October 26, 2022 IN DIFFICULT TIMES
Hebrews 13:5 “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you.’”
Psalm 55:22, 46:1 “Cast you burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Genesis 50:20 “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
It’s not a matter of if we will experience difficult times, but a matter of when. We can face difficult times when there seems to be no way out and it seems that the sun will never shine again for us; it seems the storm will never pass. In such times, we need an anchor for the soul; in Hebrews we find the assurance that Jesus is the sure anchor; “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtains.” (The ‘inner place’ refers to the physical temple of God in the Old Testament and is a picture of the presence of God where Jesus sits as our High Priest in the New Covenant.) Difficulties and trials have a way of testing our faith and trust in God; our response to the trials reveals our faith. Even though the trial brings great pain, and all seems to be hopeless, and there is no way that we can fix it-or make it go away, and even though we can see no way that the trial will have good results, we must know in the bedrock of our soul that God has not forsaken us and that He will be with us through the storm. I’m reminded of the words of a song that blesses me; “I cannot calm the raging storm, BUT I know a Man who can.” Another similar song is “I know the Master of the wind-I know the Maker of the rain.’ God takes no thrill in seeing His loved-ones suffer, but He does allow trials for a reason; He wants our total trust and reliance to be in Him; He knows if our faith is weak or strong, BUT He wants us to know that we are truly trusting Him. One major thing that trials reveal is whether or not our peace and joy is tied to circumstances; it is easy to have ‘faith in God’ when things are good. So, let us not deny that trials can cause great pain, but as we work through the pain, let us be aware of His presence and have the assurance that He is working. In the greatest difficulty, we can at the core of our being know that He is our Father and that He will be with us, comforting us as only He can. It may sound like a stretch, but when we believe that God is working for good in the midst of the darkness, as James 1:2 says, we can experience joy. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed