Two Things Could Happen.....
“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2
This verse caught my attention and I couldn’t continue reading on. I felt the need to stop and meditate on it’s meaning and why God wanted me to camp out on this verse. I’m so glad I did.
I was taken back 17 years when my husband passed away. I can still remember the deep pain and loneliness. I was surprised by his heart attack because he had just passed a physical exam. But God wasn’t surprised. In fact the word “when” in the verse sent a clear message; I WILL go through deep waters, trouble, difficulties, pain and hurt. BUT the promise is I won’t drown. Hallelujah!!!!!!
Life is a journey and along the way there are bumps in the road. Sometimes there are huge potholes. Two things can happen on difficult journeys:
I can be consumed by the difficulty OR
I can grow stronger though it with God by my side.
If I had tried to get through the death of my husband on my own strength there’s no doubt my life would not be what it is today. I most likely would have drowned and been consumed by flames at the same time! I am grateful that I had my church family to surround me and pray for me. I kept serving and showing up even if I didn’t feel like it or looked like I was going to be of any help to anyone. I just kept showing up and I’m so glad I did.
I believe in God’s timing and not in coincidences. So I know it was purposeful that I stopped writing this blog to watch our online service with Pastor Zac. His message was spot on with my heart today. Here’s my takeaways from Pastor’s message as we think about our valley times.
* Worship God when you’re in a valley and when you’re out of the valley. God’s love for us never changes. Through the good times and not so good times, God is with us and for us!
* We may not understand why we go through difficulties, we may not understand God’s timing and why we have to wait. This also reminds me of my Bible study on David. He waited 15 years to become King. His waiting was not wasted. God used every experience to develop David to become the man after God’s heart. Let’s wait well.
* Hold on to go and go through the difficulties - endure, trust, have faith, be relentless, keep moving forward.
I started this blog with “two things can happen”......but now I have a third .....an important point to remember. Ummmmm and I must confess I’m borrowing this point from Pastor Zac. And that point is that we live our life for others. When we go through the difficult times keep in mind that we are going THROUGH. We’re not going to stay there, we are moving forward. And when we come out of those times victorious, we have a testimony to encourage others. When I’m tempted to have a pity party during troubled times, I’m going to remember that there’s a story to be told. A good story about how God took me through the difficulty.
Keep looking at troubled times as an opportunity to grow and help others to grow in their trust and faith in God. Remember too, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3 NLT