Category: A Door of Hope

 

"When first affliction comes upon us, how everything gives way! 

Our clinging, tendril hopes are snapped, and our hearts lie prostrate like a vine that the storm has torn from its trellis;

but when the first shock is passed and we are able to look up, and say, 'It is the Lord,'

faith lifts the shattered hopes once more, and binds them fast to the feet of God. 

Thus the end is confidence, safelty, and peace." ~Streams in the Desert

 

I'll be honest with you:

There is a situation in my life right now that has snapped my "clinging, tendril hopes"; and I have not yet found the faith to lift them and "bind them fast to the feet of God."

I'm sort of in between that and the phrase before it…I know this trial is from the Lord.  My brain can reason out the truth of it; but my heart is still hurting, still "torn from its trellis."

I know the Lord is growing my faith here.  I know that He is aware of my wavering trust.

I know He can meet my needs, but so often I wonder why He should?

I get stuck in that place of emotion that tells me I am unworthy of His intervention in my hour of tribulation.

I think this is the place where the enemy wants to keep us.

When I am in between acknowledgment of God's power and believing His power for my need, I must run to Scripture.

Where else will I find an adulterous, murderous king with the heart of a poet who, in spite of his failures, completed trusted His God for deliverance??? 

 

Psalm 33:18-22 "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

So, I cling to the truth of the Word; and lift my "shattered hopes once more" and bind them "fast to the feet of God".

 

 Has a storm of life ripped you from your trellis of faith?

Lift your shattered hopes and bind them to the only One Who can meet your every need!

 

Matthew 8:13 "And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."

 

We love it when the Lord works His miracles in our lives as soon as we pray about a need.  We are thrilled to see His answers to our prayers happen immediately.

But how about us?  How quickly do we respond when God asks something of us?

Do we obey immediately?

Abraham did:

 

Genesis 17:23 "And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him."

 

Abraham's obedience made all the difference in his relationship to the Lord.  When he was obeying immediately, God's blessings were abundant.  When he disobeyed, or delayed his obedience, God's blessings were withheld.

Honestly, sometimes, I don't even think about delaying my obedience to the Lord.

He touches my heart about something, and I just ignore it.  I don't jump right in to obey what He asks.  I simply do nothing, and wait for the next "nudge" of the Holy Spirit.

This quote really touched my heart and convicted me that I need to practice "instant" obedience:

 

"Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience." ~ from Messages for the Morning Watch

 

I am purposing in my heart today to pay attention to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and the gentle directions of the Lord, so that I may obey immediately.

 

"…A postponed duty never can bring the full blessing that God intended, and that it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment." ~ from Messages for the Morning Watch

 

I encourage you to give God "instant" obedience, too.  I am convinced that the blessings that follow our submission to His will will far outweigh any inconvenience that the obedience may have caused us.

He will keep His Word.  He will bless us as we obey Him.

 

Jeremiah 7:23 "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."

 

 

Daniel 3:25a "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire…"

 

"The fire did not arrest their motion; they walked in the midst of it…The comfort of Christ's revelation is not that it teaches emancipation from sorrow, but emancipation through sorrow."~George Matheson

 

Psalm 66:12b "…we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."

 

It is difficult to keep moving when the fire ignites around us.  We feel the heat suddenly hit us, and we stop dead in our tracks to gaze at the fury of the flames. 

We are horrified by the blaze and can see nothing but the incineration of our plans and dreams.

If we continue to stand still and gaze in terror at the firestorm around us, we will remain there in the blast.

We must withdraw our eyes from the trial, and fix them on the Fourth Man Who is in the furnace with us.

The Lord Jesus is by our side while we are in the trial.   

He longs for us to look to Him for relief and consolation as the fire removes the dross of our lives.

When we are gazing into the eyes of our Saviour, the situation around us seems to fade away. 

We find peace in His presence, and we find purpose as He moves us through the fire, into the "wealthy place" of peace on the other side of the flaming trial.

I know it is hot in the furnace of suffering.  I know it is uncomfortable.  We may feel physical pain, as well as agony of mind and spirit.

I can tell you from experience, though, that if you will

• fasten your eyes on Him,
  
• run to Him,
  
• focus your mind on His promises,
  
• pour over His Word…
  

He will meet your every need.

We have a merciful Saviour.  Trust Him to bring you through the fire. 

He offers us a place of peace and safety IN Him, if only we will stop looking at the fire and fix our eyes on Him.

 

Proverbs 24:10 "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."

 

"God tells me not to faint.  But what can one do when he is fainting?

