I was talking to a man the other day who was down and out in several ways. In the midst of his trials he was questioning where God was in his situation and why God was not present where he could see him. He was caught in the middle of dire-straights in his life and not finding any answers. He needed God and he needed Him now. I did assure him that God was with him and that God had not left him to fend for himself. He did not just need the wisdom of God; he also needed the strength that God provides us when going through a test or trial. We all face trial and tribulations, we all are tempted and at times they feel as if they are way above that which we can handle and can rightfully be so without the strength and love of God in our lives.
One truth that I have learned is that God does not give us all the divine strength we need for our Christian walk the day that we trusted Christ as Saviour. If He did so we would not need Him. The strength of God is available when we need it but it is not here with us always. If it were many Christians would use and or abuse His strength either knowingly or unknowingly. David assures for us this truth in
Psalm 31:19 which says “
Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” We see in this passage that David had a need for the strength of God and he also realized that it was there waiting for him. David realized that God’s goodness has been stored up for those who fear Him for those who trust in Him. I do believe that our part in this is to work at keeping the storage tank full and the lines of communication open. We do so through reading and studying the Word of God, notice what it says here in
Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
His strength is ready to be tapped into when needed. We find many applications to this throughout Scripture as seen in the prophets of old. When a prophet needed the strength of God, He provided it. This is true for us today, we do not receive the strength of God before we need it, but He does assure us that we never receive it too late.
Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” God’s grace and mercies are daily applications and provisions. The promise we receive from God is to be with us in our sorrow and afflictions. He does not spare us from the trials, when we go through the waters of sorrow and the fires of adversity but He will go through them with us.
I would like to point out another passage in Isaiah where we find this prophet records the Words of the Lord,
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” (Isaiah 41:10) Notice that God is speaking to Isaiah; He tells Isaiah that He will be with him, He will strengthen him and He will uphold him, why? Because the Lord God was his God, Isaiah had a personal relationship with the Lord and one of the benefits of that relationship is a personal closeness. These promises are yours today if you are Christ’s,
“…For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5) What a great promise, that He will be there for us. This great promise is also seen in 2
Corinthians 1:5, “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.” In what ever view we take of adversity we find that God’s grace and mercy is as abundant as it is sufficient.
The truth being that not only is His love sufficient and abundant, we find that His love is more than adequate for our every need,
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.”
We can see that throughout the scriptures that God loves us with an unfailing love He does so to affirm His love toward us and to establish the fact that it He, along with this love, is there for us. One interesting side note here is that it does not matter whether we believe it or not, God’s love is there standing ever sure for those who are His. The love that God has for us is found in the very heart of God and grounded in the truth of His word. It is not something that we can obtain on our own, nor can we create it on our own, it exists solely in and of God. Our ability to take part in and experience this love depends on our relationship with Him and our belief in Him and His Word. Our faith and belief in Him and the truth of His word will help to establish the comfort needed and received from this love. Those outside of Christ have no relationship with Him and do not receive His love first hand.
Now it is no secret that Satan will make every effort to attempt to get us to doubt this fact but he cannot destroy the love that we have in Christ. He is a deceiver and the accuser of the brethren. One thing that can and will help in this area is our being in the Word of God. This will build up our assurance in Christ and this assurance will confirm the Love that He has for us. We will all struggle from time to time with doubts about God and will do so as long as Satan is free to roam about. One thing we learn from a strong assurance in Christ is that His love is ever present with us even in the midst of a trial.
The important truth to learn here is that if we never went through a trial, if we never had a struggle in life, our faith would not grow, it would have no need to. Trials bring on distress, anxiety fear and need. They are what drive us to the foot of the Cross and to the throne of God for Help.
Psalm 13:1, “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” It is there in His presence that we can bathe in His Grace and Mercy. It is there that we begin to relish in His strength, and we can sing with David as he sang.
“But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”(Psalm 13:5)
