The Bible records, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalms
34:19) In this verse the word affliction means, adversity, calamity,
displeasure, and distress. I do not know one person who desires
affliction. However, affliction sometimes comes but if it does come, how
will you handle it? How do you handle adversity, calamity, displeasure,
and distress? What is your response when you feel as though you are
ready to give up, that is, to be so overwhelmed, so troubled or worried, in severe physical pain, or
even brokenhearted by something that you feel you are unable to deal with any
more? These questions generally cannot be answered unless you have gone
through a serious affliction or are experiencing it now. I want to share two
stories with you that I believe will encourage you. The first story is
found in the Bible...
Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of
prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb
was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is
called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who,
seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And
fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave
them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter
said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took
him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and
entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God. And
all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it
was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and
they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to
him...And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong,
whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given
him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 1:10, 16)
This next story is not found in the Bible but it did happen to one of God's children...
Some time ago a young Pentecostal evangelist found out that he was dying
from tuberculosis. He had become bedridden and was hemorrhaging from
both lungs. He took his family to live on his father-in-laws farm. One
day his father-in-law was out in the field plowing and his wife and
mother-in-law were behind the house doing laundry. So, this young
evangelist begged God for enough strength to get out of bed and make it
to a clump of trees and bushes about quarter of a mile down the road. He
said in his heart, "I'm going to pray until I pray through and God heals me, or until they find me dead, one of the two."
When he reached the place, he fell down exhausted. He couldn't cry out
for help if he wanted to, plus no one knew where he was. The devil spoke
to him saying, "They won't find you until the buzzards lead them to you." The evangelist responded, "Well
that's all right devil. That's why I came out here. Just as soon as I
can regain a little strength, I'm going to pray until I'm healed or die
at this spot." As the young man lay there he began to think, "Everywhere
I had been, I had turned in prayer requests for my healing. Thousands
of people had prayed. Every healing evangelist in America had laid hands
on me and if all the prayers were put together, it would add up to
hundreds of hours of prayer."
He finally concluded where he had missed it. He thought, "I have been
trying to get a bunch of people to pray for me rather than receiving
what God said was already mine. The Bible says I'm healed, so, Lord, I'm
going to lie here flat on my back and praise You. I'm going to praise
You until my healing is manifested." At first the young evangelist gave all that he had in him which was just a whisper. He began to whisper, "Praise the Lord, Glory to God, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus."
After about ten minutes of whispering, he got enough strength to lift
up his arms by propping them up on the ground with his elbows. Another
ten minutes or so went by and he got enough strength to lift his hands
off his elbows and at the same time his voice got louder. At the end of
about two hours he was up on his feet hollering, "Praise the Lord, Glory to God, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus." His praises became so loud that people heard him several miles away.
Notice what the Bible says in Psalms 34:19 concerning afflictions, "...but the LORD delivers him out of them all." This
is Gods promise to His children. This is what happened in both stories
shown above. If you are born again, then you are one of God's children.
As one of Gods children you must always remember that our heavenly
Father is millions of times greater than any human father. We must
believe and receive what He has promised us through the meritorious work
of Jesus Christ. So, if affliction tries to knock at your door, "Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)
Monday, July 26, 2021
God is For Us
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