IT'S NO WONDER
I absolutely love it when the Lord amazes me with a simple truth I could have sworn I already knew. It's as though He says, "See, there's always more."
As a child, I wasn't very athletic (too prissy), but I can recall a few afternoons here in central Florida when I’d let myself get so caught up in play that I didn’t want to stop for anything—even extreme thirst. When I’d finally make it to the water fountain or the refrigerator I could barely see straight. I’d start drinking and wouldn’t stop until the pain in my head was more than I could bear.
Even though my stomach ached and my noggin (as my mother called it) was throbbing, the memory of what it felt like to be thirsty would compel me to keep going.
Sometimes life can feel just about that parched. A kind of spiritual drought can come over us for any number of reasons. Many times, it happens because we’ve endured a long trial.
Maybe you’ve gone through a rather lengthy test in your ministry, your career or your marriage. Perhaps after all your prayers, you have to watch helplessly while someone you love throws his or her life away.
Sure, you’ve borne up under the weight of sadness and disappointment for a long time, and you’re managing to hold on in faith. But it’s by a thread, and you face every day wondering if this will be the one when you finally let go.
Let me tell you, your faith will hold, even if it’s small because the Lord is holding you tighter than you can ever hold Him. You can’t keep Him from coming to help you. This I know.
Years ago, Max Lucado authored a book titled No Wonder They Call Him the Savior (Thomas Nelson). In one chapter, he writes about the disciples’ return to Jerusalem after Christ’s crucifixion. He brilliantly describes the sorrow and despair that must have been weighing them down: “Just when the gloom gets good and thick, just when their wishful thinking is falling victim to logic, just when someone says, ‘How I’d give my immortal soul to see him one more time,’ a familiar face walks through the wall.”
The line “a familiar face walks through the wall” has gripped my heart from the first time I read it. Since then I’ve never been able to think of its truth without amazement.
The Lord Jesus Christ walked through a wall of doubt, fear, despair, unbelief, confusion, disillusionment and hopelessness in order to reach those He loved. He’ll do it again and again for you.
The disciples’ faith may have been diminished, but it was enough to drive them to do the last thing He told them to do. They felt guilty, ashamed and skeptical, but they came and waited for Him anyway. It was the very least they could do, but it was enough.
It was risky, painful, possibly even foolish, but they had not forgotten what their lives had been like before. They must have remembered what it was like to be thirsty.
They could still recall what their lives were like without a Savior who loved and cared for them, so they could not abandon Him entirely. Neither can we.
The simple astounding truth we will always be learning is this: He won’t go away, ever. Regardless of our level of faith and strength today, we can all do the last thing we were told to do. We can come into the place of His presence, wait there and remember.
Brenda J. Davis, Editor of SpiritLed Woman
As a child, I wasn't very athletic (too prissy), but I can recall a few afternoons here in central Florida when I’d let myself get so caught up in play that I didn’t want to stop for anything—even extreme thirst. When I’d finally make it to the water fountain or the refrigerator I could barely see straight. I’d start drinking and wouldn’t stop until the pain in my head was more than I could bear.
Even though my stomach ached and my noggin (as my mother called it) was throbbing, the memory of what it felt like to be thirsty would compel me to keep going.
Sometimes life can feel just about that parched. A kind of spiritual drought can come over us for any number of reasons. Many times, it happens because we’ve endured a long trial.
Maybe you’ve gone through a rather lengthy test in your ministry, your career or your marriage. Perhaps after all your prayers, you have to watch helplessly while someone you love throws his or her life away.
Sure, you’ve borne up under the weight of sadness and disappointment for a long time, and you’re managing to hold on in faith. But it’s by a thread, and you face every day wondering if this will be the one when you finally let go.
Let me tell you, your faith will hold, even if it’s small because the Lord is holding you tighter than you can ever hold Him. You can’t keep Him from coming to help you. This I know.
Years ago, Max Lucado authored a book titled No Wonder They Call Him the Savior (Thomas Nelson). In one chapter, he writes about the disciples’ return to Jerusalem after Christ’s crucifixion. He brilliantly describes the sorrow and despair that must have been weighing them down: “Just when the gloom gets good and thick, just when their wishful thinking is falling victim to logic, just when someone says, ‘How I’d give my immortal soul to see him one more time,’ a familiar face walks through the wall.”
The line “a familiar face walks through the wall” has gripped my heart from the first time I read it. Since then I’ve never been able to think of its truth without amazement.
The Lord Jesus Christ walked through a wall of doubt, fear, despair, unbelief, confusion, disillusionment and hopelessness in order to reach those He loved. He’ll do it again and again for you.
The disciples’ faith may have been diminished, but it was enough to drive them to do the last thing He told them to do. They felt guilty, ashamed and skeptical, but they came and waited for Him anyway. It was the very least they could do, but it was enough.
It was risky, painful, possibly even foolish, but they had not forgotten what their lives had been like before. They must have remembered what it was like to be thirsty.
They could still recall what their lives were like without a Savior who loved and cared for them, so they could not abandon Him entirely. Neither can we.
The simple astounding truth we will always be learning is this: He won’t go away, ever. Regardless of our level of faith and strength today, we can all do the last thing we were told to do. We can come into the place of His presence, wait there and remember.
Brenda J. Davis, Editor of SpiritLed Woman
posted by Felicia Mann at
1:51 PM
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