We can usually cope with something when we find out it’s normal. When a pregnant woman starts to have morning sickness or her feet start to swell she can initially become very upset, but when a doctor tells her that these experiences can be a normal part of pregnancy all of a sudden the woman’s perspective changes and she adapts. She’s still nauseated. Her ankles are still swollen, and she can’t fit comfortably into most of her clothes. She may still be feeling poorly physically, but she’s no longer worried because she understands what’s happening and that it’s all part of the process. If you go through life without understanding that there are some things that you have to go through so that you can deliver what God has impregnated in you, you can get distracted. John 16:33 NKJV says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Psalms 34:19 NKJV reminds us that, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” If you don’t live with the mindset that there are some things in life that you simply must push through, you’ll turn an experience into a crisis—when it’s really just a crossroad! We must continually ask ourselves, “ What’s my perspective on this situation, and what does the Bible have to say?” We must continually ask ourselves, “What is my explanatory style—i.e, how do I explain a situation or experience to myself and to others?” And, “How consistent is my explanatory style with what the Bible has to say?” In the Old Testament, Joseph had a great explanatory style! In Genesis 50:20 NKJV, he says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” In the New Testament, Paul had a great explanatory style. In Romans 8:31 NKJV, he says “God’s everlasting love what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? In Philippians 4:13 NKJV Paul proclaims, “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The disciple John had a great explanatory style. In 1 John 4:4 NKJV he states, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”