The faith for desperate days!

The Bible is full of such days!!
Its record is made up of them!
Its songs are inspired by them!
Its prophecy is concerned with them!

And its revelation has come through them.

The desperate days are the stepping-stones in the path of light!
They seem to have been God’s opportunity and man’s school of wisdom.

There is a story of an Old Testament love feast in Psalm 107.
And in every story of deliverance the point of desperation gave God His chance.

The “wit’s end” of desperation was the beginning of the power of God!
Recall the promise of seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sands of the sea, to a couple as good as dead.

Read again the story of the Red Sea and its deliverance, and of Jordan with its ark standing mid-stream.

Study once more the prayers of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, when they were sore pressed and knew not what to do.

Go over the history of Nehemiah, Daniel, Hosea, and Habakkuk.
Stand with awe in the darkness of Gethsemane, and linger by the grave in Joseph’s garden through those terrible days.

Call the witnesses of the early Church, and ask the apostles the story of their desperate days.
Desperation is better than despair!

Faith did not make our desperate days.
Its work is to sustain and solve them.

The only alternative to a desperate faith is despair, and faith holds on and prevails.

There is no more heroic example of desperate faith than that of the three Hebrew children.

The situation was desperate, but they answered bravely, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up (Dan 3:16-18).

I like that: “but if not !”
I have only space to mention Gethsemane.

Ponder deeply its “Nevertheless.”
” If it is possible…nevertheless!” (Matt 26:39).

Deep darkness had settled upon the soul of our Lord.
Trust meant anguish unto blood and darkness to the descent of hell–

Nevertheless! Nevertheless!!
Now get your hymn book and sing your favourite hymn of desperate faith.
“When obstacles and trials seem like prison walls to be,
I do the little I can do and leave the rest to Thee.
And when there seems no chance, no change, from grief can set me free,
Hope finds its strength in helplessness, and calmly waits for Thee.”

(PR)

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“This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

When you are having one of those difficult days… A day –
– when the storm is blowing,
– when your heart is broken,
– when the battle is raging,
– when the burdens are heavy,
– when your tears are flowing,
– when your faith is fading…
– That’s the time to heed this verse by faith!

The psalmist was going through battles and difficulties, yet he was able to say, “If God put this day together, I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it. Even though I may not see the blessing now, eventually by faith I’ll be able to say, ‘It all worked together for good.’ So I’ll say it now.”

Jews sing this psalm at Passover! Jesus also sang this song before He was crucified!! Can you imagine saying on your way to Calvary, “This is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it”?

That’s another way of saying, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”

If Jesus sang this song, we should sing it also. Perhaps your day is full of overwhelming burdens or sorrows. Jesus also suffered days like that.

Accept the day God has given you!
Acknowledge that He is in control!!
Anticipate what God is going to do for you today!!!

Rejoice and be glad in it! You may not understand His purposes now. But one day you will!

(PR)

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“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:7-12).

Have you ever tried to run away from God? Don’t try! You can’t!!

Have you ever tried to run away from God? Don’t try! You can’t!!No matter where we go in the will of God, He is there! Why should we flee from Him?

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You” (v 11,12).

Sometimes I’ve found myself in dark places and have wondered, “Does God know?” He indeed knows! If we sin, we go out into the darkness, but God sees us. And sometimes when we are walking with the Lord, we still find ourselves in darkness. But that darkness is as light to God.

God is everywhere! And sees everything!! Rather than flee from Him, we should flee to Him. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1).

Nothing can separate us from the love of God – neither height nor depth, east nor west, darkness nor light (Rom 8:38, 39).
God promises to “never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5).

The next time you go through dark days-
– remember that God knows your problems and needs. You may take refuge in Him. He will see you through!

(PR)

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When the weather is wonderful, temperatures are pleasant, and a gentle breeze blows, people will sing: “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

But-
When the weather is horrible, temperatures are at the extremes, and perhaps the wind is a gale force, people aren’t as likely to sing.

