Deeper, stronger and closer!
Philippians 4:6”do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
There are moments of frustration that just tears you apart! An avalanche of problems just hits like tornadoes and tries to bury you down; when you try to wriggle out of the debris, that’s when another attack comes – you would not understand what I’m saying if you have been living too long in comfort zones! Are you listening? We love to praise Him as we dance around the huge, plush shopping mall with the trolley that is brimming with stuff that you need, don’t need and that you might need. I am talking today about praising Him in adversity!
Don’t wait for the heat to subside to sing praises to God, learn to praise Him in the midst of troubles. Are you listening? I hear people often say, “I will attend the meeting after I get the job, after I hear from God, after He answers my prayers, after I get the promotion, after He heals me, after I sought out the problems and so on….I am today talking about getting into His presence and praising Him even when you don’t hear from Him, even when there is dead silence in your life, even when things look bleak and blurred! I am not talking about empty love, I’m talking about love that is manifested in your actions. Give your tithes from the last penny you have, attend to the needs of the poor and speak kindly to the colleague that digs a pit for you.
When we had arranged for three days meeting in Chennai and the funds required were huge; yet, we boarded the train as a family with my sons school fees not paid. We told him, ‘let’s conduct the meeting and come back, God would take care of the fees.’ It was a dark period in our ministry, yet, we were singing songs throughout the journey in the train. Things did not improve though, there were no signs of any funds during the three days of the meeting, on the third day, when we had to pay the many bills, still the problems loomed large in front of us. At this point, let me clarify, it would not be easy to go through these situations, I’m not belittling the experience and agony, God would allow us to go through these tough terrains so that we learn the art of ‘endurance, hardships, patience and long suffering.’ As we were praying and waiting on God, He just worked in the hearts of people and finally we walked out of the campsite after clearing every bit of payment. Hallelujah! The angst and worry was not small though. Slowly, as we keep going through these kind of crisis, we start trusting Him more deeper, we get more stronger and most important we snuggle more closer to Him.
I still do feel, “Lord, why not attend to our problems much earlier and save us from tension, worry, doubts, strain and pain?”. But God wants us to have an ‘unshakable faith’ in Him! This does not happen in a jiffy, faith grows as you grow in the knowledge of God!
Sitting in a prison, apostle Paul was able to write the most beautiful and poignant epistle to the Philippians that is inspiring, encouraging and a booster I should say. Let this message of mine refresh you and pick you up from depression. Cheer up friend! Do not be anxious about anything!
