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Today's devotional reading for:
Sunday, Mar 1, 2020 The Uses Of Adversity On Leaping Over A Wall
“. . . Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow . . .”
— Psalm 90:10
Perhaps nothing causes more people to stumble in their faith than the problem of suffering. None of us is exempt from tribulation. We all face it at one time or another. And in our pain and desperation, we often ask, “Why, Lord?”
Have those words ever echoed through the chambers of your soul in the middle of some dark and starless night?
We can’t get rid of all pain, trouble, hurt, injury, and sorrow. People fall off things and hurt themselves. Shall we then do away with the law of gravity? People have accidents in cars, planes, trains, and boats. Shall we then get rid of all forms of transportation? Suffering is a part of our world, and if Christians were exempt from all trouble and pain, everyone would immediately recognize the payoffs. If all Christians had an abundance of money, health, and happiness, our characters would never develop. Christianity would degenerate to a mere commercial venture.
So while we would avoid adversity if we could, it serves important purposes in our lives. First, trouble and sorrow equip us to help others by making us compassionate and willing to reach out to those in need. Second, trouble and sorrow draw us to God and drive us to our knees; they make us long for our real home, Heaven. The third and the greatest purpose of trouble is to make us Christlike. If we are to become like Jesus, we will, like Him, have to pass through the valley of the shadows. Although unpleasant at the moment, often out of the greatest suffering comes the greatest love and beauty.
Do you face adversity today? If so, ask the Lord to show you the purpose of it in your life. Then, if you can, look past your pain to the way God is using it to draw you closer to Him and to His kingdom.
“Beyond the cross there is the glory of Easter morning;
beyond the agony of the Crucifixion there is the blessedness of Paradise.”
“For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall.”
— 2 Samuel 22:30
Do you ever feel surrounded by the enemy and backed up against a wall? That no matter which direction you turn, you have an obstacle in your way? Perhaps you’re in such a situation today, feeling cornered by some circumstances that seem beyond your control.
We all encounter “walls” in life, things that block our paths on life’s journey. For example, as Christians we all have temptations coming at us like yapping dogs, attempting to drain our spiritual resources. We also experience personal problems in our lives, in our families, and at work. As we face each of these challenges, it seems that an insurmountable wall has been erected.
But it’s not impossible to leap over those walls. God can give us the ability to leap over anything this world puts in front of us.
So, you may ask, “How do we leap over the walls that life puts in our way?” By faith. Consider how you entered into eternal life. Did you not come to the place where you rested your hopes on God’s promise that Christ had paid for your salvation and was offering it freely to those who would trust in Him? And the very moment you trusted that promise, it was fulfilled.
We can also surmount those walls by taking action. Just look at King David’s life to learn a lesson or two about hurdling obstacles. In 2 Samuel 22 David recounts the many times God had helped him in battle: “I have run. I have leaped.” He did not just sit there and tremble in the face of the troop confronting him. He did not just walk along the wall, feeling it, examining its height. He did not just wait for God to make his problems disappear. David took his sword in his hand and rushed into the fray. He gathered himself together and rushed toward the wall. Then, and only then, was he able to leap over it. David’s life proves that faith and action are a mighty combination.
Are you facing a wall today? You can leap over it if you arise in faith, press forward, and take action. By doing so you’ll experience the empowerment of the God who promised us, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” You’ll then see the enemy host scatter, and you’ll find yourself being transported over the wall.
“Faith will beget in us three things: Vision, Venture, Victory.”
George W. Ridout  | ||||||
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Christ Jesus prayed that all those who would believe in Him would be ONE, just as He and the Father are ONE; that they be brought to complete unity so that the world would know that He was sent by the Father. (John 17:20-23)
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