A quick exit and a short cut, but the value lies in the journey. I suppose we would all like an escape route. Look at the words in this verse: 'go through deep waters', 'go through rivers of difficulty', and 'walk through the fire'. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up the flames will not consume you.' When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. Isaiah 43:2 'When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. We must not camp, or set up house, in the valley of hard times, but we must move through it. I have discovered that moving from the valley to the mountain top, is not instantaneous, but it is a journey. After all, the Bible tells us to call on the Lord and He will deliver us. One of the things that many good people hope for is what I would like to call 'instant relief'. Every hardship, every trial, every battle, has its own expiry date. Psalm 50:15 'Call upon Me in the day of trouble I will deliver you, and you will honour Me.' In that new season we would find new joy, new hope, and new faith. It did not end in the way we had hoped, but it had ended and a new season had begun. In one moment, what felt like an eternal battle, ended. Moments after her passing, as I stood around her bed with my daughters, my one daughter spoke up and said: 'Dad, its over! The battle with cancer is finished!' I looked up into her eyes and realised that it was. She told me that either the Lord would heal her shortly, or He would come and fetch her soon. I remember, shortly before she died, she said to me that something had to turn soon. Even within those 'never-ending' months, there were moments of joy and delight with some precious memories. Those twenty months felt like an eternity. She was sick for a period of twenty months, before the Lord called her home. The shock and horror that befell us as a family was inconceivable and unimaginable. I remember when my late wife was diagnosed with cancer. It may even feel like it will never end. When we go through hard times, it can feel like trouble is all we have known our entire lives. In these seasons of our lives, we need to believe in His goodness, and trust in, and rely on Him, like never before. You may be a child of God and yet you find yourself walking in darkness, without a ray of hope. Isaiah 50:10 'Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God.' They were actually in the perfect will of God, and yet faced this major challenge. He sent them by boat across the sea and on route to their destination, they faced a storm of note. It is possible to do all the right things and know the favour and blessing of God on our lives, and still go through hard times, through no fault of our own, but due to the nature of life itself. The darkness of sin has been lifted, but the process of life is still something we face. As Christians we may believe that we have moved out of darkness and into light, and this is true. Although wrong-doing has its own consequences, seasons of difficulty are not necessarily the result. Sometimes we can mistakenly attribute the hardship we are facing to something we may have done wrong. HARD TIMES DON'T ALWAYS MEAN WE HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG He has not abandoned us and He offers us Himself as a refuge, and He undertakes to be close to us as we trust Him while passing through the valley.ΔΆ. The wonderful thing that we can know during hard times is that the Lord is with us. Nahum 1:7 'The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. The Bible speaks about 'when trouble comes' not 'if trouble comes'. Although when we are facing hard times, it may appear as if everyone else is doing just fine, this is not the case. The truth of that matter is that no one is exempt from troubles and challenges during the course of life. BUT the true value of His coming to earth is found in the difficult and hard times He faced, the false accusations, the cruel punishment, and the death that He endured, give us the hope and faith we have. He had a remarkable season of ministry, and many people were healed and restored. The life of Jesus is an example of this. Just as the good, happy, and joyous times of life are part of life, so are the difficult, hard, and dark times.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |