"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes.
For the Lord shall be your confidence, and so keep your foot from being taken."
Proverbs 3: 25 - 26.

If ever there was a word or two of encouragement needed at such a time is this, the words in the above Bible verses would have to be among them.

At a time when even the ground beneath our feet is not a safe place to be anymore, and we hesitate to find out what is going on in the world, we need to hear from somebody who knows the end from the beginning to calm our troubled souls and to steady our minds.

Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that we would be witnessing so many troubles and heartaches? Who would have thought that between the last blog entry I wrote and now, so many significant and life altering events have happened in the world, in our neighbourhood, or closer still?

Suddenly daily living has become uncertain let alone the reliability of making long-term plans! It is easy to become fearful as that sense of overwhelm is ever present.

How good it is to be intimately acquainted with the One who is not surprised or shocked about anything that is happening all around us. After all, He lives outside of our time domain and has already seen what we do not see just around the corner. He already knows what the outcome is.

He who inhabits eternity is the One in whom we can safely trust.
He has got everything in complete control even though it doesn't look like it right now! 

Even while writing, my mind is thinking of what took place in the garden of Gethsemane. It was a dark night in all sorts of ways, and our beloved Lord had just risen from excruciating prayer in which He anticipated what He was about to go through within the next few hours, when a band of soldiers with swords and staves came to take Him away… Judas the betrayer leading them!

If we had been there at that time after having followed the Lord for three years prior to that event, we would have been wondering what on earth was happening? We would have been wondering who was in control when everything looked like it was falling into chaos. From our perspective the events of that night would have been devastating after getting to know this altogether lovely Man intimately for the past three and a half years. 

But we would not have known there and then that this was all part of what must happen in order that the will of God be fulfilled concerning the question of sin. It looked like the enemy was having a field day and winning the battle. For all intents and purposes this appeared to be the case … ‘but God’!

Of course from our perspective now we know what was to follow - a mock trial, cruel beatings, a gearing crowd, the cross! It all appeared to go from bad to worse … ‘but God’! The enemy of our souls meant everything to meet his evil plans ‘but God meant it for good’. This was the way it had to be so that the question of sin could be dealt with once for all, and that you and I good live in the benefit of a work that was accomplished and completely satisfying to God. The cross was the essential part of what God foreordained from before the foundation of the world.

It has been said that no matter how bad a situation appears to be, God is always good!
God will never stop being good!

So here we are over 2000 years since that event and we are facing dark and uncertain days. We maybe facing trials we were totally unprepared for and we can’t help but wonder who is in control? Sudden fear has taken hold of us and it is suffocating! The Word of God encourages us not to be afraid of that ‘sudden fear’ that has a tendency to hit us blindside.

How can we avoid succumbing to the fear that these calamities bring into our lives? The answer lies in the encouraging words from the book of Proverbs quoted above. ‘When’ calamities come, not ‘if’, but when they do, we need to not be afraid because… the Lord shall be our confidence, and He shall be the solid ground upon which we stand. We can be sure that this ground will not move under our feet! 

Standing firm in personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the solid rock that will keep us steady when the trials of life hit, and they certainly will! And having trusted in Him as personal Saviour an incredible life begins from that moment on. It is a spiritual journey and a practical one also, which comes into play in reality when we face the trial of our lives.

Everyone, no matter who they are goes through troubles and trials, but some choose to go through them on their own without the living God in their lives to give them hope, comfort, strength, and encouragement. Others in faithfulness and humility having trusted the Saviour with all their heart never go through their trials alone.

It is possible, like the companions of Daniel in the Old Testament to go through a furnace experience and come out of it without any evidence of having been there! No scars, no damage, and no pungent smell of scorched clothing. Or to put it in everyday terms; it is possible to go through trials and suffering without acquiring a bitter spirit and scarred emotions, but to emerge from it with the fragrance of Jesus in our character. How can this be possible? Only in the very same way it was possible for Daniel’s companions … as the Lord was with them in the furnace, so He will be right there with you as well

There is only one way to have that type of confidence, and to enjoy that type of victory, and that is for the Lord to be yours personally, and to know Him that well that your mind can be at rest while going through impossible circumstances.

Let Him establish you. Let Him carry you. Let Him comfort you knowing you could not leave yourself in better hands, and He who knows that your heart is breaking will not waste a single tear. Your trial and mine has a significant meaning and an eternal weight of glory. Just trust Him in it knowing that one day soon you will know even as you are known. And what you discover as a result is that God never failed to be good when everything looked so bad.

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Here's how to know for sure you can be ready for heaven and for the promise of His coming
It's as simple as 'ABC'

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