Melanie and I recently endured one week of time in which we faced six different situations that threatened to forever change our lives in very painful ways. In fact, three of the situations involved health issues among family members that could lead to death. It was a week in which we felt like we were in living hell. It seemed like God had moved and forgot to leave a forwarding address with us. My prayers seemed to fall back on my head and I didn't want to talk to anybody.
Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you feel that way now. The climate of our world is certainly conducive to widespread personal problems in people's lives. Financial threats, health scares, and a general sense of instability in the world make these trying days for all of us at times.
If you find yourself in a situation like that right now, you can be assured of a few things that can help you if you'll believe them. First, know that you aren't abnormal. When we face our own trials, sometimes it seems like things are going well for everybody else and we wonder why it can't be that way for us. The reality is that you may not know what others are going through. You can be sure of one thing - you aren't unique in the fact that you're facing the troubles you have. God hasn't singled you out to bring down disaster on you. The rest of us are there at times too.
Secondly, you can know that your Father hasn't abandoned you. Even when heaven seems silent, God is with you. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have placed you squarely in the center of their divine group hug and nothing can move you from that place. So when you don't feel it, at least choose to know it, because it's true.
Finally, know that your problem will ultimately pass. Things will change, either now or later. So, until they do, cling to Jesus and know that He is clinging to you and will not abandon you.
It's okay to feel emotionally low. Job did. (See Job 23:1-10) Paul did. (See the verses referenced above.) Even Jesus did. (See Luke 22:40-44) Just because you feel low doesn't mean your faith is low. Jesus is your Faith. So lean on Him and rest in His faith until the storm passes.
NEW WORKBOOK STUDY
Experiencing the Depth of God’s Love
· How to see Christ in your daily routine
· The key to overcoming a guilty conscience
· The secret to moving beyond mistakes made in your past
· The way to develop a greater sense of intimacy with God that will create a consistent Christian walk.
· How to experience God's comfort during your deepest trials.
The way to develop a greater sense of intimacy with God that will create a consistent Christian walk. Do you want a more intimate walk with God? Do you sense a yearning deep within you to experience a conscious intimacy with Him that runs deeper than every other experience of your life? Journey Into Intimacy will help you lay aside your preconceived ideas about God's love and experience the Holy Spirit writing a divine love letter in your heart.
Companion 3 DVD set available with eight 30 minute
sessions plus a Q& A Session - $40.00
by Steve McVey
The idea that the only way God can speak to the Christian is through the Bible is one of the biggest deceptions that has ever duped the church. Certainly God will never speak in a way that contradicts His written Word, but the variety of ways through which He can speak to you are limitless. And he turned to his disciples, and privately said, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see ( Luke 10:23). Learning to see Him in the details of daily living will facilitate a deeper sense of intimacy with Him than you could ever know otherwise.
Horses - I was talking with Dan, a pastor friend in Iowa, when he began to explain to me how he broke the horses he owned using the method developed by "the horse whisperer" (the real man about whom the movie was made). Shortly into our conversation, he took out a video tape containing footage of a horse being broken, using that method.
As we watched, Dan pointed out how closely the way the trainer worked with the wild horse paralleled the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives to bring us into submission to God and to teach us His love for us. I sat there dumbfounded by what I saw. When the video ended, I felt like I had "been to church."
"Watch him," Dan said about the horse. "The trainer has run him in a circular coral until the horse has figured out that there is no way out. You'll see him start bowing his head toward the ground, as a sign of submission to the trainer." As I watched the video, that was exactly what happened. "Now, look," Dan continued. "His ear will turn in toward the trainer. Although he is afraid, he wants to hear him."
It was amazing. There were blatant lessons that horse was teaching me about my relationship to God. As Dan explained what was going on between the trainer and the horse, there was no doubt about it, I saw God clearly in that metaphor.
As I began to learn more and more about sailing, I could see God’s face in every detail. The Wind is His Spirit. To turn a boat straight against the wind is called being “in irons,” an apt description for our condition when we oppose God. A “close haul” is a point of sail that causes the boat to be pulled into the wind. It feels like the wind is opposing you then, but you’re actually being drawn forward. “Running with the wind” is sailing with the wind at your back. It is the most effortless point of sail, but one where you can get into trouble easily. Sailors often get careless when they are running with the wind.
The clarity of God’s presence is never more evident to me than when I’m in a sailboat. There is no doubt about it, some of God’s favorite clothes come from the nautical wardrobe.
Wood working. A friend of mine, Mike, began to tell me about his son’s passion for wood working. He talked about his son’s observations on wood and the obvious lessons about his relationship to Christ expressed through the wood. “Did you know the most beautiful wood comes from trees that have been under great stress?” he asked. “Fire, disease, things like that. They create a pattern inside the tree that causes it to be uniquely beautiful,” he said. “When a person wants to build a beautiful piece of furniture, he looks for wood that has been under stress.”
Wow, what a picture of how God works in our lives to develop us into something beautiful! So it is the painful times that create something inside us that make our lives more beautiful. What a comparison!
Dan has a passion for horses. Steve is a competent sailor. Mike’s son loves working with wood. In each setting, they have seen their Father’s face and taught me lessons about His love and how he works in their lives and mine.
God revealing Himself in the day to day activities of our lives – that’s what it’s all about. Don’t think you have to be reading your Bible or sitting in church to see God. Open your eyes and see. He is with you and His life permeates everything around you.