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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady
the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not
fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution
He will come to save you.”
Isaiah 35:3-4
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Through ministry work, I encounter
people with a multitude of problems.
There are people who are suffering
through any number of health issues, afflicted by sickness, disease, or injury.
There are people who are struggling
financially to make ends meet. Some people lack even the most basic needs, like
food and shelter.
There are people who are in the
midst of brokenness having experienced relationships that ended, either through
death or divorce.
There are people who are fighting
against any number of addictions that have entrapped them and held them captive
in life.
And there are people who facing
persecution and danger in their homeland because of their belief and trust in
Jesus.
I could go on and on with the
extent of difficulties our brothers and sisters of the world are going through
but you get the point. Maybe you are reading this today and have troubles of
your own you are dealing with. For all of us, everyone living this thing called
life and thus at risk of encountering its hardships, the word of God speaks
loudly today from the 35th chapter of Isaiah.
It simply tells us to “Be strong
and do not fear.”
Look at these two verses:
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to
those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will
come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.” Vv. 3-4
I went through a divorce in my
life. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to endure, even harder than the
recent loss of my father. I had been married more than 10 years when I learned
my wife had violated my trust and was with another man. I was devastated. I had
two daughters and the separation from them as legal matters were worked out (and
even after that until I gained custody of them several years later) was
gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. In losing my family, I had lost everything or
so I felt because at the time I was not walking with the Lord. I remember how
feeble my hands felt, helpless to do anything to change my circumstances. My
knees were unsteady as I stood on the unsure foundation of a changed life, a
life that would never be able to go back to what it was. My heart was fearful
as I wondered all the time, “What now?” I did not know where my future was at
anymore. I was at sea, underway in stormy seas without a compass or a life
preserver.
Maybe you can relate.
So what happened? How did I get
from there to here? How did I go from being at rock bottom in my life to the place
where I can write words of inspiration to others, words I can only pray will
say:
“Be strong and do not fear.”
It only happened because of a God
who loved me enough to come to my rescue and show me a life filled with more
joy and contentment than I ever thought possible, a life where I could stand
firmly in the face of life’s challenges and say that I can make it through, not
by my strength but by the strength of the Lord through which I can do all
things (Philippians 4:13).
You see it was the Lord who led me
to volunteer my time at a local school where I met my Amazing Grace who was the
Assistant Principal. It was the Lord who spoke these words through my future
wife, “If we’re going to have a relationship, God has to be first in
everything.” It was the Lord who took me from my place of shame and anxiety,
having lived apart from Him for so long, to a place of love and celebration as
I, His son, who was once lost had now been found (like the Prodigal Son – read Luke
15:11-32). It was the Lord who nurtured me from that point forward, filling me
with His wisdom and knowledge, leading me to teach and preach and sing and
write to glorify and honor Him. It was all about the Lord. No one else. Through
Him and Him alone, I learned to be strong and not fear.
Friends, the word of God is calling
out to our hearts, souls, and minds today to touch us where we are, at ground
zero of the lives we are living, lives that can pull us into uncertainty about
what is to come. No matter what we are going through, no matter how things
might change, we need to always remember this:
God is God and will never change.
He is all powerful and nothing is beyond the works of His hands. And the
scriptures for today assure us that He will come to save us. All we need to do
is maintain and sustain our faith, hope, and trust in Him and Him alone.
When we do this, and only when we
do this, will we be able to be strong and not fear the circumstances of life.
God has been, is, and will always be greater than any problem we have. We would
do well to always remember this.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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