And yet it may happen in these most desperate trials of our human existence that beyond any rational explanation, we may feel a nail-scarred Hand clutching ours. We are able, as Etty Hillesun, the Dutch Jewess who died in Auschwitz on November 30, 1943, wrote, “to safeguard that little piece of God in ourselves” and not give way to despair. We make it through the night and darkness gives way to the light of morning. The tragedy radically alters the direction of our lives, but in our vulnerability and defenselessness we experience the power of Jesus in His present risenness. —Abba’s Child
― Brennan Manning
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together! I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
~ A very stressed David, in Psalm 34
Oh beloved, it is true.
The early part of our walks with Him will often come through great trial and shattering of our former beliefs. We were, oh so sure of where we were going, and what we doing. And thankfully, we did not. He smashed our formerly sure lies and awakened us to the truth.
Unfortunately, even as He crushes our misconceptions, we still take our ability to think that everything we see is sure. The early years of our new Life in Him are a beautiful (and crucial) budding of our eternal romance with Him. We are swept away by the grandeur of His Goodness. We taste and see.
But this is only the beginning. Yes, it is foundational. Unless we sense the JOY of our salvation, we will not be ready for the rest of what happens.
The
Mother miscarries
Company lays us off
Children reject us
Lump is cancerous
Business fails
Body gets overloaded
Mind falters
Friend abandon us
Money runs out
And this all is some of the best news that we will have experienced in much of our lives. (See: The Freedom in Shattered Dreams)
Can we see it?
Much of what we are going through is just plain wrong. G_d is not ‘testing’ us to see if we are faithful. He is not putting us through trials and temptations, to see if we will grow up or not. No, the truth is that this life is still a part of our New Life in Him. We are in the great Venn intersection of the old and the new.
So, when all the bad stuff happens to us, we can like David proclaim that G_d is with us. And in being with us, He is saving us from one of the worst enemies: Fear. Read the passage. Beautiful! David understood – and only understood after some of the terrible stuff in his life – that G_d was with him. And… He was not leaving. He was, instead, going to go through the dark WITH us – joined to us in our inner man.
This fool of a writer is finding that this is actually some of the best part of the journey: the dark stuff. The hard stuff. The painful stuff. G_d is with us. But, as Graham Cooke has said, “He is doubly there for the stuff that would knock your head off.”
So, do you know Him? Are you sensing yourself entering into some dark times in your life? Are you tempted to believe that G_d is abandoning you, or testing your faith so as to see it fail? Allow me to preach for a moment: Don’t. He is not far away. He is walking through the dark with you. He is G_d in the happy moments – and in the injustice.
Tonight is your night. Time to know that He is there with you. Right now, and forever.
Eternity shall be at once a great eye-opener and a great mouth-shutter. It shall be the Rectifier of all injustice (and how vast is injustice!), the Confirmer of martyrs’ blood, the Explainer of years of labor swallowed up in meaningless ruin on earth. Lord, deliver me from sweet doctrinal nothings.
~Jim Elliot
