Isaiah 26:16-19 ESV
“O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.”
Life, as we know it on this earth, is going to have trials and tribulations, no matter who you are, and no matter where you live, and no matter if you are rich or poor. But for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, sometimes it feels like we are getting more than our “fair share,” so to speak. It appears, at times, as though the trials and the testing of our faith keep getting piled on, one on top of another, on top of another.
And so we cry out to the Lord in our times of distress, and we seek him for answers, and for guidance, and for relief, and to be rescued, and/or to have our circumstances change directions. And sometimes we get that relief. And sometimes our circumstances do move in a better direction. But sometimes they don’t. And what is troubling us, and what is grieving our hearts and our minds remains intact. And so the tears continue to flow from our eyes.
Now the Lord allows us to go through such times as this. He disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness, and so that we who have been trained by his disciplines might be for his praise and glory, and so that we will be vessels useful for his kingdom work. For when we go through such trials and such times of testing in our lives, if our love for God is sincere, he will use these times to grow us in him and to mature us in our walks of faith.
Some trials can be “light and momentary afflictions,” while others may be a lot like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth. Since I have given birth to four children, I totally get that illustration. The pain is severe and unbearable, and you feel as though you cannot take it anymore, and so you will cry and you will want someone to ease the pain and the suffering. Some trials are that bad!
You hope and you pray that the suffering will end, and that your circumstances will change directions, but then more and more birth pains strike you, and then the more the pain increases. And you wonder if there will ever be relief, if deliverance will ever come, if this “baby” will finally be born and the severe pain you have been suffering will now cease or at least greatly diminish. For you wonder how much more of this you can take!
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
But then there is a message of hope and deliverance. There is an encouragement that all the suffering we are now experiencing will one day be over. If we are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and we have died with Christ to sin, and if we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we have a future and we have a hope if we remain in Christ.
One day our Lord is going to return for his faithful ones, his bride, and he is going to take us to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then. In the meanwhile, God’s grace is training us to renounce (to say “No” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return, if we will listen, and if we will obey his voice (see Titus 2:11-14).
Sadly, not everyone is going to be with our Lord for eternity. Not even all who profess faith in Jesus Christ will be with our Lord for eternity. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God. For many will stand before him one day claiming who they are in Christ, and Jesus will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23).
So, it is not enough to profess the name of Jesus or to claim that you believe in him, for true biblical faith submits to Christ as Lord, dies with him to sin, not just once, but daily, and walks now in newness of life in him, created after the likeness of character of God. This is not a claim to sinless perfection, but it means we are no longer walking in sin, but now we are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, in the power of God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Give Them All to Jesus
Phil Johnson / Bob Benson Sr. 1975
Are you tired of chasing pretty rainbows?
Are you tired of spinning 'round and 'round?
Wrap up all the shattered dreams of your life
And at the feet of Jesus lay them down.
Give them all, give them all,
Give them all to Jesus -
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all,
Give them all to Jesus,
And He will turn your sorrows into joy.
He never said you'd only see sunshine.
He never said there'd be no rain.
He only promised a heart full of singing
About the very things that once brought pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsOnwWsHnIw
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