I remember growing up in Nebraska one of my favorite past times was to go out into the field behind our home where I lived, and gaze into the heavens above.  I still do that today as often as I can.  I am reminded of this saying “When it is dark enough… men see the stars”… Ralph Waldo Emerson penned this many years ago.

Emerson’s words are also echoed by an old proverb, which goes like this: “Sunshine all the time makes a desert.”

What these two sayings express, is not an excuse, not something covering up for the difficult side of life.  Rather, I think they speak the truth, and you and I might gain strength by pondering them with reflection.  They actually go very deep into the understanding of why we are here.

Mature solid Christians are made not out of just the good times, but out of challenging and difficult times.  An oft used word within the Ekklesia of God is “trials”.  In the flesh these are promised to come, and how we face them gives us an insight into our own minds and hearts, and the mind of God living in us as well.

“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity”.  I’ve heard many sermons and discussions centered around this statement, and it intrigues me still today.

It is in crisis that the best of character comes to the forefront.  God desires that we take on and have His character live in us!

This very age in which we live, which is volatile, turbulent, confusing and uncertain at times is an anvil upon which God can mold us for the good, for the better, to become more like Him.  We are admonished to have a mold-able, pliable, softened heart, not one that is solid, and cannot or will not change.

It is in the encircling gloom that this world often offers, we can come to realize the importance of being led by the Spirit of God.  That Spirit is not the spirit in man, it is God and everything He represents, and how He lives, and lives IN us.

As Emerson says, it is in the night that we can see the stars which are invisible to our eyes by day.

What you and I need, is a spiritually mature outlook, reasonable expectation, a calm and steadfast mind and the Godly patience with which to meet whatever comes, with courage and faith in God, instead of with bitterness and resentment.

We must realize it is God in us that gives us the spiritual focus, and the tenacity to keep going.  (Gal. 2:20)

Truly our God gives us the peace of mind that passes all understanding… and He watches over us all.  These are promises that will never fail.

I’m reminded in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (J.B. Phillips NT)  We should like you, our brothers, to know something of what we went through in Asia.  At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end.  Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead.  It was God who preserved us from imminent death, and it is he who still preserves us.  Further, we trust him to keep us safe in the future, and here you can join in and help by praying for us, so that the good that is done to us in answer to many prayers will mean eventually that many will thank God for our preservation.

We’ve opportunity with each new day, and each waking moment to realize God is making a new creature, a new creation in us all… and it is through adversity, as difficult as it is… we become more like Him and share that with the world in which we live.

…as I close this letter, as I do every Friday evening… as we enter His Sabbath… reflect on this with me, will you?

And again, may God continue to richly bless you.  Our prayers and thoughts are with you daily!  Please do pray for us as well.