Does God seem hidden in hard times? You’re not alone!

If we think that God is hidden when we are in a time of trouble, in a hard time, in the crucible, we are not alone. Over and over again we read in the Scriptures that God seems distant, far away and even hidden.

Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?  Psalm 10:1

Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? Psalm 44:24

Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Psalm 102:2

Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.  Psalm 143:7

Isaiah declares what we all experience at times:

Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. Isaiah 45:15

BUT just a few verses later, Isaiah declares the truth we need to rest on:

But Israel is saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. (vs 17)

We might indeed “feel” that God is hidden or that He is absent—He is not!

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17–18

What promises! He is not only present, He will ultimately bring salvation and we will NOT be put to shame or confounded for all eternity. May the Lord give us steadfast hearts (Psalm 57:7) to endure until then!

Guarding our hearts in hard times is wisdom’s call to all

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Prov 4:23 (NIV)

Can you hear Jesus speaking to your heart? Listen…

My child, I love you so much, please treasure my word in your heart, hide it there so that you do not sin against me. Ps 119:11 Write my words on the tablets of your hearts. Prov 7:3 Love my wisdom and she will keep you and guard you. Prov 4:6 My word makes you wise for salvation. 2 Tim 3:15-17 Because life is fleeting Ps 39:4, number your days and you will get a heart of wisdom. Ps 90:12 Guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith in Me. 1 Tim 6:20–21. I know that you believe in Me—be convinced that I am able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to you. By the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 2 Tim 1:12–14.It is by my power that you are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:5. I am faithful. I will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thess 3:3.

Are you anxious or fearful? Come to me, talk to me, present your petitions, your supplication to me with thanksgiving and my peace which is beyond human understanding will guard your heart and mind in Me. Phil 4:6-7
 And finally, maybe you’re thinking that you’ve not guarded your heart very well and that you’ve allowed a lot of stuff in. I will give you the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge of Me, and when that happens the eyes of your heart will be enlightened and you will realize that the same power that raised Me from the dead is the same immeasurable power available to you and that guarantees victory over every spiritual attack. Eph 1:15-23 If you always stand firm over your heart, then your heart will stand firm in all ways.

 

Waiting strengthens us when in the crucible! Really?

When we are going through a hard time, when we are in a crucible experience, a wonderful passage in the bible for encouragement is Isaiah 40:31 (ESV): ‘those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength.’ The NIV translates the word ‘wait’ as ‘hope.’ As I was going through my crucible experience, I decided to study the passage a bit more and discovered that the root meaning behind the word ‘wait’ is not about waiting for time to pass until something happens or even hoping for something. No, the root meaning is ‘twisting,’ a twisting that produces tension which then makes something stronger.

Engineers at Brown University, in partnership with universities in China, say they’ve developed a simple procedure that strengthens steel without losing any of the material’s plasticity. So simple in fact, that it’s just a matter of twisting it. So as we go through our crucible experiences, remember that the hard time twisting is making us stronger so much so that we shall mount up with wings like eagles; we shall run and not be weary; we shall walk and not faint.

Here is a wonderful object lesson for kids—and adults too! Take a sheet of a paper towel. Grab the opposite corners and twist it until it can’t be twisted any more. It will form something looking like a rope. Now try to tear the paper towel by pulling hard on the ends. The simple twisting has made it very strong!

The book, In the Crucible: How God Sustains and Transforms in Hard Times, has more reflections on God’s work in our lives in hard times.

When in the crucible--in a storm--what is our ballast?

When we are in a crucible experience--one of those storms in our lives--what is our ballast? James wrote (James 1:2-8) that we should count it all joy when we find ourselves in the crucible. Why? Because our faith is being tested and when our faith is tested it produces steadfastness. When steadfastness has its full effect, we become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. So what is the ballast? James continues: do we lack wisdom? Ask, but ask in faith, without doubting “for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” Our faith, that is being tested, as it goes through the pounding of the sea, is the ballast! Without it we will be double-minded, unstable, like a ship without ballast, driven and tossed by the wind.
Abba, Father, I thank you that my trust in You becomes the ballast in the storms in my life! Amen!

If we live for happiness, hard times will cause us to question God!

We live in country that celebrates our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We as a country struggle at times with how to best make sure these rights are available to everyone. Even Christians disagree as to the best policies, laws and approaches we need to insure these rights are not infringed upon in any way. But in our zeal to defend these—especially the pursuit of happiness—I wonder, have we come to think that everything that was created was created for our well-being, so that we might be happy? If anything interferes with that right, like going through hard times, we fight back and wonder what God is doing. Have we, as those who follow Christ, been duped into thinking that our main purpose in life is happiness? No wonder living out Luke 9:23 is so hard: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Five truths about God when in the crucible

 

In Isaiah 41:10 we read that there are the five truths about God that should sustain us when we go through a hard time in the crucible!

I am with you!

I am your God! 

I will strengthen you!

I will help you!

I will hold you!

What more could we possible need or want as we endure hard times in the crucible experiences of our lives than to know that God is with us, that He is our God and that He will strengthen, help and hold us!

Character development in hard times.

In Romans 5:3-5 Paul outlines the reason that we can rejoice when we go through hard times, those crucible like experiences. He does this through a list of traits that each build on the previous. Looking at the list backwards, we know that what is most desired when in a hard time is hope. Paul understands that hope is produced in the life of someone whose character has been developed and proven.  And what produces that kind of character? Paul reminds us that our character is developed as we endure hard times. But exactly  what is character? Or more importantly what does Paul mean by character? In 1 Peter 1:7 Peter describes the various trials we go through as the proving ground for our faith. He writes that the "proven genuineness" of our faith comes from being "tested by fire." The Greek words for "proven genuineness," "tested by fire," and "character" all have the same root which means "to be tried as metals by fire and thus purified." No wonder Paul writes that our character produces hope--character is not just the way someone thinks, feels and behaves--it is a life that is proven genuine by the hard times we experience.  As one goes through those hard times and sees how the Lord continues to time and again sustain and transform, our hope soars and we rejoice!