Hi saints, the Lord put this word in my heart a couple of days ago. I feel sure that it will bless someone who needs to be encouraged this morning................
To be filled with the Spirit of God is to have come through feelings, disturbance, anxiety, disappointments and emptiness. When you reach that place of despair, when you have gone to the last person and you have written the last editor, when you have followed the last evangelist around, and hunted down the last fellow to counsel with you-when no man can help you anymore and you are in a state of inward despair-this is when you will recognize that you are near the place where God can finally do what He wants to do for you. When there comes that despair with self, that emptying out of you and that inner loneliness, you are getting close.(Tozer)
This is the most difficult place for the saint on the journey home. Tozer says it well, you are getting closer. When all the world has lost its appeal to you When you find yourself wandering in the wasteland dunes of anxiety and emptiness and disappointments, know that God is near. You must know it for you will not feel it. Keep walking saint, this is the desert place known as despair. No man or woman can help you. This is simply between you and God and the refiners fire. You will be tested in this. God is looking for a people who seek to worship Him with their whole hearts.
And if you think that all of your troubles are without purpose then you are wrong saint. There is a purpose in every trial, in every trouble, in every disappointment. There is a purpose in every step you take through the desert of despair and loneliness. Yes indeed you must pass through these places in order to continue the journey home on the narrow path, it is true that there are no short-cuts, no way around these difficult places of death. The enemy will whisper in your ear when you seem to be surrounded by darkness and defeat ” what was it all about.” He will ask you to consider the possibility that your life has been for nothing and that there has been no purpose in any of your suffering. Liar! Brothers and sisters, he is a liar and I know I speak to someone who needs to hear that today.
Psa 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
The Valley of Baca, the valley of weeping, the valley of tears. The road to the altar, the tabernacle traverses many valleys. Some are narrow some are deep . There is no avoiding them. You will shed tears in these valleys. You will often times feel abandoned in these valleys. What should you do as you travel through these valleys? Dig deeper. Dig holes in these valleys brothers and sisters. These valleys are without rain and it would seem to many that they will surely die as they go through it. You will not die. So why should you stop and dig holes in this valley. Why not rush through as quickly as possible? The truth is, this valley cannot be rushed. No matter how much you run, to the left or the right, you have to go through the valley. Even if you run straight ahead, the valley will last exactly how long it is supposed to last. So, when you stop in the midst of it, when you resist the urge to panic and fear, when you embrace the fact that this valley has to be gone through, these "dark nights of the soul,” will become an oasis and a place of refreshment to those who have faith and continue to trust in the Lord.
You will not be tempted more than you are able. The Lord has not abandoned you. He will minister to you. When you dig deeper, you are emptying yourself in preparation to receive the Lords presence. He will come to you on your journey, on your pilgrimage , in your deepest valleys. And to those who dig, their holes will be filled abundantly when the flash flood of His rain comes. The steeper the valley, the bigger the flood. The holes ensure that when the flood ends, their will be pools of water left over that will not only minister to you, but will comfort and encourage those who come along behind you, for remember, there is only one path, the narrow one, and all must traverse it. Let your tears fall saints, your tears shall remain. They shall refresh another. Stand fast brothers and sisters. You keep on walking no matter how dark it has become. You are surrounded by troubles on every side and inwardly there are fears? You are not alone, this is the path and you are where you should be and it shall not overcome you.
Inside of you lies the treasures of God, inside that earthen vessel. You have been called to comfort those with the comfort you yourself have been comforted with along the way. When you pass through this place of death and you are not overcome, you will testify of it and comfort others and glorify God. Remember saints, we are always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, the life of the cross, the way of sacrifice, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our lives. The greater the trial the closer our God. You say ” but this trial is such that I cannot feel Him, I cannot sense His presence.” Saints, one of the greatest trials of all is trust. Our foundation is built upon faith. The enemy will try to pull you down and destroy you by coming against the very foundation of your life, your faith. Your life in the Spirit stands upon faith in Jesus. Stand today brother, stand today sister.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Wait upon the Lord and He will come to you. Wait, wait, keep waiting, keep trusting, keep abiding, keep praying, keep trusting, keep praising, keep reading His word. You will not faint, you will not fall in this desert. When the rain comes and it will come, you will walk and you will run and you will mount up with wings as eagles and you will revel in the presence of God. One day, one moment in His presence is better than a thousand elsewhere. In one moment, in one word, in one breath of the Holy Spirit there is life and eternity and hope and joy. One more thing brothers and sisters, and never doubt this. Your Father loves you. He sees you. He has not forgotten you. His love for you is an everlasting love. His thoughts towards you cannot be numbered, they are greater than the sands of the seashore. Stand fast in this and know that you are known. Let your tears fill the valleys, none are lost.......bro Frank