The Dark Clouds
This past week my lovely wife graciously bought me an itunes gift card for her ipod which I so often barrow. With receiving such a gift I had no other goal than to buy a bible that I have been looking at for some time now. As I paid and proceeded to download this wonderful ipod bible I was shocked to realize I had almost 10 more dollars I could spend. So I remembered that old classic book that so many forefather Christians have read and highly recommended me to read as well; The Pilgrims Progress. I had tried to read the book when I was somewhat younger but its enormous size made me faint hearted and I just never would press into it. So, I looked it up in the audio format! Amazingly enough, I had just 35 cents more than enough to purchase the great book. After I bought the book and began listening to it within the first 10 minutes of the introductory statement by the great man of God I had picked up a great truth to live by; “The Darkest Clouds Bring The Rain…” I began to ponder upon just how and what this Writer was saying. John Bunyan pinned what has been notably called the greatest book next to the Bible itself. Maybe some don’t understand but this man of God spent literally years in prison for just preaching Jesus. He wrote the whole book of the Pilgrims Progress in prison and many others also. But listen to just what he understood about this Christian life… “The Darkest Clouds Bring The Rain…” Beloved, most of us that face a small physical ailment would complain to God and try to describe our battle in such an painful manner to anyone who would listen, but this man knew Christ was also in the darkest clouds! It cannot always be sunshine and fun or we would never grow, but we must have the rain. Yes these times are dark and sometimes disturbing to our spirit but let us learn to rejoice! As I have spent the month of every June in the great state of Texas for the past eight years or so, I have truly came to see over the past few years the great need for rain. This is directly a result of too much sunshine living and no dark clouds bringing rain. Understand that always living in the sunshine and never going through the storm brings nothing but death to everything. If you have ever prayed to be filled with the Living Water then be prepared to go through the dark storms. If you are in this place right now then allow the water that the Holy Spirit will bring to soak deeply in your soul. You will need every trial you go through to better know your Wonderful Savior. If you have been a dry thirsty soul as I have often been then thank God for the dark clouds, and just wait for the rain.
The Wife’s Note: A Way Out of No Way
This thought occurred too me a few months ago and it came to mind tonight during a church service at Moody Assembly of God. As Buddy took his place behind the podium to allow the Lord to use him for HIS GLORY, this thought came back too me. He is “A Way Out of No Way”. I heard a sermon one time about “Knowing who the Lord is too You” the preacher went on to say He is Healer, He is Deliverer, He is a Provider, He is Salvation, and so on.. Knowing that the Lord must be my everything I started to realize what this preacher was getting at. Yes the Lord is all these things to each and everyone one of us but when you have a personal experience with the Lord these things become more and more real. A woman diagnosed with cancer and given a certain amount of time to live with a unexplainable recovery knows the Lord as her Healer more than a woman who has never had a sickness. A man lost in drugs and alcohol who stumbles in a church and is saved knows the Lord as his Deliverer. A single mom struggling to make ends meet knows what it is to have the Lord as her Provider. It is a deep personal experience, we all have them. There will always be experiences in your walk with Christ that stick out too you more than they do to someone else. I am not saying the Lord is only one of these things to each person….he is our all in all he is our provider, healer, deliverer, and our salvation to each and everyone of us but we really begin to know the Lord when all we have is HIM. When there is no other provider, no other hope for a healing, no other deliverer, and especially No Other Salvation.
Christ is all these things to me and it becomes even more real day by day. He is my all in all and we must make him our all in all whole heartedly. But, I have found out personally that he is “My Way Out of No Way”.
There have been times when I did not feel like I would ever feel him or hear him again. Times where family troubles were roaring. Times where no one really seemed to care. And sometimes I thought I just couldn’t ever get back up. But we must remember his promise to never leave nor forsake us. He is “Our Way Out of No Way” when things seem like they have fallen apart and there is no way to pick up the pieces. When the whole world has gone crazy( and let’s be honest, it has..) HE IS YOUR WAY OUT OF NO WAY!
Trust him! He will always be “Your Way Out of No Way”
No comments:
Post a Comment