Friday, October 5, 2012

when life gives you trouble



Joseph Blenkinsopp (A History of Prophecy in Israel) thinks "the book of Micah presents the reader with a degree of difficulty disproportionate to its length" (91).

Some lives are like that, too. More than their fair share of trouble. One thing after another.

If that's you, I pray that this week you'll sense the presence of God with you in the midst of life's mess. He does not always arrange things so that life is comfortable and trouble-free. Larry Crabb would say it's because God has bigger things in mind for us than comfort. He wants us to learn to depend on him moment by moment. 

That's the nice thing about difficulty (if there is a nice thing)—it reminds us that we are not invincible, and that we can't make it on our own. As we recognize our own limitations, his power rushes into the void and we have the great gift of knowing him more. It isn't quite that simple in real life. Sometimes we cannot feel his presence and we have to go on trusting him, longing for him, in the darkness. But even that longing is a gift, because it means we are facing the right direction.

If you're facing disproportionate difficulties today, sink your soul into the presence of God. He is all you need.

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