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When All is Lost
February 5, 2018
“ ….. We have no strength to face this vast multitude that has come against us, nor do we know what to do, except that our eyes are on you." (2 Chronicles 20:12 ISV)
When All is Lost
We can read from many examples in the Bible that God waits for His people to get to a place that the only hope we have is if He will intervene in our situation. Those idols of self-reliance must fall, and then those other counterfeits of dependency that we find security in must also be abandoned. When we are at a point of complete honesty before the Lord that we can see no hope except in Him, it is then that we can declare in all honesty:
“I do not know what to do. The things that I face are beyond me. All I see are impossibilities. But I do have this one thing I can do. I will look to God for my help, and I will rely on Him.”
This is a desperate condition to be in, but we can still find hope when all seems lost. This thought is the heart of the passage above. It is during the most despairing of times that we find the truth that Paul taught in Philippians, and this truth still speaks to us today: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NLT)
But Take Heart:
Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NLT)
When I looked at various translations of the passage above the phrase “But take heart,” or “But take courage” was consistent in most of them. I find it interesting that Jesus is speaking directly to tribulations or struggles we may find ourselves in. In essence He is saying to you and me, “Look to Me. I am here with you. I have overcome those things coming at you. They are under My domain. Take heart. Be encouraged. I’ll get you through it.”
Why resist?
When Jesus touched the eyes of a blind man and said, “According to your faith be it done to you,” He was making a point with how critical our faith in Him is to the answer for our need. He knows our heart. He knows our situation. He knows all of our needs. But He also knows our greatest needs … the ones that are far greater and needing to be met than the obvious needs we think we have. Therefore, we must learn to trust Him in meeting the most important needs, even when we think He neglects an obvious need of ours. We can’t continue resisting this truth and find any semblance of peace in God’s sovereign rule over our life at the same time. We must decide one way or the other.
It is What it is:
Life is difficult at best. Every person who is alive in this world has some degree of difficulty. Some people have more difficulties than others. It is often even more difficult for a Christian, since we battle with many things a non-Christian does not contend with. They just give into it, and not battle with it. However, though they might not engage in a resistance, they will not be exempt from the consequences of their choices. So, any way you look at it, we will all have some form of difficulty in our lifetime. The question is do we want those difficulties to sink us, or to reform us? Do we want to give up and give in, or do we want to explore the possibility that something we are doing or not doing is in fact keeping God’s help away? Are we willing to finally come to understand that we must allow the Lord to be Lord of our life by Him stepping on His throne before us, and us bowing at His feet? When we begin to take our eyes off our problems, and our self, and we place them on Him, then it is at that point that the truth has broken through the prideful façade we’ve hidden our self in, and His truth has reached our heart. Are you now ready for His truth to take over your life? Then ask Him if there is any idol standing in the way, and then be willing to abandon it if the Lord shows you what it might be. He wants to bless you more than you realize. Let Him do so by you placing your eyes only on Him, and allowing Him to meet your needs according to His ways and means.
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