Trust in Trouble!

"He knoweth the way that I take" (Job 23:10).

Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious, tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim.

That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that kindles it, but we have the assurance that the fires are lighted not to consume, but to refine; and that when the refining process is completed (no sooner--no later) He brings His people forth as gold.

When they think Him least near, He is often nearest. "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then thou knewest my path."

Do we know of ONE brighter than the brightest radiance of the visible sun, visiting our chamber with the first waking beam of the morning; an eye of infinite tenderness and compassion following us throughout the day, knowing the way that we take?

The world, in its cold vocabulary in the hour of adversity, speaks of "Providence"--"the will of Providence"--"the strokes of Providence." PROVIDENCE! what is that?

Why dethrone a living, directing God from the sovereignty of His own earth? Why substitute an inanimate, death-like abstraction, in place of an acting, controlling, personal Jehovah?

How it would take the sting from many a goading trial, to see what Job saw (in his hour of aggravated woe, when every earthly hope lay prostrate at his feet)--no hand but the Divine. He saw that hand behind the gleaming swords of the Sabeans--he saw it behind the lightning flash--he saw it giving wings to the careening tempest--he saw it in the awful silence of his rifled home.

"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Thus seeing God in everything, his faith reached its climax when this once powerful prince of the desert, seated on his bed of ashes, could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." --Macduff

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What in the world could have the power within it to cause Job to declare "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him?". The simple answer is faith. Most Bible students only consider that which is before their eyes to present the truth. What most fail to do is consider the path of Job prior to his encounter with destruction and devastation. God gave an unbelievable testimony of Job to Satan:

 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you [c]considered (O)My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, (P)a blameless and upright man, [d]fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:8, NASB)

In this testimony we can take a wealth of information away. God's testimony of Job does not come through superficial observation; this is God we are discussing here. Job's reputation was not built overnight. The testimony that God gave of Job was one of character and integrity. Any believer knows that character and integrity is developed in the midst of adversity. This was not Job's first encounter with trouble. Job had been acquainted with struggle in some form. His trust in God was based on his experience. He could say though He slay me, yet shall I trust Him because God had slain Him before through the process of adversity.

The one thing that believers have to apprehend is that process precedes promise. There is no apprehension of the promise without there first being an endurance of the process. Christians spend way too much time attempting to circumvent life's struggles, not understanding that their promotion is facilitated through their problems.

Job could declare the blessings of the Lord in this moment because he recognized the process. He knew that his life of prosperity came at a price and that for him to move to the next phase of perpetual elevation, there must be an endurance of the process. This is why he could declare to his wife "Must we accept only the good and not the bad?" Christianity is not a joy ride, it is a journey, an ethereal journey that is filled with trouble. Christ told the disciples, "In this world you will have tribulations" and then reassured them by saying, "but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."

There are going to be trials and tribulations. There are going to be struggles and disappointments. There are going to be losses and disasters. There will be times when you will declare, just as David, "In return for my love, they have become my accusers." The Christian life is not about living a life void of struggle, but about having access to a power so great that you overcome them all.

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Though my marriage has fallen apart, I will trust Him. Though all my money is gone, I will trust Him. Though they are lying behind my back, I will trust Him. Though many have used His name to take from me, I will trust Him. Though it seems that he has left me, I will trust Him.

Dr. Rick Wallace

I will trust Him because He has never failed me. I will trust Him, because He has always kept me. I will trust Him because He delivers like no other. I will trust Him because there has never been a time in which His Word returned to Him void. I will trust Him because He is able.

If you have not yet visited the "Valley of the Shadow of Death", know that your moment of testing and preparation is forthcoming. If you have not yet experienced the pain of betrayal, it is searching for you in the night as rest. If you have yet to feel the heartache of abandonment, be certain it will find you one day. The question is not will the trials come, but simply: When they do, "Can God trust you with TROUBLE?" ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

Changing the World One Life at a Time!