Further Up and Further In

“Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim His praise in the islands. The LORD will march out like a champion, like a warrior He will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over His enemies. “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.”

Praise God! He is mighty to save and He is justice, He will make everything right again in His time! We just have to trust Him, we will not be shamed in believing that He will come through for us both in our personal lives and in the world overall. God is powerful and that should bring us comfort and delight that He will protect us, bless us with healing, encouragement, and life, He is willing and able. The leper didn’t think for a moment that God cannot heal him but only that whether He was willing, “while Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said, “be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him (Luke 5:12–13).” Let us have a faith full of praise for God’s power. We often indeed get discouraged with unanswered prayers as in the article Harry shared http://bit.ly/2EvUFsq

. And sometimes it really feels like we are being double-minded (Jam 1:8), having a form of godliness but denying its power (II Tim 3:5), be not dismayed however because our faith is maturing, it doesn’t mean we are being hypocritical when we stumble or when we doubt, but such feelings should cause us to draw near to God closer, pray more, ask for empowerment in keeping with the faith. Jon Bloom, writer of that article said, “Jesus knows it’s hard for us too. He knows this promise (Mark 11:24) presses us beyond our limits. He means it to. That’s why he made it. He is drawing us beyond what we’ve yet seen and experienced, and he’s calling out a trust in us that we don’t think we have —and are scared to really exercise. Jesus’s purpose is not to shame us for our little faith. He’s inviting us to come further up and further in.” Jon moves us back into the realm of what it means to pray and where our confidence lies as the Apostle John tells us: “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him (I John 5:14–15).” It is quite similar to the defiant statement of faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the face of social pressure, in a world that eggs us to conform and urges us to deny the power of God, His goodness, care, and concern, we ought to be defiant: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up (Dan 3:16–18).” Joshua, seeing the tragic enfeeblement of his people in idolatry in his old age, challenged the community: But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Jos 24:15).” And God indeed saved Daniel’s friends from the furnace and from the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, it appears to us then that God came through for them as He said with His disciples, “if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7).” But of course some prayers indeed get unanswered, those of martyrs, the persecuted, or perhaps they already had this understanding that whatever they are experiencing is for God’s glory more than anything else including their comforts and very lives. This isn’t always clear cut and simple, but we can draw near to God, to “come further up and further in”, and continue to praise God and rejoice in His goodness and faithfulness.