Good morning, Beloved. In these past few days, I have heard sad news about the
son of a friend passing on because of cancer, the suicide of the friend
of a good friend, and several other people who are struggling with
difficult issues. Some of these problems are new, and some are long-term. As Scott
Peck wrote in "The Road Less Traveled," "Life is difficult." We can't
always solve the problems that come into our lives, nor can we avoid
sorrow. Sometimes life becomes unbearable. Sometimes we become
overwhelmed. God's heart grieves with us when we are in pain whether we
know it or not. The Lord has promised never to leave us or forsake us,
but sometimes what is going on in our lives and in our hearts makes it
seem impossible to believe that He is really there.
When we are able to have faith that helps us know that He is there even when the Lord seems far away. And that can make all the difference.
This has been called the dark night of the soul by some mystics and others. Even saints in our era are known to have experienced alienation from God's Spirit and the distress this triggers. But no matter what is happening it is important to know that our God Who is Love NEVER turns His back on us.
As is written in Romans 8:28, the Lord uses everything that goes on in our lives for good when we love Him I know that we are called according to His purposes.
There IS such a thing is blind trust, and sometimes we must take a leap of faith to get from a troubled space to a place of peace. This is where the declaration that we walk by faith not by sight comes in, because we often must count on what is unseen in order to make our way in the visible and material world.
God is so good and so faithful, and even though much that surrounds us in the world is the result of people and groups that have succumbed to evil, no matter what is happening, God is victorious. In each and every case, the battle belongs to the Lord.
We must be able to count on this especially when it seems impossible to believe.
Nevertheless, we often need God's help to pull that off. Even though sometimes help seems to be delayed, with His grace we are able to wait on the Lord. He not only renews our strength and allows us to rise up as if we had the power of eagle's wings, we also have a great joy of knowing completely His presence, His deliverance, His vindication and His Joy.
If you want to read a case study that expresses the above, you may want to turn to the Book of Job. By surviving his difficult circumstances, and by turning to God in the midst of them, Job was given the gift of new knowledge of God. It took Job a long time to finally ask God why everything that was so horrible had happened to him. For quite a while he endured his misery. Added distress came from unhelpful interactions with his friends when they came to commiserate with him.
Sadly, sometimes people who try to help us only make things worse.
Nevertheless, when Job finally addressed the Lord, God answered him. In the Book of Job , full of long discourses, the Lord has the longest speech. And even though Job asks God a direct question, it is one of those cases where God doesn't give a direct answer. About halfway through God's tirade, Job seems overwhelmed, and cries, "Uncle" in a way.
But the Lord is not finished. He continues.
And by the time the Lord is finished, Job receives a deeper understanding and knowledge of who God is.
This is a great gift. The BEST! And I believe that the same kind of understanding and knowledge is available to each one of us.
The closer we got to God, and the more we are able to reach out to Him when life is difficult, the more God comes through for us, and the more we are able to receive the gifts God has to give us.
So whatever you are going through, Beloved, please open your heart to the Lord and release all your worries, fears and concerns to Him.
When we consciously and deliberately yield our selves and our problems over to the Lord, He rejoices because his deepest desire is that we give him a chance to help us. Because of the free will we have been granted, we must consciously allow ourselves to be drawn closer to His heart.
God has good and wonderful plans for you even if you are not aware of them. He loves you with an everlasting love and always yearns for you to be able to trust Him with your whole heart. That is not easy for to do, I know.
We need to learn that trust is possible. We need to learn how to do trust. And we need practice trusting the Lord.
But the first step is just opening our hearts.
And when that is hard, we can also ask the Lord to help us.
So no matter what is going on in your life today, Beloved, please give the Lord a chance to help you.
The matter how difficult things are, and whether or not you're able to believe that He is with you, please take that leap of faith and trust.
God is faithful.
The Lord truly, completely, absolutely, and eternally loves you whether you believe it or not.
Please give got the chance to show you how much you like to come in to help you with whatever is happening in your life and whatever is in your heart.
My prayer for you as ever, is that you will be able to walk in the fullness of God's light, love and life in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord continue to bless you and yours, today and always.
When we are able to have faith that helps us know that He is there even when the Lord seems far away. And that can make all the difference.
This has been called the dark night of the soul by some mystics and others. Even saints in our era are known to have experienced alienation from God's Spirit and the distress this triggers. But no matter what is happening it is important to know that our God Who is Love NEVER turns His back on us.
As is written in Romans 8:28, the Lord uses everything that goes on in our lives for good when we love Him I know that we are called according to His purposes.
There IS such a thing is blind trust, and sometimes we must take a leap of faith to get from a troubled space to a place of peace. This is where the declaration that we walk by faith not by sight comes in, because we often must count on what is unseen in order to make our way in the visible and material world.
God is so good and so faithful, and even though much that surrounds us in the world is the result of people and groups that have succumbed to evil, no matter what is happening, God is victorious. In each and every case, the battle belongs to the Lord.
We must be able to count on this especially when it seems impossible to believe.
Nevertheless, we often need God's help to pull that off. Even though sometimes help seems to be delayed, with His grace we are able to wait on the Lord. He not only renews our strength and allows us to rise up as if we had the power of eagle's wings, we also have a great joy of knowing completely His presence, His deliverance, His vindication and His Joy.
If you want to read a case study that expresses the above, you may want to turn to the Book of Job. By surviving his difficult circumstances, and by turning to God in the midst of them, Job was given the gift of new knowledge of God. It took Job a long time to finally ask God why everything that was so horrible had happened to him. For quite a while he endured his misery. Added distress came from unhelpful interactions with his friends when they came to commiserate with him.
Sadly, sometimes people who try to help us only make things worse.
Nevertheless, when Job finally addressed the Lord, God answered him. In the Book of Job , full of long discourses, the Lord has the longest speech. And even though Job asks God a direct question, it is one of those cases where God doesn't give a direct answer. About halfway through God's tirade, Job seems overwhelmed, and cries, "Uncle" in a way.
But the Lord is not finished. He continues.
And by the time the Lord is finished, Job receives a deeper understanding and knowledge of who God is.
This is a great gift. The BEST! And I believe that the same kind of understanding and knowledge is available to each one of us.
The closer we got to God, and the more we are able to reach out to Him when life is difficult, the more God comes through for us, and the more we are able to receive the gifts God has to give us.
So whatever you are going through, Beloved, please open your heart to the Lord and release all your worries, fears and concerns to Him.
When we consciously and deliberately yield our selves and our problems over to the Lord, He rejoices because his deepest desire is that we give him a chance to help us. Because of the free will we have been granted, we must consciously allow ourselves to be drawn closer to His heart.
God has good and wonderful plans for you even if you are not aware of them. He loves you with an everlasting love and always yearns for you to be able to trust Him with your whole heart. That is not easy for to do, I know.
We need to learn that trust is possible. We need to learn how to do trust. And we need practice trusting the Lord.
But the first step is just opening our hearts.
And when that is hard, we can also ask the Lord to help us.
So no matter what is going on in your life today, Beloved, please give the Lord a chance to help you.
The matter how difficult things are, and whether or not you're able to believe that He is with you, please take that leap of faith and trust.
God is faithful.
The Lord truly, completely, absolutely, and eternally loves you whether you believe it or not.
Please give got the chance to show you how much you like to come in to help you with whatever is happening in your life and whatever is in your heart.
My prayer for you as ever, is that you will be able to walk in the fullness of God's light, love and life in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord continue to bless you and yours, today and always.
