*The following is an excerpt from my new book Dying To Live.
The crazy, backwards way that God does things is meant to make no sense. It’s not supposed to be predictable. So the more unlikely you are to be able to fix your problem, the more likely that God will come visit you in your darkness and save the day. It seems like He specializes in waiting on us to learn to wait on Him, because we really don’t have a choice. I mean, if God delays, we sort of have to wait. The question is not “Will you wait?” You have to. Case closed. The question is, “How will you wait?” Will you wait grudgingly, or in earnest anticipation, or with your fists balled up and teeth clenched, or with carefree trust that He is always right on time?
So I ask you, what is your darkness right now?
Are you depressed? Is your mind constantly racing through worse case scenarios? Have you just lost someone you cared for, either in death or a breakup? Are you broke, worried about money, behind on the bills, or ignoring the collection calls? Do you have a sick family member you can’t fix? Is God ignoring some of your prayers? Are you addicted to something and the shame is eating you alive? Are you still rehearsing and remembering hurtful words spoken to you years ago? Are you holding a grudge and looking for a chance to settle the score?
Give your darkness a name. Call it what it is. Because there is a very good chance that you have an appointment with God there, and He wants to meet you right in the middle of the very thing that hurts you the most to show you that He will use it to break you. Not for the sake of being broken. But for the sake of seeing Him more clearly in your brokenness. For the sake of running to His grace in your brokenness. For the sake of worshipping Him for His providence and protection in your brokenness. For the sake of finding life by realizing you not only lost it, you were never capable of handling it in the first place.
If you have not found yourself in real despair or darkness in a while, just wait. You will. And when you do, consider this insight into what God is doing in you during those seasons.
If you are going through a personal trial now, there is a purpose in it, and the reason is more than just to develop you into a hardier person. It’s true that God uses it to conform you to the image and character of Christ, and any trial is worth the pain for that process alone. But he aims also to show you the character of Christ in your trial.
We are not competent enough or tough enough to handle the darkness and discouragement alone, so Christ meets us there with His tender mercies and tangible presence so that we do not walk those valleys alone. If the trials bring Him closer to us or make our awareness of His presence keener, then they serve a greater purpose and are worth the pain.
Perhaps the revelation is only comfort for now and healing later. Perhaps it’s healing and comfort now, with a visible display of God’s miraculous power. Perhaps it’s something you will only be able to see looking back on it one day from an eternal perspective. His specific plan for your trial may differ from his specific plan for someone else’s trial, but there’s an aspect of himself to be revealed in it. Trust him. That aspect is there. It’s always there.[ii]
May God come to you in your darkest moments and show you the divine joy of being pulled from the pit of despair and being placed on the firm foundation of Christ Jesus. May you experience the cascading, brilliant light of God’s presence in your darkest times. If you are dying to live, call out to God in the middle of your low point, your discouragement and depression and disappointment. He will meet you there.
He is God. Even when it’s dark.
Taken from Dying To Live by Clayton King, Harvest House Publishers 2010. Used by permission.
Chris Tiegreen, Why a Suffering World Makes Sense(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006), p. 62.
[ii]Tiegreen, p. 62.
Comments
August 3 2010
Karen
Great post… thank you ! I needed to hear this today and the reminder that God is still God and He waits. I believe in the darkness He shapes our souls for His glory…. if we trust and let him. I never ask why anymore… only what? What do I need to learn from this situation? In the darkness… He WILL meet us!
“and He brought me to the wilderness so I will learn to sing and He lets me know my bareness so I will learn to lean ” Beautiful Mercy~
August 5 2010
Peggy Putnam Houser
Hi Clayton, Thanks for sharing this chapter from your book, Dying To Live, and or course it makes me want to read the entire book! Take care, and keep on serving Our Mighty Big God in a mighty big way! —-(Wayne & I returned from Duke on Tuesday evening, and Wayne is still cancer-free—Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Peggy Houser
August 6 2010
Craig Clark
Beautiful brother!
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