Category: A Door of Hope

 

"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

 

"They that watch for providence will never want a providence to watch for." a proverb (Streams in the Desert)

 

"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me…" Habakkuk 2:1

 

"Alas, a great many people play at praying.  They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers.  Our heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our prayer." ~C.H. Spurgeon

 

When you pray, do you really expect an answer???

 

 

 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead  Matthew 28:1-7

 

 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. Mark 16:2-6

 

 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
 And they remembered his words… Luke 24:1-8a

 

We can believe every promise that God ever made…

Because He did the greatest miracle ever known to man.

His resurrection gives us a greater hope than we can even comprehend.

Death – our greatest foe – has no power over our God.

Though we may walk through a valley in its very shadow, we have no cause for fear.

"…Death is swallowed up in victory." I Corinthians 15:54

 

 

"The Lord cannot do much with a crushed soul, hence the adversary's attempt to push the Lord's people into despair and hopelessness…" Streams in the Desert

 

Do you remember the story of Elisha and the king of Syria?

The king, tired of being thwarted in his battle plans by Elisha, sent out "horses, and chariots, and a great host" by night to camp around Elisha's town. 

They had planned, no doubt, to destroy his entire city just to get rid of this man of God who "telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in the bedchamber."

Elisha's servant was an early riser, and as he went out, he discovered the huge army camped around them.  He came to Elisha with the question,

"Alas, my master!  how shall we do?"

(Can you sense the panic, the desparation, in his words?  He thought they were doomed.  He could not see a way out, and had no hope of a rescue.)

Elisha told him to not be afraid because the men who were for them were many more in number than the men who were battling for the king of Syria.

No doubt the servant was confused and dismayed by this answer, since all the fighting men were out fighting with the king of Israel.

Then Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of the servant, and when God did just that, the servant saw "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

 

Sometimes we see no hope in sight.  We see no way for good to come out of the horrible reality that surrounds us.

We must remember that God has infinite and innumerable hosts camped around us.

He has not left us defenseless in the battle of life.

We have not been abandoned by His grace and mercy when our hearts are breaking.

God's plan is unfolding.  His will is being done.  He loving heart is preparing the way for His Glory to be shone in the midst of the turmoil surrounding us.

Father God, please open our eyes, so that we may see by the eye of faith, the path for victory and deliverance that You lay before us.

 

 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"  Psalm 107:26-31