Take heart! Attacks from the enemy - however
excruciating they may be - are an encouraging
sign. If the enemy did not attack,
then we would have something to be concerned about. The
only way Jesus can get us to turn and depend on him, is to take
away all crutches - bit by bit. He only allows
things (however small or gigantic these may be) for our
ultimate benefit. So, regardless of our
circumstances, we can trust him.
Remember Job - in the midst of his terrible pain (both
physical and mental because of his "Christian" comforters),
he clung to God. He questioned and tried
to reason things, but all through knew that God was
all he had. What a blessing Job's recorded trials
have been ever since. The book of Job shows us just
what an almighty and powerful Creator we have. He is so
big and we are so small!
We are all "Job's" - going through similar
journeys. Almighty God is indeed our deliverer.
The Holy Spirit is our ever dependable comforter. We have
good reason to rejoice in the midst of our trials - however much
they hurt in the flesh.
Below is an extract from a book that I would recommend
to anyone "going through the mills". While the
book is out of print, it can still be obtained
secondhand. The deeper the valleys through which we
have to go, the more we find we have to turn to Jesus, as
crutch after crutch is removed. The good news is that,
with each "valley experience", .the less we are affected
adversely by what others do or say. The only opinion that really
matters is God's! What a release! Praise
God!
Let the excerpt by Florence Bulle below speak for
itself.
Excerpt from Lord of the Valleys, by Florence Bulle,
Published by Logos International, 1972.
From the chapter Alone with God - in the Valley
You don't have to travel this way long before discovering
that the farther you go with Jesus, the thinner the crowd
gets. For if you desire a depth of communion beyond the
ordinary, Jesus will take you into a place, shut in alone with
Him, where nobody else can go . . . just
Jesus and you. . . .
Once we embrace His Lordship to the limit, however, there
will be a driving compulsion to be alone with Him. Jesus
will give us the privilege of going on a little further with
Him. There will be our own personal Gethsemane.
And Calvary. . . .
I knew there could be only one answer. Jesus was
calling me to complete aloneness with Him - His
Lordship. His heart of love would never be satisfied
with anything less, "because he delighted in me." And "I
am my beloved's and my beloved is
mine." No-one can share the sacredness of
that love!
The Lord didn't ask me to give up these friends. He
did ask me to be willing to let Him do whatever He desired,
not holding back for fear it would cause misunderstanding
between us. He reminded me of still others who
would be estranged from me. I knew how deep-rooted
the prejudices; there were bound to be other hurts, and
certainly voiced censure, if in totally yielding to Him, I was
brought into certain new dimensions of His grace.
But I also knew that when the test comes, my love for Jesus
and total commitment to His Lordship would always hold supreme
over every other love - family, friends, relations. If
it means being rejected by any or all, my loyalty to Christ
still came first. It included my letting Jesus lead me
in ways which might well leave me without a single one who
understood. . . .
I know much the Lord has allowed in my life has been to
teach me utter dependence upon Him. The lessons have not been
easy. But His love has been necessarily ruthless to hold
me to my commitment and to establish that relationship where I
learned to appropriate His strength and His supply for all my
needs. Such a commitment covers a lifetime of choices,
choices which shut me up to God alone.
In all of this, I'm well aware of the danger of thinking
oneself into a "separate class." The aloneness Jesus
calls us to does not draw one apart from the fellowship of
believers nor the reaching out to unbelievers; rather it opens
the channel of love to all.
If there is to be separation, it will be of God, because we
have moved in the flow of God and He has channeled the stream.
Commitment to going on a little farther, is a commitment of
unquavering trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every
situation - regardless of people or circumstances. It
means recognizing His voice when surrounded by the crowd and
no one else hears or is aware of His presence.
It means keeping the counsels of my heart.
Especially, to me, it means going directly to Him, trusting
His promise that what we ask in His name He will do. It
means not allowing anything to be hidden - all exposed to Him.
It means sharing the Triune love of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit - an intimate relationship, dependent not upon
geographical location, being with other believers, in the
midst of the multitude, with a chosen few, with just one other
person, or with no one at all. It is that inner
indwelling of His Spirit which nothing on the outside can
touch.
Alone? Forsaken?
When you are conscious only of His presence, He can reveal
Himself beyond the ordinary. He will begin to discover
you to yourself. And if you discover your place in Him,
you will be able to smile back even in the dark, in the
loneliest valley, and say, "Yes Lord. You are all I
need. My life is hid IN CHRIST. And I am complete
in Thee."
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