Many millions do not, and may not ever, get the Gospel message. They may, indeed, be much too blessed in their living circumstances to need the miraculous rest that only the Lord Jesus can provide. Others who’ve had their lives torn to shreds, though, are ripe for Divine picking:
“To be weary and heavy laden is to have the highest fitness to receive that rest which Christ alone can give.”
~William Law (1686-1761)
The wondrous reality of life is the person neediest of help is most blessedly open to receive that help that can come from the agency of God, alone.
The Lord is a safety net encompassing all situations of the living. Whenever life is at its hardest, relations with God are never easier. But we must make some definitive choices to ensure we can move closer to God, taking part in Divine rest, and not move away, sickened by life and God’s role in allowing such personal persecution.
Considerations For The Weary, Grieving, Lonely, And Spiritually Bereft
The list of those types that have been characterised above is endless. Those most blessed to be touched by stringent suffering, those feeling most assuredly cursed, may know they’ve found a place of need for God. Our Lord proves real in such a place where there is no respite besides the rest we feel in pouring out hard emotions relentlessly. This is our qualification; that life has become too much to do alone. There is the most comprehensive need for God. We cannot manage without the Lord.
Desperation is a good place to be if it finds us turning toward a miracle, as can later be seen.
When we are here, beyond scope for much reasonable thought, we must approach certain conditions that’ll see us through:
1. We don’t read too much, or fill ourselves with much knowledge. It’s more important to simply experience the rest of God, by being thoroughly honest in pouring out our emotions.
2. If we wish to learn, we read about the character of our Saviour who would scoop up the downtrodden and those suffering when he walked this earth. Jesus’ inclusive and personalised compassion we now draw upon. His Spirit is alive.
3. In our going out and coming home we should spend no time berating ourselves in self-analysis, enjoying as much as possible the ability to be gentle with ourselves, experiencing God’s unlimited grace.
4. We continue to remind ourselves that the pain of the losses we’ve experienced, and the battles that overwhelm us just now, won’t last. It’s afterwards that we understand how faithful God was in helping us through; in identifying with us.
***
Many people never hear the Gospel message because they’ve never suffered. At the ending of one life there’s the burgeoning of another, better life. Rock bottoms are not the end; they’re the beginning of a life where rest in God is possible and, found later, joyously miraculous.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
Dear Steve,
ReplyDeleteI want you to know how much today's blog has meant to me. I am in a valley right now and the struggle to move forward is great. It is not the first time I have been through a valley, yet it is the first time I have felt so alone in one. My past journeys through troubled times were filled with many friends and family to help me along the way. They were all God sent and I learned so much about God's grace and mercy.
At this point in my life, I find my friends and family walking through their own valleys. I find myself resisting asking for help because they themselves are in need as well. I fight the temptation to feel guilt because I find myself so weak in my own state that I cannot be of more help to them. I can only pray that by looking to Christ I can get through this time and that by this they will find comfort and hope.
So here I am...in the valley...trying so hard to not look at the storm, but into the eyes of my Savior. In my quiet time He encourages me, but like
Peter I find myself sinking again when I try to move from my quiet time and seek to accomplish anything. It is hard to know which way to turn when so many things need changing and so many tasks need to be done. My faith and trust that God can move me through the next days and months is being tested.
I am asking God to show Himself through my weakness.
Your words gave me some direction this morning and I take them as a whisper from God to give me hope.
Thank you for being a vessel of our Father's unconditional love.
May God touch many through your ministry,
Cindy Leigh
Hi Cindy, I found myself re-experiencing one of my own such valleys as I read you. Thank you for sharing. There's such complexity to these seasons, just at a time where we have little resource. Our need of God is never greater. And though God rarely shows himself 'adequately enough' during these times our faith to push on reveals his Presence with us later. Your Peter experience of things is so abundantly normal. The intellectual knowledge of faith is what holds it together, but never is the disparity with the struggling spirit more evident. Hold on to Jesus, just hold on, to experience the rest that may not feel like rest now; but it's always enough. Be gentle with yourself (The Desiderata) God bless, Cindy,
ReplyDeleteSteve.