THROUGH IT ALL


There was a popular song a few years ago that said, “Through it all I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.” It speaks of standing in faith and obedience in good times and in bad times. We must love Jesus Christ and hold to Him during the good times blessing and prosperity and in the hard times of adversity and perplexity.

To be fully trained as God’s servants we need to walk in faithful obedience in the full range of experience from “pit” to “peak” and everywhere in between. Like the disciples we want to see God’s miraculous presence and glory on the mount of transfiguration. But we also need to be tempered and seasoned by the fires, testing, and disciplines of obedience. There is a depth and substance in those who have endured and continued faithful to the Lord in the full range of experience on the mountain, through the valley, and on the plateaus and level places in between. We gain spiritual substance and depth as we walk with Jesus through desert places as well as “green pastures.” We enjoy God’s peace as we are “led by still water,” but we also stand in faith as we as we face the stormy sea. The Psalmist speaks of remembering the Lord from the Jordon valley as well as from the heights of Hermon. He experienced the Lord’s lovingkindness in the daytime and His song in the night. Near or far, high or low, there is no extremity that can separate us from God’s love and care.

We are encouraged and strengthened by those who can speak eloquently of the “mountain top,” and who now rejoice at the awesome power of God in bringing them victory, healing, deliverance, help, and strength. But also, we are encouraged by those who can share the grace, comfort, and intimate revelation of the Lord’s presence that came to them in the valley, those who held to Jesus in faith during the very “dark night” when it seemed the enemy of our souls was crouching over and about to devour.

I am blessed by those who can encourage me in my valley without despising me for being there, those who went through the valley in faith without becoming disillusioned or bitter. I am also blessed by those who can rejoice with me on my mountain without envying my experience, those who have experienced the glory of God and yet remain humble and who are able to share the joy and encouragement they found in God’s presence.

“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4: 12-13.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. IF I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your right hand shall hold me. If I say ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed the darkness shall not hide from You. But the night shines as the day.” Psalms 139: 7-12.

“For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mrs Parker's Electric Paddle

We Knew It Was For Our Good When I was a kid there was discipline and order in the classroom. Teachers could actually teach, and kids could actually learn. We had a healthy fear of punishment, and we knew it would certainly come if we deserved it.   A ll of us kids instinctively knew it was not abuse, but a justified response to misbehavior and rebellion, or an attempt to prevent us from doing things that were dangerous or harmful. We knew our parents and teachers (generally speaking) loved us and were trying to educate us and train us to be mature and responsible. Mrs. Parker's Electric Paddle In my third year of elementary school, we moved from the old, white, wooden schoolhouse into a new brick facility.   When I stepped off the bus onto the new school grounds, the word was going around that our principal, Mrs. Parker, had an electric paddle installed in her new modern office. None of us wanted to face that mysterious and unknown instrument. Whenever one of the boys was sent
Read more

"That Way I Can Kill the Whole Bird With One Stone."

Just as truth can be stranger than fiction, reality can sometimes be funnier than jokes. Therefore, I try to keep track of unusual things I hear people say. Below is a list of word-abuses that I have heard over the last few years. These friends and acquaintances did not realize they were corrupting a word or using the wrong word. The following sentences were spoken in earnest. A fellow told me he did not want to sound self-defecating . A second cousin told me her sister had an infection in her influfial tubes . One man said he suffered from sick-as-hell-anemia . The hospital had to place a lady’s husband in contentious care . Another man was in there with a brain hemorrhoid . A fellow told me a family member had immaculate degeneration . One man said he had problems with his heart rhythm, but the doctors had decided not to install a space-maker . A friend told me, “While I am in town, I’ll go by and pay the fine and also return Joel’s guitar. That way I can kill the whole bird with one
Read more

Some Thoughts on the Manifested Presence of God

John 15: 19. “A little longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me...” Rev. 1: 10-17. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet…And I turned to see the voice that spoke to me…and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength…” 1 Cor. 15: 3-8. “…He rose again on the third day…and was seen…by Cephas…by the twelve…by over five hundred brethren at once…and after that He was seen by me also….” To see or not to see? The natural man comprehends God in the same way as a blind and deaf man would view a brilliant sunrise or listen to beautiful music. He would be oblivious to the wonders around him no matter how brilliant the sight or how loud the sound. The revelation of God works on the same principle. The person who has a heart after God will see or hear Him in the smallest sign, while the one who has rejected God in his heart will see nothing or explain it away, no matter how powerful the Presence or how obvious th
Read more