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)

The post Desperate Days! appeared first on My Manna.

“And there arose a great storm” (Mark 4:37).

Some of the storms of life come suddenly! A great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat.

Some come slowly!! They appear upon the ragged edges of the horizon no larger than a man’s hand, but, trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it covers the sky and overwhelms us.

Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service! When God wants an oak He plants it on the moor where the storms will shake it and the rains will beat down upon it, and it is in the midnight battle with elements that the oak wins its rugged fibre and becomes the king of the forest.

When God wants to make a man He puts him into some storm! The history of manhood is always rough and rugged. No man is made until he has been out into the surge of the storm and found the sublime fulfillment of the prayer: “O God, take me, break me, make me.”

A Frenchman has painted a picture of “The Storm.” There stand orators, philosophers and martyrs –
-all who have achieved pre-eminence in any phase of life!

The remarkable fact about the picture is this: Every man who is pre-eminent for his ability was first pre-eminent for suffering.

In the foreground stands that figure of the man who was denied the promised land, Moses.

Beside him is another, feeling his way-
-blind Homer.

Milton is there, blind and heart-broken.

Now comes the form of one who towers above them all. What is His characteristic? His Face is marred more than any man’s. The beauties of nature come after the storm. The rugged beauty of the mountain is born in a storm! And the heroes of life are the storm-swept and the battle-scarred. You have been in the storms and swept by the blasts.

Have they left you –
– broken, weary, beaten in the valley? Or
– Have they lifted you –
– to the sunlit summits of a richer, deeper, more abiding maturity? The storm is only for a time being!

Just wait for His Words: “Peace, be still!” Soon
– You will see the silence of the storm!

(PR)

The post The Silence of the Storm appeared first on My Manna.

“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)

The post He Will See You Through appeared first on My Manna.

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)

The post When the Weather is Wonderful appeared first on My Manna.

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)

The post Learn the Lessons appeared first on My Manna.

“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)

The post Black Chariots of Bright Grace appeared first on My Manna.

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)

The post Learn the Lessons appeared first on My Manna.

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)

The post His Glory and Your Good appeared first on My Manna.

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)

The post Don’t Add Guilt to Your Load appeared first on My Manna.

“And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15).

Here is an urgent occasion!
– “the day of trouble.”

It is dark at noon on such a day.
Every hour seems blacker than the one which came before it.

Then is this promise in season:
It is written for the cloudy day.

Here is an upholding advice!!
– “Call upon Me.”

We ought not to need the exhortation:
It should be our constant habit all the day and every day.

What a mercy to have liberty to call upon God!
What wisdom to make good use of it!

How foolish to go running about to men!
The Lord invites us to lay our case before Him.

And surely we will not hesitate to do so.
Here is an undoubtful promise!!!
– “I will deliver you!”

Whatever the trouble may be-
– the Lord makes no exceptions but promises full, sure, happy deliverance.

He will Himself work out our deliverance by His own hand.
We believe it, and the Lord honours faith.

Here is an ultimate result!
– “You shall glorify Me.”

When He has delivered us-
– we will loudly praise Him.

As He is sure to do it-
Let us begin to glorify Him at once!

(PR)

The post I Will Deliver You appeared first on My Manna.