“Beloved, never try to get out of a dark place except in God’s timing and in His way. A time of trouble and darkness is meant to teach you lessons you desperately need. Premature deliverance may circumvent God’s work of grace in your life. Commit the entire situation to Him, and be willing to abide in darkness, knowing He is present.”
~ from Streams in the Desert, by L. B. Cowman, March 30th entry
Photo Credit: Wojciech Szaturski
The following story was related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who suffered greatly with poor health for more than twenty-five years:
At the end of a dull and dreary day, I lay resting on my couch as the night grew darker. Although my room was bright and cozy, some of the darkness outside seemed to have entered my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. In vain I tried to see the sovereign hand that I knew held mine and that guided my fog-surrounded feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering.
With a sorrowful heart I asked, ‘Why does the Lord deal with a child of His in this way? Why does He so often send such sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He allow this lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?’
These impatient questions were quickly answered through a very strange language. Yet no interpreter was needed except the mindful whisper of my heart. For a while silence reigned in the little room, being broken only by the crackling of an oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound: a faint, yet clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.
I asked aloud, ‘What can that be? Surely no bird can be singing outside at this time of year or night.’ But again came the faint, mournful notes, so sweet and melodious, yet mysterious enough to cause us to wonder. Then my friend exclaimed, ‘It’s coming from the log on the fire!’ The fire was unshackling the imprisoned music from deep within the old oak’s heart!
Perhaps the oak had acquired this song during the days when all was well with him – when the birds sang merrily on his branches, and while the soft sunlight streaked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old and hard since then. Ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up his long-forgotten melody, until the fiery tongues of the flames consumed his callousness. The intense heat of the fire wrenched from him both a song and a sacrifice at once. Then I realized: when the fires of affliction draw songs of praise from us, we are indeed purified, and our God is glorified!
Maybe some of us are like this old oak log: cold, hard, unfeeling, and never singing any melodious sounds. It is the fires burning around us that release notes of trust in God and bring cheerful compliance with His will. As I thought of this, the fire burned, and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely revealed before me.
Yes, singing in the fire! God helping us, sometimes using the only way He can to get harmony from our hard and apathetic hearts. Then, let the furnace be ‘heated seven times hotter than usual ‘ [Daniel 3:19].
~ taken from Streams in the Desert, by L.B. Cowman – March 13th entry
Photo Credit: Jonas Nilsson Lee
It’s been cold inside my heart for the past week or so. I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt, a lot of perfectionism…just a discouraging time. On one hand, I know the Truth of what God says, but on the other hand, I’m having a difficult time believing it.
At two points during the past several days, I’ve been so anxious that I’ve had to actually write out a list of all the things I was anxious about, just to get them “out of my head” so I could try to go to sleep. Thankfully, I feel better after doing this – and I always try to end with reminding myself of the positives and the promises of God. Somehow this keeps me going.
For example, one night I wrote out my list of worries, and then asked myself, “Why am I worrying so much about all of this?” I answered myself:
But then I countered myself with these truths:
A verse that encouraged me at this time was Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) – “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Then another night I was worried about something else, and how things weren’t going as I had hoped. But again, I tried to encourage myself with truths:
The hardest part is that I feel like no one understands. People try, but they just don’t struggle with the same things. Truthfully, however, no one can fully understand someone else. The ONLY Person who can COMPLETELY understand me and each and every person is Jesus Christ.
“For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” ~ Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)
PRAISE GOD that He understands! Sometimes it is just this knowledge that gets me through. ❤
Knees to the Earth 