Greetings in our Savior's name. Thanks to God for the ways
in which He worked through you this week. God is doing His work, and what you
do today matters for eternity.
Today I want to share one verse with you. As I read it
recently, it stood out to me as a powerfully expressed recognition of God's
intervention. Jacob had returned from his years of exile and had survived his
fearful reunion with Esau. As Jacob began to reestablish himself in Canaan, God
directed him to go to Bethel.
Jacob told his family, "And let us arise, and go up to
Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of
my distress, and was with me in the way which I went" (Genesis 35:3). Jacob
shared two wonderful things about God in this verse, and they are both things
that are very common in God's dealings with His people.
The first is that God answered him in the day of his
distress. The Bible is filled with similar verses and similar testimonies.
"The LORD will hear when I call unto him" (Psalm 4:3). "I sought
the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm
34:4). "The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out
of all their troubles" (Psalm 34:17). "I waited patiently for the
LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry" (Psalm 40:1).
Yes, God answers in the day of distress. There is another
whole collection of verses about God's hearing of His children. They contain
phrases like, "His ears are open unto them," "He inclined His
ear toward me," "He heard me when I cried," and so on. But God
doesn't just hear and then ignore. When God hears the cries of His needy
children, He answers them.
As I read Jacob's words "in the day of my
distress," my mind asks the question, "Which one?" Like us,
Jacob had more than one rough day. He had more than one difficult situation. In
which of those did God hear him and deliver? Well, I'm pretty sure it was all
of them. God is not limited to deliver us just once. He is not impatient to
give up on us when the next difficulty comes. "Many are the afflictions of
the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19).
Jacob's second statement is that God was with him in the way
he went. Now that's pretty amazing, since it would be difficult to argue that
Jacob's steps always went the right way. Nevertheless, God was with him. (Which
is kind of an understatement. Jacob started out fleeing with only the clothes
on his back and maybe what he could carry. He returned with a large family and
tremendous wealth.)
Statements like this one are also plentiful in Scripture. God
gave this assurance to many, many people: Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, His
disciples, and many similar references to Christians in general. "I will
be with him in trouble" (Psalm 91:15). "I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).
It is always a comfort to know that God is with us, and His
presence is always welcome. That comfort is multiplied, however, when we
remember that God is with us in the difficult times - especially then. He
doesn't desert us when we need Him most. "When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee; and through the waters, they shall not overflow
thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah 43:2).
No matter what you face this week, maybe something you have
no idea about right now, God will hear you and answer you. No matter what path,
perhaps unexpected, that your feet may walk, God will be with you. Call to Him.
Lean on His presence. May He uphold you in whatever this week brings, whether
the ordinary routine of familiar tasks or through the most unwelcome diversion
from the ordinary. He will hear you, and He will be with you. Praise His name
for all the times He has proven that in the past and for all the times He will
prove it again in the future. God is faithful!
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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