Turn Back

Life in this world is tough and full of heartbreaks. This holds true for non-Christians and Christians alike. We are not promised a life free of struggle when we commit our lives to Christ. 1 Peter tells us: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

This week I listened to the testimony of a young woman named Heather Williams. If we think our lives are difficult, try to imagine what she has endured – homeless at age eleven, abuse by a step father, hunger, impoverished and as a young Christian she lost her first baby boy to a heart condition. Take a moment to listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g7AytNuJ7Q

Yet through her heartache and heartbreak, she discovered the One who could restore what life had ripped and robbed from her – the Lord Jesus Christ. She did not allow Satan the opportunity to rip her from her Savior’s arms. She did not permit anger and bitterness and heartache and disappointment to separate her from her Father’s love (Romans 8:39: “….nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”). She did not turn her back on the One and Only who could make her life complete, satisfy her soul, and promise her life eternal.

Instead, she has recorded this song of praise and tribute to Our Lord, “Hallelujah”. Take a moment to listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX2uM0L3Y1A&feature=related

When I listen to this song, I can hear the strength in her voice that could only emit from a life shattered by tragedies and heartaches and that has been repaired and restored by God. I know God challenged me to consider that in the midst of my suffering that I must march onward in my love, service and dedication to Him. Praises can never be far from my breaking heart.

Sufferings and disappointments do not come from the gentle hands of our Father. They are delivered from the enemy of our souls – Satan. 1 Peter 1:5-8 states: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” We must never become angry and turn our backs on God when we travel through life’s valleys. He is just as near to us during those times as He is when we are rejoicing on the mountaintops. How selfish and two-faced it would be of us to only honor, obey and love God when life is “good” (from our mortal perspectives). God’s perspective on our earthly existence is, I am certain, much different than our earthly perspectives.

This week I read this from the Simpson Devotional. Its message is little different than the message of this blog:

Some day even you, trembling faltering one, shall stand upon those heights that Joshua knew. As you look back upon all you have passed through, all you have narrowly escaped, all the perils through which He guided you, the stumblings through which He guarded you and the sins from which He saved you; you will shout, with a meaning you cannot understand now, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb (Revelation 7:10). Some day He will sit down with us in that glorious home, and we shall have all the ages in which to understand the story of our lives. He will read over again this marked old Bible with us, He will show us how He kept all these promises, He will explain to us the mysteries that we could not understand, He will recall all the finished story. Then I am sure we will cry: "Blessed Christ! you have been so true, you have been so good! Was there ever love like this " And then the great chorus will be repeated once more - There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken; . . . all came to pass.

God’s sovereignty and love never fail, even when life fails us. God’s gifts of forgiveness and grace are never far from us, even when we deviate from the divine plan and purpose for our lives. He is always standing, waiting for the lost soul to return to Him. His eyes stream with tears. His heart breaks into a million pieces as we neglect and reject Him. And His mind recalls the death his Son died for each precious piece of humanity as we run from Him in sin, rebellion and disobedience. He knows the end of each our stories. He waits. Will you surrender all to him this very day?  After all, He is the “Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2)! Hallelujah!