Have you ever been in a serious thunderstorm. . .or maybe even a hurricane or tornado?

I’ve never been in a tornado but I have been through some dangerous hurricanes and many serious thunderstorms.

During our time in Texas. . .it was not unusual to have thunderstorms with 60-70 mile-an-hour winds and frequent lightning strikes. I remember one storm where there were over 1,000 lighting strikes in an hour.

When serious storms come up. . .we’re looking for a safe place.

How would you react if you were in the middle of the sea when a violent storm arose?

Mark 4:37 in the Classic Amplified Bible says:

“And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled.”

The disciples and Jesus were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm began to rage. The disciples were frightened, fearful and faithless in the midst of what they perceived to be a potentially, deadly situation.

Here are seven keys when facing the adversities of life.

God’s promises should be our expectation.

Say this with me. . .

God’s promises are my expectation.

God’s promises are my expectation for every new day.

All God’s promises are in written form in His Word, the Bible, which is the divine authentic revelation of the divine mind and purpose.

The written form of the promises becomes a promissory note. . .a written promise to fulfill a declared benefit for each one of God’s children.

One scholar says the Scripture contains 30,000 promises related to every believer.

But, truthfully, knowing the Bible holds thousands of promises is not enough.

Here’s the real question. . .

I will always remember the first person who said to me. . .you don’t know the problems I’ve got.

I said, “you’re right and I don’t want to know.”

It’s not that I wasn’t compassionate about his situation … but I knew I had to provoke this man’s thinking because his focus was on his problems and not his solution.

I told him that circumstances are defined as the circle you’re standing in . . . but if you’re moving from glory unto glory. . .you will be leaving your circumstances and problems behind.

Then I shared with him Romans 8:26 in The Living Bible which says:

“And in the same way—by our faith—the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words.”

I’m not sure why this event came to my remembrance, but it prompted me to share with you four ways to deal with whatever problems you’re facing.

First, you can run away from your problem.

You have an enemy of your destiny who wants you to fail in everything your hands find to do. He uses three weapons. . .temptation, accusation and deception.

One you get born-again the devil wants to neutralize your effectiveness for the Kingdom of God. He will lie to you about everything. . .because after all, he's the father of lies and the truth is not in him.

John 8:44 Classic Amplified Bible says:

“You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.”

The devil is not stupid. . . but he keeps using the same tricks, traps, lies, wiles and deception all the time.

In this teaching. . .we’re going to expose twelve of the greatest lies of the devil. But, first, we want to encourage you in the midst in any adversity with two powerful scriptures.

First, Colossians 3:16 in the Classic Amplified Bible says:

On a recent Rich Thoughts for Breakfast call the word increase was in the text four or five times and so was the word capacity.

Later, as I was meditating, the Lord led me to Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 in the Message Bible which says:

“After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.”

As I’ve read and re-read these verses. . .I was stirred by Ecclesiastes 5:19 which says:

“Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it.”

The word capacity ignited in my spirit and God showed me seven ways to increase our capacity for success as we move in His blessing flow.

But first, let’s lay a foundation for this teaching.

I’ve read Isaiah 54 many times. . .generally focusing on verse 17 particularly in the Classic Amplified Bible which says: