We’ve all been there haven’t we? Doing battle with the enemy? Trudging through the trenches, catching on the thickets, walking through the deadly fires of trial! In deep and just trying to keep our head above water as we find our way through the maze of whatever it is that’s going down? Yeah, we have! We’ve been there ~ everyone of us ~ trying desperately in our finite, and weak, human frame to just trust through a head knowledge that says “it’s” big and “it’s” steep and it’s so out of our control, yet, it hangs over our weary heads, and tired frames like a Pig-Pen cloud! A cloud of thick, messy dust that just wants to settle right there in our world. A dust cloud of “heavy” and “relentless” that wants to lodge right over our heads and weigh us down and push down, down and down even father still.
You know it don’t you? Those wars that blow in out of nowhere to distract our spiritual focus and undermine our faith in the God who we say we trust? So beautiful soul, these are the times to rise up on wings of faith above all the difficult, above all the nonsense, above all the hard places and the tight spots and let God plan the strategy for battle. He’s so skilled and so equipped to do it. He’s got just the right fight for the enemy and can run him off-course so quickly your head will swirl. He’s sovereign! He sees ahead and knows just the right move at just the right time. His strategy is out of this world and divinely sealed with perfection. His compassion so rich and His grace so sweet and His faithfulness so rock solid, that it can make our problem puny and pale.
So you and I and we and us ~ we can trudge through those trenches, get all caught up in those thickets and get burned in the flames of our own futile, attempts or we can simply turn it all over to a God who still cares so deeply and covers our back so faithfully! It’s a no-brainer sweet soul.
Whatever it is that hangs over you today, as hard as it is, let it go! Let it float over the hard spots and right into the hands of the Saviour of your world. He’s got it and He’s got you and even though there might be difficulty ahead, you can know He’ll bring you through! When the battle rages and gets hot, step aside and make room for God.
“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’
2 Chronicles 20:17
“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.”
Exodus 14:13
So, on the upside of down today, it’s all ok. You know it is! Really, deep down you know it is! Sure, maybe a lot of downer stuff, snuffed out yesterday really good but there’s always an upside. Always something good in the bad. Always something positive in the negative. And always, always a lesson or two to learn from the stuff that went down, to make us better, not bitter.
“Suddenly a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. (What a downer!) But Jesus was sleeping. (What a downer!) The disciples woke Him up shouting, “Lord save us! We’re going to drown.”
Then the LORD said something most interesting,
Oh yes, you and I and we and us, How often do look back at the struggle that just past and although we didn’t see Him, we know that we know He was there, because it could have only been God that performed and orchestrated such amazing work in such perfected fashion? So, for you today, down in the dumps, needing desperately to see something from the LORD, hold on to hope and stay safely there in that dark spot; In that safe place protected right there until God is finished doing what He’s doing and when He takes away His hand then look! Then smile! Then be thankful for the dark that just passed over!
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 