Circumstances
Sometimes, God will allow circumstances that offend the mind to expose the heart. This will often happen along the line of promises...I hear the Lord saying especially for those who have been given weighty promises. Sometimes the promise is given, yet all the circumstances seem to be flowing in the opposite way.
This is the time that faith is chosen or abandoned. The real question is never "was the promise real?" the real question is "is the issuer of the promise reliable? Is the Father good...is the Father faithful, powerful, and loving?"
The Father's character is constant. He is always good. He is always faithful. Always perfectly powerful. What is inconsistent is my trust in who He says He is. The offending of the mind is intended to solidify the belief of the heart. If I will simply stand on who issued the promise, rather than what the wind and the waves say, I will move from faith to faith, glory to glory, strength to strength. God hates double-mindedness, but is faithful to correct it. He corrects it, sometimes, by offending the mind to get the heart to determine it will not let go of the promises...because of the Promiser. He is reliable.
Psalms 44:1-26 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation Of the Sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old: 2 You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. 3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them. 4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob. 5 Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us. 8 In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah 9 But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies. 10 You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11 You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them. 13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us. 14 You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples. 15 My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me, 16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger. 17 All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way; 19 But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 21 Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. 24 Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground. 26 Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies' sake.
Matthew 11:2-6 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" 4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
This is the time that faith is chosen or abandoned. The real question is never "was the promise real?" the real question is "is the issuer of the promise reliable? Is the Father good...is the Father faithful, powerful, and loving?"
The Father's character is constant. He is always good. He is always faithful. Always perfectly powerful. What is inconsistent is my trust in who He says He is. The offending of the mind is intended to solidify the belief of the heart. If I will simply stand on who issued the promise, rather than what the wind and the waves say, I will move from faith to faith, glory to glory, strength to strength. God hates double-mindedness, but is faithful to correct it. He corrects it, sometimes, by offending the mind to get the heart to determine it will not let go of the promises...because of the Promiser. He is reliable.
Psalms 44:1-26 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation Of the Sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old: 2 You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. 3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them. 4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob. 5 Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us. 8 In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah 9 But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies. 10 You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11 You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them. 13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us. 14 You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples. 15 My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me, 16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger. 17 All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way; 19 But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 21 Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. 24 Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground. 26 Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies' sake.
Matthew 11:2-6 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" 4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
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