"Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens.
You have done such wonderful things.
Who can compare with you, O God?
You have allowed me to suffer much hardship,
but you will restore me to life again
and lift me up from the depths of the earth."
Psalm 71:19-20 NLT
"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie Ten Boom should know about fear. She and her family hid fugitives from the Gestapo in the Nazi's effort to exterminate the Jews along with any sympathizers during World War Two. This Dutch resistance that the ten Boom family joined is believed to have saved the lives of 800 Jews.
But this success came at a price. Her entire family was arrested and her father and sister lost their lives in the brutal conditions found in captivity. Corrie then spent the rest of her life spreading the hope-filled message of the Gospel to countless many around the world, especially demonstrating God's love by forgiving the very guard who had been responsible for her dear sister's death.
In the midst of such a difficult life, it would be easy to give up, giving in to the cruelty and becoming hard and callous as a way to survive. But Corrie knew her God intimately, and she relied on this relationship that had been honed over years of growing up under the loving instruction of her father who loved the Lord. With such a strong foundation, Corrie was able to weather the storm.
Faith got her through because it focuses on what is known about the future, directing her attention to what can be expected: Wherever she was headed, she knew her faithful God was already there. I can take on this same mindset of forward-focused faith.
Incomparable. There is no one like my God. He is beyond compare. I look for something with which I can liken Him to, but nothing in all of creation is as great as its Creator. Since He is so great and awesome, higher in so many ways than what He has made, I can expect the unexpected from Him. I can't guess the way He will answer a prayer, solve a problem, or provide for a need. He has resources of which I know nothing.
There is none like Him, and this unique God with unsurpassed powers will operate in a way that is peculiar to me. All I must do is watch for what He will do, keeping an eye out for His work in my situation as I wait for Him to do what He does best. In short, I must let God be His unparalleled self.
Faith watches with bated breath for what is expected from such a God as this.
Troubles. In the midst of the struggle, it seems there is no end, like the suffering will last forever. When pain hits, time seems to stand still and everything else fades to the background, overpowered by such agony. In the face of loss, the misery hangs on like a unwanted leech, seeming to color every part of my life. Will this ever end?
Faith knows that the hard stuff is temporary and directs my attention to the hope that is in Christ. In the same way that He rose from the grave, I will be revived from the darkness that is as profound as the tomb where Jesus lay for three days. God will revive me, restoring life and giving a sense of newness to my heart.
Faith believes the troubles are temporary, that restoration is coming.
Depths. It seems to be my lot in life, this cycle of despair and depression. When the pit yawns open beneath me, it's easy to feel like this is my destiny, this darkness that tends to envelope my heart. Faith, however, paints me a different picture that draws my attention away from what threatens.
No matter how low I sink, God is there (Psalm 139:8). There are no boundaries to His love for me (Romans 8:38-39). It doesn't matter how bad I feel, His presence is always there to comfort and minister to my hurting heart. Even when I can't sense Him, He is there. Despite my best efforts to lose Him, He is there. Although it seems I can't help but to fall deep into a slump, He is there. And because of His powerful presence in my life, I can expect that He will bring me up out of whatever depths I have sunk.
Faith knows that God will rescue me from the pit; it is not my destiny.
God does allow me to go through hard stuff, sometimes even leading me into difficulty. Even so, the faith I have in Him reminds me that He operates in peculiar ways that is for my good and His glory, that troubles are necessary but also temporary, and that any depth to which I sink is not deeper than His love for me (Ephesians 3:18). This is what gives me hope. This is why my faith gives me a forward focus; because God is already there before me.
As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can keep in mind all that God is capable of doing.
When do I despair, thinking I'm stuck in my current situation with no way out?
How could remembering the hope I have in Christ give me the strength to believe God has something good for me in the midst of this mess?
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