The last 2 years
have been some of the most challenging years I have ever faced. Mind you,
my family has faced some challenging things such as medical challenges with my
oldest son (there were times we didn't know if he was going to live), my wife breaking
20+ bones in a skiing accident, including the majority of her vertebrae, some
cracked ribs and several breaks in her sternum. After surviving through
these and many other challenges, it makes you think that you have learned all
the "hard" lessons you are supposed to learn. I assumed, by
this point, my faith was pretty solid and unwavering. Then, the last 2
years happened. Not only has my faith been challenged, but so has my
belief of whether there is a God, my idea of how I define the things I read in
Scripture, and just about every core belief I have inside of my soul.
We all reach a point
in our journey of faith where we must choose belief over doubt, and that is the
essence of my struggle for the last 2 years.
I have journeyed through my "dark night of the soul," and I
feel like I have come out on the other side.
On the other side, there are wounds, there are still unanswered
questions, but there is also comfort, peace, and renewed joy. How true it is when Scripture tells us that
God will never leave us or forsake us. I
realized that the distance I was feeling between God and myself was created
because I began to walk away, not Him.
The enemy doesn't play fairly.
He'll use whatever weapon in his arsenal to discourage or distract us
from the truths we know from Scripture.
Whenever I felt afraid, or worried, or doubtful, or deceived, it was
because I had taken my eyes away from where my gaze needed to be, just like
Peter when he walked on the water.
One passage of
Scripture that helped bring me out of my "dark night" was from Isaiah
35:
Even the wilderness
and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. 2 Yes, there will be an abundance of
flowers and singing and joy! The deserts
will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or
the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will
display his glory, the splendor of our God. 3
With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who
have weak knees. 4 Say to those with
fearful hearts, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to
destroy your enemies. He is coming to
save you." 5 And when he comes,
he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. 6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those
who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the
wasteland. 7 The parched ground will
become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will
flourish where desert jackals once lived. 8
And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of
Holiness. Evil-minded people will never
travel on it. It will be only for those
who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there. 9 Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious
beasts. There will be no other
dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on
it. 10 Those who have been ransomed
by the Lord will return. They will enter
Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they
will be filled with joy and gladness.
I love what verses 3
and 4 say, "strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who
have weak knees. Say to those with
fearful hearts, 'Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your
enemies. He is coming to save
you.'" One thing that I've learned
is that I have tremendous friends and family who truly walk alongside me
through dark times. They encourage me,
pray for me, and lift me up when I feel like I can't keep going, which brings
me to the point of this particular post…
There will come a
point in all our lives, if we are truly following after Jesus with all our
heart, soul, mind and strength, that we will need to help carry someone else's
burden (Galatians 6:2). In order to
fulfill this requirement, we need to care about the person enough to be a part
of their lives. We need to truly
intercede in prayer, which means to put yourself in their shoes and pray from
their perspective. It's more than just,
"God, be with Robert during this difficult time." When was the last time you wept for someone
else and the pain they were going through?
When was the last time you hurt so badly for someone else's situation
that you couldn't sleep? When was the
last time God led you to fast for someone else and pray for their situation? This is what it means to truly be a
Christ-follower. I have been on the
receiving end of this before, and God taught me about what it's like to receive
this kind of love, support and encouragement.
Now, through what God has taught me, I look forward to being that kind
of support for someone else.
Romans 8:28 tells
us, "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love
God: those who are called according to His purpose." I think we've all heard this verse misquoted
or taken out of context. One thing God
has taught me through all this is that my definition of "good" is not
going to be His definition of good.
Actually, my definition of most things don’t match up with His
definitions. I heard someone say one
time, "If it's not good, it's not the end," so we journey on
believing that God will reveal His "good." We must continue to pursue God with all that
we have through our dark nights. If we
don't, we will begin to sink, just like Peter.
As we journey on, be aware of fellow journeyman around you and help
carry one another's burden. When you do,
God will teach you more about yourself and Him than you ever thought possible.
Be God's!
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