03/07/2017
I am contemplating how we are joyful in God while in the midst of daily distress. I am seeking the source of my victory and my certainty and amazement during the trials and tribulations I face. I am trying to determine how even in the grips of my struggle with them... I feel comfort and joy through Christ Jesus. How is this possible?
What I have come to realize is that no matter how alone Satan might try to make us feel... we are not. Jesus is with us in every hardship, He is our rock in the hard times and in Him we find comfort and joy without fail. This accounts for why we don't just feel joy when our troubles are gone, but even in the midst of them... from a stumped toe to the death throws of cancer He is there. From a failing grade in school to the loss of a business, He is there. In all our troubles He is there reminding us that our joy and redemption isn't of this world, but within us, and in what is beyond.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Romans 8:35-37 KJV
Oswald Chambers reflects on this same amazing victory over the struggles of life. He finds that we should do as I have suggested... look to our foundation, strip away all of the loose soil and find that which never moves, and there we find our help, and our joy.
"The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit. Paul says this is the reason we are more than conquerors in all these things, super-victors, with a joy we would not have but for the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us." - Oswald Chambers
My brother in law and I built the house I now live in, and the first thing we did was orient the house on my lot. We determined how it would face and drove in stakes so that we wouldn't forget and others could see them as well. Once the house was oriented, measured, and laid out, we dug the foundation. In my case the crew dug until they found a solid slab of rock and on that rock base we formed and poured the foundation. My house is founded on a rock.
Our faith should be carefully thought out, positioned, and founded as well. When we determine to face God and Jesus, then build our house, our lives of faith, on the gospel rock, it is unmovable by all but an act of God himself... and He is good, faithful, and loves us.
So when Paul says that we are killed all the day long and counted as sheep to the slaughter, he isn't speaking of failure, he is quoting Psalm 44 where the psalmist is calling to God for protection and help.
“Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Psalms 44:22 KJV
The interesting part of this psalm is that the people don't personally know of God's saving hand. They are calling on Him based on the stories of long ago...
“We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.”
Psalms 44:1-2 KJV
In this psalm the people are digging once more to find the foundation of their faith. They need to see that what once was is still there and true. The God who saved in days of old is still present and willing to save them; even though they feel abandoned and under attack. In this psalm, God didn't forget His people... they had forgotten Him. He didn't remove His joy, but rather, they lost sight of it. How often does trouble and fear lead us back to God? Then, in the midst of our enemy's camp we sing His praises and call on His power and mercy... we seek and find our joy in Him. We don't find our peace and comfort in the victory over our enemies, we find it in God, and in spite of those who would harm us, or whatever terrible circumstance we find ourselves in. Although we rejoice when God intercedes and saves us, we are joyful, even in the midst of our troubles, because we are in His presence.
Prayer:
Father, I praise your name in my sorrow and affliction because you are the foundation of my life. My joy comes in being with you, even as I wait in my suffering for your strong hand to move. My happiness abounds in your victory, but my confidence and joy comes from your presence and the knowledge that your love will never abandon me. You are the rock beneath my feet. You give firm footing to the cornerstone, which is Christ, who holds my house, and keeps me ever facing you. Lord, rest your hand on me always, let your Holy Spirit open my eyes, and your Son Jesus lead me into your Word; your truth. In you I find my joy... never let me doubt or wander. Never let me lose sight of your unfailing love and that you abide with me in all hardship and suffering. There is no place you are not, and your peace and joy meet me amidst my enemies and hardships without fail.
Rich Forbes