March 31, 2009

• Encouragements to press on: Seeing God is in our midst after all

  I wasn't really planning to post anything else today...well, at least not this... But now I've come across three different people today who are really discouraged. I had this stashed away in my to-be-posted bag and pulled it out. I hope and pray the Spirit might use it to minister His grace and strength to those who are weary today and can't see God in the midst.
  

  ~Karen
  

  
  There are times we can look at our current situation and feel hopeless. We don't see fruit. We keep battling the same sins over and over. We don't feel we're making progress. We see the battle and wonder if it's worth it. We ask if what we're doing really matters, if we'll really make a difference in the end.

  When we begin to feel that way, we are blinded to all the riches God has given us through Christ. In Christ all the fullness of God dwells and that same Christ dwells within us! We have been discouraged and blinded to the great inheritance that is ours as children of God. We can become like Elisha's servant who only could see the approaching Syrian army and could not see the invisible army of God who was fighting for Israel.

  
  When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, Alas, my master! What shall we do? 16 He said, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. II Kings 6:16-17.
  

  I for one have known many days of discouragement and hopelessness. And I still experience those feelings. Yet I know that when I have sought after God during those times, even when I sought Him with a doubting, faint and frail heart, He has been ever faithful to provide encouragement through many and varied means including Scripture, songs, hymns, friends, books, nature and so forth. I think of how often I end up in the situation the Psalmist was in in Psalm 46 and how God never comes to us to encourage us a moment too late.

  God is our refuge and strength,
  A very present help in trouble.
  2 Therefore we will not fear,
  Even though the earth be removed,
  And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
  3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
  Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah
  
   4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
  The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
   5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
  God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
  
  –Psalm 46:1-5, NKJV

  
  I love verse five in this translation. God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. It doesn't say God might help her. It doesn't say there's a strong possibility. Or like the weather forecast, it's doesn't say there's a 50% chance of God's rain coming down. No, no. God shall help her! There is no doubt at all here. He is an ever present help in times of trouble. He is in the midst! We shall not be moved.

  So here's the Psalmist's situation. We've been battling. Night has come. We're hungry and thirsty. We're physically exhausted. We're mentally exhausted. We're losing hope. We're on the brink of despair. We're ready to quit. The army is surrounding us. All seems lost. Can we hold out 'til morning? Can we hold out until reinforcements and supplies come?

  Just when we feel we have no more energy left and when our supplies are dwindling: There He is! Behold He comes! Our God has come! He shall help us, just at the break of dawn. And then the wondrous thing is this: You realize He was in your midst all along! But you just didn't have eyes of faith to see Him. O, we of little faith! How often we lose sight of God in our discouragements, yet how wonderfully God perseveres with us. He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, the promised Comforter who has come to abide with us forever. The God who has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is the Father who keeps loving us for Jesus' sake.

  Might we have hearts of faith to trust God is in the midst even when all our being is telling us He has forsaken and forgotten us.

  Might we have eyes faith to see beyond our circumstances to the God who is invisible so we might persevere and press on in faith. Might God open our eyes to see the invisible army of the host of heaven ready to defend and fight for us. May we have full assurance that greater is He who is in us than him who is in the world.

  Psalm 46 reminds me of an incident from David Livingstone's life:

  ...tight shoes were all Livingstone had to walk in and moreover he was now bleeding profusely from ruptured haemorrhoids. Intense heat and humidity sapped his strength, as sorely discouraged he stumbled back 'ill and almost every step in pain.'
  
  At one village they were stoned by suspicious tribes, who tried to kill those who went for water. In passing through a dark, dense forest they were ambushed. 'A large spear form my right lunged past and almost grazed my back, and stuck firmly into the soil . . . As they are expert with the spear I don't know how it missed, except that he was too sure of his aim and the good hand of God was upon me.'
  
  Livingstone survived, but sadly two of his men were killed in the skirmish. The enemy were foiled, but went ahead and burned a gigantic tree. This was felled as Livingstone walked into the clearing; he heard the crack and looked up to see it come straight for him. He ran back, narrowly missing death by a yard. Three attempts on his life in one day! Livingstone later wrote: 'I became weary with the constant strain of danger, and–as I suppose happens with soldiers on a field of battle–not courageous, but perfectly indifferent whether I were killed or not.'
  
  Months later they crossed Tanganyika and entered Ujiji on 23rd October 1871, eager to see the rest of the stores sent up by Kirk.
  
  That evening Livingstone found Susi and Chumah [his porters] weeping bitterly. 'All our things are sold,' they told him. The Muslim, Shereef, had divined in the Koran that Livingstone was dead, so everything was sold. This devastating act left Livingstone with only a very small quantity of calico and he would have to sell his watch, gun and instruments to buy enough food for himself and his loyal porters for one month. He would then be reduced to a pauper. . . .
  
  He wrote in his diary: 'I felt in my destitution as if I were the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; but I could not hope for Priest, Levite, or good Samaritan to come by on either side.' In one of his darkest hours, little did Livingstone realise that his Father in heaven would not see the righteous begging bread. A miracle would soon materialise. . . .
  
  Unknown to Livingstone, a white man was enquiring about him several days journey form Ujiji. . . .
  
  Soon Livingstone was seen by the newcomer–standing in the front of his house. . . .
  
  Livingstone stepped towards the stranger, who in turn formally raised his helmet and, in spite of a voice that trembled with excitement, with all propriety said: 'Doctor Livingstone, I presume?'
  
  'Yes,' Smiling kindly and lifting his cap slightly Livingstone felt tears coming into his eyes. . . .

  
  

  
  The timing of the meeting was indeed nothing short of miraculous. Stanley was commissioned to find Livingstone in October 1869, yet he only reached Livingstone two years later, and three weeks after Livingstone had returned from his wandering in the wilderness on the other side of the lake. Any earlier and Stanley may not have found him. The reporter was quick to admit: 'I began to recognise the hand of an overruling and kindly Providence.' . . .
  
  Stanley was the Good Samaritan to Livingstone, who told him often: 'You have given me new life.'[1]

  Loving heavenly Father, help us to walk by faith and not by sight. Keep us seeking after You, striving after You, chasing after You at all times, especially during those times we can't see You or hear You or touch You or feel You or taste You. Remind us of your faithfulness and goodness and love toward us. Remind us You are the same yesterday, today and forever.  No matter our circumstances, You are the Lord, You never change. Remind us of these truths because we so easily forget and become discouraged. And help us to remind one another and encourage one another with these truths about you.

  God is our refuge and strength,
  A very present help in trouble.
   2 Therefore we will not fear,
  Even though the earth be removed,
  And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
   3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
  Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah 
  
   4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
  The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
   5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
  God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
  Hebrews 11:1
  
  

  
  
  

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  You may also be interested in reading:
  

  • Bible Reading-Isaiah: When We Think the LORD Has Forsaken and Forgotten Us
  • Satan is prowling...but God is in our midst...and He must win the battle!
  • My various posts encouraging us to press on

  
  Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  [1] Rob Mackenzie, "David Livingstone: The Truth Behind the Legend" (Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1993), 340-341, 343, 345, 349.

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