The hardest things are usually the best things.
I remember the first time I thanked the Lord for something painful. It was in 1979. I had been a Christian for two years and had told the Lord over and over that I wanted Him to do anything He wanted to with my life. I meant it. Everything else paled compared to Him, and I could see that clearly.
The problem was, there were feelings that I could not shake. I felt betrayed, used and trapped. At the ripe old age of thirty-one, it felt like I would never recover and it was eating me alive.
During that time, I used to walk into the
For months I had begged and begged for the situation to change. Then, one day as I was talking to Him, I suddenly saw that He could be trusted, even in the hard thing. I knelt in the soft, rotting leaves and put my hands on the moss that covered part of the bark of the log. I remember barely being able to speak, because I was so moved by the revelation that He would withhold no good thing. I remember seeing that He knew what I needed and would supply my "needs" and not necessarily my "wants".
Even now, my hand-raising is usually in private. But that day, I lifted both hands to the One who holds the stars in place, and learned what it meant to agree with God.
What a release. What a revelation of Love.
I do not teach that Christians should pray for trials or hard things. There will be trials enough.
He named you. He called you. And, He has kept you.
The bottom line is, who is God? Is He the One we sing and preach about? Is He really omnipotent? If these things are true, why does the mind go round and round like an old fashioned record player after the record is finished?
If God can be believed, here is the thunderous Truth:
He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely
and graciously give us all [other] things?
Romans
Soldier of The Cross, of course He cares about the circumstances. He cares to the extent that He has made it clear He
values each word, His heart is ravished when you think of Him and He knows how many hairs are on your head.
The thing is, you can't feel His attention. It is something you receive by faith. You are empowered to do so because you have the Indwelling Holy Spirit.
There is no cavalier thanking the Lord for the fiery trial. It isn't the trying of a good idea or the repeating of words that sound good. Standing before the Lord to thank Him for the thing that He has allowed, is a stepping off of the cliff of walking by sight. It is a faith leap into the Everlasting Arms.
It has to be aloud. Articulated. Otherwise it becomes wool-gathering.
Just stand before Him and tell him what you are going to do. The Holy Spirit will lead you and you will know the covering of being an obedient servant. You will be released and you will be able to rest in faith about the matter.
You have met Him.
Before you can know Him intimately, you must agree with Him.