Saturday, April 7, 2012

Light In The Darkness - Dinner #53


     Sometimes you can look at where God has brought you, in your life, and find yourself asking, “What has He been preparing me for ?”  I still get excited anytime I hear the very mention of the word “Africa” . . . Nearly all of my childhood and youth, and even the majority of my college years, I researched, wrote about, made bulletin boards of, and prayed for AFRICA!  It was very much my heartbeat!  But then I met a young man who became my heartbeat.  His burden was for a country in an entirely different part of the world – Central Asia.  I fell completely in love with Brandon, knew he was the right one for me, and tried to take his burden as my own . . . But to this day, I often wonder and ponder in my heart, “If we’re meant to go to Central Asia, then why did God give me such a love for Africa?! Why did He let me stay on that path for so long?  Why does it make me want to cry whenever I think of going anywhere else?”  I do not know the answers to these questions, but I know that God does!  What a LOVING and CARING God He is!  He won’t leave me in the dark!  He WILL show me His perfect plan, in HIS perfect timing! 
     Psalm 143:10 says, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good . . .” How good our God truly is!  I recently came across a passage in Nehemiah, which talks about all that God did for the children of Israel, those 40 years in the desert.  “Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.  Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” (Nehemiah 9:19-21)  Do you know what happened as they waited to reach that land that God had promised them?  He provided for their every need! He took care of them! He made sure that their FEET DIDN’T EVEN SWELL!  Does God care for MY needs and lovingly lead ME, when I do not know the way? Yes, He does!
     In Isaiah chapter 42, our Heavenly Father promises us, “And I will bring the blind by a way which they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” There are times when we do not understand what God is doing, but God is WITH US in the dark, unknowing times!  He is right there to make everything light and everything straight! Daniel 2:22 “He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”
     The Psalmist David prayed during a time of uncertainty, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee.” (Psalm 143:8) We ALL have periods in our lives where we feel very much “in the dark”.  But, Praise the Lord! In John 12:46, Jesus said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”  Jesus Christ not only gives us light, He IS the Light!  He not only shows us the way, He IS the way! He is the Resurrected Savior! John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” As I think of that verse, I can hear the words of a precious hymn, in my mind . . . “ ‘ Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word; Just to rest upon His promise; Just to know, Thus saith the Lord. . .” You can trust Him!  He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life!  You can trust Him for salvation! You can trust Him through the dark times! You can trust Him to always show you the way!   
      Happy Resurrection Sunday, Ladies! God Bless!

No comments:

Post a Comment