"What do you do when you are about to faint physically?  You cannot do anything.  You cease from your own doings.  In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one.  You lean hard.  You rest.  You lie still and trust.

"It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction.  God's message to us is not 'Be strong and of good courage,' for He knows our strength and courage have fled away.  But it is that sweet word, 'Be still, and know that I am God.'" ~Streams in the Desert

 

Luke 18:1-8 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily…"

 

Are you feeling faint, my friend?  If not, then maybe this post is just for me.  I am feeling very faint indeed!

So, I am determined to stop my flailing and thrashing and scheming and contriving and manuevering…and just fall hard on the arm of my Loved One, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What else can I do?

My strength and courage are gone.  I have no repository of fortitude.  I cannot continue in my own energy.

I must cry out to the Judge of the universe, to hear my case, and avenge me in my hour of need.

And, so, when you feel yourself about to faint in the midst of the battle, I encourage you to do the same.

 

Ephesians 3:13-16 "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man"

 

He has all the strength and all the resources that we will ever need!

RE-POST from February 2009 – I needed to hear it again, myself!!! 🙂

 

I used to believe that to maintain my "hope" meant to continue to believe that God would eventually give me what my heart desired… literally that I would continue to hope FOR something.

However, now I believe that true hope is rooted much more deeply than that. To have hope in my soul, I must believe that IF God does not eventually give me what my heart desires…

• I can still be content in Him.
• I can continue to trust Him.
• I can continue to have faith in His goodness.

If God was good enough to me to provide my salvation from Hell through His Son's death on the cross, why would He not continue to fill my life with His goodness?

He does. And He will.

I only have to be willing to truly believe it.

The more of God's goodness I look for, The more of God's goodness I see.

The more of God's goodness I see, The more grateful I become.

The more grateful I become,  The more I can believe in His continued goodness to me.

The more I believe in His continued goodness to me, The more hope I have.

The circumstances of our life are not always what we wish them to be. Regardless of our circumstances, though, our lives can be all that we hope them to be… Because God is good to us… Because He loves us so much. We only need the eyes of faith to see it.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

As we read of God's faithfulness in His Word, our faith in His goodness grows.

That's just one more reason to read His Word! 🙂

 

Nehemiah 8:8 "So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."

Jeremiah 36:8 "And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house."

I Timothy 4:13 "Till I come, give attendance to reading…"

 

"But trials and difficulties are not the only means by which faith is exercised and thereby increased.  There is the reading of the Scriptures, that we may by them acquaint ourselves with God as He has revealed Himself in His Word." ~George Mueller

 

I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating:  We must read the Bible!!!

God wants to be an intimate Friend.  He gave His life for us.  He wrote 66 books for us to read.  He has done His part.  The growth of the relationship is up to us.

We must read His Book to know Who He is and how He works.

It is simply inexcusable for a Christian to neglect spending time in the Word of God.

And how do I know that?

Because there have been so many times that I have neglected it!

It sits on my dresser.  It is convenient.  It is easily understood.  I have every intention of picking it up.  But life happens.  My day begins in an unexpected way.  Situations rush at me, and I lose my opportunity for quite devotions with my Lord.

The only way for me to be sure to get that time each day is to PLAN for it. 

I wake up at an appointed time.  I have a scheduled time for reading, for studying, for writing. 

Often, I do not even power up my computer until after my time of study.  If I do want to use my online study helps, it works best for me to ignore my email, my Facebook notifications, my Twitter feed.  I do not open up those tabs at all.

Let's face it – the entire world around us screams for our attention, while our Bible sits quietly waiting to be picked up and read. 

It will not happen by accident.  We must plan a time to read each day.

I challenge you to begin TODAY!  And please, let me know how it goes!  I'd love to hear about your plan for studying the Word. 🙂

 

Exodus 14:13 "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever."

 

"In times of uncertainty, wait.  Always, if you have any doubt, wait.  Do not force yourself to any action.  If you have a restraint in your spirit, wait until all is clear, and do not go against it." ~Streams in the Desert

 

It is difficult to wait.  But the reward of obedience is always blessing.

Make yourself ready.  Complete your preparations.  Pay attention, waiting for His signal.

Then, and only when, God gives His command, go forth to accomplish your task for Him.

 

Luke 8:40 "And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him."

 

When we wait for Him, He comes – every time.  He will not disappoint us.  He will move at just the right time for His will to be accomplished through us in just the right way.

Let us not despise the waiting, but use that time to prepare our hearts for the mission ahead.