“..God’s servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and difficulties…have been beaten, jailed, and mobbed…overworked and have gone without sleep or food…We are honored and disgraced; we are insulted and praised. We are treated as liars, yet we speak the truth; we seem poor, we seem to have nothing, yet we REALLY POSSESS EVERYTHING.” (2 Corin. 6:6-10) There are times when it seems that NOTHING IS GOING RIGHT, there seems to be trouble everywhere!!! We might pray a prayer something like this.
“Dear Lord, I’m hurting and I’m in deep despair. I feel so hopeless and there are no answers for my heartache. In fact, I do not want answers! I simply want to cry and know you are listening. Even if I do not understand my present situation, I want to believe and know, that YOU KNOW THE PAIN IN MY LIFE.”
Many of us were shocked when we heard of the death of 63-year-old Robin Williams, the well-known American actor and comedian. Williams, who had all the world’s comfort and fame, ended his own life tragically by hanging himself with a belt in his California home. But all of this fame and fortune did not meet the INNER EMPTINESS IN HIS LIFE that only God could fill. The one who made others laugh was himself living in utter despair. He listened to the lies of the enemy saying, “Life is hopeless. Just end it all.”
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also WE HAVE ACCESS BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance…For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” (Rom. 5:1-3, 7-8)
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord…WAIT (qâvâh: to bind together perhaps by twisting, gather together. ON THE LORD; Be of good courage, And HE SHALL STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalms 27:13-14) This is talking about developing intimacy with God.
-Bill Stockham