by Lara Cook
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when
you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk
through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
Isaiah 43:2
I
know I use this verse too often. I love
the promise it speaks. What could be
worse than raging waters and fire?
Darkness. Darkness can be worse.
Pitch black with no light in sight.
No light at the end of the tunnel.
No promise of daylight or relief ahead.
Sometimes
having faith in this life that is so full of sadness, sin, and hardship is hard
enough. Just the normal hardships of everyday life can take a toll, and then
when we go through an especially tough time or a tragedy, it gets harder to
keep our faith up. But throw in a tough
situation that is really causing us to struggle and having faith can seem
impossible.
I
could say that we all have those times in life but the truth is that not
everyone does. Not everyone will
experience a time in their lives when they are in a situation where they see no
end in sight to the heart breaking moments they are trudging through. The tunnel goes on forever and there is
absolutely not a speck of light anywhere.
The dark is suffocating and hard.
If you have ever been there, you know what I mean.
These
are the times we have to gather our faith up from nothing. It requires putting your life completely in
God’s hands and walking with Him as He leads the way. Walking by faith, not by sight. I have been in this place and it is so hard
to hand it over and say “Ok God. I don’t understand. You have allowed this for some reason and
purpose. I don’t want to be here. I have asked you to change things and they
have not changed. I have to humble
myself before you and trust that you have a purpose in all this and I may or
may not ever understand. “
When we can truly put our hand in God’s and
walk with him into whatever He allows, we are walking by faith. We can’t see even a speck of light promising
the end but God can. He knows everything
and sees all. You may be in a place that
you never thought you would be but God knows exactly what is going on and how
it will all play out.
It
takes the greatest faith of all to resolve to being in a place you might not
want to be – but you understand that you are where God wants you to be. It takes great faith to be in that place and
believe that God will sustain you and carry you through on His grace. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts
are not our thoughts. It requires full
surrender to offer an admission of “Please help me to not be bitter but to love like you would and
to focus on your plan in all this as you reveal it to me. I lay myself down and
ask for you to use this for your glory, use me for your glory. Give me faith, strength, and help me to trust
you to the end.” Not easy, but
through the pain and suffering and blinding darkness comes glorious light
eventually. Can you have enough faith to
step out and trust that He has a reason for the pain or struggle in your life? You
may not see it now but there is great joy ahead.
Scripture to Claim:
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in
Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and
make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10
