Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Categories: Uncategorized

By James Flanders I

Was It a Lack of Faith?  If you are presently experiencing hardship and difficulty, I beg you to realize that you are not alone.

King David in Prayer

King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The struggles, pain, and hardship that you face in life are not the result of a lack of faith as some might teach. In fact, when you look at the Scripture you find example after example of people of faith suffering and facing hardship. Take for example Jesus Himself.

You would be more than a little hard pressed to discover anyone even a tad bit more righteous or faithful than Christ Jesus. The fact is you won’t find anyone more faithful than our Lord and Savior. Yet, He suffered tremendously. Don’t believe me, take a look at the cross. It was because He had great faith and because He was the ultimate in faitfhulness that he went to that place of suffering.

King David was described as a man after God’s own heart and he went through many difficulties. Some were the result of his own poor decisions. I’m convinced we’ve all been there and done that at some point. Right? At other times it was the result of doing exactly what God had given him to do.

At one point David was a very low point. He was completely weary and overwhelmed by his difficult circumstances. So much so that he had a conversation with himself. King David asked himself, “Why are you so downcast?” Then rather than giving an answer to the question of “why” he instead gave himself a prescription for “what.”

The prescription was “put your hope in God.”

In the same way that Christ Jesus upon the cross trusted Father with everything, “Into your hands I commit my Spirit” David realized that our hope rests in God.

The tough part is that God doesn’t always show you, me, or someone like David exactly why certain things are happening in our lives or what the outcome will be, which puts us in the position of having to simply trust.

In Scripture we are told to walk by faith and not by sight. Have you tried it? Have you realized that it can be a challenge? That’s why we need to help one another, encourage one another, and remind one another where our hope lies.

Our hope does not rest in what we see. It does not rest in our circumstances. It doesn’t in the least bit rest in our abilities, talent, or strength. Our hope is in Him. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

In my imagination I see King David crawling out of bed after yet another sleepless night. He drags his weary body to the bathroom, flips on the light, looks in the mirror at his messed up hair and bloodshot eyes, and in frustration he grabs himself by the robe, shakes himself violently, looks at himself again in the mirror and asks, “What is wrong with you Mr. servant of God? Why are you so downcast? Where does your hope lie? Is it in what you see? Or in the God you can’t see, but who is always near, who has a plan, and who is fully sovereign and in control? Put your hope in God!’

There have been times in my life, where I was apparently so weak, so far gone, that I didn’t have the strength to grab myself by the collar. Have you ever been there?

There is no way to express my thankfulness for a couple of true friends who had the compassion, love, and patience, to come alongside and ever so gently, place a hand under my chin, lift my head and turn my eyes toward heaven in an effort to remind me where our hope lies.

My friend, in those difficult times we need to remind one another where our hope lies and who it is we are to be trusting in. We trust in a good, faithful, loving, merciful, and gracious God who does things in ways that at this point in time we just don’t understand. Yet, one day we will.

Hidden From The Ages in God – James Flanders (audio teaching)

With many years experience being downcast to the point of depression, musician, and Bible student James Flanders has a passion for reaching the downcast and turning their eyes to the One in whom our hope lies.  “Can’t Find The Words” chronicles his time of great depression.

 

 

 

About 

Cee Harmon is the founder of Elevate Christian Network and Elevate Your Potential Magazine. He enjoys helping people improve the quality of their lives - spirit, soul, and body.
 
Connect with us on your favorite social media sites. Leave us a comment in the section below and tell us what you think.
 
Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Pinterest | Instagram