Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead...

Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead...
I PRESS ON!

Monday, March 22, 2010

My God Speaks To Me In My Affliction

How many times have you said to yourself or heard other people say "where is God when I am suffering"?  You know that place.  It's that place where you find yourself with the inability to come up with solutions.  You are afraid of what might happen next.  You are hurting emotionally, spiritually, and possibly physically.   Friends and family have appeared to have abandoned you and you are alone...or are you?  Could it be that you are exactly in position to best "hear from God"?  In the stillness of our affliction, He is where He has always been...on the throne.  He promised to NEVER leave you or forsake you!  It's funny, actually it's you and I that have moved away from Him when we feel abandoned.

Oh, how precious the moments are when you are in that quiet place alone with the Father pouring out your heart before Him.  Do you ever just feel inclined to turn to the Psalms?  Isn't it encouraging to hear the heart pleas from David being authentic before the Lord?  What is even more amazing is that in the midst of his suffering, praise and thanksgiving stream out of his pain.  How?  Could it be that God spoke to him in his affliction?

Maybe David was reminded of the true character of God.  One thing is prominent, he "knew" his God.  David walked closely with Him and was called a "man after God's own heart."  He knew the truth of Scripture.  He put His hope in God.  When David sinned, sooner or later, confession was on his lips.

So, I ask YOU today, does God "speak" to you in your affliction?  You may not hear an "audible" voice, but the Word tells us that He does speak to us.  The question is -- are you listening?


Jeremiah 36:15

"But those who suffer He delivers in their suffering;
       He speaks to them in their affliction." 


Press on knowing that He does speak in and through your suffering and affliction.  I am praying that He will deliver you from you suffering, but with a greater sense of knowing Him better, renewing your awareness that sharing in the suffering with Christ will bring you to a whole new level in your walk with Him.