The Bible is the primary source of instruction and inspiration, including when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances or lacking hope. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double- edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
However, care must be exercised in how we interpret and apply Scripture to our lives. Unfortunately many of us have probably encountered people who have misused Scripture resulting in being misinformed, misunderstood, wounded or just plain hurt. Regretably, I can do nothing about the circumstances of the past, but I invite each person reading this to take a fresh look at the healing power of God as expressed in the Bible.
When a person's heart is receptive, there are many Scriptures which can minister hope and healing. A few of my personal favorites are mentioned below.
The first is found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 which says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong". Here we have the example of the Apostle Paul. In other passages of Scripture, Paul mentions some of the specific hardships he's referring to here. If anyone would have excuse to complain, it would be Paul, but no, he 'delights' in hardship as a lifestyle. And he expresses a specific revelation from God; that God's strength is perfected in our weakness. Our inabilities give God the perfect way to demonstrate His abilities.
Paul believed in miracles, right? Paul probably prayed to God to perform a miracle and take away his 'thorn.' Many Bible scholars believe this thorn was a loss of eyesight. If it was, Paul probably asked God to restore his sight. But instead, God desired from Paul greater dependency on Him. Where Paul thought he needed his eyesight to perform the task at hand, God wanted to show His power by helping Paul overcome this weakness in other ways. Sometimes a miracle is not defined by the quickest and most comprehensive relief possible. I believe that sometimes the greater miracle can be God giving us the day to day strength we need to endure our losses and trust God for other means of having our needs met.
In another Scripture, Romans 5:2-4 says, "... And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Not only does perseverence in the face of difficulty lead to maturity, but it eventually leads to hope. Hope is the main ingredient in resolving feelings of loss and grief. Hope fills the vacuum, leaving no room for pain to penetrate. Hope for a better future also works to provide strength to persevere, and the cycle in this Scripture is completed, leaving despair on the outside!
Finally, many of the Psalms reflect loss and grief experienced by God's people, but Psalm 10 in particular, is a wonderful example of how David responds to God. The chapter can be segmented into three main parts. The first twelve verses describe affliction of the worst kind imaginable. The victim is oppressed and totally defeated by things completely out of his control. The loss cannot be corrected in any way known to man, and he feels helpless and without hope. Then in verses 12 - 15, David turns his attention to God, and cries out to Him as helper, deliverer, vindicator, One who is willing to act on behalf of the victim. Then verses 16 - 18 display David's heart of gratitude and praise for the mighty works of God. The expression of the human condition is clear. David's heart progresses from anxiety and depression, to allowing his heart to be wooed by God, and then to the joy of resting secure in God's place of victory. David writes almost 4 times as much text to describe the sorrow in his heart, than he took to describe God's intervention. How many times do we drag out our affliction by worrying about the aspects which are out of our control when the breath of God is one heart cry away to invite God's healing presence into our lives?
To the degree that we can see the need for God and His Word as the ultimate solution to a problem, without trivializing the humanness of the problem in the process, to that degree we find encouragement and success for overcoming.
God Bless You!
by Edward Hersh
email: edward.hersh@verizon.net
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Edward Hersh
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