I Believe God

Yesterday a year ago, my precious little son William Livingstone Samuel, was born, having already departed this earth.  Today a year ago, I laid his body in the earth.  Each day since, his mother and I have mourned, but not as "others which have no hope" (I Thessalonians 4:13).  "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Timothy 1:12).

It is from the Lord through His word that we find comfort.  "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me" (Psalm 119:50).  

God desires His children to pass on the words of comfort that He gives to us.
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (II Corinthians 1:4).  This I wish to do today.

That morning a year ago, fresh in the pain and anguish of the loss of a son, we found great comfort from a good many verses in Isaiah 25 and 26, from our regular reading.  Here are a few of them, with some thoughts.

Isaiah 25
 8 "He will swallow up death in victory; and the LORD God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it."  O Death!  Where is thy sting?  O Grave!  Where is thy victory?  I look forward to the promise that God will wipe the tears away for good (Revelation 21:4)!

 9 "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."  I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.  Look what my God will do!  My Lord worketh "all things together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose".  My heart should not depend on the ups and downs of circumstances for its rejoicing, but rather, as Jesus instructed, "...but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven."  No matter my sorrow, my salvation in Christ is secure.  Therefore Job in utter grief could still cry, "The LORD gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the LORD" and "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."

Isaiah 26
 3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, who mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."  When upon life's billows we are tempest tossed, let's not be discouraged, thinking all is lost.  Rather than allow our hearts to be washed overboard, should we not instead seek the face of Him Who stilled the winds and the waves?  Should we not join him in the hinder part of the boat and find rest for our souls? 

 4 "Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:"  His strength is EVERLASTING!  I am weak, but His strength is made perfect in my weakness, whereby I can say "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"  Let the weak say, "I am strong!" 

"I hear the Saviour say, Thy strength indeed is small; 

Child of weakness watch and pray, Find in Me, thine all in all."

16 "LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them."  Many have been the prayers poured out in mourning, many the cries in the night.  God hears the supplication of His saints.  We are told that he keeps our tears in His bottle.  Are they not in His book? 

17 "Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD."  
18 "We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen."  How this describes our situation!  To be with child.  To have the expectation of a little babe to hold and cherish.  To prepare for their coming.  To lose that seed.  To go into the pain of delivery, knowing the baby is gone.  To feel empty, as if all that was brought forth was vanity and wind.  Those who have suffered miscarriage know this pain and loss.

19 "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.  Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead."  What a emotion fills my soul!  To know that the dead shall rise!  That the grave shall give way to victory, and the earth will cast out her dead! That I shall meet my child in glory.  Because of the Gospel!  Because of the Almighty Redeemer, we have the certainty of victory.  What unspeakable joy!  

This evening, Deana (carrying our third little one in the womb), Tirzah, and I went out and laid flowers on the grave of little William Livingstone Samuel.  We thanked the Lord for William, for the honor of carrying him, even for that short while, and for the assurance that we would see him again.  I read verse 19 again, and as we turned back to the house, I considered the words from the verse, "Awake and sing", and so we sang as we walked home,

"When I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies,

I'll bid farewell to every fear, and wipe my weeping eyes.

And wipe my weeping eyes, and wipe my weeping eyes.

I'll bid farewell to every fear, and wipe my weeping eyes."

  So, in all things I am able to declare, even through tears, Jesus Christ is my Saviour!  He it is which giveth "beauty for ashes" (Isaiah 61:3).  As Paul declared, even in the teeth of the storm Euroclydon, "...I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me". 

There is a Place By Me

Moses desired to see the glory of God.  This man of faith yearned to know the LORD his God and made his request.  Exodus 33:18-23 relates the account of God answering his prayer.

This is a well-known passage and many believers have heard and read and studied this portion of Scripture, and gained insights on getting to know the God of the Bible.  Some incredible hymns have come from this passage, such as "He Hideth my Soul" and "Rock of Ages".  In Exodus 33:18-23, we can see so much, including...
-the character of God (His holiness, His power, His desire that we know Him).
-the unworthiness of finite and sinful man.
-how we should desire to be close to Him.
-the importance of coming to Him in His way.

I myself have read these verses many times, and yet, this time through the Bible, I am struck by something that I didn't notice before (or have forgotten), to wit, the verse below:

"And the LORD said, Behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock" (Exodus 33:21).

The words jumped out at me: "...there is a place by me..."

Moses was NOT told to go up on a mountain to see God afar off through a high-powered telescope.  NOR was he told to catch God's program on the television (tele means "distant").  God wasn't distant in His response at all.  Instead, He said, "There is a place by Me."

