Life's Hiccups, One Right After the Other

by Alexandra Copeland

Life is supposed to make sense. This is a really simple statement, and it packs quite a mighty punch. God designed the Christian life to be the perfect equation of power, love, and soundness; not confusion, mishaps, and missteps. Psalm 37:23 (NKJV) tells us, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.” This does not mean that God orchestrates every detail of our lives as if we were puppets.  The word “ordered” means to be firm, stable, and established. From this you and I can deduce that God intends our steps to be sure and steady, not chaotic and out of sync. Some people would have us to believe otherwise. They’ve convinced themselves that God wants the exact opposite of order for us. They’d like us to believe that God causes trouble and chaos in our lives in order to see how strong we are, or how committed we are to His Word; but God knows us through and through. He knows everything there is to know about us, so why would He have a need to test us, when He already knows exactly what we’re made of?

Our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, said in John 14:16, 17 (NKJV) “¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” The indwelling Holy Spirit is our helper. John 16:13 tells us that he, the indwelling Holy Spirit, teaches us about Christ and guides us into all truth. He tells us what he hears from the Father, and he shows us things that are to come. If we would take the time to allow this jaw-dropping, mind-blowing reality to sink into our minds and hearts, we’d jump and skip around like a five year-old; this news is just that great!

It is available to be so in tuned with the Father’s heart that we avoid most of the traps, tricks, and pitfalls that the enemy uses to try and buffet the Christian. We can absolutely walk in the spirit confidently, without fear, chaos, and trouble on every hand. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 116:8 (NKJV), “For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.” Yes, God will keep our feet from falling, and one of the ways He protects, guides, and directs us to higher heights and keeps us safe is through the spirit that indwells us.

In John 10:10(NKJV), Jesus Christ told us exactly what the enemy’s modus operandi is. He called the devil a thief, and told us that his only motives are to steal, kill, and destroy. He then delivered the best news that any of us could ever hope to receive. He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Our Lord and Savior did not go through all of the horrendous things that he endured so that we could walk through life defeated. No! He demonstrated God’s love and bore our sins on the cross so that we can live victoriously. He gave his all and all, and made available to us a more than abundant life!

So what about the Christian who seems to endure one hiccup in life after the other?  Why is it that they can’t seem to catch a break? Well it certainly isn’t because God is punishing them. God doesn’t punish us. The Apostle said in 1John 1:5 (NKJV), “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Punishment is darkness, for 1John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” God’s love is perfect. He doesn’t cause fear or its remnants, like darkness and punishment. He drives them out. So God doesn’t cause us to walk in uncertainty, with chaos and trouble on every hand. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can steer clear of this.

Heavenly Father is a God of order. So when we experience one hiccup right after the other, we ought to know that something isn’t right. These hiccups are not punishment. Very often they are wakeup calls that should cause us to question where and how we have veered off the path of God’s love. They warn us that we are heading in dangerous territory because we are not paying attention to the voice of God. We’re too preoccupied with the cares of this world. This is preventing us from hearing and following the directives of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We’re supposed to be at point C in our spiritual walk, but we’re still at point A.

Sometimes, we become so absorbed with our everyday lives that we forget that God’s love is the glue that binds our lives together. We forget Colossians 3:23 (NIV) which tells us "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men". When we forget vitals like this, we cease to grow in the spirit. Any time that a person ceases to grow spiritually, signs of trouble will appear. This is really what hiccups are. God designed the universe to cooperate fully and completely with everything that flows in an upward and forward progression. Anything that ceases to move in this direction will come into contact with all the negativity that enslaves those who operate at a very base level of consciousness. This is hell on earth.   

The first inkling that you may be headed in the wrong direction is a gentle knock. This is usually hiccup number one. Then it’s an annoying thump; hiccup number two. And if we don't address what's going on internally, all of a sudden a boulder will land on our heads. This is when we begin to overreact and make further missteps. We get all out of sorts when we could have repositioned and rerouted ourselves if we had only paid attention.

Many Christians will take a very pious, yet egotistic approach to the hiccups. They tell themselves that God has slated for them a very special work, and this is why they are enduring such difficulty. 

This rationale in and of itself is very often a ploy or trick of the subconscious mind. It’s a way for us to avoid accepting responsibility for our neglect. We don’t want to be accountable for not reading and studying God’s Word as we should; for praying and meditating often, and behaving in a way that pleases God. Our hiccups and mishaps are not God’s fault. He’s not punishing us. We simply haven’t done all that His Word says we should do to keep ourselves growing and abounding in the spirit. God’s grace and mercy are sufficient to us, and He’ll help us through any obstacles and challenges, but we have to put on our big girl and big boy pants, and correct ourselves in the faith.  

God has a very special work for each and every one of us. None of us are without purpose and obligations to the faith. So that’s nowhere near the whole cause or remedy for the steady flow of hiccups that we face in life. The Father has allowed them in order to get our attention. He wants us to acknowledge where we’ve veered off the path so that we grow beyond the thing that holds us back. It is also extremely important that we repent of our sins with a Godly, deep, and authentic level of sorrow. 1John 1:8-10(NKJV) tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” So we must acknowledge our failure to do the things God has told us to do. Then, we have to seek His forgiveness. And in so doing, we have a unique and powerful opportunity to be stronger and wiser in the spirit.

Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness above all else. HIS Kingdom and HIS righteousness come first. It’s not an afterthought; its number one at all times. This is the way to fall back in harmony with His Will and Word. We have to seek Him. Seek God! Do so with our whole hearts, for His Word is water for our thirsty souls; it will arrest our hiccups, and set our lives back on course.■   

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.