When we experience intense challenges, these incidents may make us feel God is silent or slow (Psalm 28) to respond. This may cause us to react instinctively based on past experiences, educational backgrounds, or logical processes. We tend to pray when our accomplishments do not produce the expected or desired results . We sometimes only lean on God as the only remaining option.
God has demonstrated throughout the years that no matter what His church experiences, He is always there (Matthew 28:20), working things out for the good of those who keep walking in His ways (‘love Him;’ Romans 8:28; John 14:15) no matter what. He proves that He is never silent or absent because His purposes are unshakable (Hebrews 12:29-29). His power is incomprehensible, so God has no reason to be discomposed. This is why He sometimes seems quiet. It is because there is no reason for Him to think His purposes will not be accomplished; after all, He is the Lord God Almighty. All He proves, we need to demonstrate our trust by remaining faithful in our obedience to Him no matter the circumstances we encounter (John 15:1-15). When we are committed to trusting Him (demonstrated by our faithful obedience to Him), we allow ourselves to become immersed in complete dependency on His results.
After asking Moses to go and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, I am amazed that God allowed Moses to experience one difficult challenge after another. Returning to the land, convincing two million people to follow him at eighty years of age was enough. When Moses encountered these challenges, many answers made no sense: how does stretching out a person’s hand stop thunder and lightning (Exodus 9:28-29)? How does raising a stick over the Red Sea help about two million people get through the sea into the wilderness? God did not remove the challenges or ask Moses to determine the solutions; God called Moses to obedience.
As we face a new year, let the faithfulness the Lord has vividly exposed by serving His church these thirty years remind us that our most significant challenge is to “fight THE good fight of faith…. (1 Timothy 6:12); one fight. Because of our flesh (Romans 7:14-25; Galatians 5:16-18), the struggle to keep the faith when our emotions are high or our common sense tells us we are insane makes faith seem unrealistic (things we can’t see; Hebrews 11:1-2). Trusting God when He seems silent was even a struggle for David (Psalm 28).
A sky driver demonstrates complete surrender when they jump. A patient demonstrates complete trust when they commit to surgery, no matter the level of anxiety they may encounter.
The Lord ‘Never Fails’!! We learn this when we patiently and continuously trust Him (Isaiah 40:27-27-31).
“GREAT is His FAITHFULNESS!!!”
Lamentations 2:22-26