All of us are born sinners, and headed for the destruction we deserve in Hell (Romans 3:23).  We are separated from God by our iniquities (Isaiah 59:2).  However, God has made the way of salvation open to all who will come to Him through faith alone in the atoning work of Jesus (II Samuel 14:14).  "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).

Paul preached to the men of Athens, that God desired lost souls to come to Him, telling them...
"That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27).

Once you know the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, He "...will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).  As His people, we should stick close to His side in open fellowship.  As we live each day, abiding in Him and in His word (John 15:5,7), we can with great joy proclaim with the psalmist, "Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth" (Psalm 119:151).

  What a challenge to me and every believer, to respond to God's invitation to be "BY" Him!  He certainly "is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24).  Often we are tempted to go our own way, and drift from Him, even as believers.  The world lures us, the flesh pulls us, and the devil assures us, that we don't really need to stay THAT close to the LORD.  After all, God doesn't care if we stray a little, does He?  But the truth is GOD DOES CARE!  If we say it doesn't matter, we are "deceiving our own selves" and miss out on truly getting to know Him better and seeing Him work mightily in our lives.

BUT when we learn to trust Him and stay near Him, we find that it beats the life on the brink all to pieces!  It was when Moses was by the Lord, that he saw His glory in a special way!

The last line of verse 21 also jumped out at me: "...thou shalt stand upon a rock" (Exodus 33:21).

How wonderfully assuring it is to know that when we are staying close by the Lord, we can know that we are standing on a good foundation.  Not on sand, not on boggy earth, but "upon a rock".

Learning His Longsuffering

I recently came down with a coughing cold.  Yesterday I left for work around 2:30pm.  It is always a blessing to work with Rod and Charles, but I must confess I was glad to see the clock reach the stopping time.  Didn't get home till after 4am this morning.  Showered and laid my head on the pillow just before 5am.

A few hours later, I rose and went to the local abortion mill.  This is something the Lord has put on my heart to do twice a week Wednesdays and Saturdays, speaking for life and witnessing for Christ.  This morning I felt miserable, and could very well have stayed home, being sick and exhausted.  But I chose to go, because those women need to hear a witness and know that their child's life should be defended, not destroyed (Proverbs 31:8).

I stood alone on the sidewalk, pleading with mothers on behalf of their unborn children.  How hard it is to see them refuse to listen, and hear their hard speeches!  I spoke the truth in love and offered help and information, but was rejected and despised.  But, Lord, even when I am despised, I will not forget Thy precepts (Psalm 119:141).  I remember that Jesus my Redeemer has been there before me (Isaiah 53:3).

It must be a horrible thing for a mother to steel herself to do, so that, once decided, they were adamant to cling to their decision.  Some of them were brought by boyfriends, friends, and at least one girl of about 16 was there with her mom.  When hands join in hands, there is often false confidence.  These desperate ladies and their companions were repeatedly making excuses for their actions, cursed at me, and even threatened that I would be beaten up or even killed just for being there.

I think that I have been given a very finite glimpse of a slice of what my Lord describes:

"I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;" (Isaiah 65:2).

"But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." (Romans 10:21).

"For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not." (Isaiah 30:15).

"Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 29:19).

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37).

How great my awe to know that the almighty God of the Bible so loved the world that He would come to give his own lifeblood (Ephesians 1:7) and seek to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10), while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8).

Makes me think of the hymn, which says:

"Wounded and bleeding,
for sinners pleading,
blind and unheeding,
dying for me."

The Saviour of the world was rejected, but gave His life a ransom for all.  Think of it--He died to redeem Adam's rebellious race!  And all who turn to Him in faith can be saved from all their sin.  How can I give up serving in a hard ministry, when He did so much more for me when I was still His enemy?  Only but for His grace, I would still be a hell-bound sinner myself.  Praise the Lord for His mercy and His long suffering.

Therefore, I shall not only continue to stand for truth, and speak for life, and preach the Gospel, but I will also invite and encourage other believers to be faithful and obedient to the word of our God and Saviour.  No matter the heartbreak and rejection, the truth is worth being shared, and you never know when someone will hear and turn to do right.  God will not let his words fall to the ground (II Kings 10:10) or return void (Isaiah 55:11).

I pray that the Lord will use my words today to continue to work in the  hearts of these needy souls, and draw them to Himself.  Fruit from this type of ministry is not always seen by the worker, but God gives the increase.  And occasionally we see it.  For instance, last Saturday, a couple at the same place decide to leave and save their child's life, thanks to the pleading of a sidewalk counselor.

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:6).

There is still time to win a battle before the sun goes down.

Abortion must be abolished.