surrendered to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within you. You can be a stable Christian. You can be a consistent Christian. When everything around you seems to be falling apart, you can have peace and joy and confidence and clarity. I know that there are certain seasons in life where nothing seems to be going right. Maybe there's a challenge in your health. Maybe there's a challenge in your marriage. Maybe there's a strain or some tension between you and your children or your grandchildren. Maybe you're in a frustrating season in your ministry or the ministry that God has entrusted you to care over. And you're not seeing the fruitfulness and effectiveness that you know that God has called you to. Perhaps there's a challenge in your finances. Perhaps there's a challenge in your mind. Maybe there are certain patterns that are repeating and you're getting more and more frustrated by them. No matter what is happening in the world around you, there's stability to be had within. God is able to strengthen you. God is able to keep you. You don't have to lose your mind. You don't have to lose your peace. You don't have to lose that stability in your walk with him. There is a consistency that can be had. In fact, every believer will face trials. Every believer will come up against tough circumstances. Jesus said, in this world, you will have tribulation. It's a fact of the matter. In fact, as believers, God can use those trials to process us. So when you face trials and hardship, mishaps, it's not that the enemy has power over you. It's not that you're cursed. It's not that God has abandoned you or rejected you. Sometimes, yes, as a result of our disobedience, we can invite the correction of God. But that's not always the reason we go through difficult times. In fact, sometimes difficult circumstances just happen. But how you respond in those circumstances, that is determined by whether or not you choose to access the power of the Holy Spirit that rests in you. You may say to yourself, well, that's not who I am. Typically, when difficult times come, I freak out, or I get nervous, or I get depressed, or I feel the weight of it. But you see, my friend, when you try to face these things in your own strength, when you try to come up against these trials with your own ability, by your own reasoning, well then, of course, you're going to be exhausted. Of course, the pressures of life are going to crush you. But how do you get to the place where you say, I'm pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed? Well, that comes from simply turning to Jesus. Now, I know that sounds overly simplistic. I know that might sound like just a Christian cliche, just a quick little encouragement that for most people, they think it doesn't do any good. But I'm telling you this, it really is that simple. And the enemy is lying to you by telling you it's not that simple. Because in getting you to believe that it's more complicated than that, he gets you to pursue your peace through other means than that which can actually bring you peace. He distracts you with things that seem like solutions, religious protocols, scripted prayers, the traditions of man, rather than simply saying, I will trust and obey God. I'm not saying it will be easy. I'm saying that it will be simple, that you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. You go through difficult circumstances and you start to realize that you didn't necessarily have the ability that you thought you had. And I'm talking about human strength. Of course, the power of the Holy Spirit within you is enough to accomplish the purposes of God in your life and sustain you, not just to where you're barely making it, but to where you're thriving in the Spirit. That powers within you by the Holy Spirit. But maybe you've come to a place now where you realize your own strength just isn't going to cut it. Things around you are falling apart. The systems upon which you relied are being shaken. The familiarity in which you found comfort is being shifted around. Maybe the people you thought were going to be there weren't there. Systems fail, programs fail, plans fail, your own strength fails. How do you thrive in times like that? How do you even keep your focus? How do you keep from freaking out? Because many believers, when they come up against a circumstance like that, they start asking questions like, what did I do wrong? And maybe there is some disobedience. If there is disobedience in your life, first John 1.9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He's faithful in that he will do it consistently. He's just in that he does it legally based upon the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. Now we mustn't abuse that grace. My only point there is that sometimes, yes, the circumstances that we face that are difficult have been invited because of the disobedience in our lives. And God loves us too much to leave us to our own disobedience. So he brings correction. Yes, that's sometimes the case. But then there are times when doing the right thing seems to put you in the wrong place. And it's tempting to lift your hands to heaven and say, Father, what is going on? Like Job, give me an answer. Tell me why. Why is it that that seems to be failing? Why is it that the pressure seems to be so great? Why is it that my strength and mind and heart and emotions seem to be all wrapped up in the things of this world, not necessarily sins, but cares and responsibilities? What do you do in those circumstances where nothing makes sense? What do you do in those circumstances where you feel like you don't deserve what you're going to? Well, the scripture tells us plainly the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike and the sun shines on the just and the unjust alike. Good things happen to people we think are bad. And bad things happen to people we think are good. And vice versa, in terms of bad things happen to people we think we're bad too and good things happen to people we think we're good too. But you know what? In any circumstance, you can have stability. You can have consistency. You can have peace. What do you do? Give it to Jesus. How? I mean, maybe you've heard that. And maybe there's some cynicism that began to affect your heart negatively and doubt and this hopelessness concerning the future. You don't see how it's going to work out. You don't see beyond the circumstance that you're facing. And then you hear things like, give it to Jesus. Just abide in the vine. Just trust God. And we're so quick to dismiss those things that seem over simplistic because we don't understand the full weight of what is being said when someone tells us to give it to Jesus. And I'll tell you this right now. Nothing else is going to do it because there are some problems that are just too big for you to handle. You can try and you can try and you can try and you will find that your strength will fail and you try to figure it out. Why God is this happening to me? Why am I suffering in this way? This just doesn't make sense. Matthew 11, 28 through 30. