In the Darkness, I Will Trust You
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:1-4)."
There will be days the battle is fierce. The enemy is throwing endless fiery darts at you. Darkness is all around. You cannot see a way out nor do you see an end to your pain. You feel as though no one understands. You may be suffering silently, patiently waiting to see the trial end. It. is. hard.
From a human perspective, the situation is nothing short of impossible. If you choose to stay in the flesh and focus on your problem, it will only get bigger and in turn causing you to feel defeated and overwhelmed. But if you look at the problem through the eyes of faith and speak God's word into your situation, your problem will become smaller. Not only will your problem become smaller, but God will give you a new perspective. None of us know God's ways, they are much higher than we could possibly imagine. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9)." God looks down and sees everything. He knows what will happen tomorrow as well as every day after that. He knows just what it takes to make you cling to Him.
This very trial that you are in right now has been chosen for you. God is good. The trial itself is not good, but God promises to work it out for your good if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:28-29)." Read those verses again. You will see that verse 29 explains the trial; God is conforming you into the image of Jesus. He is using this trial to make you more like His Son.
I have often prayed, "Lord, do whatever it takes to keep my eyes on You." God sometimes answers this prayer with difficulties. I have learned that when I am going through a trial I cling to Jesus much more. So if hard times, darkness and difficulties are what it takes, then let God's will be done. What about you? When you are going through a difficult situation, do you find yourself running to Jesus? Maybe through this trial God is refining you. Maybe He is growing your faith. Maybe He is showing you that He is the only one who can truly satisfy. He is the only one who can fill the void in your heart-not your spouse, not your children, not your parents or your friends. He is the only one who deserves first place. No one else should even come close to your relationship with the Lord Jesus. He is the Rock that will hold you steady in this turbulent life. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:19-20)."
God is good all the time and worthy of all praise! Press on through the darkness, through the trials, through the difficulties and know that the trials will soon be over and this is not the end of your story! "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory He will reveal to us later (Romans 8:18)." Praise God!
Through all of life's pain and heartaches, God's grace is sufficient. He is more than enough! Let Him be your strength. "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given be a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)."
It is not about us my friend, as much as we would sometimes like for it to be. It is all about the Lord Jesus and to let Him transform us to be more like Him and make Him known. He who started a good work in you will bring it on to completion until the day He returns. He has not forgotten you. He has not forsaken you. He loves you with an unfailing love. Trust Him.
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3)."
There will be days the battle is fierce. The enemy is throwing endless fiery darts at you. Darkness is all around. You cannot see a way out nor do you see an end to your pain. You feel as though no one understands. You may be suffering silently, patiently waiting to see the trial end. It. is. hard.
From a human perspective, the situation is nothing short of impossible. If you choose to stay in the flesh and focus on your problem, it will only get bigger and in turn causing you to feel defeated and overwhelmed. But if you look at the problem through the eyes of faith and speak God's word into your situation, your problem will become smaller. Not only will your problem become smaller, but God will give you a new perspective. None of us know God's ways, they are much higher than we could possibly imagine. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9)." God looks down and sees everything. He knows what will happen tomorrow as well as every day after that. He knows just what it takes to make you cling to Him.
This very trial that you are in right now has been chosen for you. God is good. The trial itself is not good, but God promises to work it out for your good if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:28-29)." Read those verses again. You will see that verse 29 explains the trial; God is conforming you into the image of Jesus. He is using this trial to make you more like His Son.
I have often prayed, "Lord, do whatever it takes to keep my eyes on You." God sometimes answers this prayer with difficulties. I have learned that when I am going through a trial I cling to Jesus much more. So if hard times, darkness and difficulties are what it takes, then let God's will be done. What about you? When you are going through a difficult situation, do you find yourself running to Jesus? Maybe through this trial God is refining you. Maybe He is growing your faith. Maybe He is showing you that He is the only one who can truly satisfy. He is the only one who can fill the void in your heart-not your spouse, not your children, not your parents or your friends. He is the only one who deserves first place. No one else should even come close to your relationship with the Lord Jesus. He is the Rock that will hold you steady in this turbulent life. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:19-20)."
God is good all the time and worthy of all praise! Press on through the darkness, through the trials, through the difficulties and know that the trials will soon be over and this is not the end of your story! "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory He will reveal to us later (Romans 8:18)." Praise God!
Through all of life's pain and heartaches, God's grace is sufficient. He is more than enough! Let Him be your strength. "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given be a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)."
It is not about us my friend, as much as we would sometimes like for it to be. It is all about the Lord Jesus and to let Him transform us to be more like Him and make Him known. He who started a good work in you will bring it on to completion until the day He returns. He has not forgotten you. He has not forsaken you. He loves you with an unfailing love. Trust Him.
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3)."
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