Pastor’s Corner: “Perspectives from Heaven”
FIRE ESCAPE – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you (Isaiah 43:2 NKJV).
If you have ever cooked on an outdoor grill, you know that you cannot walk away from what you’re cooking for very long, especially if you close the lid to the grill. Have you walked away from the grill and forgot about what you were cooking? The grill transforms into an incinerator in seconds and gives new meaning to the term blackened cooking. I’m glad that when we go through fiery trials as believers, God doesn’t get distracted, forget about us, and leave us there. David wrote in Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (verse 4 NKJV).
We must remember to cast our problems on the Lord, turning them over to Him in times of need. When the people were griping and complaining about Moses, the Bible tells us that Moses cried out to the Lord. When Hezekiah received an intimidating letter from a king who was threatening to destroy him, he spread the letter out before the Lord. When Mary and Martha saw that their beloved brother Lazarus was sick, they sent word to the Lord. When trouble comes your way, cast it on Him. Spread it out before Him. Call on Him. As the Scriptures say, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). As our family has been walking through “the valley” with the loss of Isaiah, the only thing that has brought any kind of relief, peace or comfort has come by crying out to God and pressing deep into Him. Although our natural tendency is to do the opposite and turn away and even run from God, there is nothing in the world that can ever bring us through the valley except for Him. He has never stopped being faithful to our family! As a matter of fact, as I press more into Him during this time, the more I can see His faithfulness.
Most of us would like to avoid the valleys of life, so to speak, but there are some lessons we learn there that we cannot learn anywhere else. God doesn’t promise to keep us out of all trouble. But He does promise to be with us in the midst of it. It’s a great thing to know that when the Lord lets His children go through a fiery trial, He always keeps an eye on them and an eye on the thermostat.
Your lost friends, neighbors, and loved ones see Christ in you more clearly when you go through a trial with a song in your heart. When they see you rejoice even in hardships, they quietly think, “If my Christian friend can face that great trial and still have joy and peace, there must be something to this thing called Christianity. I wish I had what they have.” Will you take your problems and praise God in the midst of them? He wants to use the difficulties to proclaim His name through you. Will you choose to see your hardships as a test—a test to see if you will trust God regardless of the circumstances so that the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Jesus can emanate from your life? I love what one writer said, “Problems are not obstacles to faith, they are opportunities to show God’s faithfulness.” May it be so in you and me!
We are praying with you and for you today – Bless you!
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton & Family