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. How do you give it to Jesus? I'll tell you. You focus on him. You worship him. You praise him. You thank him. And this isn't necessarily going to make your issue go away. That's I think where we get it wrong sometimes. Can God do a miracle and transform the circumstance? Turn it all around in an instant? Of course he can. And we believe he'll do it and we've seen him do it and we know he'll do it multiple times over. But there are some circumstances that God will allow to remain in place to process you. He may not have sent it, but he can certainly use it. You turn to Jesus by ceasing to obsess over that which is troubling you. And that really is an exercise of the mind. I'm not saying pretend the problem doesn't exist. That would be naive. What I'm saying is you can acknowledge that the problem exists while also recognizing that he's still a good God. That he is still great. That he's still a miracle worker. That he is still deserving of praise. You know we worship God not for what he does, but simply because of who he is. We praise him for his power. We worship him for his person. We praise him for his miracles. We worship him for who he is. And so we come to Jesus. We abide in the mind. How do you abide? You fellowship with him. You spend time in the Word, time in prayer. Now listen carefully to what I'm about to say because I'm not saying that we just ignore the problems in our lives. If we do that we can actually make the problems a lot worse by just ignoring them. Some things you do have to let go and some things you do have to try to at least work out in according to what is in your ability and then trust God with the rest. And of course you ask for the Holy Spirit's power to discern which one is which. But when you come to this place of prayer and you go to seek Jesus and you say okay Lord Jesus here is what's affecting my mind. Here's what's got my emotions all stirred up and I can't even understand why that is because maybe you're going through something internally where everything externally seems just perfectly aligned with the way you would want it to be but you can't quite figure out why there's this internal struggle. Why this heaviness? Why this weight? Why this tension in the mind? Or you may be dealing with the external circumstances as I mentioned a few minutes ago where everything seems to be falling apart. You may be dealing with both. Turn your eyes upon Jesus because when you begin to focus on it you're going to come to him and say Lord Jesus I can't do this in my strength. You say how does that work? I don't know how it works. You're actually giving it to him. And you say Jesus I don't understand how this works. It's not a formula. It's not something that can be programmed. It's not a system. If it was a system or a formula or a program then you would be able to figure it out and you would be able to accomplish it. Because there's no system because there's no formula because there's no program you have to go to Jesus. Think about the fact that when God appointed Moses as his representative before the children of Israel he was dealing with all sorts of different troubles and the people would bring to him issues over which he would be the presiding judge. And of course we know that it was suggested to him that he put in place a system of judges, a tiered system of judges. And the less difficult issues were brought to the lower level judges and the harder the issue became the further up the ladder that issue would be presented. The very, very difficult things, the people who were set as judges over Israel or mediators over the people of Israel, they would take that thing all the way up to Moses. Now the scripture doesn't say this outright but it's somewhat implied and that is that when the thing became so difficult that not even Moses could handle it he would take it to God. So here's this system of judges and they may be a dispute about land over here, a dispute about cattle over here, a dispute about a contract here, and those matters that were easily settled the lower level judges, they'd handle it no problem. But when they had a real problem, one that could not be solved at that level, they would escalate it all the way up. And each level of judges dealt with more and more difficult circumstances until they would come to some cases that were so difficult to judge, they would say you got to take that to Moses. And Moses would get these cases and sometimes of course he'd be able to give the wisdom that the Lord gave to him for that circumstance. But Moses who spoke with God face to face very often more than likely took the very difficult things to God. My friend, there are some things you can take to your friends. There are some things you can take to your spouse. There are some things you can take to your pastor. There are some things you could take to your spiritual leader. And then there are some things for which there are no answers. Then there are some things that no one in all their wisdom can give a reason for. Take the hard thing to God. Take the difficult thing to him. Give it to Jesus. And by doing this, shifting your focus from that which troubles you to that which gives you peace, shifting your focus from what seems to be impossible, the impossibility of the situation and focusing instead on God's great power. It may not change the circumstance immediately. Oh, but it will change your heart and perspective. It may not fix the issue like you want it to be fixed. And there are some things that may not even be fixed until we step into eternity. When you go to Jesus, those things fade into the background. Here's