Just Because There Are Nightmares, Doesn't Mean Dreams Won't Happen

Dream Giver, a book by Bruce Wilkinson is a book I reviewed sometime ago (search my blog). A good read, and encouraging one if you haven't read it. I have gone back and re-read the book several times, this past week among them.  It is always hard when things seem black in life around you, to understand that if you just hang on - good things will happen. We all have our catch phrases from scripture, such as Isa.41:10  fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  This is good to remember and speaks truth. Yet, we all need to remember that for every good that God brings, the Evil one is out there to bring 10 more dark things into your life to break you. This is the test of faith and patience.  Are dreams out there? Yes!  Can life be good? Yes!  Can things improved? Yes! But the fact of life is this, that Satan will bring hell into your life before that sunshine comes.  There is an old song, sung by Peggy Lee "Is that all there is" that speaks of this exasperation. 

Here are some things to understand in waiting in faith to have God be our aid, strength and our help. 

1. Life WILL be dark. Evil always plays the Goliath, the looming, threatening bully, the

   

   http://veniaminov.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_archive.html

   impossible. Its favorite phrase is, "YOU CAN'T."  This is where faith will be tested and trust will be strained. The closer you get to the brighter side of things, the darker evil will become and will make life appear. Evil wants you to be afraid, it wants you to doubt, it wants you to assume that there is no way out. Evil wants you to think that there is no tomorrow. Evil wants you to think that God does not care, is not watching, has left you, etc. 
2. God's Caring and/or Providing for you, sometimes has nothing to do with what YOU want. We often assume that God wants what we want and this simply is not the case. Why do you think even Jesus prayed, "not as I will, but as you will. Mt.26:39)."  I want a log of things, and to be honest, I don't want a lot of what happens to me in life, I don't like a lot of the emotions that I feel. Yet, that doesn't mean that these are going to be taken from me. This is where trust has to abide, because this is where faith will be ultimately tested.  Will I stay true when the reasons for my doing so are removed? Will I stay true to God, when it seems that God has "left" me?
3. You WILL feel like CRUD. One of the greatest miracles, is not healing, or some

   

   http://www.paintingsilove.com/image/show/219995/no-hope-

   stupendous sign. One of the greatest miracles is God healing a broken soul. I personally believe that this was the lesson that Paul learned when he stated, "2 Cor. 12:9  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  However, you still have to go through the weakness. You still have to go through the pain. You still have to go through the circumstance.  The question here, is God's grace sufficient for you?
4. Don't try to OUT DO or DECIDE for God.  Part of faith and trust is not only for God to get us beyond our struggles, but to be satisfied with what God provides on the other side.  This was the problem that we learn from Old Testament Israel in the wilderness. This is why they fell in the wilderness and did not see the Promised Land (Heb.4:1-11). They were hungry and God provided Manna - yet, they were not happy with what God provided. We often want to decide for us what we think God wants for us. The truth is, we don't even know the mind of God (1 Cor.2:16). We do not know what God has planned for us.  Just as a small child has total trust in their parents that whatever is going to happen next is going to be the best thing for them, so must our trust with God be even when we cannot see the other side. 

I write this article in the midst of my own trials, and yes, my own trust being strained. Yet, like Paul I find the courage to keep on, and like my Lord I bow my head and raise my hand and say "Thy Will Be Done."  What else can I do? Let evil consume me?  How can I, when God's mercy has been so great upon me? He gave His Son for me, how can I do anything but trust Him?

Jim