Yet-
God makes both kinds of days! We need to remember that God is good all the time. His goodness is not dependent on how much we like our current situation! That must have been Jeremiah’s perspective.

At a time when his soul was “downcast” within him-
– he could look beyond the immediate to the eternal! (Lamentation 3:20).

Rather than allowing his circumstances to drag him down-
– he focused his attention on God’s faithfulness and said, “I have hope” (v. 21).

You probably know the next verse: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (v. 22).

It’s easy to sing the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” when things are going well!

Yet-
– the verses from which that theme is taken do not come from a time of smooth sailing for the prophet.

Instead, it was a time of extreme difficulty. Jeremiah knew that God is good all the time!  And that even in the worst of times He is faithful.

Even when life looks hopeless-
Remember that looks can be deceiving. Hope in the ever-faithful God.

Ask God today to help you be a person of hope.
Don’t let the immediate cloud your view of the eternal. Hope in the ever-faithful God!

Read Lamentation 3:19-26

(PR)

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God sometimes leads us into difficult situations-
– for our good and His glory! Keep it in mind as you look of the account of Jesus calming the storm.

He had put His disciples “in harm’s way,” so to speak. Jesus instructed them to go to the other side of the lake. Did He know there was a storm coming? Of course He did. It was a part of the day’s curriculum!

The disciples’ reaction was normal. They despaired. “We’re going to drown!” they cried.

Sometimes the storms of life fill us with despair as well.

It was then that Jesus demonstrated His power. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” (Mark 4:39). He has the power to calm the storms. Because He is the
– Creator, controller and caretaker! He stops the sun! And stills the sea!!

The result was a sense of awe on the part of the disciples. What Jesus had just done helped develop their faith- – as they began to see Him as more than a man. He is the God-man whom the winds and the waves obey.

It is the same for us at times! God deliberately leads us into difficult situations. We may despair, but it is in the storms that He can demonstrate His power. Our faith is strengthened as we see Jesus working in our lives through our difficulties.

Ask God to help you learn the lessons He has for you,
– even the ones taught through difficult situations.

(PR)

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“If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” (Ecclesiastes 11:3). 

Why do we dread the clouds-
– which now darken our sky?

True!
For a while they hide the sun!
But the sun is not quenched!!It will shine out again before long.

Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain;
And the blacker they are-
-the more likely they are to yield plentiful showers.

How can we have rain without clouds?

Our troubles have always brought us blessings, and they always will.
They are the black chariots of bright grace!

These clouds will empty themselves before long.
And every tender herb will be the gladder for the shower.

Our God may drench us with grief!
But He will not drown us with wrath!!

Our Lord’s love letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes.
His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits.
His rod blossoms with sweet flowers and nourishing fruits.

Let us not worry about the clouds!
But worship the Lord of the Clouds!

Because-
May flowers will be brought to us-
Through the April clouds and showers!

(PR)

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God sometimes leads us into difficult situations-
– for our good and His glory!

Keep it in mind as you look of the account of Jesus calming the storm.

He had put His disciples “in harm’s way,” so to speak. Jesus instructed them to go to the other side of the lake. Did He know there was a storm coming? Of course He did. It was a part of the day’s curriculum!

The disciples’ reaction was normal. They despaired. “We’re going to drown!” they cried.
Sometimes the storms of life fill us with despair as well.

It was then that Jesus demonstrated His power. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” (Mark 4:39). He has the power to calm the storms.

Because He is the
– Creator, controller and caretaker! He stops the sun! And stills the sea!!

The result was a sense of awe on the part of the disciples. What Jesus had just done helped develop their faith
– as they began to see Him as more than a man. He is the God-man whom the winds and the waves obey.

It is the same for us at times! God deliberately leads us into difficult situations. We may despair, but it is in the storms that He can demonstrate His power. Our faith is strengthened as we see

Jesus working in our lives through our difficulties.

