(Ps. 32:8).
(Is. 48:17).
Matthew 1:23 "... and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us."
When Daniel was in the midst of the lion's den…God was with him. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the midst of the fiery furnace…God was with them. It would have been perfectly easy for God to immediately transport these men out of their difficulties, but no, He chose instead to be with them in the midst of their trials. God chose to reveal His power through the trials instead of exercising His power to remove them.
Trials and difficulties are simply a part of life and quite honestly, the longer I walk with the Lord the bigger these trials become. But how do we react when our faith is challenged by these adversities? James 1:2 says to count it all joy! What could possibly be joyful about difficult situations? Painful, yes...but joy??
Yet, somehow, I do find joy in knowing, and even sensing that God is with me in the midst of my problems -- in the midst of my trials. He did promise never to leave or forsake me; and as I look over my life, I find it to be absolutely true...no matter what crazy situation I'm in, God is with me.
We all have this decision: either to complain because of the trials we're enduring...or to prayerfully lift our souls before him (Psalm 25:1) ...and rejoice in the midst of our troubles -- knowing, believing, HOPING, and even feeling, that God is with us, now...always...all the way!
The hope of the cross gives me the confidence to know that God will never turn away from me in my need. Jesus died to meet my greatest need, and I need to preach this to myself every day. His power is greater than my weariness and suffering. The gospel reminds me that what Jesus has done is reason enough for my soul to rejoice.
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? … The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God’.
(From D. Martin Lloyd-Jones' book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure)
It’s because of the cross that I can truly say “in faithfulness you have afflicted me” as I learn to see my sufferings in light of who God is.
“…Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5)