Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Jun 5, 2008 0:54:28 GMT -5
Trusting God In The Dark (1)
If the Lord is with us, why has... this happened?
Judges 6:13 NIV
One hundred years ago Germany's exclusive textile mills had special rooms dedicated to spinning the world's finest lace. Each room was dark, except for the light falling from a small window onto the weaver's work. That's because lace is more beautiful when the weaver is in darkness and his work is in the light. Usually God's purposes are revealed and His power displayed, in our darkest experiences when, like Gideon, you ask, "If the Lord is with [me], why has… this happened?" (Judges 6:13 NIV). When there seems to be no rhyme or reason, God's promise is, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord… who [calls] you by name" (Isaiah 45:3 NIV).
Anybody can be faithful in good times, but standing "by night in the house of the Lord" (Psalm 134:1 NIV) takes real commitment. Hymn writer George Matheson wrote: "Will I remain in God's house by night… love Him in His own night… know I desire not the gift but the Giver? When I can stand in His house by night, I have accepted Him for Himself alone." When the Israelites faced their greatest challenge, the Red Sea, the Bible says, "All that night the Lord drove the sea back" (Exodus 14:21 NIV). Be encouraged, God is working, even though you can't see Him.
After all, how can God give us "songs in the night" (Job 35:10) if the sun always shines? Jesus said, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight" (Matthew 10:27 NIV). It's in life's dark places that God shares things which strengthen you, and encourage those around you.
THE VINE/THE WORD FOR TODAY
www.thevine.co.nz
© BOB GASS MINISTRIES
If the Lord is with us, why has... this happened?
Judges 6:13 NIV
One hundred years ago Germany's exclusive textile mills had special rooms dedicated to spinning the world's finest lace. Each room was dark, except for the light falling from a small window onto the weaver's work. That's because lace is more beautiful when the weaver is in darkness and his work is in the light. Usually God's purposes are revealed and His power displayed, in our darkest experiences when, like Gideon, you ask, "If the Lord is with [me], why has… this happened?" (Judges 6:13 NIV). When there seems to be no rhyme or reason, God's promise is, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord… who [calls] you by name" (Isaiah 45:3 NIV).
Anybody can be faithful in good times, but standing "by night in the house of the Lord" (Psalm 134:1 NIV) takes real commitment. Hymn writer George Matheson wrote: "Will I remain in God's house by night… love Him in His own night… know I desire not the gift but the Giver? When I can stand in His house by night, I have accepted Him for Himself alone." When the Israelites faced their greatest challenge, the Red Sea, the Bible says, "All that night the Lord drove the sea back" (Exodus 14:21 NIV). Be encouraged, God is working, even though you can't see Him.
After all, how can God give us "songs in the night" (Job 35:10) if the sun always shines? Jesus said, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight" (Matthew 10:27 NIV). It's in life's dark places that God shares things which strengthen you, and encourage those around you.
THE VINE/THE WORD FOR TODAY
www.thevine.co.nz
© BOB GASS MINISTRIES