what happens. You present it to him. You say, Jesus, I can't manage this on my own. I can't deal with this on my own. I can't solve this in my own strength. I've tried. I'm giving this to you now. And you give that burden to him. And now the peace of God begins to fill your heart. But if you try to hang on to that thing, like maybe you hand it to him and he tries to take it and you just you grip it. And so there's this tension and this pool back and forth between you and the Lord. You're supposedly handing the burden over to him, but then you want to try to figure it out. You're supposedly handling the burden to him, but then you want to obsess over it again and again. Sometimes what we call prayer is actually just worrying. Worry is how your flesh prays. And again, I'm not saying you ignore this now and pretend it was it's not an issue or that you don't take your responsibility to try to make it right. I'm simply saying that the burden of it, you give to him and he takes that burden. He said, Lord, I just want you. I need peace. I need that joy. I need clarity. And you may not ever get clarity about the issue, but you can get clarity about who you are in him. You can get clarity about his love for you. You can get clarity about those things that are certain and recorded in his word. And then, and I want, I hesitate to say this because I don't want anyone to think that I'm talking about being naive or disconnected from reality or in any way irresponsible. Please don't hear what I'm not saying, but I'll tell you this from experience. You go to those places in prayer now where you give those burdens to him and it's like you're walking around in a bubble, a bubble of his glory, a bubble of his presence. That one can't be burst. And yeah, there's screaming and yelling outside but inwardly. Peace. There are trials and circumstances and problems for which there seem to be no solutions, but oh, inside. There's fellowship. There's joy unspeakable. Psalm 62, 5-8. Yes, my soul find rest in God. My hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people. I love this right here. Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. You ever go to somebody hoping they understand what you're facing and you pour out your heart and it's met with what seems to be like a brick wall? They mean well, but no one can really understand that inner struggle like Jesus can. When you pour out your heart to him, he lends you his ear. When you pour out your heart to him, he doesn't just hear it and then go on with his day. When you pour out your heart to him, he's not just an apathetic listener. His compassion, his mercies, his love is extended to you and you receive of that love and you receive of that mercy and you receive of that comfort and you receive of that empowering grace to just do the next thing, to just make it through another day. And I'm not talking about suffering through your days. Just because you're in survival mode in some seasons doesn't mean that a part of you can't thrive. He'll give you joy for the day, strength for the day, peace for the day, clarity for the day, so that it's not going from day to day in misery, though you be in a difficult circumstance, but you can go through each day receiving of heaven. His presence is heaven. And then you come to this place where you say, Lord, I don't understand what you're doing. I don't understand why you're allowing this. I can't wrap my head around this. I can't figure this out. All I know is I want one thing. I want your presence. I want you my exceedingly great reward. Well, that's what God told to Abram, isn't it? I am your exceedingly great reward. To where there's this spiritual hunger that is so strong that you're not even focused on those issues anymore. Not irresponsible, not naive, not living in a different reality, but living in the proper perspective, living with the proper perspective, I should say. And you say, I just want you. As the deer panted for the water, so my soul longeth after thee. You know one of the benefits of the deer panting for the water? Yes, it desires to quench its thirst, but you know that when the deer gets next to the water, it throws off the scent for those that would try to attack it. You know, when you're in the presence of God, when you've found that secret place, when you've wrapped yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit or he's wrapped his presence around you, I should say, no demon can touch your life there. Demons cannot swim in the depths of God. When you walk in the presence of the Holy Spirit, it throws off the scent for the predators that try to make you pray. Psalm 46, when God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Ever-present, he's not going to leave your side. It may seem sometimes like he's just standing idly by not doing anything, but if something needed to be done right then and there, you can rest assured that he would do it. And sometimes it's that trusting that makes it a little bit more difficult, that need to trust that makes it a little more difficult, because we'd rather we see something that was evident that God was working in our lives and sometimes he just allows things to happen and asks you, do you trust me? Do you trust that I'm working it out for your good? Do you trust that I'm with you in this? Do you trust that this is unto the perfection and maturing of your faith? We complicate things. I want to know this. I want to know why. We're like Job. We demand an audience with God, and that's what Job demanded. Job was demanding that God appear and give him an explanation. Tell me why you allowed what you allowed. Then the moment he catches a glimpse of God, he buries his face in his hands and he says, never mind, forget that I even asked. James 4-8, come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded. Even if it doesn't turn out the way you want, just draw near to him. You want to thrive in every season? It's not in how loud you can shout. Please hear me now. Do you want to thrive in every circumstance of your life? Trials and tribulations are part of the Christian life. You will face hardship. That's a fact of life. Jesus said so. But if you want to thrive, even in the midst of the trials, then you need to know that it's not a matter of how loud you shout, how high you jump, how much you give off the appearance of being spiritual. It's in how deeply you can trust him, even when you don't understand what he's doing. It's in taking that next step, even when you can't see where you're going. That's how you thrive. That's how you keep stability and consistency. And some of us are so entitled, we think God owes us an answer. Some of us are so entitled, we think that God owes us the breakthrough. Will he give you a miracle? Will he give you a breakthrough? Absolutely, I believe that with all my heart. But in the meantime, trust him. