To sit and listen to the Lord talking right into
our hearts is as strange as it is astonishing.
It’s not strange that God speaks, but it is somewhat strange that He
should speak to the likes of us. Yes, He
speaks! And every time He speaks to us,
He accomplishes something significant in us – He either softens our hearts to
love Him more – and that’s what we want; or, He hardens our hearts so that when
we read His Word, we do not hear Him speaking to us – and that’s what we do not
want! It all depends upon our attitude
when we approach Him in the Scriptures.
In
His providence, He brought my mind to Habakkuk 3:17-18, and through these
verses, He spoke to me. ”For the fig tree
shall not flourish, neither shall fruit be
in the vines: the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat: the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no bullock
in the stalls. But I will rejoice in the
Lord: I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
The prophet had to learn the
lesson that despite our circumstances, if we lose everything, we can still
rejoice in the Lord. We also need to learn
that same lesson. Yet, it’s a lesson we
do not want to learn. We are so desirous
of our possessions and the things (and people) we hold dear that we want them
more than we want the LORD. Totally
understandable, of course. We do not
even want to dare the Lord to take everything from us, in case He might take us
at our word and grant us just that! Yet
once we learn this valuable lesson, we will be truly liberated, and enabled to
rise above our circumstances, for that’s where Jesus actually is. And we will “joy in the God of [my]
salvation.”
The KJV brings this out
beautifully when it translates the first word as “Although” and the beginning
of v.18 with “Yet.” This highlights the
“although” and the “yet” of Christian faith.
“Although” for one reason or another, we are currently going through
tough times, “yet” we will rejoice in the Lord... We must refuse to allow the ‘although’ of
adversities to quench our faith or extinguish our living hope in Christ.
How wonderful are these words.
If nothing in life flourishes and no fruit comes of our labours; and although
the animals fail to produce, this is not the end of the world for us. If we lose all that’s precious to us, our
relationship with our precious Saviour is not one whit diminished. If the worst happens, “yet” will I “rejoice
in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Only the true Christian can
say this from the heart. Can you?
I mentioned recently the
disturbing thoughts Margaret had regarding her cancer and her brain
condition. Such disturbing thoughts came
to me, too. I told her that I was being plagued with thoughts that the Lord is
preparing me for being on my own, for widower-hood, and for life without having
her with me. That may or may not be
true, I don’t know; but because I have no evidence that this is what is
happening, I had to put such annoying thoughts right out of my mind, and put on
again the “helmet of salvation” (Eph.6:17) to protect my mind from such
disturbing thoughts.
Praying has been difficult for both of us, due to
the weakness of the flesh and the sinfulness of our hearts. What a re-assurance it is to know that you,
and many others, having been ‘holding the ropes’ of prayer during this time. We have tried to keep up our praying, but at
times it has been so difficult, a struggle.
Yet, the truly amazing thing is that God, by His Spirit, has given me the
urge to pray at different times, and I have followed this urge and found myself
having greater liberty in prayer at such times.
When you feel the urge to pray, then pray; for this is God’s Spirit at
work.
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