Being apart of this Christian Journey is filled with many different places that inspire a plethora of emotions. There is Harvest time where all the seeds you have sown are now blossoming and coming to fruition. This place is filled with joy and realized dreams and abundance. Just like the times of Possessing the Land. These times are marked by God granting you a victory in an area where you are outnumbered and outgunned, and suddenly and supernaturally we win!! We have a breakthrough in our lives that floods us with the promises of God that we have prayed for and cried for. Joy! Unspeakable joy!
What about those other times! The Valley, Wilderness or famine and desert times. These times can be murder on the emotions. During these times there tends to be confusion about what's happening in our lives, or heaviness about things not being the way we thought they would be. When these times linger on, day after day, month after month and even year after year, we may begin to question God about our circumstances. Unanswered prayers turn into pain, hurt, anger or bitterness at times and we think, where is God and why can't I find Him. I'm seeking, praying, searching and crying out and nothing seems to help. Like Job, we "perceive Him not." (Job 23:8) Let's talk about it. There are a few ways that will help you find God and stay connected to Him when times are harsh.
Humility
"God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)
Dark places have a way of irritating our feelings and emotions. It has a way of finding all of our weaknesses, flaws and insecurities and exposing them. These feelings are hard to manage day in and day out without asking yourself if what you are feeling is actually a truth that you need to accept. For example, if you are experiencing disappointment after disappointment, it can be common to internalize those experiences and begin feeling depressed or helpless. This adds to the storm that was already brewing before your emotions got involved. The way out of this storm is through humility. Humility causes you to confront your own since of importance and to submit your feelings, perspective and your will to God. Instead of thoughts like "why is this happening" or "why hasn't God come through for me yet" humility submits those emotions as apart of the experience but not the totality of the experience. Humility causes us to lay our own sense of importance to the side and realize that God is greater and is the most important One there is. With humility, our perspective changes from our own limitedness to God's limitlessness. We are only feeling helpless, or depressed, or insignificant etc, is because we are only considering our own experience. When we connect to God, we realize His Superiority reigns. So our thoughts and prayers begin to sound more like "God, I absolutely abhor the place that I'm in.....I feel alone, and brokenhearted....but I know that you are with me now and will never leave me nor forsake me. I submit my will and ask what would you have me to see during this time. Help me to endure. By faith I receive your undying love for me. ....for you are my Savior and you are Good. I acknowledge my true dependence you God alone." Here is where we receive grace to endure the fire and become molded into more than a conqueror by His Spirit!! This is finding Him in the dark.
By Faith
"The just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11)
"I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly" (John 10:10)
When the storm irritates our emotions and our feelings, it can be very difficult to locate your faith and what you believe. There is a difference between what we should believe and what we actually believe. The storm comes and illuminates that difference. It's easy to say while you are standing on land that you trust God in a storm than when you are actually on the boat facing a life threatening wave! You cannot face these waves alone and the only way you will be able to perceive God and receive confirmation of God's presence with you is by Faith. If you continue to look at the waves, your feelings will try to persuade your worship and fear. It will try to get you to bow down to the wave in fear and believe the power of the wave is more than the power of God. But when you locate your faith, you will remember that God is all powerful and will be no matter the wave. This is how we are to live our daily lives. We shall live by faith an not emotion. Christ came that you would have not just life but an abundant life, and that life you will find by faith.
If you find that you have lost your faith, you may see that this is what God wanted to reveal to you. He may want to show you where you weakness is so He can make you strong and therefore whole. God is dedicated to your wholeness and not just your temporary feelings.
By faith you will see Him as He is! You have an opportunity to ask God to reveal Himself in anyway He wants. This is finding God in dark places. This place can become an intimate place where God becomes what you need! It is also by faith that you will receive from God what you need during this time. After feelings have had it's say so, locate what you believe in spite of what you see, taste, hear, smell or can touch. You may feel disappointed, but God is the Lifter of your Head. You may feel confused, but do you believe that he is not the author of confusion. Can you still believe the Word of God and receive the truth of His Word while your emotions are going crazy? If you locate your faith, you will see God!
His Sovereignty
"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Is. 46:10)
Not only is God's ways and His thoughts higher than ours, his counsel will stand! That means His will shall be done. In His Sovereignty, He may have another way for you to travel to get to your destiny that is not a way or the way you have considered. His Sovereignty means, He knows the way you should take. He knows the end from the beginning and being Omniscient and knows all knows everything that needs to be pruned, purified and perfected within all of us. He prepares us for our calling and destiny and designs the path that is best for you. In the midst of the storm, it won't feel good, but He promised that "all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord," and remembering this part of His Character allows for us to rest in Him and trust Him to lead and guide you into your destiny.
In Conclusion
God is not hiding from you. He is not running away from you nor is he punishing you. There is always a purpose in having to seek for God. In humility, and by faith, receive His Sovereignty and you will be able to find Him in any dark places.
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