Why am I going through this fiery trial? Why am I going through this storm? Do these questions sound familiar? Have you ever been just going through it and it just seems to not be getting better? You think God I’m just trying to find You in this. Then you go through darkness. You begin to wonder if God is even listening. You wonder does He see you. Well let’s read some verses in Psalms.
Psalm 50:3 ISV Our God has appeared and he has not been silent; a devouring fire blazed before him, and a mighty storm swirled around him.
Psalm 97:2 ISV Thick clouds are all around him; righteousness and justice are his throne’s foundation.
You see, we pray to be closer to God. We pray to know Him better, to be in His presence. Then we start going through the fire, the storm, the darkness. When these things are happening we may very well be coming into the presence of God. This may be the answer to the prayers that we prayed. Because we have to go through what is around Him to get to Him.
No understand that these things are not meant to destroy us. As it says in
Isaiah 43:2 (KJV) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
If we continue pressing forward. If we don’t turn back in our pursuit of God. Then we will get to know Him as we never have before. These things were never meant to harm us. One thing they do is to see who is willing to pass through this to reach God. The other is that our enemies cannot survive through this.
Another example of this is in Exodus 20:18-21 (NET) 18 All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you so that you do not sin.” 21 The people kept their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
The people had the opportunity to know God on another level. To be closer to Him. What did they decide though? They decided that they did not want to endure this. They were afraid to go through this. Moses though drew near to the darkness. The presence of God was a priority to him.
We see this thought play out in the New Testament.
Matthew 14:24-33 NET 24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. 25 As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” 29 So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
The disciples were in a storm in the night. Then Jesus shows up and they are afraid. Jesus tells them to not be afraid. Then Peter asks to come to Jesus. The storm had not stopped. It was still dark. But Peter did what we should do. Get closer to Jesus. Now we know Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the storm and began to sink. But Jesus saves him even in his weakness. Then Jesus gets on the boat. What happens next? The storm stops. They made it through the storm into the presence of Jesus. Then they knew Him on a different level. They recognized something new about Him.
I say all of this to encourage you. Keep pressing on. God has not forsaken you, but rather is drawing you closer to His presence. Be patient and endure the trials. When you come through to the other side you’ll be in the presence of God and learn something new about Him. You’ll be closer to Him because of this.
Hebrews 10:35-39 WEB 35 Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. 37 “In a very little while, he who comes will come and will not wait. 38 But the righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
Leave a Reply