For now, I feel led to share something else.
Do you ever feel like you are alone?
Do you ever feel as if you are the only one going through a certain trial?
We all battle days of the deep valleys. Unfortunately, sometimes those valleys become so wide and deep that we are in the pit of despair and see no way out.
Earlier this week I had brought this devotion to school to type it out on my blog in my free time (yeah, right... what was I thinking!). I thought about it that morning and then immediately remembered to grab the book as I was getting ready for school. That is not always a normal occurrence now... it has to be placed there at night because the mornings are so crazy. I now realize the Lord had a different reason for me remembering to bring it to school.
It was to help a friend.
This devotion had really spoken to me recently and the Lord immediately brought it to mind when I was talking with my friend. She is in a deep, wide valley right now and just doesn't see a way out. It is hard to have true faith when everything around you keeps "failing" or things keep happening.
I pray it will encourage you as it has encouraged me... and my friend.
Test of Faith
John 11:40
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Have you ever felt the pangs of doubt?
When you are feeling weak in your faith, when your life seems gloomy instead of blessed, and when it seems as though every ounce of energy is drained, the Lord would want you to persevere.
Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relations of the natural and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture heroically on Jesus Christ's statements when the facts of your common-sense life shout - "It's a lie?" On the mount it is easy to say - 'Oh, yes, I believe God can do it' but you have to come down into the demon-possessed valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at the whole of your mount-of-transfiguration belief. Every time my programme of belief is clear to my own mind, I come across something that contradicts it. Let me say I believe God will supply all my need, and then let me run dry, with no outlook, and see whether I will go through the trial of faith, or whether I will sink back to something lower.
Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it.... The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith.... Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that H will not stand by us. (Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1935.)
What did Jesus say to Martha in John 11:40 (above)? The same is true for us. When your faith is tested, when your rational side struggles against your life of faith, realize that Jesus will never let you down.
Spiritual strength comes when you have a resolve, a determination to walk with the Lord despite any hardship or infirmity. Paul might not have been happy about the pain that his frailty caused, but he had happiness in knowing that the power of Christ was revealed through him because of it (@ Corinthians 12:7-10). The weaker we are as humans, the more visibly God's grace is seen. We can't give up because of it!
~ Dwell Devotional, Friday, October 19, 2012
1 comment:
Again, just thanks.
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