Author: ObtainingMercy

"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isaiah 45:3

"We are not meant to always linger in the dark…presently we shall be summoned to take our place in the rush and storm of life; and when that moment comes, we are to speak and proclaim what we have learned." ~F. B. Meyer

The Christian life is all about sharing what we know, what we have learned of Christ, to others.

Is your soul is darkness now?

God has a precious truth to share with you there.

Settle your soul before Him and gather the treasures He has for you.

The light will one day shine again, and you will have an abundance of riches to share with others who are cowering in the darkness.

"God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in,

That He may speak, perchance through grief or pain,

And softly, heart to heart, above the din,

May tell some precious thought to us again."

~Streams in the Desert

"That our souls should have their mountains of fellowship,

Their valley of quiet rest beneath the shadow of the great rock,

Their nights beneath the stars,

When darkness has veiled the material and silenced the stir of human life,

And has opened the view of the infinite and eternal,

Is as indispensable as that our bodies should have food."

~F. B. Meyer

 

We – out of necessity – must have our mountaintops and our valleys, our days of sunshine and nights of stormy darkness.

God works in all of it, uses all of life's experiences, to make us the person He wants us to be.

It is up to us to learn through each lesson, and to be thankful for all of it.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:12-14

Sometimes, in the middle of our dark night, we simply forget Who God is.

 "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." Psalm 89:5-7

"His promise is equal to His presence" ~C.H.P. (Streams in the Desert)

How could we doubt His goodness?

How can we question His power?

How dare we forget His holiness?

He is God Almighty.  He always and only does what is best for His children.

Rest in the knowledge of that.

Hope in the truth of His Word.

 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. Psalm 86:7-10

"I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me." Job 10:2

 

"To be left unmolested by Satan is no evidence of blessing." ~Streams in the Desert

I was priviledged to grow up in a wonderful church.  I was surrounded by men and women who loved God and served Him faithfully.  I loved to hear them preach and teach and sing.  I loved to work alongside them, and it was my goal to be like them. 

(I knew I was to model myself after Christ, but as long as these folks demonstrated Christ-likeness, I was pleased to follow their example.)

I can recall quite clearly the fear that struck me when I realized the important truth that every one of these faithful servants had been or was then going through some great adversity. 

I remember saying to a friend, "I want to be a great Christian; but every great Christian I know has gone through some awful trial, some difficut test.  I want to be a great Christian, but I don't want to suffer like that!"

It was immature.  It was short-sighted.  But it was very honest.  I think we would all like to skip the steps of becoming Christ-like, and just wake up one day completely dead to self and walking perfectly after Jesus' example.

It doesn't work that way, as every child of God comes to realize.  However, there is no reason to be fearful or resentful of the process God uses to make us like Him.  It is a privilege to walk through the shadows so that we can see His light shine more brightly.

Job came to realize this truth, and to embrace the reality of it.

"…when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10

"Hope itself is like a star – not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. " ~C.H. Spurgeon

I encourage you, as God gives you peace, embrace your trial.  Trust His work in your life.  Let the light of your hope shine out through the darkness of your pain.

"…therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still." Isaiah 30:7b

"There is a perfect passivity which is not indolence.  It is a living stillness born of trust.  Quiet tension is not trust.  It is simply compressed anxiety."  Streams in the Desert

I must be honest and say that I am a master of "compressed anxiety".  I can smile and perform and work while concealing a seething volcano of apprehension and panic within myself.

It is a learned habit which destroys the health and wellbeing of the one suppressing such anxiety.

The true peace only comes from within, when we have stilled our raging thoughts and settled ourselves quietly at His feet.

The wonderful thing is that we can practice this peaceful stillness until it becomes a habit as well.

"O rest, in utter quietude of soul,

Abandon words, leave prayer and praise awhile;

Let thy whole being, hushed in His control,

Learn the full meaning of His voice and smile.

 

"Not as an athlete wrestling for a crown,

Not taking Heaven by violence of will;

But with thy Father as a child sit down,

And know the bliss that follows His "Be Still!"

~Mary Rowles Jarvis, Streams in the Desert