Who can tell how much we owe Him?
Gladly let us render to Him
All we are and have.
Jesus is the Name that charms us,
He for conflict fits and arms us;
Nothing moves and nothing harms us
While we trust in Him.
Trust in Him, ye saints, forever,
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him.
Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
To Thyself, and still believing,
Till the hour of our receiving
Promised joys with Thee.
Then we shall be where we would be,
Then we shall be what we should be,
Things that are not now, nor could be,
Soon shall be our own.
Words by Thomas Kelly
What precious encouragement and promises in that hymn. So many times the past few weeks I have felt as though drug through the wringer and yet I feel revived and strengthened. It is such a strange thing to us as humans to experience deep heartache and fear, all the while being able to rejoice in the journey. It hasn't always been like this for me. I have learned and continue to learn that regardless of the circumstances around me and regardless of the choices others make in my life, God is still faithful. Trials are not something any of us would choose and yet when we are drug into the deep, we have two choices. We can waller in the trial with the "woe is me" attitude or we can choose to grow through the trial. I have been there the past few weeks and I am so thankful for the experience. Seriously. "We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the one who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy." (John Piper) I have experienced Christ in a way I have never experienced before. I am learning that joy is that deep settled confidence that God is in control of every area of my life. I believe that God knows everything, that He is all powerful, and that He loves me. When we believe that, it enables us to let go and let Him work in and through us. It is amazing. Divinely amazing. I have experienced the blessing of having people pray for me even though they have not a clue about what is going on. It doesn't matter that they know...God knows and hears their prayers on my behalf.
Oswald Chambers puts it this way: "The joy of the Lord is your strength." (Neh 8:10). Where do saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces wine, but most of us only see the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the spirit of God living within the living spirit; it creates an inner invincibility. If your life is only producing a whine and not a wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God's strength."
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