Tag: rivers

When Not If

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture3 Comments

God’s Word is clear that we will have troubles in this life. Jesus even says so:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.16.33.NLT

God does not lie and he says that we will have trials and sorrows. That hardly seems right, does it? We turn our hearts over to God and we still face trials. Pondering on this fact got me to thinking and reading Scriptures about the trials we face.

As a student of languages, I notice things like conjunctions. In this verse, “when” is a conjunction, drawing all of the thoughts of the verse together. I noticed right away that this verse does not use the conjunction “if.” If would be more comforting for me, implying that I may or may not pass through rivers (troubles), and I may or may not walk through fire. But God’s prophet Isaiah used the word when and that says just what it means. We will indeed walk through rivers, be overwhelmed by them (like we’re drowning in a sea of troubles) and we will walk through fire. But in order to get comfort from this verse, one has to read the entire verse carefully. Yes, troubles will come, but God will be with us. The waters will not be able to overwhelm us although they will indeed try to do so. Finally, when we walk through the fire, we won’t be burned by it or consumed within its flames. God’s promise is that even though we will have troubles, He will be with us and take care of us.

Why, then, do we have troubles and trials if God is going to take care of us in them? Why doesn’t He just take them away?

Every time we face a new trial, a new overwhelming problem, if you will, that gives God the opportunity to do a new thing in our lives. His ultimate purpose is to help us to be more like Him. He is the one who shows us the new pathway to take and gives us water to drink in the desert. We may not like where we are or the trials that we face, but we can trust God to bring us through to the other side and that we will learn from them and be more like Him once we overcome. God’s plan is not to make life easy for us, but instead He plans to use life’s lessons to make us more like Him, bearing the fruits of the Spirit and able to climb the next mountain more easily.

I am still studying the Book of Job in my devotional every day and a quotation from Tina Wilson’s book STEP INTO SCRIPTURE resonated with me this morning and made me think deeply about its meaning and its application in my life.

This quotation is from Day 9 of Tina Wilson’s devotional, STEP INTO SCRIPTURE. Think about it. If Job had not been found faithful, Satan may have left him alone and he would not have lost all that he had. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Once again, we have the dilemma of trusting God through the troubles or turning away from Him in bitterness and anger.

God has a plan and it’s a good one. We just have to trust Him to carry us through all of the troubles that it takes to get to the end of His plan for us. Ultimately, His love wins and so do we, if we persevere and don’t give up!

Excited About What God Will Do Next

On By vickleaIn Scripture15 Comments

Okay, so I confess that lately I have been in what my grandmother used to call the mulligrubs. Yes, my friends, that is a real word and it means that I have been bad-tempered and grumpy. Most people who don’t know me well would not have noticed because I hide my feelings, but I am certain that my poor husband has felt the brunt of my dissatisfaction with life in general. Anyway, this morning started as most do, with morning meds, feeding the cat and then sitting down with a heating pad against my back while I start reading my devotionals and my Bible. Zing! Right between the eyes!

Well! This verse really spoke to my heart today! I have been in the mulligrubs since I found out two weeks ago that once again I have to give up foods that I enjoy because of a health condition. This time, I have to eat only low potassium foods and believe me, from one who reads labels constantly, that is no easy thing. Gone…all of the canned soups that I enjoy, even the low sodium ones that I have eaten since my stroke. Gone…the clementines that I had daily just because I like their sweetness. Gone…all tomato products, including tomato sauce and catsup. And gone…milk chocolate! You get the idea. I was feeling bad for me. Poor me! I have a kidney that is not cooperating and as a result, if I want to continue to live (which at points during the last two weeks I was not sure I did, to be honest), I have to follow these new restrictions. I’m sure that God has tired of my whining, and in His grace and mercy He spoke to me this morning with this verse.

I may not get to enjoy certain foods, but God is still right there with me. God is carrying me through this current valley and one day I will be delivered from it. I personally think that day will come when He carries me to Heaven to be with Him eternally, but the Scriptures don’t really say. I just needed the hope that comes from believing that all in my life may change, but God does not. You would think that after almost five decades of walking with Him I would have already known this. In my heart of hearts, I’m sure I have known it, but I needed a reminder, a gentle push in the right direction, if you will.

This was an eye-opening verse for me. I wanted things to stay the same. After all, I had gotten used to my low sodium diet and was almost content with it. Then I was zapped with the new diet and the complaints began. Nothing tasted good or enticed me to eat much. But God tells me in His Word that He is doing a new thing. My wilderness right now is a new diet and I sincerely believe that God is going to create something good and new in this situation, like rivers in a desert. I don’t know how He is going to do it; I just know that He is because He loves me and wants me to know that He is right there with me, in my wilderness, taking care of me through this valley.

My question to you, my friends, is what wilderness are you in today that you need to trust God to supply water for you? In what way does God need to carry and deliver you? God supplies our needs: physically, spiritually and emotionally. I may not like where I am, but that is just what it is. Did the fact that my kidney function is going down surprise God? Of course not! Did He already know that I would need to change my dietary habits in many significant ways? I’m sure that He did, but He wasn’t at all bothered by it or by the fact that I have been in the mulligrubs. He has brought me out of the mulligrubs into a place of new thankfulness for His loving care and provision. As I eat my blueberry cheerios with almond milk today, I will be thankful that there are things that I can still eat. Perspective changes when God gets hold of you; instead of thinking of all that I can no longer eat or drink, I am thankful that I can eat or drink some things and that God has provided us with enough funds to buy those things.

“Desert Song” by Hillsong

May you each find your way through the wilderness to the place of rest in Him. God bless you!