Ask God to help you learn the lessons He has for you,
– even the ones taught through difficult situations.

(PR)

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In 1818, a boy named Louis was sitting in his father’s workshop in France.
His father was a harness maker and Louis loved to sit and watch his father work.

One day, he said, “Father, I want to be a harness maker like you one day.”
To which the father replied, “Why not start now?”

He took a piece of leather, drew a design on it, and instructed his son to use the hole puncher and hammer to follow the pattern.
The man set him off to work with a warning to be careful.

Young Louis was excited to begin his new job, but when he hit the hole puncher, it flew out of his hand and pierced his eye.
He immediately lost his sight in it as a result.

Later, sight in his other eye failed, and Louis became totally blind.
Several years later, Louis was sitting in a garden when a friend handed him a pine cone.

Louis ran his fingers over the cone, and suddenly an idea came to him.
This idea eventually led to the creation of an alphabet of raised dots on paper so that others who were blind could feel and interpret what was written.

As a result of his accident, Louis Braille opened up a new world for the blind!
To some, this type of tragedy would have been the thing that would have sent them into depression and isolation.

But as believers, we know that all things happen for a reason-
—God’s divine purpose and plan. Jeremiah 29:11.

God has mapped out every day and detail of our existence.
When tragedy strikes, don’t be alarmed.

Thank God for His promises of hope and a future, even when tragedy strikes.
Know that God is in control. Psalm 47:8.

And that all things work together for His glory and your good! Romans 8:28.

(PR)

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“But I will deliver thee in that day, says the Lord; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid” (Jeremiah 39:17).

When the Lord’s faithful ones are suffering for Him-
– they shall have messages of love and deliverance from Himself,
– and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them.

Ebed-melech was only a despised Ethiopian.
But he was kind to Jeremiah.
And so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of His prophet.

Let us be ever mindful of God’s persecuted servants!
And He will reward us!!

Ebed-melech was to be delivered-
– from the men whose vengeance he feared.

He was a caring and humble man.
The Lord would take care of him.
Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans.
But Ebed-melech could not be hurt!

We, too, may be fearful of some harsh ones who are bitter against us.
But if we have been faithful to the Lord’s cause in the days of persecution-
– He will be faithful to us!

After all, what can a man do without the Lord’s permission?
He puts-
– a bit into the mouth of rage and
– a bridle upon the head of power.

Let us fear the Lord!
And we shall have no one else to fear!!

No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God-
– shall be without its reward.
If we stand up for Jesus-

Jesus will stand up for us!

(PR)

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In the book Prozac Nation-
Elizabeth Wurtzel describes her experiences with chronic depression.

Unfortunately-
Depression is an experience common to many people.

Life can be terribly unfair, terribly tragic!
That’s why many people like Elizabeth have sought relief from antidepressants like Prozac.

There are those who feel that being a Christian makes you somehow immune to depression.
If you happen to fall into the pit of despair, you’re not very ‘spiritual’ are you?

Such judgments add a load of guilt to a person who is already miserable.
For those who struggle with feelings of depression-
– there’s bad news and good news.

The bad news is that such feelings are a fact of life in this broken world.
Some disappointments or tragedies can leave a person depressed.

The good news!
You are not alone.

As Psalm 73 (and many other passages) clearly shows, even God’s chosen people experience anxiety, despair, and darkness in their soul.

If Psalm 73 doesn’t convince you-
– check out Elijah’s story (1 Kings 19) and Jesus’ experience in Gethsemane.

Matthew 26 speaks of Jesus’ soul being ‘crushed with grief to the point of death.’ v. 38.
Depression that lasts for a long time indicates a need for counselling.

There is nothing unusual or unspiritual about-
– ‘walking through the dark valley’ from time to time.

When you are caught in one of those unpleasant times, don’t add guilt to your load!
Just trust that God knows what’s up and will help you through this situation!

(PR)

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