“The furnace of affliction is a good place for you, Christian; it benefits you; it helps you to become more like Christ, and it is fitting you for heaven.”
–Charles Spurgeon
“You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:6-7
“Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of. Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them.”
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.”
Hebrews 11:30, NIV
Cemented into our walk as believers is the powerful presence of Jesus Christ. The scriptures, which are our supreme directive, show to us our spiritual imperative. That mandate is victory, and we begin freedom with ourselves. The Israelites have shown us a realistic understanding of overcoming by faith alone.
“So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”
Joshua 6:20, NKJV
The stone walls of Jericho crumbled in when God’s covenant people believed the Word of the Lord for an astonishing victory. Our Lord intends we walk around our obstacles by faith, our confidence is in His power to defeat all that resists Him. We can’t do this by copying their formula, but by having God’s presence.
Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide.5 We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5, TPT
Spiritual power is always present when Jesus is near.
When we’re united with him, we’ll see every obstacle fall prostate at His feet. In Christ, by faith, we can expect to see some pretty awesome things! We follow our High Priest as we face our own walls. We are no longer defenseless.
With you as my strength I can crush an enemy horde, advancing through every stronghold that stands in front of me.
Psalm 18:29, TPT
For those of us who struggle with depression or other illness, we need a God of power who can work in our lives. There is a battle and victory will always contested. But for those of us who are downtrodden, we set our gaze on He who wants us free. Don’t give up. Follow the Lord Jesus to freedom.
“And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
you will look around and take your rest in security.”
Job 11:18
“If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.”
Prov. 3:24
Bedding down in the ruins of an old adobe church gave me a great deal of apprehension. I was anxious because at night all the scorpions, snakes and tarantulas do most of their exploring. Now I have an uncommon fear of tarantulas, at night I have seen them come out and the ground was churning. But as a missionary in rural Mexico and I guess I figured that I ought not shirk my expected routine. But I was spooked. I am a true arachnophobiac.
Job and the Book of Proverbs combine to correctly identify the personal security issues for the believer. We’re most vulnerable when we lie down to sleep. When you think about it, that’s when we are most accessible and open to assault.
But there are promises that are given to believers that reassure us and secure us. It is a remarkably basic promise, that we can lay down and God will stand watch over us as we rest. But I contend that there other times, times when He watches us and guides us through a myriad of unseen difficult things. He secures us, and then keeps us.
My time in the Mexican desert taught me some incredible lessons. I must admit though, that sleeping on the ground was an ordeal. I had to trust that the Lord would take special care over me as I lay defenseless. I could not defend myself, so I trusted Him and slept. I ‘shut down’ my imagination and trusted Him who I could not see. (I didn’t even bother to look for tarantula ‘tracks’ around my bedroll in the morning.)
We live in a time of complex danger. Bad things have become increasingly routine and we have come to the point were we just can’t protect ourselves, or those we love. Jesus warned us that this would happen.
Paul writes of this intensification of evil things.
We must trust Him who is unseen. We are to be people that move toward ‘the wings’ to find shelter. I believe this is a volitional decision. We make a verbal commitment to our protecting One, that He will shield us from those who are evil and perhaps even deranged.
He loves us so much. We can trust Him completely and fully. Even in the face of very big spiders.
