by Chad Lewis on December 15, 2005
My friend encouraged me yesterday. The jist of the conversation follows…
It is O.K. to enter a spiritual fog because we know what we believe. The truth remains whether or not we feel it. It must be grounded in our lives so that we can battle to believe when the darkness comes. We need friends and loved ones to preach the gospel to us each day because we’ll forget the awesome, life-giving truths of it before we go to bed.
So are you in a spiritual fog? I am currently. Even so, I read a quotation from Streams in the Desert that encouraged the socks off of me yesterday. It follows: “We do not see… We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.” J.R. Miller
Dear brother or sister, be faithful during these days. Reach out for help and cry out to God to help you believe. The hope of Christ will be an anchor for your soul when days seem darkest. And when you least expect it, the noonday will shine forth gloriously bright and God will show you what He did to glorify Himself in these dark days. It might be in the next life, but it will be worth every tear and heartache.
Journey on Christian and remember that He is leading you further on…
Note: One of the most helpful books I own is a little devotional book called Streams in the Desert compiled by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman. It’s contents contain jewels from Charles Spurgeon, George Mueller and many other heroes of the faith. The entire theme woven throughout is God’s redemptive work in suffering. It has been a friend to me many a lonely night.
by Chad Lewis on October 28, 2005
My friend John Cordova is moving to town to work and go to seminary. I recall a conversation we had this summer and something he briefly stated in one sentence has often been on my mind since that muggy, summer day in Florida.
Cordova simply said, “I’m willing to trust God with my eternal destination but I’m not willing to trust him today.”
My heart resonated with that statement. Then I thought about how illogical it is for it to be so true in my life on so many days. How can I trust God with my eternity – the part that never ends – but I’m not willing to trust him with today’s needs and trials?
The same God that has rescued me from the domain of darkness (read Ephesians 2 if you like) so that I could be a pointer to His amazing grace gives me all I need today. He will do the same tomorrow and the same when I am breathing my last breath on this round globe.
He will make sure I get to eternity all right and that the new heaven and earth will be my home – He will be my home.
So here I am today, having trouble trusting… What do I need? I need to remember and trust in the foundational promises of God’s word. I might need a friend to remind me of the amazing gospel through a phone call or letter.
If you aren’t trusting God today, don’t beat yourself up. But do go to Him and honestly share your heart. Then call a friend and ask them to preach the gospel to you for we need to be reminded everyday.
by Chad Lewis on October 6, 2005
I have recently been reflecting on an idea that still boggles my mind and still gives me comfort. In the midst of intense turmoil and loneliness a few years ago, God impressed something on my heart that has left a lasting impression.
The impression had to do with vision. My vision was limited to the circumstances and my pain in the moment. I had felt that God had been distant and things seemed to be crumbling around. All of life seemed to closing in around me and then came this thought.
Although God saw me in my pain, He saw much more than that. He not only sees all of the past and the present, He sees all of the tomorrows that will ever be. The reality is that God sees us now in our pain, but He also sees the joy that this pain will produce as it drives us to Him and is used in our sanctification.
It would be like this for some. Though you may be incredibly alone and realing inside right now, longing for a mate, God sees you in the midst of that struggle. But if He has it in His plan for you to marry, He can see you in the joy of your wedding day. He is willing to walk us through the valley for greater purposes than we can imagine. If being comfortable was what we needed most, I’m sure it would be on the top of His list to give to us. But we need something far more than human external comfort. We need Him.
So remember this and read some chapters from Isaiah 40 on and remember that our God sees tomorrow and He is in control. He is involved in the intimate most details of our lives and He is at work.
It is as we remember this that we can say, “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.”
So are you in a spiritual fog? I am currently. Even so, I read a quotation from Streams in the Desert that encouraged the socks off of me yesterday. It follows: “We do not see… We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.” J.R. Miller
