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May the Lord reign in you, in His power, and speak to you, to bless you, through His word of promise, that declares those who seek the Lord, will lack no good thing. [Psalms 34:10] Every good and perfect gift comes to you, from the Father of Lights above. [James 1:17] The highest and all-encompassing gift from Him, is the gift of salvation, that you receive by grace and through faith. And it is with a right understanding of it, that you will know that once dead in your trespasses, you are now raised together with Christ, to be seated with Him in the heavenly realms. And it is why the mind, the attitude of Christ, needs also to be in you. He gave up His right so that we can be rightfully related to He came to serve, and not to be served; to give His very life as a ransom for many. He humbled Himself, in obedient submission to the will of God for His life. [Philippians 2:6-8] And this is where the rubber meets the road For this reason, He was exalted, so that the Father may glorify His Name. [Verse 9] He humbled Himself, and for this reason, God the Father exalted Him. The Father lifted Him so that His glory can be seen in Him. When it comes to you and me, God the Father, in order to demonstrate His glory, lifts His children.
The attitude of the Son, in the process, is the path that needs to be yours; challenging, yes, but also comforting. Humbling is entrusting oneself to God, and it was by trusting His Father that He entrusted Himself to God. Then Jesus crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into Your hands, I commend my spirit’. Having said this, He breathed His last. [Luke 23:46] But it has to be looked at in conjunction with what He had spoken earlier, which implied quite the opposite, and about three o’clock, Jesus cried with a loud voice; Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’, that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?’. [Matthew 23:46] Unimaginable must have been the pain of being separated from His Father, for it was on the Cross, that He became sin, for the sins of the whole world. But then, it can also raise a seemingly valid doubt in the mind of some, concerning the efficacy of entrusting oneself into the care of One who had at that period, forsaken His Son!
Theologically, and spiritually addressing what happened on Calvary would be a truth, that can be grasped and understood. For, the Lord knew why He had come into the world. And it was revealed, in His words, ‘Now my soul is troubled. And, what should I say’ Father, save Me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason, that I have come to this hour. [John 12:27] And He observed the Passover meal, knowing that His hour had come to depart from this world, saying, ‘This is My Body broken for you, and, this is My Blood, shed for you. [John 13:1]
But, from a relational, human point of view, what the Lord had to go through, is something that the writer to the Hebrews even as he describes the very nature of Christ, being fully human and fully God, puts forth saying, therefore He had to become like His brothers and sisters in every respect, so that He might be a merciful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself was tested by what He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested. [Hebrews 2:17,18]
Promises come to you from God, in your walk with Him, but in life’s journey, there are also problems that arise, both big and small. It could appear to be a paradox. And it is when the Lord Himself can say to you, that He understands what you go through, because He also has suffered, has been forsaken, has carried your grief and pain, and so He is able to understand what you are going through. And much more importantly, He has dealt with it all on the Cross victoriously, so that you need not be overcome by them. It requires humbling yourself and entrusting yourself to God. It is what Job was able to do, even as his world overturned suddenly, making him suffer a lack in every area of his life, including his physical body. And to Job, amid all this intense trauma, what was most painful, was the silence of God, when doubts and questions were plaguing his mind. And even today, many feel forsaken and seemingly forgotten by God Himself, because of the terrible situation that they find themselves in, with no help from any direction.
The apostle Paul was able to say with confidence, I know in whom I have believed, that He is able to guard all that I entrusted to Him. [2 Timothy 1:12] In other words, ‘I trust, and therefore I entrust’, is his position. But life does not go this way, all the time. Job was in a situation, and so can you and I sometimes, where there can be no logical understanding of it. But he was able to value the word of God, to be able to stand on the truth that, ‘when I do not understand, it is because I trust, that I understand’. Therefore, when you are sick, you trust the word of God that declares, ‘I am the God your Healer’. He had to be made low, suffer death on the Cross, to rise on the third day, so that He can help you, by healing you.
But sometimes, what you want to know, you may not know. It is then that you need to understand, that on this side of heaven, we must learn to live with questions. And heaven will be full of answers, but you will have no questions! Job shows the way though, concerning his questions, in saying, But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.[Job 23:10] And ‘I do not need to understand, but He understands; I can just trust Him’ is the place where you too can dwell, and be blessed. The stark reality of your situation may sometimes be too difficult for you to address. But true wisdom takes into account even the smallest detail concerning your difficulty, and that is why, He Himself becomes your wisdom. He has gone through it all, and He is able to help you.
Worry comes when you speak your own discouraging words to yourself, focusing on the problem. Learn, therefore, to speak to yourself, what He has spoken – He has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’; so we can say with confidence – The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid.[Hebrews 13:5,6] Even in your life, HE has carried you, while you were yet in your mother’s womb; and promises to lead you till grace takes you from where you are, to where He wants you to be. And in response, you can only say, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’, in trust and obedience, to humble yourself, under the mighty hand of God, that He may lift you in due time. Father, we commit ourselves this day into the safest hands, throwing all our weight upon it, entrusting ourselves into the care of the One who has engraved us in the palm of His Almighty Hand, knowing, believing, that You will never leave or forsake us. We are not afraid, our help comes from Thee, that we may be exalted, for Thy glory. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