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Nothing wrong with that. But trust while you ask. Trust while you seek. Trust while you knock. What's this idea where we come and say things like, well, God never answers my prayers. All these years, decades I've been waiting. Well, how do you know? Because sometimes we're so focused on what God hasn't done that we don't give him any glory for what he has done. Second Corinthians 1, 3, and 4, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. Psalm 91 and 2, whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High dwells, stays there, not visits, dwells. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Just write that in the comment section. Say, I trust you. Tell them that right now. Say it publicly. Write it in the comments now. I trust you. Even when I don't understand you, I trust you. Even when I can't see why you're allowing certain things, I trust you. Even when I'm frustrated with not being able to figure out what on earth is going on, I trust you. Matthew 7, 24 to 27, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell and great was the fall of it. Every single one of us are going to face storms. When you've built your life on Jesus, when God is your refuge, when God is your strength, you can rest assured that no matter what you face, He's going to work it out for your good. In His timing, it may not be worked out for your preference according to your preference, how you visualized it in your mind, how you wanted it to be, what you considered to be the most ideal circumstance. All but when He works it out, you're going to look more like Jesus. You're going to be closer to Him. The love, joy, peace of the Spirit will be more evident in your life than ever before. You're not going down. You're going up. You're not falling apart. He's shaping you. He's not leaving you. He's leading you to deeper places, higher heights and deeper depths. Father, I pray you take us there. Precious Jesus, we trust you. Lord, when we don't understand what's going on around us or even within us, we cling to you. Where else can we go? You and you alone are our hope. You and you alone are the strength of our life, the object, the subject of our affection, Jesus. Lord, take anything and everything else. Take it all if you must. We just want your presence. Rest upon us now in a fresh way. Breathe upon us breath of God. Let us be more like Jesus than ever before. Spend our lives into your glory. Do with us as you will. We trust you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Say it because you believe it. Type it in the comments. Type amen. If you were encouraged by this message and you want others to hear it, you can help spread the word by simply leaving a like on the video. Also, let's stay connected. I want to teach you more on the Holy Spirit Prayer and Spiritual Warfare. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and get involved with what this ministry is doing. This ministry hosts events around the world. We release media content that helps people be strengthened in the Spirit, strengthened in their walk with God, strengthened in their callings. We are seeing people saved, healed, delivered, and empowered through events and media. So if you've been blessed by this ministry, I want to invite you now to pay it forward. Someone else gave to this ministry. And with their resources, we were able to produce and host and do all the things that we do as a ministry. And as a result, your life was impacted. Now I'm asking you to do your part. Get involved. Pay it forward. Become a monthly ministry supported today. You can sign up for our automatic giving plan by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. Consider a monthly gift of $10, $20, $30. Anything will help. And anything will help our mission to expand. We will see this generation saved in the mighty name of Jesus. Listen, the gospel hasn't lost its power. The great commission isn't going to fail. We will see a great harvest of souls in these last days. So get involved. Maybe you're saying, well, I'd love to get involved, but I already have so many monthly commitments. Can I challenge you? If you're unable to add to your monthly commitments, can I challenge you to replace one of those monthly commitments with support of this ministry instead? Maybe there's a streaming service you can replace. Maybe there's a membership somewhere you can replace. Maybe there's some type of entertainment or hobby you can replace, just even if in part. Or if you can add to it, add to it. But do something today on a monthly basis, again, $10, $20, $30 or more even if the Holy Spirit should lead you. Sign up for a monthly support at davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. I know that as you give, the Lord will increase your responsibilities. That's one of the laws of stewardship. What we make happen for others, God will make happen for us. As you give of your finances by faith, the Lord takes note of that. And he sees that he can trust you with resources. And as you give, he'll produce a harvest of generosity in you. He will provide and increase your resources. That's what the scripture teaches. So step out in faith today. Say no to the fear. Get involved. We have a mission. We have a mission before us. Harvest is plentiful. Laborers are few. One more time, davidhernandezministries.com slash partner for monthly support slash donate to give a single gift. And we do ask that you try to give via the website. You can give in various different currencies from various different countries. We even accept cryptocurrency for those of you who've asked. Whatever you do, do it today. Try the website. If the website doesn't work, then you can give through YouTube or Facebook. I love you. I appreciate you. Thank you for your giving. I pray for you. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.