A Path Among the Rocks

 “But even if God does not save us, we want you…to know….” Daniel 3:18 (NCV)

Some roads you just can’t exit.  Whether by our own choice, or by God’s choice, some things just remain in our lives for us to endure, suffer, tolerate or survive.  It’s a long road if you’ve ever walked those miles carrying that load that doesn’t seem humanly possible to carry.  My heart hurts for you today if you are on that road.  And I want you to know that Jesus’ heart hurts for you as well.  Sometimes what the Lord gives me is not only a burden of the heart but He allows a physical manifestation of that burden in some way.  It’s hard to explain but if you’ve ever experienced the feelings of a broken heart, or have grieved, that’s the best description I can give of the feeling that the Lord gives me when His heart is hurting for His people.  I have that feeling today. 

Thinking about so many people that walk this earth on a road with no end in sight that includes pain, illness (whether physical or mental) and anguish.  If you are on that road, you have probably long since given up asking why.  It just is, and you’re doing your best.  I want you to know that the Lord sees you.  He carries your tears and receives your prayers, and He loves you.  He understands your pain more than you know. 

Some things are just appointed for us in our lives on this fallen rock.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego found themselves on a road that led straight to a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual (Daniel 3:19).  They didn’t have to walk because they were bound and carried to the door of the furnace, but there was a moment when they found themselves facing that inevitable next step on a path from which there was no exit.  The thought of the physical and mental anguish they were probably trying their best to prepare for before death took them must have been overwhelming. 

But something, or better yet, someone, happened.  There was that fourth man walking around in the midst of the fire with the other three (Daniel 3:25).  Yes, they were appointed to take that journey, but they were not alone.  In the midst of their fire, they were not alone – and neither are you, dear reader. 

That’s the heart of Jesus.  Not that He is not able to change everything in an instant.  He is.  Sometimes, we are appointed to walk in the midst of the fire, but even if God does not change our circumstance in the timing that we would like for Him to, He does not leave us to walk that road alone. 

One of my favorite verses is 2 Timothy 4:17, which says “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me…”.  There is something about that verse that just brings peace all the way into the depths of my soul.  Just knowing that Jesus is there, especially when our road sometimes brings a loneliness with it that others just can’t understand.  Standing beside us, no matter where we find ourselves standing, is everything.  And it’s enough.  You can rest assured that Jesus is walking with you in the midst of your fire.  He stands with you to strengthen, comfort and encourage you.    

The certainty that also comes with this long road is that the enemy wants to use it to try to persuade you to move further away from the Lord.  After all, if God can, why doesn’t He just change our circumstances?  The enemy asked Jesus the same types of questions when Jesus was on His long road in the desert (Matthew 4).  It’s an easy feeling to let creep in when the road is rough. 

If this is where you are, I would plead with you to take a moment when you feel those feelings creeping in to stop and proactively do something to bring Jesus to the forefront of your thoughts.  Whether that’s listening to an old hymn or a Christian contemporary song; reading your favorite verse; or praying and asking Jesus to send the enemy on his way and strengthen your resolve to endure.  Take action.  It only takes a little to go a long way. 

Jesus told His disciples that if they only had faith as small as a mustard seed, they could say to the mountain “move” – and it would (Matthew 17:20).  I think we can agree that, sometimes, when our path among the rocks is that long road of appointed suffering, we don’t have much faith reserved because it takes everything that we have to just keep stepping.  Jesus understands that.  I think that’s why He used the analogy of the mustard seed, which is tiny, to show that, with just the little bit of faith that you have left, you can call upon Him and He will be there to help you endure, and perhaps even something good may come of it (Romans 5:3-5). Perhaps a mountain might be moved.  Perhaps faith in the face of suffering will be rewarded. 

Many years ago, my son, my niece and I took a tour through Europe when they were teenagers and our bus took us through fields upon fields of mustard plants in France.  This country girl had never seen anything like it.  It was breathtaking.  The Lord brought those fields back to my mind today as I was thinking about you.  Just like those fields of mustard plants with those beautiful yellow flowers that went as far as the eye could see, faith multiplies faith.  If you have just a little, take any action that you can, and God will multiply it. 

You are so loved, dear one, and you are seen.  Rest in the warmth of that and keep going.  God’s got you and His grace will keep you. 

Proactive:  1 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Defensive:  Psalm 91:11 – For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 

Defensive:  Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 

Promise:  1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.