In God, Not Out of Trouble
"And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jer. 45:5).
A promise given for hard places, and a promise of safety and life in the midst of tremendous pressure, a life "for a prey." It may well adjust itself to our own times, which are growing harder as we near the end of the age, and the Tribulation times.
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What is the meaning of "a life for a prey"? It means a life snatched out of the jaws of the destroyer, as David snatched the lamb from the lion. It means not removal from the noise of the battle and the presence of our foes; but it means a table in the midst of our enemies, a shelter from the storm, a fortress amid the foe, a life preserved in the face of continual pressure: Paul's healing when pressed out of measure so that he despaired of life; Paul's Divine help when the thorn remained, but the power of Christ rested upon him and the grace of Christ was sufficient. Lord, give me my life for a prey, and in the hardest places help me today to be victorious. --Days of Heaven upon Earth
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We often pray to be delivered from calamities; we even trust that we shall be; but we do not pray to be made what we should be, in the very presence of the calamities; to live amid them, as long as they last, in the consciousness that we are, held and sheltered by the Lord, and can therefore remain in the midst of them, so long as they continue, without any hurt. For forty days and nights, the Saviour was kept in the presence of Satan in the wilderness, and that, under circumstances of special trial, His human nature being weakened by want of food and rest. The furnace was heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, but the three Hebrew children were kept a season amid its flames as calm and composed in the presence of the tyrant's last appliances of torture, as they were in the presence of himself before their time of deliverance came. And the livelong night did Daniel sit among the lions, and when he was taken up out of the den, "no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." They dwelt in the presence of the enemy, because they dwelt in the presence of God.
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It is important for believers to understand that our lives are not without trials. If fact, we are told through scripture that the trials will come. Our peace as believers is not in the absence of struggle, but despite the struggle. Our peace comes in the promises of God and the knowledge that God honors His Word. The peace comes from knowing that God has promised that He will sustain us in the midst of the storm. He will give us our "lives for a prey", or more lucidly, He will not allow the destroyer to prevail.
Trust me, the vicissitudes of life will roll in. The darkness is going to settle over your paradise. Heartache will find you. Despite the soft teachings of some, you are going to face adversity. Do not despair, your victory is not in the circumvention of life's trials, but in the power of God that rests on you in the midst of them. You are traveling through the valley of the shadow of death, but you are still standing. You are picking up the pieces of a broken marriage, but you are still standing. You are in the perpetual furnace of persecution, but you are still standing. You have felt the sting of betrayal and abandonment, but you are still standing.
The power of God flows through your veins, it is your inheritance as a member of the royal family of God. There is a peace that transcends all understanding; it moves past human perspicacity and beyond natural reason. Rest in this peace of God knowing that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Rest in this peace knowing that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Rest in this peace knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Rest in this peace knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of God. ~ Bishop Rick Wallace
