God's Faithfulness

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

I was speaking to a dear friend recently and was moved by her heart pain. She felt empty emotionally and spiritually. It seems everywhere you turn people are going through a hard time of one sort or another. Believers, it has been a long season of testing and there is no end in sight. No one is exempt. I cannot even begin to tell you how we’ve been tested and pressed this past year — our faith, our physical stamina, our emotions. We’re really being challenged to a higher place and it’s not been fun. It’s easy to be preoccupied with the warfare around you. My friend said troubles seem to be what she thinks about most often. Bible reading and prayer time all but forgotten had left her with the emptiness she felt. She tried to fill the void with busyness. She did not succeed.

But through it all — the mountains and the valleys — one thing always remains the same — God’s faithfulness.

Kay Arthur said, “Nothing happens by happenstance. I am not in the hands of fate, nor am I the victim of man’s whims or the devil’s ploys. There is One who sits above man, above satan, and above all heavenly hosts as the ultimate authority of all the universe. That One is God my Father!”

I can and did pray for my friend. Mostly I listened as she poured out her broken heart. Her troubles were not the cause of the broken heart; knowing she had turned from God in her time of trial caused her the most pain and heartache. As we shared that day, I felt a change in her. Her acknowledgment and repentance for turning away from God, confessing it aloud to another Believer and taking responsibility for it made all the difference.  Her situation was not automatically different, did not change at all actually, but her mind and heart was turned away from the problems. She identified the cause of the emptiness and knew what she needed to do.

 
If you are not facing a trial at this moment, praise God! Chances are, one will rear its ugly head soon enough but be encouraged. God is with us. He has not brought us this far to leave us now.